Out of our minds
Ken Robinson
A recommendation by Seth Godin, Ken Robinson is an English educationalist who moved to the US. He became really big news and consults in education around the world.
Ten years ago he wrote 'Out of our minds' and following that he wrote a more user friendly book on the same subject called 'The element'
Robinson's area of expertise is creativity and harnessing creativity particularly in children. The book is entirely about the lost creativity in the world and how the education system strangles peoples development of creativity and the impact that this will have as we go forward in an ever changing world.
Perhaps I am not eloquent enough to make the book sound interesting or impressive but it is a fantastic and fabulous read.
If you were to read this book for nothing else, the first 2 - 3 chapters about how the world has changed and will continue to change is a massive eye opener. Robinson explains the importance of computers in modern living and demonstrates this by telling us how many silicone chips were produced in the world in 2010 (a number so big it almost doesn't have a name)
He explains that we are a matter of a few years away from being able to implant in people's brains the ability to speak French (this is straight out of the Matrix). He discusses something called 'academic inflation' where A's and A*'s and degree's and PHD's mean less and less the more people that have them and the real things that set us apart are the ability to be creative and adaptive.
I love this book, it is available on audio book read by and English reader (not the author) and if you are going on a long car journey it is a fantastic book to pick up.
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