I read the thread on this and like Fred, I came out 'balanced brain' on that tickle test. Actually there is no such thing as right/left brain. It is just a simplistic concept some psychologists or other types came up with to help people understand why some tasks are difficult for them and others come more easily. I have occasionally referred to it only because it simplifies some things for some people, but the fact is that it is scientifically bogus. It really caught on and every one started talking about it and was popularized by many books including 'drawing on the right side of the brain'. While some functions are found predominantly in one hemisphere or the other, there are many of the same functions in the other hemisphere too.
If a person was strictly right or left brained, that means they either only have half of a brain or they have had a pre frontal lobotomy.
Now that being said, it is true that those who have had strokes in the left hemisphere do have more trouble regaining speech when that part of the brain has been damaged, but they can still regain it. Along the same vein, the corpus collosum (nerve connecting both sides), which enables rapid communication between both sides of the brain can make learning to read more difficult when it has been damaged.
Just like all sciences including neurology, much more is unknown than known.There are no 'experts', only people groping to learn about things. As it relates to pool, some find it harder to shut off their thoughts or emotions to focus on the shot they are down on than others, but simplyfying this to right/left brain is kind of immature and very incorrect. A person could never play pool with any efficiency without one side of their brain working. The ability to think in pictures, lines and shapes with language (inner talking) shut off seems better when down on the ball, but what enables one player to be able to do that while another one struggles, seems to me after talking to many players to be a rather complex issue.
In a different vein, the ability to see patterns and plan strategy is also very important, though I would not say this is a right/left brain thing either but that both sides of the brain are required to do this well.
People like WW may like to talk about this quite a bit, but the fact is that the brain is way more complex than reducing it to right or left thinking. That is my opinion and I also categorically deny being a master of 'zen', though some of us did joke about it a bit a couple of years ago.
Hope that clears things up a bit regarding any comments I have read about this kind of topic.
Laura
If a person was strictly right or left brained, that means they either only have half of a brain or they have had a pre frontal lobotomy.
Now that being said, it is true that those who have had strokes in the left hemisphere do have more trouble regaining speech when that part of the brain has been damaged, but they can still regain it. Along the same vein, the corpus collosum (nerve connecting both sides), which enables rapid communication between both sides of the brain can make learning to read more difficult when it has been damaged.Just like all sciences including neurology, much more is unknown than known.There are no 'experts', only people groping to learn about things. As it relates to pool, some find it harder to shut off their thoughts or emotions to focus on the shot they are down on than others, but simplyfying this to right/left brain is kind of immature and very incorrect. A person could never play pool with any efficiency without one side of their brain working. The ability to think in pictures, lines and shapes with language (inner talking) shut off seems better when down on the ball, but what enables one player to be able to do that while another one struggles, seems to me after talking to many players to be a rather complex issue.
In a different vein, the ability to see patterns and plan strategy is also very important, though I would not say this is a right/left brain thing either but that both sides of the brain are required to do this well.
People like WW may like to talk about this quite a bit, but the fact is that the brain is way more complex than reducing it to right or left thinking. That is my opinion and I also categorically deny being a master of 'zen', though some of us did joke about it a bit a couple of years ago.
Hope that clears things up a bit regarding any comments I have read about this kind of topic.
Laura
