Five Minds for the Future

Starred review from December 31, 2007
Psychologist, author and Harvard professor Gardner (Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons
) has put together a thought-provoking, visionary attempt to delineate the kinds of mental abilities (“mindsâ€) that will be critical to success in a 21st-century landscape of accelerating change and information overload. Gardner's five minds—disciplined, synthesizing, creating, respectful and ethical—are not personality types, but ways of thinking available to anyone who invests the time and effort to cultivate them: “how we should
use our minds.†In presenting his “values enterprise,†Gardner uses a variety of explanatory models, from developmental psychology to group dynamics, demonstrating their utility not just for individual development, but for tangible success in a full range of human endeavors, including education, business, science, art, politics and engineering. This is a tall order for a single work, yet Gardner avoids overly technical arguments as well as breezy generalizations, putting to fine use his 20 years' experience as a cognitive science researcher, author and educator, and proving his world-class reputation well earned. Though specialists might wish Gardner had dug a bit more into the research, most readers will find the book lively and engaging, like the fascinating lectures of a seasoned, beloved prof.