You might be judge Alito, or you might be a couch potato. But all of you out there might find it helpful to read A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink, Al Gore's former chief speechwriter, the guy who also wrote Free Agent Nation.
Like all faddish books, the book proposes nothing short of a revolution about the way we conceptualize our work in the near future. Abundance, Automation, Asia(in no particular order), the authors claims, are taking away all the left-brain white collar jobs. The future belongs to those R-Directed people. The future belongs to people who has highly developed senses of design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning.
The author seems to suggest that the information age will also come to pass just like its predecessor, the industrial age, and still further, the agricultural age. And then follows the conceptual age will eliminate quite a number of jobs. This might sound alarmist, but think of what Bill Ford has done to families and families of workers who used to think that Ford means security.
However, terms like the information age, conceptual age are innately problematic. If you are 20 this year, you cannot be 19 like last year. Information age, conceputal age, etc do not work this way. People use these metaphorically, but still, they mislead. These ages are rather waves of development. Or rather, to use the author's own term, it is a symphony of various sectors at play at all ages.
This being said, you might still find the book insightful. You can always take the views with a grain of salt, and you don't have to accept any of its conclusions, but these six senses really help you to see things that unfold before you in ways you never see before. It's the Joshua's tree epiphany.
Yesterday, I heard a talk on the radio. A guy called in to the radio host, and the host asks: "What do you do for a living?" The guy answers:"I an instructional designer designing training materials for the corporate setting." The host snapped:"I am sorry for you."
I am sorry for the host too, for carrying his old mind.
Review
《全新思维》热门书评
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情商的秘密
124有用 5无用 铂程斋@喷嚏网 2008-08-19
(一) 有一次,小满问老鸟:具备什么样素质的人才算得上优秀的项目经理?老鸟给他讲了一个故事: 每一年,我们都会参加很多项目的招标会。有时,为了给一些后备的项目经理一些培训的机会,都会由老同事带着一起去经历一下。这对于一些一直从事技术工作的同事,非常重要。 去年,项目总监...
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每个人会获益的一本书!
54有用 1无用 古道 2007-04-10
《全新思维》丹尼尔•平克 每个人会获益的一本书!《全新思维》强调的是最近比较火的“右脑”,最近右脑、全脑的话题真的很多,不过经典的不是很多,但这本还真的不错。这本书是在我看来为数不多的思想上有些新东西的一本,作者强调了“六大感知:设计感(Design),故事感(Story),交响能力(Symphon...
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只能算是一本不错的畅销书
18有用 2无用 偷得浮生半日闲 2007-05-22
花了一天的时间,看完了这本书,没有什么惊喜的感觉。这本书有着欧美畅销书的通病,把本来几十页可以完成的一本书注水拉长到将近两百页。冗长的毛病是跑不了的。但如果谈到内容的话,大家看一下《设计感》和《故事感》就ok了,其他的实在是老生长谈的东西。...
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左撇子们有福了
18有用 0无用 南桥 2006-02-03
我去心理辅导系拜访其系主任的时候,系主任听说我是“课程设计者”,立刻推荐我看这本书(书中提到的六大新思维第一个就是设计)。看此书过程中,我推荐他给我的老板马伯特,马伯特说:“巧了,某某某系一教授也推荐我看此书。同时有两个人推荐我看这本书,看来我不得不看了。”看来这本书在我们学校流行起来了,这非常奇怪...
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将艺术融入生活
17有用 6无用 海上飞舟 2007-05-11
这是一本只有在美国文化背景下才会写出的一本书。杜威的实用主义美学打通了生活经验和审美活动的联系,于是,将艺术经验用于生活实践也是顺理成章的事情。 看了这本书,能让人明白艺术并非只能存活在象牙塔中,领悟者完全...