UGH DAMMIT.
I just bought an interesting looking book from the remainder pile at my local bookstore. The name sounded familiar and I misattributed it to another author’s reputation, but it’s another Daniel Pink book. That’s not to say that this book was miserable, but I didn’t feel like I learned anything from it either. It has that tone that so many management books have (I’m looking in your direction Thomas Friedman) where the author is so in love with their own work that they present everything as revolutionary.
In the blurb’s words “right-brain–oriented skills sets—empathy, creativity, design, synthesis, and pattern recognition—are the ingredients for a “holistic mind-set,” today’s prerequisite for business success and a meaningful life.”
Guess what? The humanities are important, not just as art or on their own merits, but because it helps us understand hard math and science better. I learned this in sophomore year of high school when I suddenly understood algebra after taking chemistry, because now I had something to tie the actual hard math to. Scientists that collaborate best use metaphor to explain their work.
I saved you ten bucks and 275 pages.
I’ll give credit where credit is due, Pink does allow that the “right brain / left brain” model is too simplistic even if he leans hard into it to make his point. It’s not a bad book, but I’ve already dipped my toes in these waters so I don’t need an intro to the concept. I’ve fallen yet again for the business/behavioral economics gray area.
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