I guess I don't think in terms of the classic imagery when looking at the constellations. I see what is printed in the atlas, minus the RA/DEC grid lines. Yes, there are plenty of patterns that I key-on, but I'm just recalling atlas data and labels, and mentally attaching them to the same picture I see in the sky. No doubt 42+ years of looking at the sky has enabled this ability to move around quickly on the celestial sphere, but it's been at about the same level of ease since I was twelve or so. No bears, hunters, rabbits, monkeys, typewriters, whatever. Joe, I would just comment that sure, the star patterns change, but not over the course of your or my lifetime. Cartainly you can enjoy a random pattern as much as someone who sees the atlas page up there in the sky, but the message most people here have been relating is that learning those patterns doesn't detract from their beauty, and will further help you to make what time you have under the stars more effective. It will only enhance the entire experience. Another observation is that in knowing the geometry of the stellar backdrop gives one the visual data to grasp the approximate positions of the naked-eye solar system objects relative to each other and the earth. It's like knowing the time on a big clock face with half a dozen hands!