From the scientific perspective, each hemisphere of our brain is 'wired' to a multitude of talents. The left relates to logical, critical and judgmental thinking
There is a fascinating dictum that exemplifies an intriguing simile - that Westerners think with their left brain, the 'seat' of our conscious mind, while Easterners think with their right brain, the 'hub' of their unconscious mind. The 'maxim' is too composite, except for one's own point of reference that separates and connects the Occidental with the Orient. The former, perhaps, through analyses, the latter, perforce, by way of conscious awareness - the divergence being of scale, not dimension.
From the scientific perspective, each hemisphere of our brain is 'wired' to a multitude of precise gifts, or talents. The left relates to logical, critical, judicious, linear and judgmental thinking; the right hemisphere to perception, intuition, non-linear thinking, universal understanding, imagination and acceptance. The big 'respite' is the two are devoid of ego problems - unlike their ubiquitous 'hold' on our mind. Neither side smacks of dominance on intelligence nor absolute control on consciousness. The two relate to balance, a symmetry that believes and practices the art of peaceful co-existence - without one trying to 'outsmart' the other and vice versa.
It is a given that most philosophers are 'left-brain dominant.' This may, perhaps, explain why they tend to be often judgmental, analytical and rational thinkers. What's more, the whole basis of modern education and learning is keyed to 'left-brain critical-thinking skills.' Besides, the logical side of the brain is most active under stress- the predominant sphere of activity for thinkers, researchers and scientists.
Add to this their mental processing skills, which are 'primed' to resolute research, and you have a chronicle of thoughtful processes, inventions and discoveries told and retold.
There is balance, like no other, in nature and in our creative processes. This brings about a sense of sublime poise - using the right and left brain with equal effect. Creativity is innovation. It is a skilful rote that 'engineers' our imagination, or affinity for ideas, and synthesises them to become not just dreams, but reality. There is, however, a 'downside' - some of us have a plethoraof remarkable ideas, but do not have the drive to execute them. Some of us, likewise, can make things happen, or execute them, although we may lack the originality to generate novel ideas. What does this imply? That creativity loves balance. It connotes our ability to mould the two elements - initiation and execution - with a prudent, well-modulated planof action.
Research has established the fact that creative processes originate in the right brain. The spin-off is - ideas that emanate are first formulated, initiated and executed with a host of fascinating possibilities, no matter the outcome. The brain never 'usurps' its seat of judgment - it is bereft of bias. Prejudice emerges only when we goad our mind to think, judge, or critique a given action to achieve what we personally want to accomplish.Roger Sperry, a neuroscientist, embarked on several assays on split-brain patients, for instance, or folks whose left and right brains lacked the normal connections between them. Such people exhibit brain-side dominance, but only at times; besides, they display a range of distinguishing behaviours from just one side, or the other, too.
His work revealed thatthe left side of the brain contains key elements for creating sentences - just as the right side of the brain preserves certain language abilities, viz., understanding the social perspective of speech. The psychology of left brain 'versus' right brain dominance, thus, specifies that we all have brains with intersecting, yet distinctive, halves.
Agreed, that, we are yet to fathom the deep mysteries of our brain, also mind, or as Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the noted psycholo-gist, puts it to 'discover the hidden powers of our mind' that allows us to make the sort of quantum leaps that we can now only dream of. "There's no reason to rule out the possibility that eventually we shall be able to bend spoons with brain waves. But, at this point, when there are so many more mundane, but no less urgent tasks to accomplish, it seems a waste of time to lust for powers beyond our reach when consciousness, with all its limitations, could be employed so much more effectively - (because)our mind has enormous untapped potential that we desperately need to learn how to use."
Csikszentmihalyi also observes, that, since no branch of science deals with consciousness directly, there's no single accepted description of how it works. "Many disciplines touch on it and, thus, provide peripheral accounts.
Neuroscience, neuroanatomy, cognitive science, artificial intelligence (AI), psychoanalysis, and phenomenology are some of the most directly relevant fields to choose from; however, trying to summarise their findings would result in an account similar to the descriptions the blind men gave of the elephant: each different, and each unrelated to the others. (Yes) we shall continue to learn important things about consciousness from these disciplines, but (right now) we are left with the task of providing a model that is grounded in fact and yet expressed simply enough, so that anyone can make use of it."
Nature provides us with a fine equilibrium. A premise that is as fascinating as any we have on our most wondrous mosaic of inventions through time. The moment we present an idea for deliberation, the left brain distils the nitty-gritty of it, like the cricket umpire. It prepares the roadmap for it to reach culmination in the best manner possible too.
But, there is a caveat. We should not 'stoke' our ego before ideas are organised.
This is an invite to catastrophe.
Is there an antidote to remedy such a standoff? Yes - there is one that tells us to 'hit' the creative button in our brain, abdicate our 'comfort zone' and explore new, exciting options, or possibilities, all the time.
Nidamboor is a wellness physician, independent researcher and author
A version of this article appears in the print on June 2, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
