Review: The Seventh Sense
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2 stars. I think the most surprising thing about this book for me was that … it wasn’t actually all that surprising. I don’t know if it’s because I read it after the 2016 election or after the Zuckerberg testimony, or maybe because I’ve really never known a world that’s unconnected, but it really wasn’t all that … enlightening.
Now, I grew up during a time when a lot of technology was emerging in the average household, and I, like everyone else my age, asked for a cell phone, asked for a screenname, asked for internet time and was told absolutely not – I was taught, essentially, not to trust it. My parents were always vocal about the risks and the threats out there.
So the idea that the connected nature of the world must be considered at all levels of decision-making, analysis, problem-solving, etc. was not particularly groundbreaking to me. I also felt, as someone who is not interested in managing another person let alone world domination, there weren’t many actionable takeaways for an average consumer who understands the nature and the implications of this networked world and enjoys it anyway.
I was impressed with the writing, I appreciated the historical context and the references and the quotes and the pithy phrases – it’s very accessible – and I certainly enjoyed learning and flexing my philosophical muscles – but it didn’t spark anything in me. If anything, it just reinforced something that I’ve always known but perhaps never could never articulate – to me, the author tried to package an existing thread of mainstream thinking as a revelation. The fact that the evolution of networks is omniscient, constantly evolving and should be remembered … considered … recognized everywhere is an important diagnosis, but an unoriginal one.