Look: How to Pay Attention in a Distracted World by Christian Madsbjerg

Look: How to Pay Attention in a Distracted World Reviews

• 
  Grant Baker

  I was expecting more from Christian Madsbjerg as I have very much enjoyed his other books. He spent a long time story telling in the first half of the book which could have been shorter. The second half on putting theory to practice was ok. It had some insights but it felt like there was always something more he could be sharing about the act of observing. It’s hard to pin down a particular main idea of the book, but if I had to it would be to commit yourself to seeing the truth. What is really happening is not always what is obvious.
  
  I wrote an article that mentions this book:
  
  
  https://www.bakoindustries.com/luxury...
• 
  Arthur Drury

  I picked this up after seeing a review by Meghan Gurdon in WSJ. It turns out that review was completely misleading. E.g., the book actually has no useful discussion of Husserl. CM mentioned some books probably worth following up on (e.g., Gillian Tett & Ernesto Laclau). So, not a complete waste of time. But, basically a puff for consulting business with lots of deep lines like: just look at what's really there to get valuable insights. Gee.
• 
  JJ Bellfrey

  I picked this up after seeing a review by Meghan Gurdon in Wall Street Journal. It turns out that review was completely misleading. The book felt more like a summary of various schools of philosophical theories. The chapters were disjointed and felt more like individual essays combined into a singular book. The conclusion was really bothering more than a plug for the author’s consulting business. What I came away with is the best way to pay attention in a distracted world is: just look at what's really there to get valuable insights.
• 
  Ryan Boissonneault

  Although abstract models of the world are undoubtedly beneficial, we should remember that any model must, by definition, be less complex than the phenomena it is meant to describe. This helps us to focus on the essentials of systems that are otherwise too complex, so that we can better navigate the world and make decisions. High-level concepts expressed in terms like “capitalism,” “socialism,” “religion,” “science,” “markets,” “liberalism,” “conservatism,” “bias,” and so on equip us with the mental tools necessary to understand the world in a more efficient, short-hand manner.
  
  But this doesn’t come without a cost. Over-reliance on abstract ideas and models kills our powers of observation, oversimplifies complex phenomena, and ultimately results in conformity and group-think. It also primes us to observe precisely what we expect to observe, versus what is actually the case. And if this isn’t a perfect description of most social media interactions—filled with hastily considered ideological garbage—I don’t know what is.
  
  In Look: How to Pay Attention in a Distracted World, philosopher Christian Madsbjerg teaches us how to re-learn the powers of observation by utilizing the skills and insights of phenomenology, an underappreciated branch of philosophy developed in the early twentieth century. Phenomenology teaches us that, by truly observing the world around you—and not relying on statistics, reports, preconceived notions, opinions, and dogmas—you will gain a deeper understanding of human nature and behavior and the cultural background that, in large part, predetermines your very experiences.
  
  Madsbjerg uses a variety of examples from the worlds of art, philosophy, business, and politics to show how our preconceptions get in the way of real insight and creativity. It can cause us to miss big things like the 2008 financial crisis (by focusing on the “foreground” of complex security trading and ignoring the “background” of subprime, risky loans) and smaller things like how over-aggressive body language and distancing limits the effectiveness of salespeople. The bottom line is that, when we enter the world of observation without preconceived notions as to what we’ll find, we’re often surprised at what we actually discover.
  
  Whether this message requires a book-level elaboration is perhaps another question. In fact, one observation some readers may make is that Look—a relatively long book with what appears to be a rather simple, if difficult to implement, message—can be summarized in four words: Observe first, theorize later.
  
  It is true that, if you get this reversed, and begin theorizing too early, you’re going to miss out on how things really work by oversimplifying complex phenomena according to whatever abstract model you’re operating under, or, rather, whatever your understanding, however limited, of that model is.
  
  But this begs the question: If observation is so important, what is it, exactly, that we should be observing? According to Madsbjerg, we should observe both the foreground and the background of any situation or experience. It is especially critical to pay equal attention to what isn’t said or discussed as to what is, which Madsbjerg explains through one of the more powerful examples in the book—Financial Times editor Gillian Tett’s prediction of the 2008 financial crisis.
  
  Tett saw what everyone else missed by focusing on what no one else was talking about—the “social silence”—as Madsbjerg refers to it. When covering financial events and conferences, Tett noticed that top finance officials were focused exclusively on the trading of new, complex securities, but that no one ever mentioned the human needs these securities satisfied or the people they ultimately relied upon.
  
  The extremely risky loans underlying these advanced derivatives were completely flying under the radar based on conceptual models of risk management that distorted the reality of the situation. Only by truly observing what was happening—including what was being ignored—could Tett transcend the limitations of group-think and observe a more accurate picture of non-sustainable financial strain on homeowners and imminent financial collapse.
  
  So here, then, are the lessons of the book: Observe first, theorize later; pay attention to what is being ignored; don’t rely on abstract models, preconceived notions, or ideology before you take in data; and resist the urge to smugly explain the world with cliched, vacuous terms. These are all wonderful, timely lessons.
  
  But it turns out that things are not this simple, either. For instance, it’s not always the case that you can just go out into the world, passively observe data, and then expect this to eventually crystalize into some profound insight. Oftentimes, maybe even most of the time, you need an idea of what you’re looking for to begin with: a working hypothesis, or model, of what you’re trying to investigate. (And isn’t phenomenology itself a model?)
  
  One example should suffice to demonstrate the point. We know that confirming Einstein’s theory of relativity was done by measuring gravity’s ability to bend light during an eclipse. It would be entirely unreasonable, however, to suppose that one could have attained the insight of general relativity simply from observing an eclipse without any “preconceived notions.” The way we take in data, and how we ultimately interpret it, is often dependent on a model of reality that focuses our attention on pertinent details we would otherwise miss. And so Madsbjerg may be overstating his case, exemplified in his failure to consider any counter examples.
  
  Either way, despite the repetition, overemphasis on stories, and exaggeration of his case, the general idea that we should attempt to explore the world with a more open mind, free from the constraints of overly simplistic models, is well-received.
  
• 
  Venky

  In 1967, J.A. Baker, an unpretentious individual from Essex, who left school at the age of sixteen to work, first with the Automobile Association, and subsequently, with the soft drink manufacturer, Britvic, wrote a slim volume titled The Peregrine. Subsequently attaining renown as one of the best books written on the art of observation, The Peregrine regales its readers about Baker’s predilection with a peregrine falcon. Over a prolonged period of following the bird, the observer becomes the observed. ‘Once you have started to observe a phenomenon, you must find yourself obsessed by it, or the observations will be of little value.’
  
  Christian Madsbjerg exhorts his readers to cultivate the art of ‘hyper reflection’, a practice of seeing the unseen, listening to the lessons imparted by silence, and absorbing the essence that lays unexploited and unexplored in the background as against the noise and cacophony in the foreground. Usually, our observations are restricted to the loudest voice in the room, the most vitriolic placard or the social media that generates the maximum degree of clamour.
  
  Madsbjerg strives to divert the attention of his readers from the foreground to the background by employing three fundamental building blocks of a philosophy known as phenomenology. The three building blocks reduced to their most simplistic structure assert that:
  
  observation is a study of experiences.
  it’s not what people think but how; and
  observation should not be substituted by opinion.
  Phenomenology when explained in its most reductionist context, means describing the human experience of things directly without any judgment or preconceived notion. As the famous French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty exclaimed, “to the things themselves”. Merleau-Ponty often reminisced about the wonder of looking through a keyhole. Human perception at first permits us to see inside the hidden world and comprehending the same in a spatial manner as a vast place despite the limitations of the keyhole. Fascinatingly, the observer can seamlessly shift back into her experience of life in a full-size body. This experiment highlights in a searing manner the experience of observing the world.
  
  The German physicist Franz Boas upended the conventional norms in founding the subject of cultural anthropology during his field research in the Baffin Islands. His theory rends asunder the commonly accepted notions of superior Western values that relegated a non-Western existence to the realms of the inferior and inconsequential. Boas patiently listened to and looked at the people who were the subject of his research. He neither formed judgments nor crafted opinions. He just watched. And continued watching. He observed that human beings had the capability to endlessly adapt – in terms of both their individual bodies and in the communities created by them. This technique was adopted to astounding success by Boas’ protégé, Margaret Mead on her own anthropological expedition in the Samoan Islands.
  
  It therefore comes as no surprise to read that some of the most skilled anthropologists argue that observation is never sufficient until you can see the ghosts of others. The ghost of the observed subsumes into the ghost of the observer. As Madsbjerg writes, ‘When you have given yourself over fully to the act of observation, you must allow for self-transformation.’
  
  Robert Caro the biographer who produced the magisterial five-volume tome on Lyndon Johnson spent long hours in the vast, sparse, and desolate setting of rural Texas in preparation for completely understanding his protagonist. Madsbjerg provides some innovative tools and techniques for honing our observation skills and to be more aware of what French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu terms “doxa”. Operating at a sub-conscious level, doxa is a bouquet of implicit beliefs that limits and even impairs our ability to see beyond the most influential and trending cultural frameworks that have a bearing on our thinking. The muted and almost unnoticed presence of a group of gruff and unappealing farmers in a village ball where all the attention was captured by sprightly bachelors who had migrated to more urban settings, led Bourdieu to write his most powerful book, The Bachelor’s Ball: The Crisis of Peasant Society in Bearn.
  
  The next time you observe any bird soaring across the vast expanse of the sky, please remember J. A. Baker and his inspiring words, “the hunter must become the hunted. What is, is now, must have the quivering intensity of an arrow thudding into a tree. Yesterday is dim and monochrome. A week ago, you were not born. Persist, endure, follow, watch.”
• 
  Jiwon Kim

  Philosophy is not an easy topic, and I think Christian Madsbjerg tried. But my mind wandered especially towards the end. There were some great parts, and I think he is an intersting person: When are you going to meet a Danish who grew up in a communist community? Someone whose job was to observe? Someone who turns to falcons for inspiration?
  
  Some of my favorite quotes:
  1. An observation provides description, but an insight gives us pause.
  2. Merleau-Ponty understood that what we see is not a direct reflection of what is in the world of reality around us. Perception does not just happen inside us; we change what we see to reflect who and where we are in the world.
  3. We base so many of our macro and micro decisions on large data sets that record what happened, but how much attention do we put on what goes unrecorded? When you ask who was in attendance, do you also look at who was left out? When a person is speaking, do you also observe who is choosing not to speak? These social silences show us what matters. We can never truly know what happens in a place or a context unless we also know what doesn't happen.
• 
  Isabel Escamill

  Tenía altas expectativas de este libro por el título pero me decepcione muchísimo conforme lo iba leyendo, siento que realmente no te enseña mucho y me dio esa vibe de que el autor piensa que está diciéndonos algo que puede cambiar nuestra percepción de cómo ver a las cosas pero realmente nunca logra transmitir esa idea mediante sus capítulos, para mí el libro fue un poco tedioso y en ocasiones lo único que quería era saltarme el capítulo porque todo el contenido era demasiado irritante en cuanto a la información, siento que solo da como explicaciones de otras personas y proyectos y en lo personal eso no me gustó, quería saber más acerca de cómo ver en un mundo distraído.
  
  Si quieren leer este libro: el único capítulo decente es el último y es donde hace un recap de todo, pero lo único que te deja ‘un’ aprendizaje son los headlines.
  
  No lo recomiendo, no leí nada nuevo, solo cosas clichés sobre observar
• 
  Linda

  A great premise—why and how we should look/observe more carefully, but the execution is weak and not what I imagined from the title. I was expecting a self-help type of book, and the background, history, and philosophy were rather interesting. They laid a good foundation and I was looking forward to learning things that would increase my vision and understanding and enrich my life but then he went off into business and entrepreneurship which was not what I was seeking. Yes, he did share a few tips of observation through the arts but he didn’t go deep or broad enough. The last chapter about J A Baker and his detailed observations of a peregrine falcon was very interesting and worth enduring to the end. I’ve already put the Baker book on hold at my local library. In summary, the book is OK with a few moments of great insight.
• 
  Lexi

  I would give 0.5 stars If I could.
  This was one of the worst books I ever read.
  -Soo many examples which didn’t help at all
  -horribly structured
  -should be titled different ASAP (maybe the observers throughout time or smth)
  -boring just so boring didn’t learn anything new
  
  My advice:
  Do not read this
  
  (It took me 6 months for a reason. I just Dnfed it in January on page 80 and recently gave it another „chance“ which it didn’t deserve)
• 
  Rachelle

  Look... this book was well written, and focused on biographies of great observers from history, just wasn't what the title promised or what I expected. Reader can glean some knowledge from the actions of the past, but this book should have offered a more futuristic approach in this digital age.
• 
  Matt Johnson

  A rare perspective on perspective
  
  “Look” provides a captivating dive into the phenomenology of perception. While that may seem abstract, the author breaks it down and brings it into the real world - into every day experiences
• 
  Jessica Pait

  Interesting concepts that focus on science, philosophy, and psychology. One term I took away is "social silence." It references what is not being said in social settings but really any environment (including the media). It's something I'm going to focus on more moving forward.
• 
  Jo

  Mid. Says very little with a lot of words. The author mentions some of the more interesting research they've done but talks about none of it. The whole gist is look without judging first and you'll see more. Truly revolutionary.
• 
  David

  Review to come
• 
  Kayla

  not really what I expected or was looking for so I'm giving up.
• 
  Florian

  I didn‘t expect the book to be mainly a collection of historical stories and was looking more for a guide and some studies and not just anecdotes.