A Whole New Mind Chapter 2

Pink’s observations, made in his chapter about “Abundance, Asia, and Automation,” are important because they show how the world is evolving and make the case that one needs to prepare oneself for the changes that have come and the ones that have yet to come. I agree with his ideas, for the most part, on how right-brain thinking is a way for people in this country to compensate for abundance, Asia, and automation.

Can the Right Side of the Brain Be Tested

Daniel Pink points out in Chapter Two of A Whole New Mind that tests such as the SAT and PSAT are designed to test abilities found within the left hemisphere of the brain. He goes on to tell how these types of tests help to determine one’s ability to think logically, and that it is this ability that is valued in many societies.

I believe one does need the ability to perform on a high level of logical thinking, and that tests measuring such thinking serve a purpose. But I also think one’s abilities should not be measured by these tests only.

The functions of the right side of the brain serve several purposes that contribute to the total person, and these functions also need to be considered when evaluating someone. I would like to know if there are tests that help to determine someone’s right brain thinking ability, because the logical left side of my brain thinks there would be such tests. If there are such tests, would they be difficult to administer, therefore making them too expensive or impractical to be given on a large scale! It would seem testing the right side of the brain’s skills might well be troublesome, because like freeform shapes, there are an infinite number of possible abilities to take into consideration.

A Whole New Mind- Chapter One

I was rereading Pink’s chapter one, Right Brain Rising, to refresh my memory about this chapter. A great deal of the information I knew before ever reading this book, such as the brain being divided into two separate hemispheres ; each hemisphere controls the opposite side of the body, and each half computes information differently.
Pink points out how the two hemispheres work in concert with each other on page 25, and notes that one section without the other would be awful. My thoughts on this subject are it would not be advantageous to have one of the hemispheres significantly less developed than the other. Such people could and do function, but when both parts of the brain are working equally, then higher levels of functioning can be achieved.
Pink points out how the left-brain style of thinking has been in a greater demand because the needs of our society have deemed it necessary, but the right-brain style of thinking will be in greater demand in the future, because our needs will have changed. I would like to know if there has been a time in history when right-brain style of thinking was more prevalent. It would seem the renaissance was a time in history when both styles of thinking were equally appreciated.