Reviews

Changing Minds: The Art And Science of Changing Our Own And Other People's Minds by Howard Gardner

outcolder's review against another edition

1.0

I read this cover to cover. It is like a long psychology today article, or like an informal chat over a beer with a tenured professor who did enough in the past that no one is reviewing his research or his teaching anymore. The book is a loose collection of anecdotes, I imagine Gardner reading some biographies he thought were interesting and then suddenly realizing he had to publish something soon so he thought about what did these diverse people have in common and then he gave it some structure. In between he takes pot shots at Fellow Worker [a:Noam Chomsky|2476|Noam Chomsky|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1206713478p2/2476.jpg] and Brother [a:Cornel West|6176|Cornel West|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1211318916p2/6176.jpg]. He manages to plug some of his other books, too.

If you want to huff and puff about university politics and Margaret Thatcher, this might be worthwhile, but if you are looking for a book that looks scientifically at persuasion, you will be as disappointed as I was.

Maybe Howard Gardner versus [a:Martin Gardner|7105|Martin Gardner|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1269645617p2/7105.jpg] would be a good celebrity death match or epic rap battle. At least for me. I'm rooting for Martin, though.

rbogue's review against another edition

How do you persuade someone else to change their mind? How do you get someone else to come around to your point of view? These are questions at the core of Changing Minds: The Art and Science of Changing Our Own and Other People’s Minds. Howard Gardner is no stranger to the mind, having proposed the idea of multiple intelligences – escaping the bounds of the famed intelligence quotient and moving towards a more wholistic view of the kinds of skills that people can possess that aren’t reflected in such a narrow measure.

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aminowrimo's review against another edition

2.0

If you're going to read this book, read the Epilogue and the Appendix and jump around to whichever chapter sounds interesting. Definitely was not a linear read for me—I found it more useful to skim. I'm not sure how much was this book or how much was outside factors, but I literally could not keep concentrated on this book for long periods of time.

mephistia's review against another edition

4.0

I'm actually reading this for a class, and I gotta say, it's a really fascinating read. Gardner prefers a mix of cognitive/ behavioral psychology, with an emphasis on the cognitive side. He's got some pretty interesting ideas -- I like his breakdown of multiple types of intelligences -- and he uses both current science and anecdotal examples to illustrate his arguments.

Unfortunately, for the class I kind of have to jump around in my reading and I have two other class-required books I'm reading at the same time. So I can't really give an in-depth review at this point.