Will Right Brainers Rule the Future?

A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel Pink Of all the non-fiction books I read last year (and I’m a geek so I tend to read many!) this one ‘stayed’ with me enough to tell others about it. It is a provocative little book and it uses the metaphor of the two sides of our brain to make some very compelling arguments. “Lawyers. Accountants. Computer programmers. That's what our parents encouraged us to become when we grew up. But Mom and Dad were wrong. The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind. The era of "left brain" dominance, and the Information Age that it engendered, are giving way to a new world in which "right brain" qualities - inventiveness, empathy, meaning-predominate.” Pink talks about 6 kinds of “senses” that will predicate our professional and personal success - design, story, symphony, empathy, play and meaning. He sees these skills as essential in the new economy. I won’t go into what each of them are here, but I believe the ideas are definitely worth exploring. While I can see many disagreeing with some of his premises, there is no denying some of the research that he cites in the book. While I believe this was probably aimed at a business audience initially, I believe teachers and parents can find some valuable insights in this book. For parents who are homeschooling their children or who have children who are gifted and/or just don’t ‘fit’ the current classroom and are having behavioral issues, I urge you to add this to your reading list.