 CHAPTER 1 LEVELS OF PERCEPTION Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky, Khaleel Gibran. All our wisdom is stored in the trees, Santosh Kalwar. Low-level perception, LLP, sees just a tree. Medium-level perception, MLP, begins to see interconnected detail. High-level perception, HLP, knows the profound interdependence. Sonder, the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own, John Koenig. LLP low-level perception sees just a person, a dangerously desacralizing perspective. MLP begins to know more detail, like life history and goals. HLP sees a whole suite of nuance fused into a soul. Analogy has the core of cognition, Douglas Hofstadter. Analogy, comparing chunks. A tree without nutrients cannot produce fruit. A human without basic needs cannot unleash gifts.