Right or Left Brained?

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.

Comments

[Kristine]

hi my name is kristine i am doing a project on right and left brain for school do u think u can tell me a littel more info on right and left brian. and whats the differens between left and right brain i mean u just have one brain i just dont under stand the hole right and left brain thing.

[Patsi Krakoff]

Thanks for asking, Kristine, good questions! Yes you only have one brain, but if you were to look into any anatomy book, it looks like two halves of some kind of weird exotic fruit! Just like you have matching sides of your body, your brain has a right and left side. The difference is that some brain functions only exist on the left side, some only on the right. It doesn't matter, really, because the two sides are joined by a band of tissue called the Corpus Collosum. Never mind all that anatomy stuff. Just know that you use both parts of your brain lickety-split, so you never know which side is doing what.
What complicates things is popular myths and books that say if you are a creative type, you are right-brained; and if you are a logical, analytical type, you are left-brained. No such thing, really, because we must use both parts of our brains at all times in order to function. But it is true that some people prefer to be more creative in their style of thinking, and others like to be more analytical. These are differences in styles and are more an indication of chosen preferences, not brain anatomy.
I hope this helps. Keep reading about the brain through blogs and books, and you will learn what you need to know. Thanks for participating!