A Whole New Mind

Daniel H. Pink's book, A Whole New Mind, was very interesting and intriguing but definitly left me with mixed feelings about his overall theory of left brain thinking vs. right brain thinking. I mentioned this in class yesterday, and I still feel the same way in that he set up the book very well and did a great job of getting people (ie me) excited about what was going to fill the rest of the pages. I was amuzed by his logic and theory and I wanted to know more about it, but when I finished the book I kind of felt jipped in a small way. 

To support his thoery in the first half of the book, and in the rest too I guess, he used great examples and real-life situations that one could step back and see the design, empathy, plyafulness or whatever in it. When I got through the last chapter, I could not help but immediatley be reminded of The Secret. They did the exact same thing, but with different logic and thinking, in presenting their theory as some ground-breaking magic that is going to change the world and everyone's lives forever! But....no. I feel like with both The Secret and A Whole New Mind, facts were presented, and yes, they were very intriguing, but this is all stuff that most logical people already know! A good balance in one's life between a variety of facets is of course going to make a well rounded, "both-brain thinker." 

However, I will applaud Pink in his use of good examples, situations, groups of people, and grabbing the readers attention to begin with. He definitly made his point through the use of these, and I think that he deserves credit for that. I also appreciate his ability to bring these topics to the forefront of things as a way to remind readers (and hopefully much of the world) that there is a shift in thinking, and that all of the "six senses" are things that we as busy-hurry-up-and-get-with-it Americans need to stop, breathe, and think about them and apply them to our lives. We don't give certain aspects of our lives enough credit and we tend to pay attention to little details and small insignificant things rather than looking at the whole picture (left vs. right brain thinking right at your hands!). 

In the beginning of the book I got the impression that Pink is somewhat ignorant just to try and make his point (ie Abundance, Asia, and Automation). Some of the wording that he used was slightly insignificant and almost over-exaggerated, but once I got towards the end I was able to better appreciate his ideas and theory because of his well-thought research and application. 

My favorite part of the book was the "Play" section because I am a firm beleiver in laughter being the best medicine and I think that our country especially does not enjoy it enough. We take things too seriously and fail to laugh at little things, stupid things, and even ourselves. I think it is great that there are laughter groups all over the place that are taking an appreciation for what it's worth. I have never been to a laughing group, and honestly I think they sound very interesting and entertaining at the same time. I bet the people there seem kind of crazy, but they are enjoying one of the best things, in my opinion, that we can do for ourselves: laughing out loud.