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Head Hand Heart
- The Struggle for Dignity and Status in the 21st Century
- Narrated by: David Goodhart
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Categories: Politics & Social Sciences, Politics & Government
Non-member price: $39.50
Publisher's Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
A good society needs a balance between aptitudes relating to head (cognitive), hand (manual/craft) and heart (caring/emotional). In recent decades in Western societies, they have got out of kilter. One form of human aptitude - cognitive ability - has become the gold standard of human esteem.
The cognitive class now shapes society and largely in its own interests: in the knowledge economy, the over-expansion of higher education and in the very idea of a successful life. To put it bluntly: smart people have become too powerful.
David Goodhart, who in his last book described the divide between the worldviews of the Anywheres and Somewheres, now reveals the story of a cognitive takeover that has gathered pace in the past 40 years.
As recently as the 1970s most people left school without qualifications, now in the UK almost 40 per cent of jobs are graduate-only. He shows how we are now reaching 'Peak Head' as the knowledge economy needs fewer knowledge workers, yet there is a crisis of recruitment in caring jobs.
A democratic society that wants to avoid widespread disaffection must respect and reward a broad range of achievement covering both cognitive and non-cognitive aptitudes and must provide meaning and value for people who cannot or do not want to achieve in the classroom and professional career market. This is the story of the struggle for status and dignity in the 21st century.
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What listeners say about Head Hand Heart
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- Anonymous User
- 28-09-2020
Politicians should be talking about this.
I think David has touched on something alot of the ‘hand and heart’ working class have been thinking for a long time. It was great listening to this book on my headphones while working away on the building site. Thanks Ben Greenwood
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- Amazon Customer
- 19-10-2020
Point of View Modifying Perspective on Meroticracy
I've struggled all my working life to get ahead in the qualification meritocracy, to the great loss of my hand and particularly heart skills. This book is s justification and an urgent call to readjust holistically on a society wide basis. Excellently made case.
1 person found this helpful
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- Olly Buxton
- 26-09-2020
timely, thought provoking and well argued
David Goodhart latest book ploughs, in greater depth, furrow ploughed by Nassim Taleb and Peter Thiel in challenging the conventional wisdom that university education is a universal panacea for all society's ills. whereas Taleb attacks the transparent idiocy emerging from e academy, goodhart's perspective is more structural Colin that while university has a roll, it is singularly unsuited for for the occasional training for craft and social care occupations, yet entry into these callings also is increasingly being framed by requirements for university qualification.
1 person found this helpful
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