Life Altering Knowledge

Throughout life we gain lots of knowledge, but certain facts I feel resonated in me much more than others. These facts changed my perception of the world for one reason or another. To extents that I would never see the world the same ever again.

1. Learning indigo was a color in the rainbow. (pre-school)
This happened obviously when I was young, but this I always remembered as changing my perception of how I viewed the world. Up until this, I drew my rainbows with the colors that were available in my pack of eight Crayola crayons: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet. These were the colors we learned in preschool. But when I learned about ROYGBIV, it all changed. All of a sudden there was the magical other color which I had been ignoring for years, that I had not even been told about, and which Crayola had not even deemed important to be in the 8-pack, yet had been in rainbows all along! I had felt misled, and couldn't understand how such a critical color was lacking from crayon boxes, from people's general knowledge of colors. Additionally, I could not identify it in the common world. It seemed to have snuck secretly in there next to blue and purple, and was demanding mention.














2. Learning pineapples grow from the ground. (college)
On a hike in Swaziland, we walked through a pineapple patch. When I noticed that the plants on the ground had pineapples growing from their centers, I was in shock. Up until now, I had pictured pineapples growing from trees, like apples, oranges, and peaches. Seeing them grow upward, from plants which looked like pineapple tops was life-altering. I would not have pegged them as growing this way, a secondary belief being that they probably could grow underground like radishes and carrots. To picture something happening in one manner for a long time, and then it being completely wrong, was eye-opening. I believe others could have this feeling when they discover bananas grow upwards, not downwards like you purchase in stores.




















3. Learning you only breathe through one nostril at a time (post-college)
Through the nasal cycle, only one nostril is used at any given time. The nostrils switch off every two to four hours. I couldn't believe that I could go so many years without realizing this was happening! Testing it out, by feeling air blow out of only one nostril during normal breathing, left me speechless. (image source)