A Whole New Mind

This is a very good book, for me anyway. It fits in well with a few other trains of thought/enquiry that are going on at the moment. The back book cover quotes the Newsweek's review which refers to the books exercises to build right-brain skills. However, I have found that the book made me realize that my brain is very normal and the right-brain exercises merely clarify existing skills. But I'm a bit of a wanker, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I have been made aware of the fact that my brain is very average, cognatively. This is a bit of a dissapointment because I think we all feel that we are special. I have taken a number of tests to measure things like learning modes, or whatever, I'm not really good with names - can't remember the labels they applied to me either. But what I do know is that it turns our I am very average in a number of scales.
After reading this book, I realize that my thinking is normal, but it is a combination of left-brain and right-brain directions. This book and an article by Nisbett, Peng, Choi and Norenzayan (2001) in the Psychological Review explain how left brain thinking has dominated Western thinking since the time of Ancient Greece. My thinking, like the cognitive processes of many other people, I imagine, is a combination of the two styles. Only half of this equation has been revered in our society.
The question that arises for me out of this book is not how can we enhance these skills, but how can we intergrate these ideas into education? How do we change the curriculum so that it is no longer dominated by subjects which reinforce left brain thinking? The book offers examples such as the design school in middle school in a tough neigborhood in the USA and also the news that the MFA is now the new MBA. However, education systems in the USA, UK and Australia (to name just a few) have been keen to investigate and implement the use of creativity in the education system.
Another point that needs to be addressed is assessment. This is the bit that confounds me and must be saved for later. If you haven't read the book yet, please do.