Searching for Sex

My mom was incredible at spotting four-leaf clovers while going about her normal outside activities. Not searching down on her hands and knees in the grass - just, "Oh, there's a four-leaf clover", during a casual stroll around the block. Her ability to zone in on that small green structure amidst a whole patch of green always amazed me. Now I know it was because she had a strong searching image of that clover.

A searching image narrows your focus and selectively screens out whatever isn't relevant. Someone forwarded me an email recently with a short video attached of two teams playing basketball. The idea is to watch the video and count how many times the team in white uniforms passes the ball. After completing that task, you're asked if you saw the gorilla that walked onto the court during the video. The majority of people who perform the counting task never see the gorilla. The counting task is the searching image, and it effectively keeps you from seeing other things happening on the court.

What does all this have to do with sex? Without a searching image for sex, you'll likely fail to notice the internal and external cues that help maintain sexual interest. If you're moving through your days counting passes and missing the sex gorilla, you may need to create a new searching image.