Pen & Watercolour Copyright 2008 Jean Burman
It’s funny… but the human mind is not something that we “think” about all that often. And that’s a paradox in itself isn’t it? Here are a couple of mind teasers to kick off this post
You know… I could have sworn there were only 3. But there’s 6. Honest!
And how about this one?
Seems no matter what you do… the answer will always be that infernal 9!
But the classic is the Spinning Lady… and I will come back to her in a moment.
(You might want to scroll her out while you read on – she can be extremely distracting! LOL)
First I wanted to tell you what I discovered this week whilst having my eyes tested for new glasses. As part of the test the Optometrist tested my eye dominance. To do this… she asked me to look though the gap between my outstretched overlapped hands and focus on a point in the distance. I then closed one eye and then the other without moving my hands. The eye that continues to see the focal point is the dominant eye. For me… it is my left.
This got me thinking… and when I got home I did a little research to see if my left eye dominance had any influence over the way I see my world. And guess what? Turns out it does.
As most of us probably already know… the left brain controls the right side of the body and vice versa. [I feel sure this was God's way of showing us that he has an overtly perverse sense of humour] (grin)
And we’ve heard a lot about left brain dominant people being analytical… whilst the right brain dominant are considered to be more creative. What I wondered then… was whether my left eye dominance had anything to do with my being right brain dominant. And guess what? Turns out it does.
Getting back to the Spinning Lady and the test which is supposed to sort the left brainers from the right brainers. Take a look at this.
Hmmm… now what does it mean when she spins both ways. Does that make me a no-brainer?!
When I first watched this… she would only spin clockwise (which puts me fair and square in the middle of the creative right brain dominant camp). No matter what I did… even standing on one ear… I couldn’t get that aggravating woman to spin the other way! Then someone interrupted me with a question. It was a question that required an analytical response. Sure enough… when I looked back at the screen… off she went in the other direction. But then I couldn’t get her to go back!
I have since perfected this… and can now control her at whim. When I want her to go clockwise I listen to a beautiful piece of music and dream of my next painting. When I want her to go anticlockwise I have to think about… um…well… what I’m going to cook for dinner… (ha… and you thought I was going to say econometrics didn’t you?)
Seriously… anyone can do this. And here’s the trick. Stare at her pivotal foot and the shadow crossing the floor. Soon you will see that she is in fact not even making a full rotation… but simply going back and forth!
Mind bending? Yeah… you betcha.
In reality… I believe our brains are multi-functional and multi-dimensional. Our ability or otherwise to use elements from both hemispheres of the brain simultaneously is determined by how often (and how well) we utilise the abilities of each side… and how well we are able to “make the swap”… (further developing neural pathways between the two).
Certainly genetics has some part to play in this… but I believe most of us ultimately “become” what we think about (and do) the most. We are the product of our own activity and learning. To limit the potential capacity of our brilliant minds to one hard and fast rule about whether we are left brain or right brain dominant seems somehow to insult the creator… whomever “she” may eventually prove to be!
Truth is… we are more than probably… a little bit of both. Or maybe even a lot. Exactly how much of both is determined by you. Each and every one of us is unique in our own special way… with something to offer that no-one else can. Our challenge is to find that uniqueness and bring it to the table.
It’s a no-brainer really! (laughs)
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