In Two Minds. (Left and Right Handed Thinking)

Most everyday items are ergonomically designed by and for right-handed people. For example, scissors will not cut if you use your left hand because your fingers push the scissor-blades apart not together or when you go out for a meal in a nice restaurant the cutlery and glasses are laid out for right handed people, There's no joy in using standard computer mice, old style can openers, guitars, corkscrews, vegetable peelers, fountain pens, sporting equipment, camcorders... the list goes on. There are specialist stores that cater for 'lefties' but these are few and far between and items are generally more expensive when compared to their 'rightie' counterparts. We now take it for granted but in Europe less than a hundred years ago they used to tie children's left arm to their side so they were forced to write with their right hand, it was abuse, plain and simple. There's no longer any abuse of this nature in European or American schools but left-handers are still forced to live in a right-handed world and that doesn't look like changing any day soon.

This is bad enough for lefties by itself but there is another, more significant underlying difference. Handedness is generally the outward manifestation of brain hemisphere dominance. The dominant hemisphere is usually the opposite side to the hand a person uses to write with, so left-handed people are, on the whole, dominated by the right-hemisphere (or right half) of their brain and vice versa. Type 'brain split test' into any internet search engine and you'll find a slew of online tests that will, with varying degrees of accuracy, tell you what the % split is.

The two halves of a human brain are connected by a fat bundle of nerve fibers called the corpus callosum. The interaction between the two halves is not fully understood but some limited studies have been carried out in patients who have had the two halves of their brain severed either as a result of an accident or to try and alleviate intractable epilepsy. In one famous groundbreaking case Roger Sperry along with Michael Gazzaniga were able to interrogate the separate halves of a patients brain (called 'Paul S'). When the right side was asked what he would like to be he replied a racing driver but when the left half was asked he replied a draftsman. In another study, a word was shown to the right brain of a patient, when asked to write it down with his left hand he got it correct, when his left brain was asked what the word was he did not know. It's a strange idea that there are two conscious entities living inside our brains each with it's own ideas and thoughts. The personality that wins out is the one that is associated with the dominant hemisphere but the other is always lurking. Perhaps it's this natural mammalian dualism that gives rise to the notion of God and the Devil, there's a topic for another day perhaps.

Apart from different thoughts the two halves of the brain perform different functions. When we understand just how different the two halves can be we begin to understand how hemispherical dominance gives rise to completely different ways of thinking. These differences reach into every aspect of our lives, left-brainers are linear thinkers, right-brainers are holistic thinkers. The left brain takes the pieces of thought, arranges them in a logical order then lines them up and draws it's conclusions, from parts to whole. The right brain takes the whole picture in one go, it draws the conclusion then looks for the details, whole to parts. Next time you come across one of those seemingly extraordinary characters who can assimilate information and give you an accurate answer there and then, check to see what hand they write with, chances are it's the left. Logic is a left-brain function and is not the only way to think and by insisting on it, society is imposing its mental processing prejudices on the right-brain thinker.

If you were to ask a left-brainer for directions you are more likely to get a concise verbalized reply, ask a right-brainer the same question and you will most likely get a lot of pointing backed up with landmarks. Left-brainers have stronger verbal skills than right-brainers who tend to use spatial clues. Combine the left-brain logical sequencing skills with verbalization skills and you get concise answers, combine right-brain holistic, spatial awareness with poor verbalization skills and you will more than likely get lost.

Left-brainers are more adept at concrete thinking, a left-brainer will be good at the technical side of writing, and will make better accountants, engineers, etc. Right-brainers tend to be better at abstract thinking, a right-brain writer will be better at stories and concepts and are better suited as musicians, actors, etc. There are few jobs that require abstract thought which is hardly surprising when you consider the world is largely constructed to support left-brain thinking.

In education it is absolutely necessary for a right-brainer to have background information or access to the subject objectives for them to learn. Most modern (and historical) education is based on the principle of breaking up a subject into digestible chunks, this method can severely disadvantage right-brained thinkers, even to the point it can prejudice their chance of achievement in formal education.

The left-brain also processes in sequence. Left-brainers like to make plans, lists or schedules. They learn well when things are presented in a sequential manner. For example, spelling is sequential, most left-brainers are good at spelling. The left-brain is good at the linear and sequential processes of math as another example. The right-brainer is a random thinker, flitting from one stream of thought to another. Often easily distracted by other interesting subjects or hitting a stream of though that carries the mental process away from the task at hand. There is not a lot of sympathy for this kind of thinking in the world. Some are lucky and become successful most are forced to live in a world where linear sequential thinking is the norm and is, in fact, demanded of them. Right-brainers are doomed to a world that doesn't fit how they think, caged by left-brained dominant society. There are a higher percentage of sociopaths and psychopaths who are right-brained than the population should give rise to (Jack the Ripper was infamously left-handed). This is one possible reason for the origin of the concept that left-handed people were evil or that the right hand of 'God' must be the holiest of places. And it's no coincidence the old word for left-handed is sinistral from which we get sinister. Away from the light hearted banter about scissors and can openers left-brain prejudice can present a serious problem for right-brain thinkers.

But it's not all bad news for right-brainers, the learning and thinking process is enhanced when both side of the brain participate in a balanced manner, through exercising the weaker half of the brain the corpus callosum can be developed, rather like training a muscle. Autopsy studies have shown right-brained people have thicker more developed nerve networks in their corpus callosum on average when compared to left-brained, making them potentially much more mentally agile, assuming the education system doesn't let them down. It is a strange idea that being forced to live in a left-brained world could directly contribute to potentially superior mental abilities for right-brained people. Of course the road does goes both ways, equally a left-brained person can develop their right-brain skills by participating in right-brained activities. Practicing writing with your left hand can have positive results on the corpus callosum of a left-brainer.

A high proportion (compared with the distribution you would expect to see from the % in the global population) of very successful people seem to be either ambidextrous (e.g. Einstein, Tesla, Flemming) or left-handed (e.g. da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Mozart, Beethoven, Newton). The reason for this probably due to the fact that the better the balance between the two halves the more intelligent you seem to be. Left-handed people are immersed in a right-handed world so they have no choice but to exercise their left-brain. So it stands to reason we would see a higher proportion of 'lefties' and 'ambies' among the intellectual elite. Right-handers don't usually have to exercise their right-brain as much, they live in a world built around their thinking.

When Einstein, an ambidextrous person, died his brain was studied at autopsy. It was found to have all the features normally seen in right-hemisphere dominant people (left-handers), it is possibly a strange twist of fate to think a natural left-handed person being forced to write with his right hand gave rise to one of the greatest minds of our time.

So, next time you hear the expression 'in two minds' you can point out how being in two minds is actually the best way to be.