Media 6: Five Minds for the Future

“…I concern myself here with the kinds of minds that people will need if they – if we – are to thrive in the world during the eras to come.” (p.1)

Though you could be forgiven for thinking that this week’s reading was dedicated to the many, considerable achievements of Howard Gardner, it was instead a piece on his five minds for the future – an examination of the capacities Gardner believes all individuals will need to develop to be a productive part of the future.

“The disciplined mind has mastered at least one way of thinking – a distinctive mode of cognition that characterizes a specific scholarly discipline, craft or profession.” (p.3)

“The synthesizing mind takes information from disparate sources, understands and evaluates that information objectively, and puts it together in ways that make sense to the synthesizer and also to other persons.” (p.3)

“…the creating mind breaks new ground. It puts forth new ideas, poses unfamiliar questions, conjures up fresh ways of thinking, arrives at unexpected answers.” (p.3)

“…the respectful mind notes and welcomes differences between human individuals and between human groups, tries to understand these ‘others’, and seeks to work effectively with them.” (p.3)

“…the ethical mind ponders the nature of one’s work and the needs and desires of the society in which one lives.” (p.3)

While I’d agree that emphasizing these seemingly fundamental concepts is important for humanity, the idea of ‘the respectful mind’ jumps out at me. Gardner describes the ideal of trying “to understand other persons on their own terms, make an imaginative leap when necessary, seek to convey [our] trust in them” (p.8) This seems to me a skill that’s sadly lacking in society these days, particularly in the social-political sphere, where taking an imaginative leap to understand another human being’s plight could prove to be a revolutionary experience.

Gardner calls for “new educational forms and processes” (p.11) to forge these new minds, but never really seems to specifically explain exactly how this newfound system of education could be implemented. In fact, he specifically points out that “o one knows precisely how to fashion an education that will yield individuals who are disciplined, synthesizing, creative, respectful, and ethical.” (p.19) Not that helpful. Still, I do agree that some of these minds could have their virtues expounded upon while we’re in primary and secondary education. I feel like the strengths and values of the disciplined and synthesizing minds are emphasized, but creativity – not so much.