my mind on books

In A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, author Daniel H. Pink maintains that forces of “Asia, automation, and abundance” are leading to a change from the Information Age to what he terms the “Conceptual Age,” which calls for the development of “right-brained” abilities:

Design – not just function

Story – not just argument

Symphony – not just focus

Empathy – not just logic

Play – not just seriousness

Pink includes suggestions and resources for developing each of the six skills, and I’ve enjoyed exploring many of them. Some of the books he recommends –

Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting,

Beethoven’s Anvil: Music in Mind and Culture,

How to See: A Guide to Reading Our Man-Made Environment,

The Muse Learns to Write: Reflections on Orality and Literacy from Antiquity to the Present, and

What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy….

Link to Dan Pink’s blog.

Howard Gardner recently published a book with a similar theme: Five Minds for the Future – his “five minds” are disciplined, synthesizing, creating, respectful and ethical.