How is the economic downturn affecting the rise of right-brain thinking? It seems to be accelerating and deepening the three forces — Abundance, Asia, and Automation — that A Whole New Mind argues have been tilting the scales in favor of artistic, empathic abilities.Take Asia. As companies cut costs to stay alive, more and more routine work is heading […]
The core argument of AWNM is that left-brain abilities remain absolutely necessary — but that in a world of Asia, automation, and abundance, they’re no longer sufficient. The current BusinessWeek cites new research that offers another factual brick in this wall: “A new study concludes that social skills can be a better predictor of future earnings than
In what has to be a first, Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has been placing ads . . . in videogames. According to The Hill, ads are appearing in “Madden NFL 09,” “NASCAR 09,” and seven other games on the Xbox 360 system.As Walter Alarkon explains:“Only gamers playing online in 10 states can see the ads, which
The audiobook of A Whole New Mind is — finally! — available. You can find it on Audible at this link — or on iTunes by searching “whole new mind unabridged”.
Forgive the self-indulgence, but this weekend turns out to be an opportune moment for a quick update on the bestseller lists.A Whole New Mind is #20 on Sunday’s NY Times non-fiction list (marking its 29th consecutive week in the top 25.) It’s also #6 on the new NY Times business list (down from #5 last month, but in its 10th
American medical schools, those bastions of left-brain muscle-flexing, continue their march toward whole-mindedness. Yesterday’s Boston Globe reports that Harvard Medical School has followed the lead of places like Mount Sinai Medical College and begun taking its students to art museums. The goal: To improve young physicians’ observation and diagnostic skills.This isn’t about the artsy-fartsy or touchy-feely. It’s about dollars
“If every artist in the American workforce banded together, their ranks would be double the size of the U.S. Army. More Americans identify their primary occupation as artist than as lawyer, doctor, police officer or farm worker.”(Source: NY Times, 6/12/08, citing a new NEA report)
Sometimes when I go out and talk about the ideas in AWNM, I have time do some exercises with the audience. And one of my new favorites is the six-word memoir,which helps demonstrate and hone the power of story. The idea comes from the endlessly entertaining book, Not Quite What I Was Planning, in which people famous
