W hy is it almost impossible to gaze directly at the Grand Canyon under thesecircumstances and see it for what it is—as one picks up a strange objec t from o ne’sback yard and gazes directly at it? It is almo st impossible because the Grand Canyon,the thing as it is, has been appropriated by the symbolic complex which has alreadybeen formed in the sightseer’s mind. Seeing the canyon under approved circumstancesis seeing the symb olic co mplex head on. T he thing is no longer the thing as itconfronted the Sp aniard ; it is rather that which has already been formulated—bypicture postcard , geography book, tourist folders, and the words Gra nd C any on. As aresult of this preformulation, the source of the sightseer’s pleasure undergoes a shift.W here the wonder and delight of the Spaniard arose from his penetration of the thingitself, from a progressive discovery of depths, patterns, colors, shadows, etc., now thesightseer measures his satisfaction by the d egree to w hich the canyo n con forms to thepreformed com plex
I understood this as addressing reputation. No one can perceive the Grand Canyon as if you're discovering it for the first time. On top of that, majority of people have seen pictures, so we establish this idea in our heads of what the Canyon is. This means when we visit it, we're just seeing if it lives up to the reputation.