Observation skills.
To observe means to hold something in front of us.
Ob (Latin prefix) =in front of
Servare (Latin) =to keep, hold, watch, pay attention.
The word observe is one that we hear and use every day. Therefore you might wonder why it needs defining at all. When we take in data without preconceptions we are sensing; when we focus on particular sensations and categorize them according to our memory system, we are perceiving; and when we draw conclusions about their patterns and meaning, we are thinking.
Sensing occurs through sense organs such as the eyes and skin. When our sense organs become activated by stimuli they send this information through the nervous system to the brain. When we sense something, we feel it. As we sense, we may not yet have the words to identify or explain what is happening, because in order to find words, we have to think.
In everyday speech, the word perceiving is often used loosely as a synonym for sensing, although there are distinct differences. Perception is both passive and active; it holds sensations in consciousness long enough to interpret them. This holding allows the time needed to find patterns, to organize, and to interpret the sensations. Perception helps us move through the physical world, detect dimensions.
Philosopher Alan Watts uses the etymology of the word to show us how the earlier peoples explained thinking. The root word thong tells us that thinking is used to make “things” of nature and of events. A psychologist, Jean Piaget, defined thinking as “an active process whereby people organize their perceptions of the world.” Both these definitions explain thinking in terms of what people do with their perceptions.
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