The Two Brains

We know the brain is divided into two hemispheres that are connected by the corpus callosum, which in turn, consists of 300 million axonal fibers.

From the work of Sperry, Vogel and Boyen in 1960, it was concluded that the two hemispheres are complementary and work together but with very different functions.

The left hemisphere specializes in translating perception of the environment (as perceived by our senses) to logical representations. Its functions include everything related to the language (grammar, syntax and semantics) and the structured thinking on that basis: reading, writing and arithmetic. Think of a methodical and linear (like a robot without feelings), dealing with everything related to digital communication (transmitting through the symbols). It categorizes and organizes the information it receives, the association with what was learned in the past and project it handles alfuturo. It represents our rational and unitary part, singled out as individuals. It is the one that says I, and from that moment, separated and isolated from other people. Everything happens to be you, falling in bipolar awareness (see post polarity and the shadow (I) and (II)).

The highly developed right hemisphere for perception and holistic understanding of complex assemblies, configurations and structures (a smell or music for example, evokes the whole scene where they had that perception). Get fully understand the basis of one of its parts, however small it may be. It is timeless, deals with this and think in pictures. It is connected with the ALL. It is visual and creative, take risks and respond to emotion. It has an archaic language that corresponds to an arithmetic primitive but extremely accurate with a capacity for direct perception of the sets (there are pastors who have only numerals, one, two or more, but they are able to notice immediately and accurately, if they are missing an animal from his flock).

In each of us there is a predominance of the hemisphere. In the dominant right-handers the left hemisphere and in the right-handed. As an analogy, we can say that people with left-brained "are able to see the last tree of a hypothetical forest, but can not see the forest as a whole." They have a "microscope" that allows them to see every detail of the last tree. On the other hand, in the right hemisphere predominantly have a "periscope" that lets them "see the forest as a whole, but not isolated tree." We should aim to integrate the two hemispheres in a single "Zoom" which would allow us to zoom in or out at will. Full utilization of the brain that lead us to holistic thought, capable of integrating the rational with the emotional part of being human.

In our culture and therefore our Western education, the emphasis is on the left hemisphere. We are taught to think with the logic of facts, using as children, repetition as a form of "training" subconscious. On the other hand, the left hemisphere is the easiest to measure and specify in an intelligence quotient (IQ), allowing each person labeled as more or less intelligent. However, we have seen that there is no direct correlation between high IQ and "success" in life. This is because when assessing the student, the skills "hidden" in the right hemisphere were not taken into account (emotional intelligence). Today, referred to eight types of intelligence.