Book 1.Changing Minds: The Art and Science of Changing Our Own and Other People's Minds(Howard Gardner)

Is it such a deal being able to change mind or to make someone else change is mind ?

It is probably a big deal if it is about issues important in every day lifes such as politics, science, business and art.

Decision-making process and changing peoples minds involves so many peculiarity of each individual, and each decision that an individual makes can be essential in moving on or stillness of events, and Howard Gardner, in his book « Changing minds » identifies some kies elements, such as real world events, reason, research around this issue.

As Gardner says politicians, artists, writers, musicians and teachers can change people's minds, but, in my opinion, this only to the point were outside factors are not so strong.

If we take as an example a rôle play based on strategy, the most frustating aspect is that no one thinks of being manipulated and keeps is mind concentrated on manipulating the others, but in the end the expectations are dissapointing because each individual choose is own way.

But the point is that each individual, in the end, decides basing is value on so many different aspects, that go from waking up in the morning in a good moon, to having slipped on a banana skin getting out of the metro station.

The only real way of making people move towards what we want. is to give them the elements to judge that what we are saying, what we are proposing is worth the choice they are making.

If we get the example of teachers and we use the word to mowl and not to educate, we would have the sense between trying to make people change their mind and decide what they really want.

Each person has is own concept, that have been built up throw experience that each of us makes since the first moments of life, this is essential in the way we take decision and also in the way we change our minds or we don't.

In « Changing minds », it is interesting to see the way that Gardner analyses President Bush, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, and South Africa's Nelson Mandela, getting to the conclusion that all of them have some peculiar skills that are capable to make people change their minds towards them. Gardner suggest that this people are able to talk in a different way of all the others, a way that touches people that are listening.

It is interesting to see how some people, mostly known to be very charismatic, are capable of moving masses towards them, just by the way they are, behave and act. Charisma, from the greek χαρισμα, meaning "favor given" or "gift of grace", is the charm that some people have and that brings the others a sense of devotion.

Having good comunication skills is surely an open door to people that try to make other people change their mind, starting from the body language and going to a good and energic hand shake, but this are only one of the factors in the game.

Gardners's book is very analytical, but in the end doesn't really give an answer to the question of being able or not to change the mind, because it is evident that to many factors enter in the question and each of this take more and more variables to the question.

Best way to be someone that doesn't change is mind easily is to have a very well formed coscience that can bring the individual to think before acting.