Space > Perception > Identification > Thought
From a simple bird call to a complicated emotional issue, before you can experience something, first you have to perceive it within your physical or psychological space.
For perception to take place, the experience has to be outside your normal rhythm of ordinary events. Otherwise you don’t notice it.
It has to be Odd. Odd is the trigger of perception.
Within a split second of perception, comes identification, as your brain sorts through a hierarchy of labels and associations. Think of them as mental meta tags.
Hear > Warble > Bird > Robin
Though somewhat standardized by centuries of shared learning and beliefs, an individual’s identification process differs from society and culture. Personal experience factors in. For example:
Robin > Feeder > Mom > Death > Emotion
Emotion is the trigger of thought. Without it, your experience of the bird has ended. It is no longer odd. No longer remarkable.
Factor emotion in, however, and the experience become less linear and far more impactful.
I like birds > birds remind me of mom > I wonder what other kinds of birds are around here > it must be nice to fly > robins are red > I had a red jacket once . . .
The SPIT of Experience is this. Emotion triggers curiosity, making every experience exponentially richer, more rewarding and more motivating. This is important in art, marketing and life.
Think about that. Or just label it as another weird thought from Paul.
pct
The “SPIT of Experience” model—Space, Perception, Identification, Thought—offers an insightful framework for understanding how we process and derive meaning from our experiences. This model outlines a sequence from the initial encounter with a stimulus in our environment through to the complex web of thoughts and emotions it can trigger. Let’s delve deeper into each component and its implications for our understanding of perception, emotion, and cognition.
Space: The Arena of Experience
Space, both physical and psychological, serves as the backdrop against which all experiences unfold. It’s the realm of potential encounters, ranging from the tangible (a bird call) to the intangible (an emotional issue). For any experience to occur, there must first be an encounter within this space, highlighting the importance of our environment in shaping our experiences.
Perception: The Gateway to Experience
Perception acts as the gateway through which stimuli enter our consciousness. It’s the process by which we become aware of something odd or out of the ordinary rhythm of events, triggering our attention. The oddity of the stimulus—its deviation from the expected or ordinary—serves as the critical trigger for perception, emphasizing the role of novelty and contrast in capturing our attention.
Identification: The Process of Recognition
Following perception, identification involves categorizing and labeling the perceived stimulus based on a hierarchy of mental associations. This process is akin to attaching “mental meta tags” to experiences, facilitating recognition and understanding. The example of hearing a bird warble and identifying it as a robin illustrates how we use identification to make sense of our sensory inputs, drawing on shared knowledge as well as personal associations (e.g., Robin > Feeder > Mom > Death > Emotion).
Thought: The Emergence of Meaning
Thought emerges from the emotional response triggered by identification, extending the experience beyond mere recognition into a realm of personal significance and reflection. Emotion serves as the catalyst for a cascade of thoughts, transforming a simple perceptual event into a complex, meaningful experience. This process illustrates how emotion imbues experiences with depth, making them memorable and impactful.
The SPIT of Experience and Its Implications
The SPIT model underscores the complexity of human experience, highlighting how emotion and personal associations enrich our encounters with the world. This understanding has profound implications for fields such as art, marketing, and life itself. In art, it speaks to the power of creative works to evoke deep emotional responses and stimulate thought. In marketing, it emphasizes the importance of engaging consumers on an emotional level to create lasting impressions and motivations. In life, it reminds us of the richness of our experiences and the role of emotion in driving curiosity, learning, and personal growth.
Summary
The “SPIT of Experience” model offers a nuanced perspective on the journey from simple perception to the rich tapestry of thought and emotion that defines human experience. It invites us to appreciate the complexity behind our everyday encounters and the profound impact of emotion in transforming these encounters into meaningful experiences. By understanding this process, we can better appreciate the depth of our interactions with the world and the infinite potential for curiosity and discovery that lies within each moment.
Reflecting on the SPIT model encourages us to be more mindful of our experiences, to seek the odd and the novel in our surroundings, and to embrace the emotional responses that enrich our understanding and appreciation of life.
