Peripheral and Foveal Moodscape (Try It)

It is true that most of us don't need peripheral vision to find our prey—at Aldi's. But is tracking skill the only loss as we give up on peripheral vision? Arguably the greater loss is to the peripheral mood. There is some research about the shift from sympathetic to parasympathetic states when going from foveal to peripheral gazes, but honestly there is so much complexity here that your absolute best bet is to try it yourself, in your imagination or in the real. Consider something fractal, like intertwined tree branches in their winter or summer garb—whatever appeals. Let your eyes stay still. Let your vision kind of seep all the ways it can—left, right, up, down—but without actually moving the orientation of your eyes. Notice if your mood shifts. Then foveate—yes, that's a word—and look very precisely at one branch or notch or leaf as though you were a biology major in the middle of an exam about that item. Critique that spot. If you need to swivel your eyeballs to really take advantage of your cones instead of your rods, do. You don't technically need to focus—foveating is different from focusing—though foveating might have a bit of the same mood as focusing in. Notice. Most of you will sense a difference. So then the question is: as we lose peripheral vision, do we lose the peripheral mood?