Gardner in his article highlights the types of mindsets and ways of thinking people generally have and undertake. He categorizes them based on certain factors that people may possess more than others. He eludes to the fact that having a disciplined mind will get you further in life. He defines a disciplined mind as one that ‘has mastered at least one way of thinking’. Adding to the fact that a disciplined mind allows individuals to work more efficiently in terms of pacing and its overall much more effective in the long run in the context of work placements and career.

Gardner lists several points as to how to effectively succeed in future endeavours. While he mentions that a disciplined mind is a strong characteristic to have, he also mentions that without a sense of synthetic thinking – to adapt to technology and information as we are presented with it, we are doomed to become overwhelmed and unable to create decisions that would significantly aid the organization or profession.

I do agree with Gardner in the fact that when looking for a career or when working in general, it’s more likely you’d get better results with a much more disciplined and open mind. Hence when we study in school/university we’re encouraged to hone our thinking and improve it because it’s not just about getting the job you want, it’s about how well you can perform under whatever circumstances are pushed against you.

Judy Wajcman touches base on the concept of time in correlation to humanity’s technological advancements. More specifically, the work industry and how machinery created is a construct that more or less disorients our notion of time.

She mentions how much these machines tamper with our workload and effectively force us to think about the affects of the reduced costs in both economical relations but more importantly time management. This places us in the position where we’re more free than we would normally be – which gives rise to the question; how much work is too much work? How can we balance out the workload between technology and human labour?

Also the fact that this notion of technological advancement in workplacements have a larger impact ont he economic and employment rate of a society – could technology become the downfall of human society?

Wajcman goes into sort of a philisophical topic as she makes time stand out more as a unit of currency than an idea of progression. She also highlights ideas of balancing our current time; work and personal. Some individuals may be able to work longer than others as it ultimately comes down to their psych and mental/physical capabilities/boundaries; with the introduction of machinery, it’ll give us more freedom to be able to balance our time and make the most out of it.

Cal Newport highlights the two main mindsets when it comes to working in a career or following a path; the craftsman mindset and the passion mindset. Both are very different mind sets, however he explains and infers that the craftsman mindset is the best way to get ahead in life and to truly find something you love doing.

Without going into detail, the craftsman mindset focuses on the person giving something to the world, using all their efforts to succeed in creating something unique, something ‘so good no one can ignore you’. Whereas the passion mindset focuses more on those who are much more passive in that they want to see what the world has to offer for them – sort of a more cynical approach to a pursuit in career.

While Newport does make convining points about why the craftsman mindset is much better than the passion mindset, I believe that in the end it’s up to the person to make that decision based on what works better for them.

The craftsman mindset he argues allows the individual to actively seek out new ways of improvement which leads to passion. This in turn gives them a larger sense of accomplishment and closure to the questions they ask themselves such as ‘Who am I’ and ‘What do I really like?’.

But I believe that adopting the passionate mindset is more suitable for those with a more empathetic and cynical view of the world such as myself, who doesn’t mind what kind of work I do as long as it sustains me and satisfies me – I have no real need or desire to go that extra step.

Lobato and Thomas makes points of the difficulty procuring a career in the media industry in terms of pay. They mention the blurry line between freelance and exploitation. This raises points regarding whether or not media in general can be considered an art form more so than a labour industry. Ultimately companies and larger businesses are hiring/recruiting those who are familiar with the workings of today’s technology to help aid them in their creative endeavor as a brand – but this also places restrictions on how we’re able to express ourselves creatively in the media profession. Lobato and Thomas eludes to the fact that because our lives depend on the pay, going freelance to express ourselves in the way we want to is very difficult; hence freelance vs exploitation.

This sparks debate in which Lobato and Thomas make in their segment on creative labour and the limitations of providing individuals with the ability to not be exploited but rather a fair balance between sustainable salaries and careers and their own individual desires. But nonetheless, the direction creative labourers choose to take is dependent on society in context – government systems, cultural influence, economical changes, etc.