Encouraging - High Concept

One of my goals for 2009 included to vary my reading. One of the books I finished reading in late 2009 was A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink. My mom gave me this book a few years ago and it has been in my stack of books to read for a while. The premise of the book revolves around a shift in our society suggesting that “right-brain” individuals will play a more prominent role in the next decade as we move from the information age to the conceptual age. Further, he purports flourishing or floundering in the next “age” hinges on one’s ability to embrace your right-brain. He breaks down the right brain into two areas, high concept and high touch:

“High concept involves the capacity to detect patterns and opportunities, to create artistic and emotional beauty, to craft a satisfying narrative, and to combine seemingly unrelated ideas into something new. High touch involves the ability to empathize with others, to understand the subtleties of human interaction, to find joy in one’s self and to elicit it in others, and to stretch beyond the quotidian in pursuit of purpose and meaning” A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future (Riverhead Books, NY, NY: 2005), 2-3.

Mr. Pink is just one voice singing the same tune. A few months ago I read an interesting article on Stanford University’s recommitment to the importance of the arts and its critical nature to developing the whole mind. I have always been a huge advocate of the arts, but this book provides a compelling argument for all people to embrace the arts both young and old.