The Art of Noticing

This book enhances the concept of reexamining matters we have become accustomed to and relegated to the corners of our memories. It stimulates the sense of attention, which is considered the seventh sense. While the five primary senses are sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch, the sixth sense is intuition. This book posits the existence of a seventh sense that adds another dimension to all six senses combined: the sense of attention.The art of observation guides us through five levels of attention, ranging from seeing and sensing to wandering, connecting with others, and solitude. Rob Walker, the author of this book, explains that multi-awareness—the mental state defined by a researcher as the division of our attention between the physical world and the virtual realm accessed through our smart devices—undermines effective relationships between people and the objects in the real world around us in the present moment.