What do you think?
Rate this book
Noticing: How we Attend to the World and Each Other
What does it mean to 'notice' something? To really see it. In his exhilarating quest to help us notice better, Ziyad Marar poses a deceptively simple 'what are you good at noticing?' In the process of 'noticing what we notice' we re-attune to questions of perception, orientation, and above all, How do we walk the wrong way down the street without being aware of it? What is happening in us when our eyes pass unseeing over a familiar face in a crowded restaurant? Are we looking up into the sky, or down at the ground? And when we notice what we notice, and what we overlook, what do we learn about ourselves?
In a triple corkscrew of philosophy, psychology and art, particularly literature, Marar unwinds the impenetrable tangles of noticing in a world replete with distractions, interruptions and, at times, horror. Invisible gorillas, con artists and magicians are among the unlikely assistants enlisted in the task of trying to work out not just what noticing is, but what it could be; a practice of deeply minded attention, of thoughtful witnessing. In the end, our noticing is tied up with the very core of our humanity – the capacity to connect, to care, to attend to others and the world.
In a triple corkscrew of philosophy, psychology and art, particularly literature, Marar unwinds the impenetrable tangles of noticing in a world replete with distractions, interruptions and, at times, horror. Invisible gorillas, con artists and magicians are among the unlikely assistants enlisted in the task of trying to work out not just what noticing is, but what it could be; a practice of deeply minded attention, of thoughtful witnessing. In the end, our noticing is tied up with the very core of our humanity – the capacity to connect, to care, to attend to others and the world.
245 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 4, 2025
15 people want to read
About the author
Ziyad Marar
8 books7 followersZiyad Marar is an author and President of Global Publishing at SAGE Publishing.
Marar was born in 1966 in Baghdad, Iraq, then lived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Beirut, Lebanon before moving with his family to London in the late 1970s.
He attended Exeter University where he obtained a BSc in psychology. He completed an MA in the philosophy and psychology of language from Birkbeck, University of London.
Marar joined SAGE in 1989 and has worked across all aspects of publishing. He was appointed Editorial Director in 1997, Deputy Managing Director in 2006, and took on a more global role in 2010 as Global Publishing Director. In 2016, Marar was promoted to President, Global Publishing where he has overall responsibility for SAGE's publishing strategy .
In recent years at SAGE, Marar has also focused on supporting the social sciences more generally. He has spoken and written on this theme in various international contexts.
In early 2015 was appointed to the board of the Campaign for Social Science (CfSS) and in 2020 he was elected as a fellow of the Academy of Social Science, an event he reflected on in a widely read article for Social Science Space. In 2015, Marar was invited to sit on the board of trustees for the UK academic news site, The Conversation.
He also sits on the boards of the Big House Theatre Company, and The Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights.
He lives in London with his wife and three daughters.
Marar was born in 1966 in Baghdad, Iraq, then lived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Beirut, Lebanon before moving with his family to London in the late 1970s.
He attended Exeter University where he obtained a BSc in psychology. He completed an MA in the philosophy and psychology of language from Birkbeck, University of London.
Marar joined SAGE in 1989 and has worked across all aspects of publishing. He was appointed Editorial Director in 1997, Deputy Managing Director in 2006, and took on a more global role in 2010 as Global Publishing Director. In 2016, Marar was promoted to President, Global Publishing where he has overall responsibility for SAGE's publishing strategy .
In recent years at SAGE, Marar has also focused on supporting the social sciences more generally. He has spoken and written on this theme in various international contexts.
In early 2015 was appointed to the board of the Campaign for Social Science (CfSS) and in 2020 he was elected as a fellow of the Academy of Social Science, an event he reflected on in a widely read article for Social Science Space. In 2015, Marar was invited to sit on the board of trustees for the UK academic news site, The Conversation.
He also sits on the boards of the Big House Theatre Company, and The Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights.
He lives in London with his wife and three daughters.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 3, 2025
Woohoo! An early reviewer, this never happens!
"Noticing" offers a thought-provoking and captivating exploration of how our observations both shape and are shaped by our worldview. Drawing on numerous examples from modern literature and psychology, Marar examines the contrast between the "spotlight" noticing of adults and the "lantern" noticing of children (and what each can learn from the other), the politics and morality of who and what gets noticed, the deeper relationship between noticing, perception, and impact, and much more. Marar also spends time explaining the role of noticing in human evolution. Personally, I find the evolutionary purpose and origins of psychological principles to be the most fascinating part of learning about them, so I was particularly intrigued by this.
While this book reads more academically dense than I had initially suspected in my picking it up (and rightfully so, as I later discovered it is published by Bloomsbury Academic), I think Marar does a great job of keeping the subject matter intriguing and engaging throughout. My only complaint is that I would've liked an even longer section on the morality and politics of noticing, as well as how the things we notice can give us information about ourselves and others. He does explore these areas, I just found them to be the most interesting of the book and wanted to spend more time there.
"Noticing" offers a thought-provoking and captivating exploration of how our observations both shape and are shaped by our worldview. Drawing on numerous examples from modern literature and psychology, Marar examines the contrast between the "spotlight" noticing of adults and the "lantern" noticing of children (and what each can learn from the other), the politics and morality of who and what gets noticed, the deeper relationship between noticing, perception, and impact, and much more. Marar also spends time explaining the role of noticing in human evolution. Personally, I find the evolutionary purpose and origins of psychological principles to be the most fascinating part of learning about them, so I was particularly intrigued by this.
While this book reads more academically dense than I had initially suspected in my picking it up (and rightfully so, as I later discovered it is published by Bloomsbury Academic), I think Marar does a great job of keeping the subject matter intriguing and engaging throughout. My only complaint is that I would've liked an even longer section on the morality and politics of noticing, as well as how the things we notice can give us information about ourselves and others. He does explore these areas, I just found them to be the most interesting of the book and wanted to spend more time there.
Displaying 1 of 1 review