Editorial Review:
We live in a time of vast changes. And those changes call for entirely new ways of learning and thinking. In Five Minds for the Future: Howard Gardner defines the cognitive abilities that will command a premium in the years ahead: - the disciplinary mind—mastery of major schools of thought (including science, mathematics, and history) and of at least one professional craft
- the synthesizing mind—ability to integrate ideas from different disciplines or spheres into a coherent whole and to communicate that integration to others
- the creating mind—capacity to uncover and clarify new problems, questions, and phenomena
- the respectful mind—awareness of and appreciation for differences among human beings and human groups
- the ethical mind—fulfillment of one’s responsibilities as a worker and citizen
World-renowned for his theory of multiple intelligences, Gardner takes that thinking to the next level in this book, drawing from a wealth of diverse examples to illuminate his ideas. Concise and engaging, Five Minds for the Future will inspire lifelong learning in any reader as well as provide valuable insights for those charged with training and developing organizational leaders—both today and tomorrow.
Cached date: AWS Called=true
You may also be interested in these products:
These categories may also be of interest to you:
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Rating: 
Five Minds for the Technology Professional  2008-04-22
Howard Gardner, Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, is a psychologist and author known for his theory of multiple intelligences. Application of his theory, especially for education, has been controversial. But I think his latest book, Five Minds for the Future, is a must read for technology professionals.
His thesis is that, "...vast changes that include accelerating globalization, mounting quantities of information, the growing hegemony of science and technology, and the clash of civilizations," requires, "capabilities that, until now, have been mere options." He describes "Five Minds," or cognitive abilities that will command a premium in the years ahead:
1. The Disciplinary Mind -- the mastery of major schools of thought (including science, mathematics, and history) and of at least one professional craft.
2. The Synthesizing Mind -- the ability to integrate ideas from different disciplines or spheres into a coherent whole and to communicate that integration to others.
3. The Creating Mind -- the capacity to uncover and clarify new problems, questions and phenomena.
4. The Respectful Mind -- awareness of and appreciation for differences among human beings and human groups.
5. The Ethical Mind -- fulfillment of one's responsibilities as a worker and as a citizen.
While the book is not directed specifically at technology professionals, I found much of what he said echoed characteristics of the most effective people I know: deep domain expertise, intellectual curiosity, creativity, global perspective, knowledge of and respect for diverse cultures, and teamwork. It is and will continue to be possible for anyone with a few of these characteristics to succeed in technology, but I believe those who excel and assume positions of leadership will exhibit all of these abilities.
Insight into five pivotal thinking habits 2008-03-27
Howard Gardner is a man of many minds. The Harvard psychologist, MacArthur "genius grant" recipient and prolific author started a revolution when he claimed that human capability couldn't be reduced to a single metric. Rather than accepting IQ as the whole story of cognitive capacity, Gardner said people have "multiple intelligences," a notion he popularized in his 1983 book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligence. Twenty-five years later, Gardner is still producing influential work on human mental skills and capabilities. In this clear, eminently useful book, Gardner describes five cognitive capacities that he predicts will be in most demand in the future and which everyone should practice. While he describes them metaphorically as "minds," these forms of thought are neither wholly innate nor immutable. All people can, through diligent practice, cultivate their disciplined mind, their synthesizing mind, their creative mind, their respectful mind and their ethical mind - and they should. Given accelerating technological change and vast increases in the flow of information and the necessity of working closely with many different kinds of people worldwide, getAbstract is of a mind to recommend this book to managers who are trying to think ahead.
Five Minds for the Future 2008-02-08
The author gives his excellent perception of today's requirements for good functioning in the world.
Not for the average reader  2007-12-05
There is no doubt that Howard Gardner is highly intelligent and a deep thinker. He has done a considerable amount of research, study, contemplation and reflection on what sort of thinking will be necessary for the future of man. It does not take much study or research to come to the conclusion that our current lifestyle is not sustainable. But as noble an effort as Gardner has undertaken, he did not write this book for the average reader. In fact, his style of writing almost guarantees that the average reader will not put it on their reading list.
I picked one page at random and typed it into a word processing program and then had the program measure the readability using the Flesch readability scale. That page scored a 29%. For the average reader to comprehend what they are reading, it should score above 60%. This style of writing, with the long and often complex sentence structure makes for slow reading.
Gardner, like most highly educated professors, writes in the language that his peers will understand and accept. Unfortunately, the average person will spend too much time looking up obscure words or simply give up.
I believe Gardner is correct in that our educational policy is doing a poor job at present and unless some changes are made will fall farther behind in the task of developing students who are capable of developing the five minds of the future.
The five minds which Gardner advances are: the disciplined mind, the synthesizing mind, the creative mind, the respectful mind and the ethical mind. He does a good job of pointing out the recent cost to society of failure to develop and maintain disciplined and ethical mind in business. He cites the examples of Enron and Arthur Andersen.
There is no doubt that the message is vitally important. My problem with the book is not the value of the content but what I see as the failure to communicate in a way that will make the ideas and information useful to a larger audience.
Smart and Complex 2007-11-29
Summarizing the history of learning methods and techniques, this read is a complex one, with the purpose of renovating the way we think and prepare our minds for the real life.
|
|
|
|
