Left Brain / Right Brain
I was genuinely disappointed not to have sociopathic, murderous tendencies.
I really, really wanted some proof of being dangerous, a little edgy, maybe even crazy and unpredictable! But, alas, I remain the ever-milquetoast housewife. Boo.
However, after reading the "correct" answer, I wondered if I was just not logical enough to get it. It seemed so perfectly and plainly obvious why the sister was killed. After I read the answer.
The experience of twisting my brain in knots for the right answer without success reminded me of being the alternate on the St. Joseph Hill Academy math team which Sister Christopher forced me to be a part of. God, and only God, knows why.
During practice competitions, I'd turn over the one-page list of math problems, stare at each one with increasing panic and a null set of ideas, and sweat out the discussion phase with Sister Christopher. She wasn't known for being particularly patient with limitations in math understanding.
But, to this day, I still really want to be good in math-y type things. I want to be logical! I want to be the world Tetris champion! I want to see the plain truth in questions like the one posed by Claire.
Just for fun, here are some tests that claim to determine if you are a left brain or right brain thinker. Maybe a tendency revealed here will point toward those who "got" the answer and those who didn't? I don't know.
I really had no idea before taking the tests what my tendency was, but, as usual, the answer wasn't very exciting. I'm in the middle. Half left-brainy, half right-brainy. Certainly not ... psycho-brainy.
So, folks, are you all lefties or righties?
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Re: Left Brain / Right Brain
In the first test I got diagnosed with left brain. In the second, I got middle brain. What does that mean?
Re: Left Brain / Right Brain
Maybe try this as a tie-breaker?
http://www.intelliscript.net/test_area/questionnaire/questionnaire.cgi
This confirmed, yet again, that I am exactly in the middle. Grrrr. Boring.
Jul '10
Re: Left Brain / Right Brain
Ambi. I don't know my left from my right. Guess that makes for a nice moderate American Whig.
Sep '10
Re: Left Brain / Right Brain
In both tests, I got the equivalent of "middle right brain," whatever that means.
I didn't guess the answer to Claire's "psychopath" test at all.
I'm a mathematician, and the popular conception of my type is "very left brain." I'm actually skeptical of the popular conception and the value of the "right brain, left brain" idea, so none of this bothers me. It's entertaining, though.
Edited on Jan 26, 2011 at 12:42pmRe: Left Brain / Right Brain
I don't accept the tests. Each question strikes me as too binary to reflect the complexity of human cognitive preferences and behavior. For example, my answer for many questions is "it depends." If you're like me, a lot of your neurocognitive style is situational.
Validated tests getting at the left-brain vs. right-brain thing may exist, but my bet is they necessarily go a lot deeper than the Ed.D-created examples in this thread.
Edited on Jan 26, 2011 at 12:38pmRe: Left Brain / Right Brain
Ursula Hennessey
Maybe try this as a tie-breaker?
http://www.intelliscript.net/test_area/questionnaire/questionnaire.cgi
This confirmed, yet again, that I am exactly in the middle. Grrrr. Boring. · Jan 26 at 12:18pm
16 and 16. Perfectly in the middle. I share in your boringness and stability.
May '10
Re: Left Brain / Right Brain
Same here. I couldn't decide on many of those questions. But I was ambidextrous when I was young and know I'm a mix, so perhaps that's fitting.
I've always wanted to get a brain scan, but I'd probably have to fake a stroke to be eligible.
Sep '10
Re: Left Brain / Right Brain
I'm also glad to see that Doc Savage appears to share my acute skepticism of anything cooked up by an Ed.D.
May '10
Re: Left Brain / Right Brain
I just took the tests and discovered that my brain doesn't work worth a damn, regardless of hemisphere. But, I learned something even though I didn't want to learn anything today.
May '10
Re: Left Brain / Right Brain
It was the same with me, Diane. You are probably in a lot of trouble if that's the case.
Jan '11
Re: Left Brain / Right Brain
In the Jesuits, we were required to take several personality tests, like the Myers-Briggs and the Enneagram test, etc. The chief value was that we were alerted to how other people process information, and it helped soothe some group dynamic issues.
It did lead to a revealing moment for me, though. During the first few weeks of novitiate, a priest/psychologist led a few meetings to explain the importance of personality differences. One example: some people make lists of things to do today. One eager novice agreed. In fact, not only did he make a list, but at the end of the day, he reviewed the list. If he'd done something that wasn't on the list, he would write it down and then cross it out.
At which point, I spewed my coffee.
But after an awkward moment, I noticed ... the rest of them were all like the other novice. I was the oddball. That's when Toto and I knew we weren't in Kansas anymore.
Sep '10
Re: Left Brain / Right Brain
But most of what you see advertised as educational advice rooted in neuroscience is bunkum.
How can you tell the difference between bonafide research and schlock? That's an ongoing problem and for the moment, the best advice may be that suggested by David Daniel, a researcher at James Madison University: “If you see the words 'brain-based,' run.”
Sep '10
Re: Left Brain / Right Brain
Today, despite efforts by neuroscientists to defuse the hype (e.g., Mike Gazzaniga's [1985] "Left brain, right brain mania: A debunking"), left brain, right brain characterizations still appear in articles and books for educators (e.g., Connell, 2002; Sousa, 2006) and there are still individualized instructional programs based on left- and right-brained learners (McCarthy, 1987; 1996), as well as numerous Web sites for teachers purporting to describe hemispheric differences. For example, under the "Best Practices" category of Instructor magazine's Features Library, there's an article titled "Left Brain/Right Brain: Pathways To Reach Every Learner" that offers teaching techniques for left- and right-brained students by discussing how to approach teaching the solar system (Connell, 2002). For left-brained students, the tips include, "Discuss the big concepts involved in the creation of the universe, how the solar system was formed, and so on. Left-brain students love to think about and discuss abstract concepts" and "Keep the room relatively quiet and orderly.
Sep '10
Re: Left Brain / Right Brain
"I was taught the Enneagram in 1972 while a student in the Jesuit theologate. We used it in our spiritual and social life. But we noticed we were typing people incorrectly, and interest faded. "In the '80s, I saw an Enneagram industry develop, but the versions being taught were contradictory. So I did research. The Enneagram is supposed to be ancient Sufi wisdom, thousands of years old. But the Sufis, who are Muslim mystics, aren't that old of a movement. The diagram itself can't be older than the 14th or 15th century. It was discovered in the 1890s in Central Asia by a Greek-Armenian occultist named George Gurdjieff. He got it from a secret brotherhood of Sufis called the Naqshbandi, who were using it for numerological fortune-telling. Gurdjieff, a charlatan and a swindler who was into gnosticism, taught it to his disciples as a symbol of the cosmos. Gurdjieff died in 1949 but left followers.
Edited on Jan 26, 2011 at 1:07pmSep '10
Re: Left Brain / Right Brain
Pseudodionysius
But most of what you see advertised as educational advice rooted in neuroscience is bunkum.
· Jan 26 at 1:00pm
Pseudodi, I would go further: just delete the words "rooted in neuroscience" and you have a warning that I would agree with completely. The worst teaching advice I've ever gotten has been from people who take educational theory seriously.
Oct '10
Re: Left Brain / Right Brain
Amusing there the comment : I remain the ever-milquetoast housewife. Boo....
Tests, surveys, etc are all designed to a obtain a specific biased conclusion.
Learned to to respect entry into a womans kitchen, too many sharp pointy objects within arms reach. Not to worry, there is still hope to express yourself.
Humor there
Sep '10
Re: Left Brain / Right Brain
dogsbody
Pseudodionysius
But most of what you see advertised as educational advice rooted in neuroscience is bunkum.
· Jan 26 at 1:00pm
Pseudodi, I would go further: just delete the words "rooted in neuroscience" and you have a warning that I would agree with completely. The worst teaching advice I've ever gotten has been from people who take educational theory seriously. · Jan 26 at 1:14pm
Its worse than that. Ed Schools haven't talked to real cognitive scientists in over 30 years.
Jan '11
Re: Left Brain / Right Brain
We had the same experience. I didn't know about the Gurdjieff angle, which makes it all the more hilarious, but we quickly came to take all these tests with a grain of salt. People were "diagnosing" differences instead of just respecting each other and dealing with conflicts.
Hey, to the degree that these tests help, great. But take what you need from them, and leave the rest.
Re: Left Brain / Right Brain
Geez. Buzzkill nation around here. Thought it might be fun to take a few tests. Wasn't trying to determine my (or anyone else's) true identity. That, as we all know, is all based on hair color.
May '10
Re: Left Brain / Right Brain
Jokes like that are why Andrea carries a gun.