People often utilize filters when they are seeking something specific hidden within a mixture like a gold panner using a pan to sift the gold deposits hidden within a river bed. Once a suitable location or placer is found some gravel is scooped up into the pan where it is agitated in the water and the gold sinks to the bottom of the pan. The low specific gravity items are allowed to spill out and wash away, whereas the higher specific gravity of the precious gold sinks to the bottom where it can be examined and collected by the panner.
Photographers use light filters to capture their subjects in just the "right" light.
Musicians use sound filters to enhance or distort the frequency of their instruments.
Water from underground wells or reserves pass through filters to prevent bacteria, sediment, and pollution from harming the drinker.
Some cars feature air filters to prevent the dust and gas smells from entering the cabin.
People can also use self filters to prevent themselves from expressing offensive behavior, such as watching their words around children. Filters such as these come in the form of self control which take time and maturity to employ.
One's body and mind can also filter out the miasma of information bombardment from our environment.
“Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
We set emotional filters to prevent exposure to vulnerability. Unrequited love can fester into bitter anguish.
Our bodies process the poisons we imbibe through smoke and drink to escape reality for a few moments.
Our eyes can differentiate a silhouette from reality.
Our ears can filter the sound of noise and music. We can listen as well as we hear.
Our noses can discern the fragrance of flowers over the acrid smell of exhaust.
Our lips can taste the sweetness of wine in contrast to the bitterness of chocolate.
Our hands can feel the distinction of smooth skin from the marks of a scar.
We are filters. We retain the ability to sift through, keep, and discard that which has no value.
As a fire burns away the impurities hidden within a metal, the refining process requires intense heat and pressure to separate the pure from the scrap.
"Research your own experience; absorb what is useful, reject what is useless and add what is essentially your own."
― Bruce Lee