Daniel H. Pink wastes no time in his book “A Whole New Mind” with the gripping opening line “Think of the last 150 years as a three-act drama.” He then proceeds to expand on this vivid metaphor, naming Act I “the Industrial Age”, Act II, “the Information age,” and Act III, “the Conceptual age.” That striking first line was the beginning of a read that was both enjoyable and effective, which radically changed the way I view the mind, the political atmosphere in which I live, and essentially the world and my role as an artist in it.
It has eloquent and beautiful language. It describes “high concept” as “the ability to create artistic and emotional beauty,” and “high touch” as the ability “to find joy in one’s self and to elicit it in others.” It has exciting diction with words like “momentum,” “new,” “powerful,” and “progress.” “The curtain rising on Act III (or the Conceptual Age)” both illustrates the notion that it is in the process of becoming and evokes a sense of excitement and suspense for the era. It is thought-provoking with lines such as “If a picture is worth a thousand words, a metaphor is worth a thousand pictures.” It has an enthusiastic, impassioned tone which comes in the form of italics and repetition. Pink surely displays the playfulness of a creative what with nicknaming computer programmers “Information Age Rockstars” and inventing the idea of “Concept Nation.”
Do not let all this flowery language fool you. He is not without reason and logic; he backs up his grand statements. What many would see as a far-fetched claim that the world is headed for the arts and the products of R- Directed thinking, he backs up with not one, not two, but three solid supporting examples: American medical schools, Japanese curriculum, General Motors. Even though he himself is identifying with the more artsy industry, he is still objective in that he acknowledges the need for the other half, or “L-Directed thinkers,” thus creating the concept of a “whole mind” or a balance of both hemispheres of the brain. Thoughts were organized very well under subtitles that were both creative and accurate. It even has effective syntax in that, because of its variety, makes reading and the progression of ideas a comfortable flow.
This passage was a good, profound read full of rich metaphors and astonishing evidence, persuasive in every way of its assertion that R-directed thinking will be more in demand in the future. It got me quite enthusiastic about my personal future as someone who is going into the arts, because it looks like, according to the excerpt, by the time I enter the work force, I will be more respected and more in demand. It renewed my passion to see more art in the world.