Last week, I ran out of gas for the fourth time in the last six months. I had to walk to a gas station, buy gas, and walk back to my car in the dark. Why didn’t I learn anything from the last three times I ran out of gas? You could say I’m just not very bright, but I’m going to go with the theory that I’m a risk-taker (it sounds better).
In kindergarten, I called the color “purple” grape. “Yellow” was banana. That’s right, I was under the impression that colors were fruit. I thought I was just obsessed with snacks, but a psychologist might tell you I was a visual learner.
I never remembered names, but always remembered faces, and the way a person’s voice sounds. I could never do math- in fact I missed a lot of school recesses because of it. English and art? Simple. Not even a challenge. Logic did not make sense to me. Colors, sounds, feelings, and visual art spoke a language that I understood.
According to all of that, I’m considered what you would call right-brained. If there’s anything keeping me out of that category, it’s the fact that right-brained people tend to be athletically inclined, and I was cut from three no-cut teams in middle school.
So what about the left-brainers? A little research informed me that left-brained people think in more concrete terms, set deadlines, do research before a major purchase, and probably don’t let their cars run out of gas. Doesn’t sound very fun to me, but making a great decision isn’t exactly one of my strengths. In fact, I’ve found that the very best project partners in school were left-brained thinkers, and probably the only reason I passed the sixth grade.
Physically, you have no “left” and “right” side of your brain- if we did, I’d only have half of my head, because there’s no capacity for rational thinking in my cranium. Instead, we have what’s called the neocortex, which controls each side of your brain. Some of our neocortexes (sounds a little weird, doesn’t it?) are more right dominant than left, making us have certain characteristics more than others. People who are right-dominant in their ‘texes have a stronger likelihood of being left-handed, and guess who’s left handed? Yep, that’s right, me.
Take a look at the infographic by Vicken. Which side do you identify with the most?
– Sara Remus, Social Media Assistant
