The Art Connoisseur

Visiting an art gallery recently made me realize how far I need to go in my understanding of modern styles. I confess that the images that are basic and multi-colored are the ones that catch my eye. The more kindergarten-like, the better. To be honest, I'm primarily interested in the visual pleasure that a splash of paint can bring. Of course, I make sure to stand in front of each piece for at least 30 seconds and pretend to study the labels so that my fellow visitors are oblivious of my secret. But, every now and then, I come across a piece that elicits a strong emotional response in me. It might be excitement, hope, or inspiration at times, but it can also be fear, unease, or simple revulsion at other. This is why defining art is such a contentious issue. It's subjective. It has no rules or limitations. It's difficult to put into words. It depicts a vision that has never been witnessed in real life. It is based on a personal, and often unconscious, experience. I guess art is impossible to explain simply because it is the manifestation of human imagination.

Healthline notes that in 1960, psychobiologist and Nobel Prize winner Roger Sperry proposed the left brain - right brain theory, which states that the brain's two hemispheres function differently. The left brain is organized, verbal, and systematic. It excels at reading, writing, and calculations. It's also linked to logic, math, facts, sequencing, and linear thinking. A left-brained individual is thought to be more rational, analytical, and objective. The right brain is more intuitive and visual. It thinks in a more innovative and disorganized manner. Instinct, rhythm, nonverbal clues, emotional imagery, and daydreaming are all linked to it. Right-brained people are known to be more visceral, intellectual, and subjective. It goes without saying that it is in the right brain where imagination is supposed to happen. Or is it?

According to Verywell Mind, more recent studies have revealed that the brain is not as dichotomous as previously thought. Neuroscientists now know that the two hemispheres work together to conduct a wide range of tasks and that the corpus callosum allows them to communicate continually. Although the two halves are more receptive to some types of information, they do not have a monopoly on certain of the duties that were previously assumed to be theirs. Dartmouth researchers confirmed that human imagination is not limited to the right hemisphere of the brain in a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It requires a large neuronal network that extends into the cerebellum at the base of our skull. By working together with astonishing symmetry, 11 separate brain areas are able to come up with new ideas needed to solve intricate challenges.

So, the first piece of good news is that our ability to be imaginative is not fixed. Some 100 trillion neural connections and links between the hemispheres determine one's ability to be more intuitive. It doesn't matter whether we've been valuing our logical abilities over our creative ones; neuroplasticity can help us rebalance the scales. Existing brain pathways that are dormant or employed for other purposes, according to Stanford University, have the possibility to perform new and diverse activities. There's also evidence that adult brain remodeling can include the development of new neural connections. A major principle of neuroplasticity is that increased brain activity promotes the reorganization of the brain. To put it another way, "brain workouts" assist our minds in establishing more connections. Simple exercises, such as exposing oneself to diverse intellectual surroundings, networking with other people, or engaging in physical activities, can help to increase overall connection growth.

Reorganizing our brains to become more imaginative is easier said than done. In his book Lost Knowledge of the Imagination, Gary Lachman argues that humans have been conditioned to think in a rigid and methodical manner since science became the dominant worldview in the seventeenth century. Imagination, on the other hand, has been somewhat devalued. As we move further into the twenty-first century, the need to reclaim this lost wisdom appears to be more pressing than ever. And this is not me saying this. The Harvard Business Review highlights that the future of human work is imagination. Technology is without a doubt going to replace jobs, or, more precisely, the people holding those jobs. But work that requires a high degree of imagination, creative analysis, and strategic thinking is harder to automate.

Smile, because the second good news is that all of our efforts so far to grow our left brain have not gone to waste. Edward De Bono writes in his book Lateral Thinking that the goal of vertical thinking, which is associated with the left hemisphere of the brain, is to provide or construct notion patterns. Lateral thinking, which is linked to the right brain, is involved with restructuring such patterns and provoking new ones. Both procedures are mutually beneficial. Lateral thinking is useful for generating ideas but vertical thinking is required to put them into action. By giving vertical thinking more options, lateral thinking improves its effectiveness. And by making use of the ideas created by lateral thinking, vertical thinking increases its usefulness.

The third and final piece of good news is that developing our imagination requires us to make mistakes (what a treat to be encouraged to mess up!). The goal of thinking, according to De Bono, is to be effective rather than correct. Although being effective inevitably entails being correct, there is a significant distinction between the two. Being correct involves being right all of the time. Being effective solely means being right at the conclusion of the process. Vertical thinking demands always being correct. With lateral thinking, one can be mistaken along the road while yet being correct in the end.

How can we encourage additional neural connections, excite our right hemisphere a little more, and test ideas without fear of making mistakes? Brainstorming is the answer. Alex Osborn developed the original approach in his 1953 book Applied Imagination. Other scholars have further enhanced it since then. Mind Tools points out that we often get the best results by combining individual and group brainstorming. Mind maps are an alternative to traditional lists of thoughts for the former. These are visual representations of information, usually having a primary thought in the center and associated ideas organized around it. As for group brainstorming, it is critical to prepare people and establish ground rules. We should also clearly define the problem that we want to solve and lay out any criteria that must be met. After everyone has shared their thoughts, we should have a group discussion to develop and utilize each other's ideas to generate new ones.

Only time will tell if I ever become a true modern art connoisseur. But one thing is certain: I’m already able to appreciate the ingenuity and innovation in terms of shapes, colors, and lines. The symbolic cadence is something I admire. I can sense the emotions and ideas that artists attempt to portray. And I’m undoubtedly impacted by the meaning they try to express. To me, the pleasure of looking at art goes well beyond aesthetics. It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance to witness firsthand one of the universe's most powerful forces: human imagination.

Author: Esteban Polidura, CFA. April 23, 2022.