Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn

Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn

3.79 of 5 stars 3.79  ·  rating details  ·  334 ratings  ·  81 reviews
A digital innovator shows how we can thrive in the new technological age.

When Cathy Davidson and Duke University gave free iPods to the freshman class in 2003, critics said they were wasting their money. Yet when students in practically every discipline invented academic uses for their music players, suddenly the idea could be seen in a new light-as an innovative way to...more
Hardcover, 352 pages
Published August 18th 2011 by Viking Adult
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Claire
Now You See It is an informational text that seeks to talk about education an the workplace in modern society. I chose to read it because I had the good fortune of attending a talk about this book by the author.

Like many books of the sort, Now You See it uses many different examples and topics to state the author's opinion on a particular topic. The main focus of Now You See It is the science of attention, though it also places a very strong focus on how the turn of the century, and the technolo...more
Paul Signorelli
Cathy Davidson is an engaging, thoughtful, and thought-provoking writer; she also is a justifiably admired educator (former vice provost for interdisciplinary studies at Duke University) who clearly puts her attention on the learners she serves. And she has plenty to teach all trainer-teacher-learners about what we're doing right as well as what we're failing miserably to achieve. Her goal, she tells us right up front in "Now You See It," is to provide "a positive, practical, and even hopeful st...more
Laurie
This is a very interesting book, but I feel the title is a little misleading. It’s not so much that brain science will transform how we do things; it’s more that technology will. In a world where the boundaries between work and personal life have been broken down by constant email, texts, and cell phones; where classrooms have been infiltrated by iPods and homework over the internet; where people all over the world are working to produce the largest, constantly changing, encyclopedia; and where...more
John Mcelravy
Davidson covers a lot of ground in Now You See It from learning disabilities to neurology to improving the classroom and the workplace. Definitely worth reading if any of those subjects fascinate you. Davidson, formerly of Duke University now with HASTAC/MacArthur Foundation, has had the opportunity to work on some intriguing projects including one where Duke students were given iPods and open-endedly told to find an "educational use" for them... which they did in really surprising and cool ways...more
Michael Burnam-fink
Davidson begins with a fascinating premise. What if we seriously considered the ways in which we think, especially the ways in which we selectively pay attention to and ignore the world around us, and then formed our educational and workplace environments around our brains, rather than trying to hammer our polygonal personalities into round holes?

It's an idea so simple you'll be shocked you didn't have it. Anybody who's in school or the workplace will tell that something is rotten in the state o...more
Mark Changizi
...In general, I'm receptive to knock-down-the-pillars theses, but Ms. Davidson's book is ultimately a disappointment, mostly because of the way it treats "the science"—in particular, my own specialty, brain science. Ms. Davidson writes as if the human mind's functions are almost totally elastic. "Learning happens in everything we do," she writes. "Very little comes by 'instinct.' " In fact, instincts are often part of what help us to learn—the classic example being fear of things like snakes an...more
Den
In 2003, Duke University professor Cathy Davidson gave free iPods to the incoming freshman class and touched off a firestorm in the media. Critics derided it as a waste of money. Soon, however, students from nearly every discipline were developing numerous academic uses for the devices. In another experiment, students were shown a video and asked to count volleyballs. After the video, the group was asked how many of them saw the gorilla. Most of them responded with, “What gorilla?” Then the vide...more
Naum
Author begins by presenting the experiment where students are asked to tally basketball player acts and are so focused that few see the the gorilla that prances through the gym. The author saw it, because she's wired in that ADD way -- that condition, she argues, is actually much more attuned to our post-internet world. It's the static structure and systems that's remained unchanged and serves the real hinderance. Our schools remain the same as they did at the turn of last century, when moderniz...more
Marleah
It was very interesting reading this book shortly after reading Quiet by Susan Cain. Davidson thinks about multitasking in a very positive way, even stating that humans are meant to multitask. Cain has a different perspective and is less positive about multitasking. All in all - I think this goes to prove one of Davidson's main points: it takes all kinds of us and all of our own specific skills to address the whole picture. She begins the book by discussing the "modern classic" experiment in whi...more
Jon Cassie
What a fascinating piece of work. I've long been a big fan of Cathy Davidson's writing and work. Her memoir of her time in Japan - "36 Views of Mount Fuji," is one of my favorite examples of the genre, period.

In this book, she does an exemplary job of unpacking the anxiety felt by many people about the changes being wrought in society by the Internet revolution. She analyzes 20th century practices, modes of organization, thinking, educating and thinking and demonstrates why these modes do not ho...more
Frank Spencer
The author believes that our schools and work places have not changed to take into account the changes brought about by computers and the internet. She thinks that we need to be more collaborative, problem solving oriented, creative, appreciative of learning differences, and relevant in our teaching, learning and work. She has certainly been in the middle of some of the changes which have recently taken place, such as the ipod initiative at Duke University and HASTAC. She has a lot of personal...more
Grace
Have you ever wondered how we are preparing ourselves and our children to survive and thrive in the digital age? Have you wondered why elementary and high schools haven't changed all that much since you attended them? Have you wondered why the only signs of the digital age in your workplace are the computers in each cubicle? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, Cathy N. Davidson's Now You See It: How The Brain Science of Attention Will Transform The Way We Live, Work, and Learn...more
Trevor
Although it probably doesn’t really seem like it at first glance, this book is really about cognitive dissonance. It is about the many ways that we find to ignore the fact that we are mostly blind and mostly only see what we want to see. I absolutely know this is true of me, for instance – and that it is perhaps getting truer as I get older. I can read these books, but I’m not sure they help me see my own blind spots. Although these books do make me feel like an expert in everyone else’s blind s...more
Kayt
More like a 3.5, but Goodreads is annoying and stubbornly refuses to let me do that.

Basically: a book about how humans pay attention and learn, and how it is changing/should change now that computers and the internet are involved.

I enjoyed the beginning more, because it was talking about the things that influence how we learn. For example, babies *learn* that some things (grandparents) are considered more worthy of attention than other (light hitting the curtains).

Later chapters focus on school...more
Don
Seriously flawed book that reads more like a sales brochure than an even marginally objective account of the Web and globalized business practices. If you read it for its very sketchy introduction to brain sciences and its one-sided view of an admittedly flawed educational system, starting with the university system, look for a serious engagement with the ethical and environmental consequences of the wired mind, business, and school. There are slight nods in those directions, but the book begs f...more
Paras Allana
2.5 stars

Like the gorilla experiment, it feels that the writer too had a blind spot. She was concentrating so much to write this book and make her point that she skipped over how boring and repetitive she is being. Her writing style is chatty and it makes you go on reading. This would be a book that would appeal to a layman and would also be readable but I am not sure the whole book is worth the time and attention it requires. Lucky for me, I divided my attention and listened it to the audiobook...more
John Carter McKnight
Best book of the year so far. Ostensibly on the neuroscience of attention, this is actually a take-no-prisoners critique of XXth Century institutions and ideologies, from Taylorism to old folks' homes. The last century divided, labeled, categorized and separated us in the name of efficiency: Davidson looks to a new century of multitasking, networking, and above all, joy in learning, supported by the latest research in brain science.

Anecdotal, fluid, passionate, this book is a compelling, moving,...more
Debbie Morrison
Though the book presents several thought-provoking concepts, there are few concrete suggestions or solutions that an educator can grab hold of to apply, other than the idea that students respond to active and involved learning. Davidson makes the case that because the brain is capable of multitasking, students can adapt to various stimuli in the environment, thus active learning or digital learning is beneficial.

Davidson does highlight the significant shortfall in American K12 education, and its...more
Don O'goodreader
With the rise of the Internet, You can't tell a book by its cover has never been more important. For example, Now You See It by Cathy N Davidson is most like annoying link bait, promising brain science on the cover, but delivering an Internet-style memoir full of hyperbole, anecdotes, and opinion. With equal parts self-aggrandizing remembrances and paeans to Internet browsing and video games, this book demonstrates how the Internet provides a echo chamber where everyone can be a self-appointed p...more
Cheryl
Written by the former Vice Provost of Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University, "Now You See" it is a very well written book packed with interesting information about how we pay attention, distraction, multitasking, how schools are structured for the last century and why we need an overhaul to prepare students for this one. A very interesting book about how we have all changed in a digital age, how schools must change because the workplace IS changing (It included a very interesting look at...more
Roger
The book is about attention. As I was reading, I was thinking about how different my work and creative brains worked. In the zone, I can work for hours on software completely focused on what I am doing. (Actually, that is the best way to program.) When I am in my creative world, my brain doesn't focus at all, but seems to be trying many different parallel paths concurrently. This seems to follow from Davidson's work.

Attention and focus are important, but are those still the most important skill...more
Hom Sack
If you're interested in knowing "How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn" as the subtitle of this book states, you may be sorely disappointed. There little brain science here. At least any that is interesting. And if you already know about the collections of anecdotes (epic wins, Second Life, the history of Wikipedia, etc.) and know how to program a VCR, it is hard not to get distracted and lose interest and wish this was a shorter book. Perhaps 100 pag...more
Pamela
Part of the appeal of Now You See It is that Davidson rightfully criticizes current compartmentalized, standardized systems of education and employment that don't accommodate differences in attention or thought processes. And many of her ideas are daring and pleasantly shocking--for instance, she describes a college course she taught, "Your Brain on the Internet," that didn't have a rigid set of outcomes, a class where students were given tools and opportunity to grow in any direction they wante...more
Zoe
My roommate saw me reading this book on the couch yesterday and asked the reasonable "What'chya reading?" question, which took me several minutes to answer. Davidson says her book is a "field guide and survival manual for the digital age", but it's also a passionate argument against standardized testing in schools, a promising look at career opportunities for those with Asperger syndrome, and a wake-up call to all of us who passively engage with life-changing technology every day. So, it's kind...more
Elizabeth Housewright
This book makes a strong case for collaboration and diversity if you want to see a big picture. I've seen this to be true in both work and social situations. Some things I’m thinking about as a result of reading it:
• Sometimes “pilot” can be just a label you give a project when you want a soft launch—might be better to leave expectations more open so that you won’t overlook unanticipated findings?
• She has a “strengths based” approach to a happy life, which I agree with. But I wonder if speciali...more
Melanie
Having studied with Davidson at Duke, I was more than a little interested to read her book. Not disappointed! She has the enviable ability of making complex material both interesting and understandable; her writing style is intellectual and conversational; and her topic is engaging and thought-provoking. What difference does technology make in the ways we think? How should we rethink the ways we work and play in the world today? Why are we educating in 19th century ways for the 21st century worl...more
Connie Hall
I loved this book! It was sort of over my head with "gaming mechanics", etc... but I learned so much and was astounded by some of the things I learned. We are using twentieth century methods for teaching, assessment, workplace, etc., which are antiquated in light of the digital world. Now You See It reveals all the work being done to get the world up to speed! Very exciting, sometimes intimidating, stuff! Highly recommend it!!!
Bruce
This is an excellent thoughtfull and thought producing book.
I never knew how standardized testing came to being.
I have been asking how it is that we test critical thinking by means of a multiple choice test, and should that be our only goal.

It also covers how things are changing in the workplace and the world.

I recommend everyone to at least take a look at this book.
Yagiz Erkan
Very interesting book, even though it was less "scientific" than I expected (not necessarily a bad thing). Highly recommended for people who are interested in learning/teaching and how our brains cope with the era that we live in. It is also interesting and very frustrating to see the century-old approaches and methods that we apply to learning and working.
Joe
Davidson argues that a focus on old, linear ways of thinking may blind us to new forms of attention and intelligence emerging in our digital era. Fair enough, but there is a cheerleading quality to the argument that wore me down pretty quickly. Also, not a whole lot of actual science discussed.
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Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn (Kindle Edition)
Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn (ebook)
Now You See It: How Technology and Brain Science Will Transform Schools and Business for the 21st Century (Paperback)
Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn (Audio CD)
Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn (Audio CD)

Cathy N. Davidson served from 1998 until 2006 as the first Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University, where she worked with faculty to help create many programs, including the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and the program in Information Science + Information Studies (ISIS). She is the co-founder of Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Advanced Collaboratory, HASTAC (ha...more
More about Cathy N. Davidson...
36 Views of Mount Fuji: On Finding Myself in Japan Revolution and the Word: The Rise of the Novel in America The Future of Learning Institutions in a Digital Age Reading in America: Literature and Social History The Book of Love: Writers and their Love Letters

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