After many difficulties in math classes year after year and even almost creeping over the edge of a failed grade, I knew for a fact I was not strong in math. Just to add to it, a bombed physics class in 11th grade led me to believe that the maths and sciences just were NOT for me. When Andrew had us writing about why we took this course, and as I found out that a lot of people were like me, disasters in everything math and science related, I wondered what the divide was all about. Why most students tend to either be talented in either maths and sciences or english and social studies was beyond me and was a topic I was very interested in looking into.
I have heard many times students refer to themselves as being left brained or right brained, in fact I heard a classmate say it just the other day. I have always the differences and wondered the science all behind it.
The main component of the left and right brained thinking is the fact that both sides of the brain process information differently. While both sides of the brain are working together at all times, we do have a natural tendency to lean towards one side of thinking. The two hemispheres have two very different jobs, both working equally and contributing equally to everyday. Additionally, the hemispheres control each side of the body, not respectively however. The right side of the body is controlled by the left side of the brain and vice versa. It has been proven by Nobel Prize Winning American psychobiologist Roger W. Sperry that the brain has two different ways of thinking. The brain is broken into two parts; the visual and intuitive right brain and the verbal analytical left brain.
So what does this all mean?
As Kendra Cherry of www.verywell.com states,
THE LEFT BRAIN:
On one side of the brain, the left side, information is processed in pieces and then put together to create the whole. The left brain can be described as the digital brain, known for reading, writing, calculations, and logical thinking.
The left brain is very well known for acknowledging the following:
- language
- logic
- critical thinking
- numbers
- reasoning
THE RIGHT BRAIN:
On the other hand, the right side processes information by looking at in the big picture and slowly breaking down the little details. The right brain is known to be best at expressive and creative tasks that allow for a lot more flow and a lot less specifics.
The right brain is specific to the following subjects:
- recognizing faces
- expressing/reading emotions
- music
- color
- images
- intuition
- creativity
(2016).
Many children at young ages tend to lean towards the right brain and have many creative tendencies. What is unfortunate is the fact that although most young students lean to the right brain, eventually, primary schools most prevalently lean towards a lot of left brained work, leaving the right brained workers to feel left behind. Our school system focuses mainly on left brain strengths, therefore only 10% of these same creative students will rank highly creative by age 7.
All of this previous information is based solely on a theory. While there is no rock solid evidence, and many have attempted to debunk the information, some still tend to find correlations. Whether or not these correlations are causal or not is up for discussion. (check out that vocab!)
SO…..
If you are someone who still believes that there is some truth to this theory, try it out for yourself! You may end up with an answer you wouldn’t have guessed. The positive to knowing what side of your brain you lean towards, allow you to work on the side you may not have the tendency to use.
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT WHAT SIDE OF THE BRAIN YOU USE THE MOST!
This blog post describes my academic career in a nut shell. I have always been more on the creative side of life. I love theater and creative writing. A part of me wishes I was a left brain-washed because it would really make me feel dumb that I was not understanding math and sciences like chemistry and physics. And as a student that does well, getting a C or D in any of those classes I felt inadequate as a student. As a senior in college my right brained self has continued excel in all things creative and scrapping by on my language requirements and failing a math. And what’s frustrating is that it’s not like I don’t try to do well in those courses, its just material that I cannot reach on that side of my brain. Here is a article that NPR published that talks about the truths and myths behind being left or right brained http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2013/12/02/248089436/the-truth-about-the-left-brain-right-brain-relationship.
This was a great blog post! I myself am mostly right brained. I wonder if this has changes now that I am old? I use to love math and science back in elementary school and middle school. Now as I advance into higher education my math skills have declined. Do you think it is a way to become left brained? After I read your blog post I though about learning styles. What type of learner are you? Check out this quiz.
http://www.ldpride.net/learning-style-test.html
This is interesting. The differences between the brain function as well as the biological differences between left and right handed people is compelling. I was reading an article about how neither hemisphere is dominant for those whom are ambidextrous. So what does this say about those people who can write with either hand? Does it display an equilibrium between the two hemispheres? If so does this affect the person more so biologically? Attached is an article that further develops the idea. http://www.linkshaender-beratung.de/english/Ambidextrous.htm
This topic is one that I never really thought about at all. I knew that the brain has different parts and each had there own responsibilities, but didn’t know any specifics. But after reading your blog, its true while we are young we really only focus on the right side of your brain. By the time we get older the left is so far behind that its hard for its to catch up. I would definitely be interested to see what the majority of the population is, either left or right. I would assume that more are going to be right sided because not everyone has the ability to process numbers and critically think, which is why that side would fall behind.
Here is another website that is a little simpler that also allows you to determine if ur left or right sided. I would be interested if all the websites came back with the same results.
http://www.cignabehavioral.com/web/basicsite/bulletinBoard/leftBrainRightBrain.jsp
I’ve always been one to believe in the a person is more dominant in one side of their brain theory. After reading the comments and your post, I’m happy to believe that I’m not the only one who believed in this theory. I took the test and as expected, I am a right sided brain. Although the tests may fun, I do believe that they are very incorrect. I took a psych class in high school where we focused on the brain for a couple of weeks. We did many procedures testing the left-side right-side theory and as a class we concluded that it is a myth. Most people want to believe that they are a certain side, most favor the right side, but in honestly your brain works together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MKNsI5CWoU
I think you’d really like this video. It somewhat talks about this topic but it is also fascinating to learn about how the brain works. Check it out!
This blog post describes my academic career in a nut shell. I have always been more on the creative side of life. I love theater and creative writing. A part of me wishes I was a left brain-washed because it would really make me feel dumb that I was not understanding math and sciences like chemistry and physics. And as a student that does well, getting a C or D in any of those classes I felt inadequate as a student. As a senior in college my right brained self has continued excel in all things creative and scrapping by on my language requirements and failing a math. And what’s frustrating is that it’s not like I don’t try to do well in those courses, its just material that I cannot reach on that side of my brain. Here is a article that NPR published that talks about the truths and myths behind being left or right brained http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2013/12/02/248089436/the-truth-about-the-left-brain-right-brain-relationship.
This was a fun blog post to read about. My psych 100 course talked about the idea of being “left brained” or “right brained.” The class was pretty split about whole-heartedly believing that this concept was factual, while the other half was not convinced. I do not, by any means, excel in maths or sciences. I’m an English major, so it’s clear to see where my talents lie. I’ve taken quizzes that promise to tell you what side of the brain you predominantly use. My results always show that I use the left side of my brain, which is often associated with those that are above average in math and science abilities. Because my actual abilities do not coincide with the stereotype of the “left brained” persona, I do not buy into the notion that someone is primarily one side or the other. I think that everything is relative and either side of the brain could take over depending on the influences, resources, etc. of the situation that is unfolding, whatever it may be. Here’s a link to an article that breaks down the characteristics of each hemisphere of the brain and explains the conclusions that can be made about this concept. —>https://www.oecd.org/edu/ceri/neuromyth6.htm
I really enjoyed this post! My whole life I couldn’t figure out what side of my brain I use the most because math and science always came easy to me but I also consider myself to be above average in art classes. When I saw the link to the test I thought this was a great idea for your blog post! I took it of course because I wanted to know exactly what side of my brain I use more often but my result came out that I use both sides equally. While I do think that it is true that most people are oriented towards using a certain side of their brains, I don’t think that this defines us. Some people that are good at math may also be incredibly talented in art. For the people that do favor one side, our education system should implement programs to emphasizes and develop the area they are excelling in. Maybe a testing system in the early stages of life can sort out people according to their abilities so that we can improve on something that we are talented at.
I loved this blog post!! It’s actually so strange that you wrote about this–my roommate and I were randomly talking about being right vs left brained last night. It’s a fascinating topic to me. 7th grade was the first time I was introduced to the concept; my art teacher had us take a test to see what percentage of each we ended up being. According to the many tests and quizzes I’ve taken, I’ve always proved to be more of a right-brained person. This makes a lot of sense to me, especially because science and math have never come particularly easy to me. (I too bombed physics in 11th grade).. It’ll be interesting to see if I stay mostly right-brained throughout college or if my ratio changes at all! Here’s the link to the test that I took last night. It’s a different kind of quiz than the one you attached, although I much preferred yours! http://testyourself.psychtests.com/testid/3178