Sight and Sensibility : The Ecopsychology of Perception
Sewall calls herself "a kind of mystic scientist" (she holds a Ph.D. in psychology and the neurophysiology of vision from Brown), a characterization that could easily apply to her field, ecopsychology. Her focus is on research that indicates that visual experiences can alter the structure of neural networks in the brain's neocortex. Because we selectively filter visual information through these memory-laden channels, Sewall believes that our perceptual habits mold and perpetuate our worldview, unless we consciously choose to attend to what we've overlooked. Swinging between lyrical introspection, epiphanies in nature, sociocultural commentary and analysis of the psychology of perception, she attempts to nudge the reader toward making that perceptual shift. Readers who can get past her New Age effusions may otherwise appreciate her style, which hovers somewhere between Annie Dillard and Ken Wilber, and will find some stimulating nuggets. A professor of ecopsychology at Prescott University in Arizona, Sewall points to a host of factors that blunt the average person's sensory awareness, including TV, fragmented lifestyles, ego-based projection and the mind/body disconnect bequeathed to us by Plato. Much of her inquiry flows from engagement with the ideas of James Hillman, John Berger, environmental philosopher David Abram and others. In Sewall's upbeat scenario, many people will adopt new ways of seeing and meditating that will awaken them to the interdependence of all living things. How exactly this will solve the global ecological crisis, as Sewall hopes, remains an open question. Illustrated. Agent, Anne Depue.Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.