Tyler's Blog Death of Destiny

“The Element” by Ken Robinson

The Element is a non-fiction book written by Ken Robinson, Ph.D. Its overall premise, as stated by the cover, is "how finding your passion changes everything". Here's his TED Talk if you're interested to get a taste:


Much of the book is providing examples of people who found success by pursuing their passions (rather than something they only somewhat like because it will get them a high paying job). It also provides insights into how to actually start the process, especially if there is opposition to your pursuing of your passion (eg. parents who enter "YOU WANT TO MAJOR IN WHAT?!" mode).

The book also discusses other interesting topics, such as measuring intelligence. For example, Robinson appears to be quite against standardized IQ tests. In his book, he notes a law that existed in thirty states that allowed the state to "neuter people who fell below a particular IQ without their having any say in the matter" (40).

Another topic that Robinson appears to be against is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Although I agree it's not perfectly accurate, I do think there is something behind the MBTI. Everybody I've talked to that has taken the MBTI has found their "type" description to be very accurate, and most of us test very consistently when we take similar but different tests. However, Robinson disagrees; he does mention, though, that he finds the Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument to be more useful. For the record, my MBTI result is INTJ.

Robinson also discusses the importance of mentors, when they are available. He states that the 4 roles of mentors are recognition, encouragement, facilitating, and stretching. The four traits are each necessary, though no one trait alone is sufficient, for a person to be a good mentor.

The issue of our current education system separating different "subjects", such as the sciences and the arts, and presenting them as distinct ideas is noted by Robinson. I agree this is definitely an issue, although I think we're slowly moving in the right direction (see my ASIC 200 class, which integrates the science and arts faculties together into one course).

And just because I loved this quote so much, I thought I'd include it here. Robinson quotes Jonas Salk, who said "It's interesting to reflect that if all the insects were to disappear from the earth, within fifty years all other forms of life would end. But if all human beings were to disappear from the earth, within fifty years all other forms of life would flourish". *sigh* You gotta love humanity.

Anyhow, I found the book to be written well (each page flowed well into the next), and the ideas to be very interesting. I thought that there were many examples, but I don't know what else to expect from the novel because he can't exactly be like "turn around thrice and clap your hands and a piece of paper with your passion written on it will appear in your pocket". Thus, it was an interesting read and I recommend it to those interested in education, creativity, or finding/pursuing their passion (that should pretty much be everyone who isn't already...).

On a finishing note, in his book, Robinson references to Loris Malaguzzi's poem "No Way -- The Hundred Is There" and provides this quote by Russian novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: "If you want to change the world, who do you begin with, yourself or others? I believe if we begin with ourselves and do the things that we need to do and become the best person we can be, we have a much better chance of changing the world for the better". Both the poem and the quote I thought to be very good things to include with his book; both I think are worth a read.