I've never bought into the myth that someone is either right or left-brained. This idea that we are either one or the other is very popular; there are even books and assessment tools that claim to help right-brained people survive and conquer in our left-brain dominated world.
I react based on what I've learned through science: our brains are wired to operate on both sides, and we use both sides continually. The right and left hemispheres are connected by the Corpus Collosum.
That band of neural tissues may be larger or smaller in some individuals, but barring an accident or abnormality, we all use both sides. Women apparently have larger Corpus Collosum than men. Does that mean they can operate both sides better? I haven't seen this evidence.
People confuse right and left brain tendencies with personality traits. In other words, some people prefer to use logic and reason to process information; others prefer to use intuition and emotions. That is a question of preference or style of thinking. A preference doesn't preclude using a different way of thinking in some situations. Jung was the psychologist who studied how we process information. Later, these preferences were researched by Myers and Briggs.
Last night we had a 'brainstorming' session with a group of authors. One of the participants was very analytical in his way of processing information. He needed to see a system, with steps to follow. Some people would call him left-brained. But that is merely a metaphor. I think we create a disservice when we categorize humans as either/or, left or right-brained.
Earlier in the day, I had a phone call from a woman who was all over the map. She wanted to get some consulting time on a couple of business projects. But it was difficult for her to focus long enough to clearly express what she needed. What she wanted to do was paint a broad picture, touching on all the elements of her confusion, dispersing emotional energy as she talked. I can only imagine that this must be a process that works for her.
But as I am a logically-oriented thinker, it was uncomfortable for me to listen to her. As a busy professional, I wanted to set some boundaries and help her to focus and get to the point.
Call me left-brained, if you want. Focus is essential to any person, and that's what I wanted to give to her.
I'd like to see more integrated approaches when we refer to someone and when we use categories like right/left, and logical/emotional. It may seem to make sense, but the whole right/left brain categorization is actually false, and really should only be used as a metaphor.
I've never bought into the myth that someone is either right or left-brained. This idea that we are either one or the other is very popular; there are even books and assessment tools that claim to help right-brained people survive and conquer in our left-brain dominated world.
I react based on what I've learned through science: our brains are wired to operate on both sides, and we use both sides continually. The right and left hemispheres are connected by the Corpus Collosum.
That band of neural tissues may be larger or smaller in some individuals, but barring an accident or abnormality, we all use both sides. Women apparently have larger Corpus Collosum than men. Does that mean they can operate both sides better? I haven't seen this evidence.
People confuse right and left brain tendencies with personality traits. In other words, some people prefer to use logic and reason to process information; others prefer to use intuition and emotions. That is a question of preference or style of thinking. A preference doesn't preclude using a different way of thinking in some situations. Jung was the psychologist who studied how we process information. Later, these preferences were researched by Myers and Briggs.
Last night we had a 'brainstorming' session with a group of authors. One of the participants was very analytical in his way of processing information. He needed to see a system, with steps to follow. Some people would call him left-brained. But that is merely a metaphor. I think we create a disservice when we categorize humans as either/or, left or right-brained.
Earlier in the day, I had a phone call from a woman who was all over the map. She wanted to get some consulting time on a couple of business projects. But it was difficult for her to focus long enough to clearly express what she needed. What she wanted to do was paint a broad picture, touching on all the elements of her confusion, dispersing emotional energy as she talked. I can only imagine that this must be a process that works for her.
But as I am a logically-oriented thinker, it was uncomfortable for me to listen to her. As a busy professional, I wanted to set some boundaries and help her to focus and get to the point.
Call me left-brained, if you want. Focus is essential to any person, and that's what I wanted to give to her.
I'd like to see more integrated approaches when we refer to someone and when we use categories like right/left, and logical/emotional. It may seem to make sense, but the whole right/left brain categorization is actually false, and really should only be used as a metaphor.