"A Whole New Mind": The New Era

 The Conceptual Age         






Daniel H. Pink has created a new perception of the artistic individual with his book, "A Whole New Mind". Society is changing to favor the right side of the brain. According to this book, we have changed from the Agricultural Age, to the Industrial Age, to the Information Age, and now to the Conceptual Age.The book is absolutely brilliant and goes on to explain the importance of self-expression. From the workings of the right side of the brain, to the loss of artistic pride, to instructions on how to know when someone is lying, this book says it all. We have come to think that the only thing that separates us from other organisms is simply that we can reason. Everything else we have lumped into one category of importance: less. The right side of the brain controls feeling and creativity. For instance, look at this picture:

                  

 You may feel perfectly normal, but your left brain just lit up:"This is a gun. Guns are dangerous. This situation is dangerous". This is the sort of analytical, step-by-step processing of the left hemisphere. Now, take a moment to look at this image:

                                 

Your right hemisphere just lit up. It is called upon when you need to notice the big picture, rather than details. Say, for instance, your friend snarls "Thanks so much for your help. I'm going to the library," and promptly stomps away. Your left brain has decoded the words and states: "She is thanking you. She is going to the library". Your right brain states: "She is angry at me". While one focuses on detail, the other focuses on the big picture. Nevertheless, we tend to think that the left brain is more important than the right.

In the words of Daniel H. Pink, "We are humans. Hear us calculate". By putting so much importance on the fact that we are logical, we have disregarded a part of us that also defines us as "human": our ability to sympathize and design. Lawyers. Doctors. Computer programmers. All the occupations we have been encouraged to join are now falling behind. Due to the three "A"s we are entering a new Age. The Conceptual Age.