the trigonometry of seeing and being seen (and watching it all happen)

in day-to-day exchanges, we often indicate our attention to each other, whether or not we're actually listening. a nod of a head, "uhuh", raised eyebrows, smirks & frowns & winks. all these are directional; their target is clear.

at a distance, it's harder to know whether he's checking you out or reading your shirt. when 2 people are in close conversation, it's trivial to tell that they're "gazing into each other's eyes".

basic trigonometry shows that the farther the distance, the less the angle. further, to watch a watcher watching is even trickier - i'm uncertain of the angle between watcher, watched, and me, let alone where their eyes point.

all of this makes it devilishly hard to tell if someone's checking someone other than you out (and which part) if they're sufficiently far away from either. yet two people from afar notice quickly if they're checking each other out - i know where i am in space.

try it. i bet the best you can tell is whether someone's looking at you or not...