We live in a time of vast changes that include accelerating globalization, mounting quantities of information, the growing hegemony of science and technology, and the clash of civilizations. Those changes call for new ways of learning and thinking in school, business, and the professions. Listen as psychologist Howard Gardner defines the cognitive abilities that will command a premium in the years ahead:

The disciplinary mind: mastery of major schools of thought

The synthesizing mind: ability to integrate ideas

The creating mind: capacity to uncover and clarify problems, questions, and phenomena

The respectful mind: awareness of and appreciation for differences among human beings

The ethical mind: fulfillment of one's responsibilities

Armed with these well-honed capacities, a person will be equipped to deal with what is expected in the future, as well as what cannot be anticipated. Without these "minds", individuals will be at the mercy of forces they can't understand: overwhelm