|
Left
and Right Sides of the Brain
During
the 1960s, further research on the corpus callosum caused
scientists to postulate a view of the relative capabilities
of the two halves of the human brain: that both hemispheres
are involved in higher cognitive functioning, with each half
of the brain specialised in complementary fashion for different
modes od thinking, both highly complex.
The
main theme to emerge .. is that there appear to be two modes
of thinking, verbal and nonverbal, represented rather separately
in left and right hemispheres, respectively, and that our
educational system, as well as science in general, tends to
neglect the nonverbal form of intellect. What it comes down
to is that modern society discriminates against the right
hemisphere.
Roger
Sperry - 1973:
Further
evidence accumulated showed that the mode of the left hemisphere
is verbal and analytic, while that of the right is nonverbal
and global. New evidence found by Jerre Levy in her doctoral
studies showed that the mode of processing used by the right
brain is rapid, complex, whole-pattern, spatial, and perceptual
- processing that is not only different from but comparable
in complexity to the left brain's verbal, analytic mode. It
was also found that the the two modes of processing interfere
with each other, preventing maximal performance.
Two
Ways of Knowing
Along with the opposiye connotations of left and right in our
language, concepts of the duality, or two sidedness,
of human nature and thought have been postulated by philosophers,
teachers, and scientists form many different times and cultures.
The key idea is that there are two parallel "ways of knowing".
Parallel
ways of knowing
| intellect
| intuition
|
| convergent
| divergent
|
| digital
| analogic
|
| secondary
| primary
|
| Abstract
| concrete
|
| directed
| free
|
| propositional
| imaginative
|
| analalytic
| relational
|
| lineal
| nonlineal
|
| rational
| intuitive
|
| sequential
| multiple
|
| analytic
| holistic
|
| objective
| subjective
|
| successive
| simultaneous
|
The
Duality of Yin and Yang (I Ching)
| Yin
| Yang
|
| feminine
| masculine
|
| negative
| positive
|
| moon
| sun
|
| darkness
| light
|
| yielding
| aggressive
|
| left
side
| right
side
|
| warm
| cold
|
| autumn
| spring
|
| winter
| summer
|
| unconscious
| conscious
|
| right
brain
| left
brain
|
| emotion
| reason
|
| L-mode
| R-mode
|
| L-mode
is the "right-handed,", left-hemisphere mode. The L
is foursquare, upright, sensible, direct, true, hard-edged,
unfanciful, forceful.
| R-mode
is the "left-handed," "right-hemisphere mode. The R
is curvy, flexible, more playful in its unexpected twists
and turns, more complex, diagonal, fanciful. |
| Left
Brain
| Right
Brain
|
| step-by-step
reasong
| mystical
|
| logical
| musical
|
| mathematical
| "creative"
|
| speaking
| visual-pictorial
|
| dominates
right brain
| submissive
to the left brain
|
| pattern
user
| pattern
seeker |
|
