Very thought provoking ( )

An "ok" book. Basically 70% of the information it contains (starting from the opening example of the "did you spot the gorilla" video) has been around for quite a while. It starts from the topic of attention but doesn't stick very strictly to it, sometimes indulging too much in correlated digression (e.g. the American education system). Useful read nonetheless.



This is my favorite quote from the book: «Learning is the cartography of cultural value, indistinguishable from the landscape of our attention—and our blindness». ( )

Meh. Some good thoughts about attention especially in the context of education and work, but nothing seemed especially novel and her writing style isn't my cup off tea. ( )

It took me forever to read this book, and I'm not exactly sure why. While reading, my mind was flying around processing Cathy Davidson's ideas and experiences, applying them to my past, and my present, and figuring out how to incorporate them into my future. I would think about this book for days and talk about this book to multiple people; however somehow it was also easy for me to put down. I like this book a lot. Maybe it was easy to put down because my mind was so busy, I was looking things up, thinking about my life from different angles, brainstorming how to rework my working and learning environments...I'm not sure. Anyway, I liked the book. It always got me thinking, but it didn't hold on to me the way other books do.
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I follow Cathy Davidson on Twitter, and read the reviews of this book in the NYT when it came out. So far, fascinating, and inspiring. Reassessing the importance of attention in the classroom, and the ways in which the traditional "industrial age" classroom has become obsolete are extremely important observations in this, the Information Age. Ms. Davidson is documenting a revolution in the way we think; it would be wise for educational institutions to be aware of (and act on) her commentary.