The 5 Types Of Minds Of The Future According To Howard Gardner

Howard Gardner describes in his works the 5 types of  minds that we should all cultivate, train and define to achieve a more ethical future, a future marked by an active commitment to life, innovation or conflict resolution. Those minds of tomorrow are our responsibility today, an active commitment in which we can all be protagonists.

Most of us know Professor Gardner for his research on cognitive abilities and for having formulated the theory of multiple intelligences. Admired by many and criticized by many others for saying that his studies are based more on intuition than on empirical data, there is something that no one can underestimate in this psychologist and researcher at Harvard University.

Howard Gardner invites us to create new and interesting spaces for reflection. If at the time he proposed us to put aside the paradigm of the unique intelligence to open the way to other types of intelligences related to the demands of life, later, with his book “The 5 minds of the future” he achieved something equally interesting , something just as valid.

We have reached a point in our evolution where it is necessary to become aware of a fact . The world presents more and more challenges, challenges for which we must be prepared in order to generate a positive impact on our reality. Such a company, such a purpose requires in turn that we re-define ourselves, that we train 5 types of minds ready to create the future we need …

The 5 types of minds of the future according to Howard Gardner

A good part of Howard Gardner’s books cross the line of science and psychology to immerse themselves in philosophical reasoning with which to invite us to understand a little more how our reality has changed, how our consciousness advances in relation to each social context. more demanding time.

Curiously, faced with a scenario so unpredictable, demanding and variable at times, the foundations of our education remain the same as those of the last century. This subtle irony that many may question Gardner is exemplified in our children of the present, in those little ones that we now educate with methods that have not evolved much and that will hardly adapt to the demands of the future.

It is clear, however, the need not to fall into pessimism. We have good education professionals and although educational innovation methods are coming with a dropper, little by little we will make our way towards these new demands that are on the horizon of tomorrow. However … will we get there in time?

Gardner indicates us that possibly not, since this journey through the 21st century is very treacherous, and that therefore the changes on our part have to come now, in the here and now. The very vertiginous evolution of reality, especially of social reality and technological reality, imposes the need to train a type of mind that is more connected, more awake, tolerant of complexity, challenges and challenges … They would be the following.

1. The disciplined mind

• It is able to approach a problem from different approaches to obtain more information and solution proposals.
• This type of mind is not based on the acquisition of knowledge through mechanical memorization, but strives to understand and create meaningful knowledge.
• In turn, this approach to thinking becomes more sophisticated over time, because it is evaluated, because it introduces new techniques to think and learn better.

2. The  synthetic mind

If there is something that we all know, it is that the information that comes to us on a daily basis is sometimes very disparate and comes from numerous sources: several voices qualifying the same fact, putting the magnifying glass on different details. One of the 5 minds of the future is the one where the person is able to give coherence and to synthesize each new data and stimulus that comes to him.

The ability to synthesize is achieved through a prior analysis, through interest and the ability to contrast information, to apply a critical sense and finally, to give a coherent and logical narrative to everything learned.

3. The  creative mind

Let’s admit it, a creative mind is a freer mind, more open to experience, more receptive to everything that surrounds it and more committed to innovation and not to remain clinging to rigid schemes, outdated approaches.

• Howard Gardner reminds us that the future advances faster and faster and that we do not always have time to adapt to each oscillation, to each change, to each new demand.
• The creative mind is the one that goes one step further, it is the one that is not left behind because it looks to the future and feels part of it because it knows and has arguments to defend that it has a lot to contribute.

4. The  respectful mind

It is imperative that our society has the inviolable principle of respect, of knowing how to live together, of knowing how to tolerate and appreciate everything that is part of our daily settings and environments.

• No future will be possible if we do not educate in respect, if we do not understand what coexistence is and if we do not actively promote it.
• This is another of the 5 types of minds of the future that Howard Gardner defends most in his books for a very specific purpose: if we do not know how to coexist on this planet, the meaning (our own and that of humanity) will dissipate and we will shape a future without hope.

5. The ethical mind

As we see, beyond those minds skilled in cognitive processes, trained in a critical or analytical approach, aimed at producing innovative and challenging information, there is an essential aspect that we cannot ignore: ethical values.

A society without the pillar of ethics does not make sense, it is not valid, it is not human, it is not logical. Because intelligence without a framework of integrity and ethical-moral principles is of no use to us in that dream for a more dignified future for all, a tomorrow that, in the end, is better than our present …

To conclude, we definitely recommend reading “The 5 types of minds of the future” by Howard Gardner. Whether or not we agree with his theory of multiple intelligences, it can be said that few cognitive psychologists have encouraged us to see the pillars of our education differently, inviting us in turn to generate new methodologies.

So let’s think now about how to train these 5 types of minds. Let’s at least be aware of the need to create changes and take responsibility for something essential: we all have our share of responsibility when it comes to creating a better future.