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On knowing;: Essays for the left hand
The left hand has traditionally represented the powers of intuition, feeling, and spontaneity. In this classic book, Jerome Bruner inquires into the part these qualities play in determining how we know what we do know; how we can help others to know-that is, to teach; and how our conception of reality affects our actions and is modified by them.The striking and subtle discussions contained in On Knowing take on the core issues concerning man's sense of creativity, the search for identity, the nature of aesthetic knowledge, myth, the learning process, and modem-day attitudes toward social controls, Freud, and fate. In this revised, expanded edition, Bruner comments on his personal efforts to maintain an intuitively and rationally balanced understanding of human nature, taking into account the odd historical circumstances which have hindered academic psychology's attempts in the past to know man.Writing with wit, imagination, and deep sympathy for the human condition, Jerome Bruner speaks here to the part of man's mind that can never be completely satisfied by the right-handed virtues of order, rationality, and discipline.
165 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1968
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About the author
Jerome Bruner
92 books82 followersJerome Seymour Bruner is an American psychologist predominately in the fields of developmental, educational, and legal psychology, and is one of the pioneers of the cognitive psychology movement in the United States. He is a senior research fellow at the New York University School of Law. He received his B.A. in 1937 from Duke University and his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1941. During World War II, Bruner served on the Psychological Warfare Division of the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force Europe committee under Eisenhower, researching social psychological phenomena.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 5, 2023
Could have been great: it's supposed to be about how we construct reality by the process of knowing: the act of Knowing in itself and how it gives form to language, science, literature, art. This concept of Knowing leads to a concern with how we impart knowledge, how we lead the learner to construct reality on their own terms.
This all sounds very complex and erudite AF, but....Jerome likes to name drop famous people/places, this makes it all too much of a pretentious read to take serious, especially after the following:
"Since childhood I have been enchanted by the symbolism of right hands, one a doer, the other the dreamer."
(personal confusion mode on but let us try hard not to digress)
... Jerome is fascinated by right hands therefore claims he has written words on the left hand. Only to end up not quite discussing any of them. I can't take this seriously.
This all sounds very complex and erudite AF, but....Jerome likes to name drop famous people/places, this makes it all too much of a pretentious read to take serious, especially after the following:
"Since childhood I have been enchanted by the symbolism of right hands, one a doer, the other the dreamer."
(personal confusion mode on but let us try hard not to digress)
... Jerome is fascinated by right hands therefore claims he has written words on the left hand. Only to end up not quite discussing any of them. I can't take this seriously.
June 2, 2014
I saw a quote from this book somewhere online (Dictionary dot com, perhaps?) that struck me as pithy, erudite and with an "enlightening" glow, which made me want to read it.
The subtitle, "Essays for the Left Hand," takes the left hand as a metaphor for aspects of living that are intuitive, unconscious, and difficult to analyze and therefore control—such as creativity, early learning, myth, and the idea of fate. It is a collection of essays from different times of the author’s life and development that, he writes in the introduction, he has edited somewhat to give them more thematic integrity.
What I liked about On Knowing was exactly what I liked about the quote that drew me to the book: almost every sentence is pithy, erudite and with an "enlightening" glow. In terms of content, it’s interesting in as far as it looks at what makes us modern. Although written in the 1960s, nearly everything that characterizes humankind in the 21st century was already worked out, so the fact that it is already 50-plus years old has little effect on its relevance.
For example, I found the analysis of Darwin and Freud interesting in that he points out that although Darwin was revolutionary he could still be appealed to as having ratified the traditional view of humankind’s supremacy by portraying humans as the most sophisticated product of evolution. However, Freud is posited as being even more revolutionary in that he undermined such self-assuredness by showing how mankind is subject to much the same drives that control the rest of animal life on the planet and, in spite of being so intellectually privileged, still cannot fully master his own fate.
There are nuggets of insight like this throughout that provide interesting food for thought, but the problem with this anthology for me is that (a) it is too abstract (I am far more interested in narrative and commentary on specifics, with digressions where appropriate into abstraction) and (b) it is too all over the place (as is, I guess, inevitable with essays written for different purposes and audiences). There are one or two clear threads that somewhat hold the essays together: most notably the element of surprise as a defining factor of creativity, and the idea that a multi-disciplinary approach is needed to fully understand anything. But, apart from that, I had to work very hard all the way through to try and relate what I was reading to what I encountered in my everyday life and reading. Being a philosophy and psychology fan would surely help, but even then, the title “On Knowing” is somewhat misleading in that the mechanisms, subjects and objects of “knowing” aren’t discussed as much as variously dabbled into.
In the end, I came away with very little, especially since it is very difficult to remember insights into this and that from here and there when they’re not very strongly held together. It’s more a book for holding essay-by-essay discussions with like-minded ivory tower chums rather than a book which, after a sustained reading, you come away from feeling like you’ve been shown the world through a new lens. It’s a collection of interesting and erudite tidbits that don’t hold together as well as is advertised.
Finally, there were several times when the On Knowing might as well have been recast as On Knowing All the Famous People I’m Friends With, as there is not a little name-dropping. Sure, he’s a big name in psychology, but not exactly a household name, so it still came across as trying to claim a place based on the circles he’s moved in.
The subtitle, "Essays for the Left Hand," takes the left hand as a metaphor for aspects of living that are intuitive, unconscious, and difficult to analyze and therefore control—such as creativity, early learning, myth, and the idea of fate. It is a collection of essays from different times of the author’s life and development that, he writes in the introduction, he has edited somewhat to give them more thematic integrity.
What I liked about On Knowing was exactly what I liked about the quote that drew me to the book: almost every sentence is pithy, erudite and with an "enlightening" glow. In terms of content, it’s interesting in as far as it looks at what makes us modern. Although written in the 1960s, nearly everything that characterizes humankind in the 21st century was already worked out, so the fact that it is already 50-plus years old has little effect on its relevance.
For example, I found the analysis of Darwin and Freud interesting in that he points out that although Darwin was revolutionary he could still be appealed to as having ratified the traditional view of humankind’s supremacy by portraying humans as the most sophisticated product of evolution. However, Freud is posited as being even more revolutionary in that he undermined such self-assuredness by showing how mankind is subject to much the same drives that control the rest of animal life on the planet and, in spite of being so intellectually privileged, still cannot fully master his own fate.
There are nuggets of insight like this throughout that provide interesting food for thought, but the problem with this anthology for me is that (a) it is too abstract (I am far more interested in narrative and commentary on specifics, with digressions where appropriate into abstraction) and (b) it is too all over the place (as is, I guess, inevitable with essays written for different purposes and audiences). There are one or two clear threads that somewhat hold the essays together: most notably the element of surprise as a defining factor of creativity, and the idea that a multi-disciplinary approach is needed to fully understand anything. But, apart from that, I had to work very hard all the way through to try and relate what I was reading to what I encountered in my everyday life and reading. Being a philosophy and psychology fan would surely help, but even then, the title “On Knowing” is somewhat misleading in that the mechanisms, subjects and objects of “knowing” aren’t discussed as much as variously dabbled into.
In the end, I came away with very little, especially since it is very difficult to remember insights into this and that from here and there when they’re not very strongly held together. It’s more a book for holding essay-by-essay discussions with like-minded ivory tower chums rather than a book which, after a sustained reading, you come away from feeling like you’ve been shown the world through a new lens. It’s a collection of interesting and erudite tidbits that don’t hold together as well as is advertised.
Finally, there were several times when the On Knowing might as well have been recast as On Knowing All the Famous People I’m Friends With, as there is not a little name-dropping. Sure, he’s a big name in psychology, but not exactly a household name, so it still came across as trying to claim a place based on the circles he’s moved in.
November 2, 2015
I do not know if David is left handed or not, let alone dyslexic, but I found that these two paragraphs of his own review, resounded with my own perspective of this book ...
"Essays for the Left Hand," takes the left hand as a metaphor for aspects of living that are intuitive, [un]conscious, and difficult to analyze and therefore control—such as creativity, early learning, myth, and the idea of fate. It is a collection of essays from different times of the author’s life and development that, he writes in the introduction, he has edited somewhat to give them more thematic integrity.
What I liked about On Knowing was exactly what I liked about the quote that drew me to the book: almost every sentence is pithy, erudite and with an "enlightening" glow. In terms of content, it’s interesting in as far as it looks at what makes us modern. Although written in the 1960s, nearly everything that characterizes humankind in the 21st century was already worked out, so the fact that it is already 50-plus years old has little effect on its relevance."
Creativity - for an approaching three score years and ten, left handed dyslexic, whose propensity for mirror writing was 'corrected' by nuns at St. John's Primary School in the Archway, North London; as a result of being taught to write correctly with an Osmiroid 65 pen fitted with a left-handed italic nib - has forever been the driving force of my life.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...
From my own particular perspective, however, the best review of Jerome Bruner's book, which addresses many of the points which David has made, has been written by Maria Popova. Entitled "How to Master the Art of “Effective Surprise” and the 6 Essential Conditions for Creativity", the piece can be found at her most revealing 'brain pickings' website.
https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/04...
"Essays for the Left Hand," takes the left hand as a metaphor for aspects of living that are intuitive, [un]conscious, and difficult to analyze and therefore control—such as creativity, early learning, myth, and the idea of fate. It is a collection of essays from different times of the author’s life and development that, he writes in the introduction, he has edited somewhat to give them more thematic integrity.
What I liked about On Knowing was exactly what I liked about the quote that drew me to the book: almost every sentence is pithy, erudite and with an "enlightening" glow. In terms of content, it’s interesting in as far as it looks at what makes us modern. Although written in the 1960s, nearly everything that characterizes humankind in the 21st century was already worked out, so the fact that it is already 50-plus years old has little effect on its relevance."
Creativity - for an approaching three score years and ten, left handed dyslexic, whose propensity for mirror writing was 'corrected' by nuns at St. John's Primary School in the Archway, North London; as a result of being taught to write correctly with an Osmiroid 65 pen fitted with a left-handed italic nib - has forever been the driving force of my life.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...
From my own particular perspective, however, the best review of Jerome Bruner's book, which addresses many of the points which David has made, has been written by Maria Popova. Entitled "How to Master the Art of “Effective Surprise” and the 6 Essential Conditions for Creativity", the piece can be found at her most revealing 'brain pickings' website.
https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/04...
August 31, 2017
Great collection of essays by Bruner on knowledge process, worth a read especially for the essays "the conditions of creativity" and "art as a mode of knowing", invaluable for everyone aspiring to a more complete and deep - not necessarily art related - knowledge of the world.
January 3, 2022
This collection of essays, compiled in 1965, lays out some important ideas about learning and knowing and the importance of creativity, discovery, surprise, intuition, and experience. By accident, I started by reading work Bruner did on these subjects more than 20 years later, and it feels like that perspective helped me recognize earlier versions of ideas about how language, creativity, myth, narrative, art, and literature are important frames for experience and how experience is a basis for creative discovery that leads to new insights and knowledge. These essays also appear to be where Bruner is laying out a contrast between forms of knowing that later get labeled as the "narrative" mode (based on experience and tropes we use to make sense of experience) and the "logico-scientific" mode that simplifies experience by abstracting, classifying, labeling, and formalizing experience.
Outdated pronoun usage notwithstanding, a core insight across these essays seems to be this: "There is, perhaps one universal truth about all forms of human cognition: the ability to deal with knowledge is hugely exceeded by the potential knowledge contained in man's environment. To cope with this diversity, man's perception, his memory, and his thought processes early become governed by strategies for protecting his limited capacities from the confusion of overloading" (p.65). We can choose to protect our capacities by applying formal techniques of creating knowledge (e.g., the scientific method) but we must recognize that in doing so we are taking a slice of what can be known and calling it the limits of what can be legitimately known. The arts and narrative afford new ways of reflecting on experience and for creating new connections between domains of experience that allow for new, creative insights. Of course, the scientific enterprise is also, arguably, creative and equally driven by its own narratives.
Good essays. There is a lot to think about here and the ideas are generally presented clearly and with solid examples. Compared to other work I've read, the points are a bit more sweeping and less well supported by a paper trail of citations, but that may be due to the fact that these essays were originally given as lectures. Or it may just be that my need for a paper trail of citations already shows the way that I am closed off from using my own experiences as a way to connect with those Bruner is offering.
Outdated pronoun usage notwithstanding, a core insight across these essays seems to be this: "There is, perhaps one universal truth about all forms of human cognition: the ability to deal with knowledge is hugely exceeded by the potential knowledge contained in man's environment. To cope with this diversity, man's perception, his memory, and his thought processes early become governed by strategies for protecting his limited capacities from the confusion of overloading" (p.65). We can choose to protect our capacities by applying formal techniques of creating knowledge (e.g., the scientific method) but we must recognize that in doing so we are taking a slice of what can be known and calling it the limits of what can be legitimately known. The arts and narrative afford new ways of reflecting on experience and for creating new connections between domains of experience that allow for new, creative insights. Of course, the scientific enterprise is also, arguably, creative and equally driven by its own narratives.
Good essays. There is a lot to think about here and the ideas are generally presented clearly and with solid examples. Compared to other work I've read, the points are a bit more sweeping and less well supported by a paper trail of citations, but that may be due to the fact that these essays were originally given as lectures. Or it may just be that my need for a paper trail of citations already shows the way that I am closed off from using my own experiences as a way to connect with those Bruner is offering.
March 25, 2021
On the verge of being pop-psychology, some interesting and heady points but sometimes became too abstract. Bruner also likes to name drop
March 4, 2016
Jerome Bruner, who turned 100 last year, is certainly an accomplished cognitive and educational psychologist. In this volume he intended to treat his topics not from the point-of-view of the scientist (right hand), though, but from a more intuitive perspective. In my view, he failed completely in this left-hand approach: the essays are intellectual, occasionally self-important and carry a much too heavy load of jargon and science-paper style. Where he writes about education, he excels, but where he tries to psychologize creativity and art, or even philosophise about them, the harvest of insights is poor. I bought the book on a recommendation for especially this part, and I was really disappointed. - *spoiler alert* Moreover, though this did not go into my rating, I was rather vexed by his patriarchal stance - even though it was only to be expected, as most of the essays date from the early sixties. It is always "man" doing the intellectual work (and it is very clear that this does not stand for "human"), his children are always accompanied by the pronouns "him" and "his", and to expel the last shadow of doubt are then called "boys". And when he describes the perfectly sweet and ingeniously shaped face of a Madonna statue and its effect, he sees "the faces of woman, mother, wife, flirt, daughter, sister, mistress, saint, and harlot" in the poor Virgin, i.e. a lot of man-oriented roles. I could bring in more examples, even more annoying ones, but I would like to rest my case here, as I am well aware that no written work should be read outside of its historical reference frame.
April 11, 2016
Exactly what I was looking for--an academic exploring the connections between science and the humanities. However, his style is so embedded in the lofty abstraction of the era (the 1960s) that I'd have to work to get anything substantial out of it. Ain't nobody got time for that.
September 2, 2012
Il conoscere. Saggi per la mano sinistra - Armando editore
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews