Get prepared for the Conceptual Age where meaning is the new money, says Daniel H. Pink in his book, A Whole New Mind, Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future.
The future, according to Pink, belongs to a very different kind of mind than we value today. We are moving from the Information Age, which values logical, linear, computer-like capabilities, to the Conceptual Age, which values inventive, empathetic, big-picture capabilities.
That means artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, and counselors–Right-Brained thinkers, the “emotionally astute and creatively adroit whose distinctive abilities the Information Age has often overlooked and undervalued.”
Pink gives three social and economic reasons why R-Directed aptitudes are grabbing the wheel.
- Abundance: Freed from the struggle for survival, we are now searching for meaning.
- Asia: Workers abroad can do L-Directed work equally well for less money
- Automation: Computers are better, faster, and stronger than humans when it comes to jobs that can be reduced to a set of rules, or broken down into a set of repeatable steps.”
We’ve gone from the Agricultural Age (farm workers) to the Industrial Age (factory workers) to the Information Age (knowledge workers) to the Conceptual Age (creators and empathizers).
From backs to left brains to right brains.
From IQ (Intelligence Quotient) to EQ (Emotional Intelligence).
Pink shares six R-Directed aptitudes we will need to master for future success.
- Design: Ability to create something that is both functional AND meaningful.
- Story: Ability to put facts in context enriched by emotion.
- Symphony: Ability to see the big-picture.
- Empathy: Ability to stand in others’ shoes.
- Play: Ability for laughter, lighheartedness, games, and humor.
- Meaning: Ability to achieve gratification in the main areas of one’s life.
The following video from Oprah’s Soul Series gives an overview of Pink’s original and profound work.
For Oprah, who lives in her right brain, The Conceptual Age–the “age of art and heart,” is her time to shine.
Is it your time to shine, too?
As always, thanks for stopping by.
This is a very interesting idea, Margaret. However, it presupposes the survival of the planet in order that people with emotional intelligence will be free to survive and apply their skills.
First, we have to deal with pollution (water, land and air), global warming, the ozone layer, greed, intolerance, and the unfortunate tendency of some people to want to wage war on other people.
Of course, if I don't like the book, I don't have to blame the reviewer. LOL
— K
Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel
Hi Kay. People with emotional intelligence and R-brained skills may be the very ones who find ways to deal with pollution, global warming, greed, and intolerance in whole new ways. It takes a certain creativity, the ability to step out of the box, to solve what now may appear to be insurmountable problems. The book gives me hope.
This is quite interesting. I'll be passing the link to this post along to my daughter. Thanks, Margaret.
I'm such a right brainer, I can't imagine trying to figure out to solve global warming. But one never knows. Very interesting topic…
Hi Rosi. You're welcome. And thanks for passing the link on.
Hey, Lee. Not all right brainers think a like. We're all creative in different ways. Plus, the book doesn't claim there will be no use for left brainers, only that they need to exercise the right side of their brains, too, in order to be prepared for the Conceptual Age.
Right brainers see the forest first, then the trees, or the big picture, then the details…while left brainers can piece puzzle fragments together without having first seen the whole picture on the box – that’s just how they roll.
So for years I was convinced that my left brain was in a coma since I was so mathematically challenged. Since I could hardly add 2+2 without a calculator. Since I didn’t seem to have an organized bone in my body nor an ounce of structure.
Then I heard somewhere that creative types are just that way; they have better things to do with their time than get their desks all neat and tidy. Their minds are working overtime on the novel, the poem, or the play they’re writing to worry about the orderliness of their desk.
Excellent post girl! I feel all better now : )
Hi Debra. Us right brainers were considered over-achievers in school if we happened to get A's when our SAT tests said we weren't smart enough. Surprise, surprise. We were smart, just not good at taking tests. What a relief to know that our time has come.