Wednesday, October 10, 2007

No, Your Other Right.


My sister and I are different. I think thats easy to say. Shes an orginized, logical, planner and I am an emotional, creative slob. Fully explaining these differences could take up its own blog, or could pretty simply be summed up with that clichéd statement: “I’m right brained. She’s left brained.” What does that even mean? I hear people I work with saying: “I don’t get along with Penelope, she’s an INFJ.” INFWHAT? But I can buy it--classifying yourself in some kind of category is easier than seeing everyone as so different and distant. That would really be a lonely world. But are these tests and theories an effective way to find our similarities?


Sure, I was labeled as a creative, right-brained kid during high school and I have come to associate myself with a certain brand of logic. The same way that I look at my behavior sometimes based on my Zodiac sign. To me, following the Zodiac or theories about left brain and right brain help me explain how things work and why things happen. Its maybe an alternate route for believing in something.


I've read Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud as they consistently peppered my literary theory texts in college. I never really understood. The Myers Brigs test takes its theory from the work of theories of Jung. I’ve taken all those tests: Myers Brigs and Emotional Intelligence and the Are You a Good Kisser tests (I am). I guess, at this point, the right brain/left brain thing is no longer a debatable theory, although I guess scientists are a little to left brained to understand the possibility. Do I totally believe it?


I get along well with writers and artist types, but I also have plenty of relationships with law students, accountants and business folks (like the sister). I’ll agree that those relationships do have a strong sense of Yin and Yang, but do we really have different learning styles? Do we see things differently? I'm not sure I believe it, because according to this information I’m supposed to have spacial perception too, but I guess it can’t all be correct.



If I wasn’t totally sure about the duel between the creative and the logical before I think I’ve been swayed by this image.



Without a doubt, that dancing lady is moving clockwise, but I’ve heard from my trusted source, the provider of this link, that not everyone sees that.



What do you see?

3 comments:

lara said...

Still going clockwise.

I think anyone who says it isn't is a dirty dirty liar.

Even her silhouetted bosom can't comfort me now.

lifestudent said...

I may be labelled as right or left brained ... but I think my therapist would simply classify me as an emotionally unstable woman. In that sense, I think we both share some strong similarities ;)

nick said...

you know, she's one tricky lady. everytime i glance at her she's changing. I think i saw anti-clockwise first, got distracted, and saw clockwise, got distracted, anti, got distracted, clockwise.
So, maybe I have learned something. I struggle with ADD.