The Seventh Sense: Power, Fortune, and Survival in the Age of Networks

The basic concept here is that “networks” are the Next Big Thing. Everything in the world is interconnected, and “the seventh sense” is our ability to sense those connections, and think in terms of networks, rather than just isolated things.

I think. It’s tough to tell.

First of all, the author was all over the place on what defined a “network.” One second, he’s talking about computer networks, then he’s talking about political networks, then personal networks, etc. I get it – there are a lot of interconnected things that might be considered a “network,” but are they the same? Is the nature of a computer network the same as a political network?

Second, the author’s writing style was maddening. Lots of stream-of-consciousness and rhetorical questions. And so many anecdotes. He would go off on some long-winded tangent about…whatever. At one point I was reading about a Zulu attack on a British colony in Africa, and I’m thinking, “What the hell does this have to do with anything?”

The book did get me thinking about networks a bit, so I appreciate that. But the book was just insanely frustrating and opaque.