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Lesson 2: The Odd Couple: Right Brain/Left Brain ThinkingYou’ve probably read about the so-called right brain, left brain war. “The creative right brain generates ideas spontaneously, and the killjoy left brain then restores order and tries to mold and shape the creation into something presentable.” “We characterize the two hemispheres as sort of an Oscar/Felix odd couple. Left-brain Felix keeps his half of the operation tidy . . .. He trusts reason over intuition. He’s goal-oriented. He’ll work hard to please. Right-brain Oscar is driven by whim and he creates strictly for the joy of it," Marshall Cook said in Freeing Your Creativity. To be able to think imaginatively and to accomplish balanced thinking, the brain is divided into left and right hemispheres. Here's how it works. The War of the HemispheresMost of us tap the left-brain when we are using language, but the right hemisphere is in charge when we are in touch with our feelings. Balance or the ability to shift between the hemispheres is what’s important. The professional artist uses the right brain for creative work, but to keep accurate accounts, she must call on the left-brain. And a chemist works in a left-brain occupation but when he is having fun away from the job he is using his right brain. Priscilla Donovan and Jacquelyn Wonder authors of Whole Brain Thinking describe how the left and right sides of the brain respond to different kinds of humor. The two sides of the brain react or understand humor in two different ways, and to appreciate a joke fully both sides must be in use. The left is quite literal in its interpretations of the joke and is especially drawn to wordplay. The right is more alert to the subtleties and nuances. A left-brain thinker would chuckle at the joke: “The bigger the summer vacation the harder the fall.” But the same person would puzzle over the story of a young man who returned from a blind date with Siamese twins. His friend inquired, “Did you have a good time?” He replied, “yes and no.” |
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