A Whole New Mind

In his book A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink addresses the concepts of L-directed thinking and R-directed thinking, and more importantly, the increasing importance of the "right brain" in the world ruled by "left-brainers" in the coming years. He says "Ours has been the age of the "knowledge worker," the well-educated manipulator of information and deployer of expertise. But that is changing. Thanks to an array of forces - material abundance that is deepening our nonmaterial yearnings, globalization that is shipping white-collar work overseas, and powerful technologies that are eliminating certain kinds of work altogether - we are entering a new age" (2).
I feel as though my schooling so far has adaquately prepared me for the things which are considered "useful" in our day and age - the sciences, maths, and other traits that seem marketable. Throughout high school, most of the "core" classes we had to take were science, math, foreign language, and other similar things, and in our spare time was when we were allowed to take classes such as music, art, theater, or home economics. It became very clear to me throughout high school what they were trying to prepare us for - the world that was becoming more technological, more advanced. However, even as much as they were preparing us for the "left-brained" world, they were at the same time making sure that we were able to express our "right-brained" side. Occasionally in our math or science classes, teachers would assign more creative tasks, allowing us to express ourselves however we desired. One thing that stands out in my mind, however, is that these creative projects and assignments were never graded on ability; rather, they were graded on effort and completion. This has been a theme in any class I have had that I can remember, even in college. Teachers/professors often assign projects in which we are encouraged to be creative; however, this creativity is still not considered as important as perhaps a standardized test.
I have always considered myself as having more of a "right-brained" personality, as I have always been better and more interested in things like music, art, and other creative entities. For this reason, I have always felt as though my schooling and the things that were expected of me were not preparing me adequately for the world as I saw it or in a way that emphasized the things that I was good at. The entirety of how people are chosen or deemed to be successful is based on grades, and more importantly, standardized tests. Throughout our whole life, it is etched into our brain that in order to be successful in the world, you have to make good grades in school, score high on the SAT, get into a good college, obtain a useful degree, do well on the GRE and other graduation tests, get accepted into a good graduate school, and get a good-paying job. Nowhere in the history of my education can I remember being taught people skills, communication, creativity, flexibility, and other skills that are obviously going to become very important in a world where everyone is qualified by grades and technical skills to do the same, or at least similar, jobs. I feel as though more emphasis on the creative arts and more "right-brained" skills would produce more well-rounded individuals that would be ready to enter the real world after their education. I do not feel as though I ahve had the education that will make me more competitive and different in the world. There are so many people who, like me, might excel more at right-brained thinking, but have been pushed so much in the ever-changing world into thinking that these skills aren't important and that we need to focus on developing other, "more useful" skill sets instead. In the increasingly technological world, the artists, the musicians, and the communicators are very likely to become more appreciated as a commodity, and something people desire, and I believe that if schools focus more on incorporating both L-directed thinking and R-directed thinking at the same time, through more projects and creative activities will eventually produce more valuable, marketable, and well-rounded individuals.