Synthesized answer
The central thesis of *Ways of Seeing* concerns the fundamental nature of "seeing" and its relationship to our understanding of the world and art [1]. The text posits that "seeing comes before words," implying that our visual perception is primary in establishing our place in the world [1]. While words are used to explain this world, they cannot alter the fact of our being within it, and the connection between what we see and what we know is not fixed [1].
The book, and the BBC television series it was based on, aims to change how readers and viewers look at pictures and, by extension, the world around them [1]. The passages indicate that the work concentrates on how we look at paintings [1].
Synthesized from the book passages below. Chat with the book on Feynman for follow-up.
From the book
Title: Ways of Seeing by John Berger Description: How do we see the world around us? The Penguin on Design series includes the works of creative thinkers whose writings on art, design and the media have changed our vision forever."Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak.""But there is also another sense in which seeing comes before words. It is seeing which establishes our place in the surrounding world; we explain that world with words, but word can never undo the fact that we are surrounded by it. The relation between what we see and what we know is…