Writer Anna O’Brien dissects the truth behind left and right brained thinking
Are you a “left brain” or “right brain” thinker? Logical or creative? The conventional wisdom says that people have a dominant side of their brain that influences their personality and abilities. Left brained people are logical, analytical, detail-oriented, and excel in tasks like math, language, and reasoning. And the other side, the right brained people are creative, artsy, and excel in tasks like art, music, and spatial awareness. It’s a tidy explanation for why some people like to colour inside the lines while others throw the crayons across the room- but the more that you look into it, the theory becomes nothing more than a myth.
The concept was birthed by American neuropsychologist and neurobiologist Roger Sperry, following the 1960s research on split- brain patients. Sperry found that the brains two hemispheres handle certain task differently. For instance, the left hemisphere tends to manage language and logic, while the right handles visual and spatial tasks. Although Sperry never claimed that people are either fully left brained or fully right brained, the idea was misinterpreted and took off. Roger Sperry was like that friend who points out something super interesting at a party, only for everyone to wildly misinterpret it. “Oh, so you’re saying I’m either a math genius or a tortured poet. Got it, thanks.”
The popularity of the misinterpreted theory is in its appeal of simplicity. It can be said that people are drawn to straightforward explanations for personality traits, as it makes them feel they can understand themselves or others quickly easing the nauseating existential fear of the capacity to our knowledge of ourselves and others.
Pop psychology books, personality tests, and self-help resources popularized the left brained /right brained idea from the 1970s onwards, often using it as a framework for understanding and enhancing individual strengths. This theory has been repackaged in countless forms, including personality quizzes and career guidance tools. The media leaned into the myth because it resonated with audiences and became easy to market to “unlock your brains potential”, in part because of its entertainment factor; who doesn’t love a quiz that promises to tell you if you’re more Van Gogh or Albert Einstein?
In reality however, people do not have one dominant hemisphere, if they did, left brained folks would be stuck doing Sudoku all day, while right-brained individuals would be busy finger-painting sunsets….and forgetting to pay the bills.
Our ability to rationalize and to perform everyday tasks is thanks to The Corpus Callosum, a bundle of nerve fibres that allow the brains left and right hemispheres to communicate. The very existence of this part of the brain debunks the myth. I,s it shows how a human being isn’t one thing or anotherthe other, but instead a nuanced mixture of the two. It’s the unsung hero of your brain, a mediator, keeping the left brain and right brain from bickering over who’s doing all the dishes.
So, the next time someone tells you they’re such a right brained person, feel free to nod and smile. But deep down, remember: their brain is working as a whole to come up with that excuse.
