Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ PhotoReading, Memory Optimizer The brain.

How come we use our left side of the brain more than our right side.

I dunno, the use of it depends on, what you're doing.. I mean if you study, you are using left side, and right brain side when you dream, watch movie etc.

That's how the brain works.

I also don't know, did this answer to your question or anything, I just had to write this stuff.

James,

The reason most people predominately use their left side of the brain (or more correctly the more logical/analytical thinking mode) During the day is largely because of our educations systems. We were taught to reason, make sense of and calculate stuff, usually reaching an answer that is marked right or wrong. Creative thinking which is attributed to the right side of the brain is usually crushed by the school system so we tend to use it less. It is still available to us and one reason why a favourite pastime is playing a musical insturment or computer games.

I came across an article a couple of days ago which outlined how the school system causes us to prefer left brain thinking over right brained thinking. The example given was that the student was given a barometer and had to work out the height of the building using that barometer. Well the correct answer is along the lines of taking air pressure readings from the top of the building and at the bottom of the building and then explain the calculations how to get the answer. A creative thinking student gaves 4 creative answers (each would provide the correct answer) but the paper is marked wrong.

The answers s/he gave were - 1.tie a piece of string to the barometer, drop it over the side and measure the lenght of string. 2 take the barometer to the stairwell flip the barometer over and over from bottom to top counting the number of flips - multiply the total flips by the lenght of the barometer. 3. (sorry that one eludes me if I'd have known I was going to refer back to that webpage I would have bookmarked it) 4. Take the barometer to the building manager and offer him the 'nice barometer' in extange for a look at the building plan.

That demonstrates creative 'whole brained' thinking, using both left and right hemishperes of the brain - however the school systems trend is to mark these answers wrong because they are not measurable in the school scoring system. (If the teacher or lecturer were to try and grade answers like these it becomes harder to say if you've been graded fairly). There are schools and teacher who attempt to enhance whole brained thinking... often regarded with suspicion as to whether they are really teaching or not.

Alex

[This message has been edited by AlexK (edited August 09, 2002).]