ROB WALKER. - ART OF NOTICING FOR WRITERS;FROM THE ART OF NOTICING

W HEN GEOFF MANAUGH , the author of A Burglars Guide to the City, walks into a bank or a restaurant, he thinks: If a crime was to occur herea heist, a robberywho would be involved? That guy whos sitting alone in the corner? The one milling around outside? Whats about to happen here?

Speculating about what might happen next requires a determined focus on key details. Manaugh compares it to a game. Check out the people at a public event: Who looks familiar and why? Take in the books on the shelves in a strangers house: What interests are revealed? When house-hunting in earthquake-prone Los Angeles, Manaugh asked himself: Which part of the structure I am looking atthe wood trim, the uneven framing, or the loose floorboardsoffers a clue about what would collapse first should the worst occur?

Manaugh admits that something about this way of thinking may sound slightly dark. But, he adds:

I tend to notice things that come in handy later.

S OCIAL SCIENTISTS carefully observe the facts of the world. But that may just be a starting point. Its not just about observing what a person does, says Dan Ariely, a professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University and the author of Predictably Irrational, among other books. Its trying to understand the reasons behind that.

Arielys research focuses on how to tweak human behaviorand that depends on understanding what shapes behavior in the first place. Lets say we go to a bar, and we see people that are dating, Ariely suggests. We also notice that the place is noisy, that its dark, that its crowded, that theres alcohol: all sound observations. But now, as a social scientist, I want to think of it like a Newtonian physics problem, he continues, and say: What are the forces at work? Whats pulling people in different directions that is showing up as an interest in being in this place?

He offers a few examples: Maybe going to a noisy place helps people overcome moments of awkward silence, he says. Maybe being in a loud place allows people to sit closer to each other, and from time to time whisper or talk in each others ear. Maybe being around a lot of other people offers some sense of safetybut also enough activity to keep one from feeling like the center of attention. And so forth.

These forces are, strictly speaking, invisible. Were talking about mind-sets and feelings, instincts that even the individuals involved may not be consciously aware of.

Invisible forces are a fun challenge to seek outparticularly in a situation that involves lots of people drawn (or thrown) together, whether at a party or at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled. Each evening we see the sun set. We know that the earth is turning away from it. Yet the knowledge, the explanation, never quite fits the sight.

JOHN BERGER