This morning I read an interesting review of a book over at the von Mises Institute. The book, A whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel Pink made me sit up and take notice.
To quote the article:
In his bestselling book, A whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, Pink argues that the future belongs to those who can recognize patterns, empathize with others, be creative, and provide meaning to peoples' lives.
The left hemisphere of our brains handles the logical, sequential, and analytical heavy lifting, while the right hemisphere is our intuitive, holistic, and nonlinear side. The job market has put a premium on left-brain work and, to the extent that education trains workers, it focuses on left-brain thinking. Pink contends that technology, globalization, and material abundance are now sending simple paper-pushing white-collar professions the way of the buggy whip.
Now I'm sure you're wondering what ADD (I prefer ADD to ADHD) has to do with this book. Since I am an adult blessed with ADD, I recognized an almost perfect description of this "condition."
People with ADD operate the majority of the time from their right brain. Growing up and being educated at a time when little was known about this was a bit dicey, but I survived and in many areas, actually flourished. In my early years I heard the litany of, "if she'd just buckle down and work" or, "she's so smart, if only she would focus" blah, blah, blah.
Well, guess what? I may not have been able to memorize my multiplication tables, but I could always see the patterns in math. The world just wasn't ready to recognize this fact. And while the left brain folks are having a meeting, forming a steering committee, or nitpicking a subject to death, the ADD'ers are asking, "what's the simplest and best way to get something done" - and then they're doing it.
Those who can tell or write stories will thrive, according to Pink. With all the world's facts and figures a click away at virtually no cost, the storyteller's ability to provide "context enriched by emotion" is what will be prized. Success in the "Conceptual Age" will mean understanding the connections between diverse disciplines — what the author refers to as "symphony ."
One of the important elements of symphony is the use of metaphor or "imaginative rationality" to see relationships, communicate ideas, and understand others.
