Are you in your right mind?

Having two grown children, I remember the days of filling out FAFSA’s and worrying as they traveled off to college. But long before those days, were the agonizing days of “What college do I want to attend?” and “What do I want to be when I grow up?”
It is, understandably, a time of serious decision making; for these are choices that will affect a person’s future.
As parents we try to encourage our children to look at their strengths and their preferences when choosing a career, however; no one can deny that making enough money to be comfortable is also near the top of that list.
I was recently fortunate enough to attend a conference where Daniel Pink, who served as the chief speechwriter to Vice President Al Gore and worked as an aide to U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich, was the keynote speaker. Mr. Pink, who is also a New York Times best-selling author, spoke about right-brain and left-brain thinkers. The premise is that left-brained thinkers are logical, analytical, sequential, and objective; while right-brained thinkers tend to be random, intuitive, holistic, and subjective. Basically, left-brainers focus on logical thinking, analysis, and accuracy and right-brainers on aesthetics, feeling, and creativity. At this point I should clarify that, unless there is a medical reason, we all use both sides of our brains, we have all of these characteristics. However, most people have a definite preference for one side or the other. The point Mr. Pink was making was that more and more of the left-brained based jobs are being outsourced to other countries or automated! Take the divorce attorney. If you spend a few minutes in a Google search, you will find that, if uncontested, you can get a divorce online for a couple hundred dollars and a click of the mouse, and yes, it’s legal! What about tax preparation? Tax software and the internet make it possible for you to do your own taxes and file them online for a mere $15.00! Basically, Mr. Pink said that any job that can be reduced to a set of sequential steps or a formula that produces an outcome that has little variation, can be, and most likely will be, outsourced or automated in the future.
What does this mean for today’s students? While schools are geared more and more toward left-brained thinking, it is the right-brain abilities that allow us to creatively problem-solve. Don’t get me wrong, left-brained abilities are very necessary. But can we afford to cut out those classes and activities that encourage right-brained thinking? Can right-brain thinking be encouraged no matter what the subject matter of the class?
If you would like to read more about what Mr. Pink has to say, pick up his book A Whole New Mind or try an online test to see which side of the brain you favor.