Are you right or left-brained?

Accountants, lawyers & bankers are all smart serious left-brain thinkers; and painters, musicians & hairdressers are all wild and impulsive right-brain thinkers right, well the answer is no, it’s a neuromyth.

Neuromyth is a commonly-held false belief about how the mind and brain function.

You can listen to the audio version of this article on my podcast – The Relearning Podcast on Spotify or any podcasting app:

From books to movies to series, you would have probably heard this phrase numerous times that they tend to be more right-brain thinkers or left-brain thinkers. Or perhaps, you've even taken an online test to determine which type best describes you.

It is said that the left side of our brain is responsible for logical thinking, putting things in sequence, facts & figures, mathematics, linear thinking so on & so forth, and the right side of the brain has more creative parts like imagination, intuition, feelings, arts, daydreaming, rhythm and all those kinds of things.

It has become a common idea that if you can determine if one is a left or right-brain thinker then you can align your conversations, and marketing, and pitch at him accordingly.

The fact is that the right & left hemispheres of the brain do have different functions but most processes are found on both sides.

eg. the left side of the brain will handle a mathematical equation but the right side will deal with its comparison or when the left brain deals with the language it really deals with words & grammar while the right brain handles the context. So, basically, it’s a joint venture; both sides of the brain come together to perform any task just like Jai & Veeru in the movie Sholay.

Did you know that the right & left hemispheres of our brain are connected by a large bundle of nerve fibers called corpus callosum & when they studied Albert Einstein’s brain post his death, it was found that his right & left hemispheres of his brain were extensively connected with these nerves as compared to a normal individual.

This bundle of nerve tissue contains over 200 million axons meaning nerve fibers, the word corpus callosum literally means tough body in Latin.

Another fun fact is that Humans can function quite normally with only half of a brain just like when Veeru takes his revenge by killing Gabbar without Jai. Well, that’s enough Sholay reference for today.

So, avoid drawing conclusions based on right or left brain theory & next time when you come across an online test about right or left brain theory do understand it's just for fun.