Stereopsis: subtle aspects

I have learned to use my binocular focus much better, although I still marvel at this highlighting that is so handy. However, my use of it is still somewhat crude. I often focus on large objects, and even if I look with child's fascination, that does not necessarily change the use patterns. The thing is, I have seen many things, and I expect them to be a certain way. This is just like with looking at my eye in the mirror: I had to consciously direct myself to look into my eye and to see the three-dimensional shape, the curvature of the cornea, not just the flat image.

It turns out that habitual objects are everywhere, and I have habitual ways of looking at habitual objects, just like I was looking flatly in the mirror. Even though I see the big picture in three dimensions, there are many little pieces of the picture that are still flat, that I still have to uncover.

- I see bubbles on a bar of soap, but I do not notice that the bubbles have volume, I only see a three-dimensional bar of soap with the bubbles almost painted on it.
- I add cream to coffee. I see how the creamy color spreads over the surface of the coffee in a three-dimensional cup, but I do not notice how the cream moves inside the depth of the cup.
- I see that a lightbulb is three-dimensional, and so it the spiral, but its reflections is just a bright flat spot on a shiny surface.
- I see see earrings hanging in the air, but I do not notice that the gemstone also has volume.
- I take a spoon of water or oil. I see volume in the spoon, but I do not notice that the surface is not flat, but curved.
- I see a bottle of liquid soap, and I see volume in the soap, but I do not notice that the bubbles of air inside the bottle also have volume.
- I take a slice of bread, and I see that it has depth, so to say, that it is not flat. But I do not notice that it has different structure in different cross-sections. As I start breaking it slowly, I can see the three-dimensional structure unfold.
- I can see drops of water flying along different trajectories in the air and not notice that those drops also have volume.
- I do not notice that there are holes between the keys on the keyboard where something can fall. Now I can spot little pieces of something that did fall there, and now I can see that they are on a surface that is lower in space than the base of the keys. However, I may not notice that those little bits of paper or dust that fell into the keyboard are there at some angle in space. Similarly, when there is a dirty spot on the keyboard, I do not see that it is not flat. Also, I knew from tactile experience that the little elevations on the keys "F" and "J" were sticking out of the keyboard, but I did not notice the shadows that they cast.
- Scratches on the surface of my cellphone can have volume. I never thought that scratches could have volume, I always thought of them as something modifying the surface from smooth and good looking to a surface with a scratch.
- Most water pipes are not smooth, but the surface has relief.



Why is it important to pay attention to these subtlesties?
Every time I look habitually at a habitual object, my eyes reinforce its previous flat patterns, and these patterns were learned with the eyes disconnected from each other. Thus, it clearly does not teach the eyes to move together and to focus together. Conversely, every time I observe some subtle three-dimensionality, it clearly teaches the eyes how to move together. Indeed, I wouldn't be able to notice subtle three-dimensional things with one eye, and no compensation is possible since I have never seen the volume of earring gemstone, nor the relief on water pipes. If I spend some time carefully examining the three-dimensional shape of anything, I can often see my eyes more together in the mirror, and most importantly, I can often feel relaxation in the eyes and in the mind. Not right away, but after examining several objects.