Right Brain Dominant

I am reading A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, by Daniel H. Pink. I wouldn't have chosen this book had I been book hunting because I lean toward fiction—it was a gift from someone who, like me, is right-brain dominate.

I haven't gotten very far, just far enough to learn that in Hippocrates' day, the left side of the brain was considered the true source of thought, the thing that separated us from the animals and made us human. It was the source of reason and logic. The right side was considered a useless left over, a parasite. Now we know that both sides of our brains are equally important and equally involved in our daily thoughts and functions.

But some of us do seem to be governed by one side more strongly than the other. Me, sometimes I think the left side of my brain has completely atrophied, that the right side governs everything. But I am learning that I don't give that other side enough credit, that logical mathy side. As I read on about the strengths of the left side and how it works in conjunction with the right, I can see how that part of my head isn't really napping after all. While the left side is looking over the details, the right side is scanning the bigger picture. While the left side is reading the text, the right side is deciphering the context. And the two sides put their ideas together.

Here is an interesting experiment to help you determine which side of your brain is dominant at any given moment. If the dancer spins clockwise for you, then the right side of your brain is pretty powerful. If she spins counter clockwise, then it's the left side of your brain that steers the boat. Or maybe you can see her spinning back and forth.

When I first watched the dancing girl, she spun only clockwise, all day, no matter how many times I checked on her. She never once reversed. Later on, I tried again. Still, she seemed stuck, but then I waved my right arm, thinking that might stimulate the left side of my brain and reverse the spin. It worked. I was able to switch it back by waving my left arm, and back and forth. I wonder, though, if that was just a fluke. I can't seem to duplicate the switching every time I try.

Whether the dancer spins clockwise or counter clockwise, whether I am right- or left-brain dominate, I doubt I will rule the future. And I doubt that right-brainers in general will control our destiny as a culture that hopes to thrive as we move out of a service economy, as if those left-brainers who have been in charge for so long are just going to step aside and hand over the joy stick. I'll give this book a shot, but it seems to me we need both sides to function and prosper, both kinds of thinkers. It seems to me that if only one side rules, we'll be a little lopsided, and that dancing girl will get awfully dizzy.