Educating different kinds of minds | Temple Grandin | TEDxCSU

Our educational system may be screening out creative people in the fields of art, music, science, and computer programming. The question I wish to ask is: what would happen to the great innovators such as Einstein or Michelangelo in today’s educational system? Educators need to understand that they have different kinds of minds.

Temple Grandin is a professor of animal science and a designer of livestock handling systems. Her equipment designs and animal welfare guidelines have been used around the world. She is also autistic, and her visual thinking skills helped her understand animals.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Well, it's really great to be here today,

but I want to talk about
different ways that people think,

and one of the first steps is realizing
that different kinds of thinking exist.

Another thing I want to challenge
the educational system with

is there were some
really great minds in the past,

and what would have happened to them

if they were in today's
educational system?

What would have happened
to Michelangelo today, Beethoven today?

Thomas Edison? A lot of people?

What would happen to them?

OK, we're all familiar
with Michelangelo's art.

And there's been a book written
about Michelangelo by one of his students.

It's been translated into English.

And he was a lousy student.

He dropped out of school at age 12.

That's 6th grade -

6th grade high school dropout.

That's Michelangelo.

And his father hated art,
said that he didn't consider it "learned."

He wanted him to grow up
and write legal documents.

Yuck!
(Laughter)

Now, fortunately,

he was raised in a situation where
they had access to stonecutter tools.

So he had some exposure to it.

All the churches
were doing all kinds of art.

So he grew up with exposure to it.

This brings up another
very important thing:

how do students
get interested in something?

They get exposed.

I ended up in the cattle industry

because I was exposed to it
when I was 15 years old.

How about Beethoven?

He had great accomplishment,
but a lot of adversity,

and he wrote his greatest works
when he was half deaf,

and all the way stone-deaf,
and he couldn't perform anymore.

And we're still playing his music today.

In fact, he had a piano company build
a special device to go on the piano

to help him to hear.

And this is a reproduction of the device
made by the Orpheus Institute.

But he wanted to accomplish things.

Okay, this is one
of my most important slides:

the different kinds of minds.

I'm a photorealistic, visual thinker,
an object visualizer.

And you know what? I can't do algebra!

And I'd be screened out
of today's educational system.

I do talks all over
the country on education,

I'm talking to high school kids
that can't graduate from high school

if you can't do algebra.

If I'm going to be a chemist,
I need algebra,

but for a lot of things you don't,
and we need visual thinkers.

We need visual thinkers to solve problems.

Another kind of mind
is the mathematical mind,

a pattern thinker.

They think more mathematically.
They don't think in pictures.

And then you have the verbal facts people.

Now let's look at how the different kinds
of minds approach problem-solving.

Visual thinkers are bottom-up thinkers.

Concepts are learned
with specific examples.

I've done a lot of work
on improving things

in the livestock industry.

But it was something specific.

It wasn't vague and abstract.

A lot of verbal thinking
on a lot of different issues,

it gets very abstract.

I've got to have an issue
that I can really put my head around,

so I can do something about it.

But the first step is we've got to realize
these different thinkers exist.

The skills can complement each other!

Think about the iPhone -
Steve Jobs was an artist!

That's why your phone is easy to use.

The mathematicians
had to make it actually work.

And I've had some brain scans,

and I've found out that I've got
some big visual thinking circuits!

And this shows my lack of working memory.

So what am I doing
with this piece of paper up here?

This is my external working memory.

Because I don't have working memory.

It's all full of water.

In fact,

if I was a computer,

I've got the Amazon cloud
or the Microsoft cloud,

the Google cloud,
whichever cloud you like the best,

for graphics files,

huge memory for graphics files.

If I can convert it
to a graphics file, I remember it.

But I'm only a 286, or a one-bar phone,
when it comes to working memory.

So that's why I have these notes here -
because it's my external working memory.

Now, how do you figure out in kids
what kind of thinker you are?

Visual thinkers are good at art,
mechanical things.

I was good at photography.

And this will show up in 2nd or 3rd grade.

Mathematical thinkers
will be good at math.

And one of the big
mistakes that's made

is they're giving the kids baby math,

and so the math ability
doesn't get developed.

Another thing about some of these kids
that are super good at math

is they do it in their head.

Don't make them verbally show their work.

That's not how they think.

We've got a big shortage right now
of computer coders.

Well, maybe computer coding
needs to be introduced to third graders.

And then there are verbal thinkers,
who love history, love facts.

Verbal thinkers, I need them
to make my things more linear.

Many of my books have co-authors,

because a visual thinker
tends to be scattered,

so I need a verbal thinker
to make the book more linear.

See, that's the different kinds of minds

working together.

Now I want to talk
about the space program.

I always loved the space program.

It was the greatest achievement
of my generation.

And there's now people
that were mission-critical

that are now getting recognized.

And I was very emotional to go down
and visit the Vehicle Assembly Building.

I just loved doing that.

There was a guy named Hal
who did algebra equations,

algebra equations for fun,

in a reclusive and messy office.

He admitted he didn't do any of the work,

but without his equations,
the lunar landing would not have worked.

He was mission-critical.

Katherine Johnson, the mathematician -

and she finally got recognized.

Her mathematics for calculating orbits
was absolutely essential.

Now we've got to give
some ladies credits here.

The Playtex Corporation
made the space suit.

Four of the finest
bra seamstresses sewed it,

and their boss was a TV repairman.

This was probably not
the mathematics department here.

But the space suit
was super mission-critical.

When I went and visited Cape Kennedy
two and a half years ago,

I found out maybe the right stuff
rides to the moon,

but the geeks and the misfits and the kids
with labels build the stuff.

(Laughter)

I spent 25 years in construction,

and I've worked with skilled trades people

that today would be diagnosed
as autistic, dyslexic or ADHD.

So where's that kid today?

Probably playing video games
in the basement

because nobody thought to let him play
with tools when he was little.

Also, one of the people that worked
on this launchpad had Tourette syndrome.

Now, this brings up
an important thing about identity.

Autism is an important part of who I am,

but career comes first.

And people ask me all the time,

"Was it really hard,
as a person with autism,

to go into the cattle industry?"

Nope, back in the '70s,

being a girl was a bigger barrier
than autism could ever be!

(Laughter)

And they really did put
bull testicles on my vehicle.

That scene happened.

And another thing in the movie
that's totally true is visual thinking.

It shows that accurately.

Now, my grandfather was the co-inventor
of the autopilot for airplanes,

and he worked with another person
that probably was autistic,

probably a visual thinker,

who came up with this idea
for three little coils.

Then my mathematically-minded grandfather,
MIT-trained engineer, did the math for it;

the different minds working together.

A lot of kids are getting labels -

autism, dyslexia, ADHD.

I'm worried about them
getting screened out.

We need their minds.

Thomas Edison was labeled
as a hyperactive high school dropout.

He's got some autistic traits.

Jane Goodall only had
a two-year secretarial degree

when she did her famous work.

Would that be possible today?

I want to make you think.

Steven Spielberg -

bullied, dyslexic, rejected
from a top film school.

One of the things that saved him:

he was exposed to movies when he was a kid
with a Super-8 movie camera.

I got bullied in high school.

They called me all kinds of names,
like "tape recorder" and "bones."

They'd go, "Bones!"
as I walked across the parking lot.

And the only places I was not bullied

was when I was doing a shared interest
with a friend of mine -

riding horses,

some other friends I had with electronics,

friends who shared interests.

Schools need to be keeping these classes:

art, sewing, musical instruments,

woodworking, theater,
welding, auto shop ...

(Cheers) (Applause)

creative writing.

(Applause)

We need to be keeping these classes.

They also teach practical problem-solving.

A Nobel Prize winner was 50% more likely
to have an art-and-crafts hobby

compared to just some other scientist.

That's another reason.

Steve [Jobs], bullied in school.
What would happen to him today?

Albert Einstein, no speech until age 3.

He'd probably be in an autism class today.

Where would he go today?

I want to have you think about that.

And the debate between so-called
useless humanities programs,

such as calligraphy,

should not be ignored.

Calligraphy was one of the things
that helped Steve Jobs

to be a good designer!

We've got kids today who don't know
how to hook up a garden hose.

(Laughter)

They've gotten totally away
from the world of the practical.

I have a livestock handling class,

and my students have to do
a scale drawing.

And we've got some students today
who've never used a ruler,

never used a ruler to measure anything.

Well, I don't know about an electric drill
for a kid this little,

but we wanted to have kids growing up
and doing real things.

And I loved this kindergarten:

they had five-year-olds making things
out of broken computer parts.

This is actually an Italian model.

They believe in hands-on.

We've got a huge shortage today
of skilled trades -

plumbers, electricians,
mechanics, welders ...

Computers are not going to replace this!

Maybe in the future the computer
will diagnose your medical problems,

but it won't fix
the hospital's air conditioning.

Always going to have
to have people to fix things.

These self-driving cars,

they've got a lot of different sensors
and complicated stuff on them.

I had a chance to visit Apple,
and that was super cool,

and they need coders,
and they need them really badly.

And there's a lot of kids out there
that are good at math.

Somebody needs
to introduce them to coding!

And when I was a young kid,
I used to love to do little projects.

That was a little bird kite
that I invented,

and I had to tinker to make it work.

Yeah, we need to get kids
doing these things.

Now, when you're weird, what you have
to do is you have to sell your work.

So this is one of my drawings right here,

and when I'd show my drawings to people,
people were impressed.

In fact, this is a drawing
that I sold a major meat company

to have them have me
design stuff for them.

I simply showed them my work.

Now, why does it say
you have to touch to perceive?

When our industry went from hand-drafting
to computers - this was in the mid '90s -

I started noticing very,
very strange mistakes on drawings -

like the center of a circle
was not in the center of the circle.

And what I learned was that person
had never drawn by hand,

and they'd never built anything.

And even today, I've got some drawings
from a major engineering company

that had some concrete work in it
with no reinforcing rod.

Really?

I don't think that's a very good idea.

They're not seeing their drawings.

When you're weird, you've got
to show what you can do.

Show your work off.
That's what you've got to do.

And this is a picture
of one my early jobs,

and this is the kind of pictures
that I would put in my portfolio

to show clients.

An interview for me was spread
the drawings on the table,

put the pictures out there,

give them my brochure ...

That's the replica of one of my systems
they built for the HBO movie.

And I loved the fact
that they put my projects in it.

I've also realized
that working with building things

changes your attitude
about how you do stuff.

You have to actually get stuff done,

and it's something specific
that you have to get done.

It's not abstract; it's real.

And there's my brochure, black and white,

because back in the '70s, '80s and '90s,
color printing was just too expensive.

There was no way I was going
to pay for color printing.

So I made it really nice
in black and white.

Now, what are some
of the common denominators

of some of these kids that are different,

of some of these individuals growing up
with lots of books and learning?

When I was a young kid,
my mother always read to me.

I had some very good teachers.

This is super important.

I didn't talk until age 4,

so I had a very good speech teacher,

and if people talked too fast,
I couldn't hear what they said.

It was like, "Buh, buh, buh, buh."

So my speech teacher would slow down
and enunciate the hard consonant words.

I had Mrs. Deetch,
my 3rd grade teacher ...

Mother had a really good sense
of how to stretch me.

A lot of these kids are getting
too overprotected now they have a label.

And the problem we've got with autism

is it goes all the way from Einstein,
or maybe Thomas Edison,

to somebody who can't dress themself.

We've got the same word!

So the verbal thinkers
get locked too much into the word!

And early exposure to career interests,

learning how to work.

My mother got me
a sewing job when I was 13;

I was cleaning horse stalls at 15.

Learning how to work:
super, super important.

Great mentors -

I had a wonderful science teacher.

He actually was a NASA space scientist,

and what he did is he got me
interested in studying,

because now, education
was a pathway to a goal.

It wasn't done "just do it
for the sake of education."

I'm seeing a lot of kids today:

they doing super well on their academics,

but then when school's over, what's next?

Well, this is the reason
why they need to learn how to work.

I've counseled a lot of students,

and said, "If you're in college right now,
do career-relative, relevant internships.

Go out and try on careers.

Find out what you love,
but also maybe find out what you hate."

It's important to do that.

You can't get an internship?

I say, "Get on your department's web page,

get on the web pages
of whole other departments.

There's all kinds
of interesting stuff going on

that you can get involved in,
if you just look."

And then you discover something,

because originally I thought I was going
to be an experimental psychologist

who studied optical illusions.

Well, that wasn't what happened to me.

(Laughter)

It's just that simple.

Also, when you don't have
much working memory,

learning how to drive
is going to take longer.

But it's essential,

and I can't use this external
working memory to learn how to drive.

So what you've got to do
to solve the problem of multitasking

is get out there and practice,
practice, practice

in totally safe places for a long time.

I did 200 miles on dirt roads,

and the truck was three on the tree,
with a really terrible clutch.

(Laughter)

And it started out lurching
all around the horse pasture.

It was just absolutely awful.

(Laughter)

Well, the thing that's really important

is we need all the different
kinds of minds,

and I'm worried
that in some school systems

we're screening out some of these kids
because they can't do algebra.

If you do chemistry, you'll do
a lot of things that need algebra,

but you don't need it
for solving a lot of problems.

It's that simple.

And that was my last slide right there,

and let me give you some examples

of where visual thinking
can solve problems.

The Fukushima nuclear power plant mess.

It's not a good idea
when you live next to the sea

to put your super important
emergency cooling pump

in a non-waterproof basement.

It has an electric motor.

That doesn't work too well under water.

Watertight doors would have saved it.

Then there's the Boeing MAX mess.

You all know what
a Sharpie pen looks like.

Would you trust one of those
stuck on the side of an airplane,

wired right into active flight controls,

and you didn't tell the pilots?

I don't think so.

You see, when you think
about it visually, you see it.

Mathematical kinds of minds,
they calculate risk.

Visual thinkers can see risk.

They can also see solutions to problems.

I can see a pigeon
just taking that sensor off.

Then what happens?
It was a disaster what happened.

There were other mistakes that were made,
but that was the first mistake.

They just didn't see it!

That's the thing.

And -

I got to thinking just real recently,
"What is common sense?"

(Laughter)

I think common sense is visual thinking.

Because let's say there was a water bottle
or something on the floor -

I'd pick that up
because if somebody steps on it,

they could break their ankle.

You see, that's seeing it.
Common sense is seeing it.

So, I just want to finish up

and say we need to figure out
how the different minds work together,

where the skills complement each other.

But the first step is realizing
that different kinds of thinking

actually do exist.

And I just want to finish up and say:

the world needs all kinds of minds!

Thank you very much.

(Applause) (Cheers)