Came across a great book today I’ve added to my reading list:

Psychologist/Harvard Professor Howard Gardner, famous for his books detailing human intelligence, has written a new book detailing the five “minds” or mindsets of the 21st century.  He promotes these minds by stating, “I discern two legitimate reasons for undertaking new educational practices. The first reason is that our current practices are not actually working…. The second reason is that conditions in the world have changed significantly. ”

“I believe that current formal education still remains basically a preparation for the world of the past, rather than a preparation for possible worlds of the future.”

“We have not figured out how to prepare youngsters so that they can survive and thrive in a world different than one ever known before.”

Per his personal website, the five minds are as follows:

• The Disciplinary Mind: the mastery of
  major schools of thought, including
  science, mathematics, and history, and of
  at least one professional craft.
  
• The Synthesizing Mind: the ability to
  integrate ideas from different disciplines
  or spheres into a coherent whole and to
  communicate that integration to others.
  
• The Creating Mind: the capacity to
  uncover and clarify new problems,
  questions and phenomena.
  
• The Respectful Mind: awareness of and
  appreciation for differences among
  human beings and human groups.
  
• The Ethical Mind: fulfillment of one’s
  responsibilities as a worker and as a
  citizen.

The disciplined, synthesized, and creative minds are largely cognitive.  They have been around to some degree for a long time but are all amplified (especially the synthesized mind) by the inclusion of information technology. 

The other two, ethical and respectful, take into consideration the larger sense of self.  They closely resemble the theory of collective learning, or connectivism, proposed by George Siemens.  However, Gardner takes a more direct approach that there is an ethical, greater good that we will obtain in the 21st century.  Communal learning aside, Garnder seems to believe that the future of learning is for a better understanding of one another.  Or that simply a byproduct of eductation as it always has been?

Can’t wait to read his perspective.  I think there is a lot of application here for marketing.  People are learning differently, or so we can only assume at this point, and what is needed is a proper framework for how people are gathering and digesting information - be it education or product knowledge - in the Information Age.