Are You Right or Left Brain?

There was a cnet.com news item yesterday that linked to this fascinating Right Brain v Left Brain exercise. I can’t tell whether they’re serious or just (as the kids would say) “tricking me.” Is she spinning left or right? Your answer indicates whether you’re using more of your right or left brain. The page also includes a good summary of which is which. Rightorleftbrain

If she spins one way (and you need to follow that link to the live animation, you won’t see it here), you’re emphasizing the right brain, which is intuitive, whole picture oriented, more willing to take risks, and so on. If she spins the other way, you’re more left-brained, meaning orderly, mathematical, logical.

My problem (true confessions here) is that for me she keeps changing directions. Does that mean that I’m switching brains all the time? That might make sense because I’ve always related to business planning, which necessarily incorporates both big-picture conceptual stuff and the details of dates and deadlines and financial projections; words and numbers together.

It also makes sense if somebody has a sense of humor and is switching the animation randomly.

But none of that makes sense unless you click the link and visit that page. When you get there, read up on the simple but powerful bullet point lists of right and left brain characteristics.

Comments

  • Brain Exercise says:

    Great post.

    More Brain Exercises you can find in http://www.e-mindfitness.com.

  • Tim Berry says:

    Thanks Kelly and thanks to Megan who followed up with more on the dancer at:

    http://www.theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php?p=27

    … which is an excellent post with more background, on this same subject, and in fact on the same optical illusion. It turns out that the left brain right brain element is pretty much a hoax, and that there's background on why the image changes and what that means or doesn't mean. They also have a second image that is (incorrectly) used as a right brain-left brain test, and I found the whole thing fascinating.

    — Tim

  • Kelly Fitzsimmons says:

    I am so glad you wrote about this! We had a blast Wednesday night with a bunch of friends huddled around a monitor, watching the image spin for over a half hour. My husband and a friend could only visualize the image spinning clockwise, unless they stood behind the monitor and peered down at a 10 degree angle. Another friend could *only* see it counter-clockwise, no matter what. For me (like you), it kept switching.

    Now here's what's interesting… my husband and friend, who could only see it clockwise, are both artists. The counter-clockwise only friend is an engineer. As for me, I'm an entrepreneur who has a masters in comparative religion but built a career in information security and is now in web development. (Comic Wonder — http://www.comicwonder.com — is our latest project.) Hmmmm… It may very well be legit!

    Thank you for a great blog!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *