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Seeing What Others Cannot See: The Hidden Advantages of Visual Thinkers and Differently Wired Brains
For over 25 years, Thomas G. West has been a leading advocate for the importance of visual thinking, visual technologies and the creative potential of individuals with dyslexia and other learning differences. In this new book, he investigates how different kinds of brains and different ways of thinking can help to make discoveries and solve problems in innovative and unexpected ways. West focuses on what he has learned over the years from a group of extraordinarily creative, intelligent, and interesting people -- those with dyslexia, Asperger's syndrome, and other different ways of thinking, learning, and working. He shows that such people can provide important insights missed by experts as they also can prevent institutional "group think."
Based on first-person accounts, West tells stories that include a dyslexic paleontologist in Montana, a special effects tech who worked for Pink Floyd and Kiss and who is now an advocate for those with Asperger's syndrome, a group of dyslexic master code breakers in a British electronic intelligence organization, a Colorado livestock handling expert who has become a forceful advocate for those with autism and a family of dyslexics and visual thinkers in Britain that includes four winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics. He also discusses persistent controversies and the unfolding science.
This is an inspiring book that not only documents the achievements of people with various learning differences, but reveals their great potential -- especially in a new digital age where traditional clerical and academic skills are less and less important while an ability to think in pictures and to understand patterns using high-level computer information visualizations is rapidly increasing in value in the global economic marketplace."
Based on first-person accounts, West tells stories that include a dyslexic paleontologist in Montana, a special effects tech who worked for Pink Floyd and Kiss and who is now an advocate for those with Asperger's syndrome, a group of dyslexic master code breakers in a British electronic intelligence organization, a Colorado livestock handling expert who has become a forceful advocate for those with autism and a family of dyslexics and visual thinkers in Britain that includes four winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics. He also discusses persistent controversies and the unfolding science.
This is an inspiring book that not only documents the achievements of people with various learning differences, but reveals their great potential -- especially in a new digital age where traditional clerical and academic skills are less and less important while an ability to think in pictures and to understand patterns using high-level computer information visualizations is rapidly increasing in value in the global economic marketplace."
- GenresNonfiction
277 pages, Paperback
Published July 11, 2017
16 people are currently reading
156 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 23, 2023
I am the author. This is my third book. It is a collection of the most interesting stories and insights I have learned from some the most interesting people on the planet. These are dyslexics and Asperger folks and others -- often visual thinkers. Many are top of their fields like Nobel Prize winning scientists, entrepreneurs, surgeons and high level mathematicians. Over 30 years I have given talks to high level groups around the US and in 19 foreign countries. Also, the higher up I would go, with Nobel Prize winners, for example, the more often I would have people tell stories of their own dyslexia or school problems of varied sorts. I came to understand that to win top prizes, you want to be able to think differently and see patterns that others do not see. Top students are great at remembering what they have been taught but they rarely see the new pattrens never seen or recognized before. -- TGW
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October 29, 2018153.9 W521s 2017
February 21, 2023
Seeing What Others Cannot See: The Hidden Advantages of Visual Thinkers and Differently Wired Brainsis Thomas G. West's third book. I am sooooooooo torn about this work. It is a powerfully reasoned defense of a world-wide, critical movement to recognize the needs and astonishing abilities of people who are visual/spatial/dyslexic/neurodiverse thinkers. Visual/spatial learners may have horrible challenges learning to read and write or memorize "simple" facts like multiplication tables. They may never spell well. Their sense of time can be non-existent and their social skills weak. And they see the big picture as no one else can. They make connections between dissimilar and seemingly-completely unrelated items and concepts with dizzying speed. They often understand the most difficult arguments, theorems, hypotheses of a discipline and/or create entirely new analyses of our world and can be completely unable to explain why in a step-by-step fashion without huge struggle. Their weaknesses get them labeled "stupid," "lazy," "careless," and too many other soul-shriveling names to list. And their gifts are too often sadly trivialized, although, encouragingly, West notes that these biases in worldwide cultures are reversing.
There are wonderful, inspiring biographies of highly successful, "atypical" learners throughout the pages who have often completely upended the understanding of their fields of expertise - Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill. That's only a partial list of the individuals examined in Seeing. That list alone should be convincing as to why we need to nurture all brains. And giving all students access to appropriate resources and teaching benefits everyone in school: none of us is strictly "typical."
But Seeing is repetitive. Very very repetitive. I'm not sure, but I think this is a collection of essays. Unfortunately, every essay ends on the same notes. What was convincing becomes tedious. I would suggest reading this book for the biographies, and the arguments in favor of a radical re-vamping of educational systems which are incorporated in those biographies will be absorbed. But don't feel compelled to read every page.
There are wonderful, inspiring biographies of highly successful, "atypical" learners throughout the pages who have often completely upended the understanding of their fields of expertise - Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill. That's only a partial list of the individuals examined in Seeing. That list alone should be convincing as to why we need to nurture all brains. And giving all students access to appropriate resources and teaching benefits everyone in school: none of us is strictly "typical."
But Seeing is repetitive. Very very repetitive. I'm not sure, but I think this is a collection of essays. Unfortunately, every essay ends on the same notes. What was convincing becomes tedious. I would suggest reading this book for the biographies, and the arguments in favor of a radical re-vamping of educational systems which are incorporated in those biographies will be absorbed. But don't feel compelled to read every page.
March 19, 2018
Номын гол санаа нь үнэхээр таалагдсан. Жирийн хүмүүсийн харж төсөөлж чаддаггүй тэр зүйлсийг мэдэрч харж зураглаж тархиндаа сэтгэж, харах чадвартай хэдий ч тэд ном унших, ярих, ойлгуулах, бичих чадвар доголдолтой - Dyslexia хүмүүс юм. Ном тийм хүмүүсийг таних цаашлаад яаж ашиглах, жишээ баримтаар миний ойлголтыг тэлж, цаашлаад ялангуяа Монголд олон нийтэд ойлгуулмаар санагдсан шүү. Ийм ангиллын хүмүүсийг ашиглах тал дээр ажиллавал хэн хэн нь ялах зарчмаар нийгэмд ашигтай байх нь ойлгомжтой. боловч нөгөө талаар авьяаслаг өөрөөр сэтгэдэг, дезайнч, шинжлэх ухааны эрдэмтэн Нобэлийн шагналтнууд хүртэл багтаж байх юм. Никола Тесла, Аплын Жони Айв, Эйнштэн нар тэдний төлөөлөл. Код тайлагч хүмүүсийг Хакер гэдэг байхаа. Тэгвэл тэд чинь ихэнх нь ерөнхий эрдмийн /Common Core/ доголдолтой буюу сурагч байхдаа сурлагадаа маш мууь сурах найдваргүй ангилалд ордог. Гэвч тэдний ачаар хүмүн төрөлхтөн технологийн ийм түвшинд байгааг маргах шаардлага үгүй болов уу. Энд номонд дурдаагүй маш олон санааг үүгээр цухуйлгах боломжгүйг уучил, тиймээс номыг уншиж олон сонирхолтой "ААНХААН" санаануудыг авна уу!
November 29, 2020
Celebrating the art of neurodiversity this book confirms what I already believed....academia is not the only form of intelligence that should be celebrated!
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