Pauls, unavailable for comment this month.
As for filtering, the eyes see in the relms of 10,000,000 bits of information per second yet we are only aware of 40 bits.
There is a similar deal for all our senses. It's true that what we focus on comes we notice.
An interesting book I read, The Author did an experiement. Arranged an interview withtwo people. One who thought he was lucky and another who thought she wasn't.
In the test they set up identical situations, planted an obvious 5 Pound note where they would find it on entering the coffee shop. Inside the coffee shop it was arranged so that there were only 4 tables with a 'stooge' at each table one of them was a successful business man.
The Lucky one came to the coffee shop immediately found the found the Money picked it up. Went in ordered coffee and sat down next to the successful business man. Introduced himself offered to buy the man coffee which he accepted ant they were talking after that.
After he left the scene was set for the une who considered herself unlucky. She walked right over the money, ordered coffee sat next to successful business man and said not a word to any of them in the coffee shop..
After wards they were both interviewed. The one who considered himself lucky talked excitedly about finding the money and the one who considered herself unlucky considered it an uneventful morning.
[The Luck Factor change your luck - and change your life by Dr Richard Wiseman p50-61]
[The Power of Letting Go - A practical approach to Releasing the Pressures in Your Life by Patricia Carrington Ph.D ]
Chapter 7 "Opening your Monitor" She explains that strong emotions tend to shut down what we allow ourselves to see. That often we will miss opporutnities due to narrowed thinking. Having a one track mind that only one thing can solve our problem we miss other opportunities.
I had posted on the forum my tather quick manifestation of a TV and DVD player at a price that I could afford (about 50% less than normal market price.)
I know for a fact that when I started thinking about obtaining a TV I started paying more attention to the price of them. But I also did something that I don't normally do. Look at the junk mail that landed in my letter box. Most of the time I curse having to carry it to the recycling bin and often thin I should just place the bin next to the letter box. On rare occasions I do look at the flyers. That is how I found that the ideal TV will come on sale in 3 days time. I would have missed it as those sales are usually sold out first thing in the morning. The fleeting thought that I would like a DVD player also came to mind and again I looked at the flyers and found that a DVD player was coming onto the market on Thursday in another store. So I obtained both for less than the regular price of a 51cm TV.
I also know from that by turning around and doing the Feeling Exercise in a time of crisis that I opened up to see more solutions than narrow focus on the emotional bombshell that hit me.
I could go on. For me there is much more research out there that shows that we limit our experiences to what our emotions and beliefs will allow us to experience and see.
Alex