Accounting

[BOOK REVIEW]

FIVE MINDS OF THE FUTURE

Book Review: Five Minds of the Future

The rapid globalization of the world, the whirlwind of innovations and human reliance on information technology alongside an emerging knowledge-based economy create the intensity and intriguing challenges for practitioners of nearly every profession. The conditions of the world are changing significantly and call for entirely new ways of learning and thinking in schools, business and the professions. Having pondering the human mind over decades of studies, Howard Gardner improvises with the idea that in order for the human ability to remain relevant and competitive in the modern world and in preparation for the ever-anticipated future world, it is vital to view on how we should use our minds; developing new ways of learning and thinking. Hence, in his book Five Minds of the Future, the author, worldrenowned for his theory of multiple intelligences, takes thinking to the next level, drawing from a wealth of diverse examples to illuminate his ideas. To meet this new world on its own terms, we should begin to cultivate these capacities now and embark on the creation of the mental infrastructure to thrive in the future. Cultivating the mind is seen as the fundamental nature in preparation for personal and professional success. Of the five minds Gardner outlines, the first three, the Disciplined Mind, the Synthesizing Mind and the Creating Mind, are more cognitive in nature. The remaining two, the Respectful Mind and the Ethical Mind, on the other hand, are more relational in nature. The Discipline Mind focuses on mastery of major schools of thought or professional discipline such as science, mathematics, economics, arts and history, law, architecture, medicine and a host of others. “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 ability to focus and...