You’re Not Seeing What The Expert Has Been Trained To See

I recently had my backpack stolen. (As a digital nomad living out of my backpack, this was a big deal.)

Approaching the police in Madrid, I filed a police report.

“What was the color of the backpack?” the policewoman asked me…

“Blue” I responded.

Then, I showed her a picture.

“Blue and Black” she responded.

Looking again, at my own backpack, I saw that indeed the zippers, trim, and small details were all black.

Recording the two most prominent colors is a scale-of-magnitude more accurate in assisting to identify the bag if found.

If a blue bag with white details is found, it’s not mine. (Or, a blue bag with blue details.)

It’s my backpack, but I only saw it half as clearly as she did.

It made me wonder: If someone else, at a glance. describes a personal object more clearly that myself… what else am I only ‘assuming’ I know well?