A Whole New Mind - Chapter 1

A Whole New Mind – Chapter 1

Right Brain Rising

Daniel H. Pink starts off his first chapter of the book by describing his experience getting an MRI. He says that he is volunteering to be part of a control group for a project at the National Institute of Mental Health, outside Washington D.C. The study involves capturing images of brains at rest and at work. His first task was to choose certain pictures that showed the same emotion. Then the researchers showed him forty-eight color photos and he has to decide if the scene takes place inside or outside.

He then goes on to discuss the brain. In history, the left side of the brain was always superior to the right side. Caltech professor Roger W. Sperry studied brains and discovered that, “the so-called subordinate or minor hemisphere, which we had formerly supposed to be illiterate and mentally retarded and thought by some authorities to not even be conscious, was found to be in fact the superior cerebral member when it came to performing certain kinds of mental tasks.” Basically the right hemisphere wasn’t inferior to the left, just different.

After discussing misconceptions about the brain, he goes on to discuss “the real stuff.” The left hemisphere of the brain controls the right side of the body and the right hemisphere of the brain controls the left side of the body. Basically if you have a stroke on the left hemisphere of your brain, your right side won’t function and vise versa. The left hemisphere is sequential and the right hemisphere is simultaneous. The left hemisphere excels at processing sounds and symbols in sequence. The right side of the brain has the ability to interpret things simultaneously. The left hemisphere specializes in text and the right hemisphere specializes in context. The left hemisphere handles what is said and the right hemisphere focuses on how it is said. The left hemisphere analyzes the details and the right hemisphere synthesizes the big picture. The left hemisphere participates in the analysis of information and the right hemisphere is specialized for synthesis. It is particularly good at putting isolated elements together to perceive things as a whole.

Pink says that humans somehow seem naturally inclined to see life in contrasting pairs, i.e. east versus west. Yet, in most realms we usually don’t have to pick sides and it’s dangerous if we do. In our brains, both sides work together. Our culture has put left hemisphere thinking higher than right. Pink says it is changing. It is an inspiring change.