Brains are completely fascinating; well, brain activity, brain function anyhow.

We're discovering so much right now and it is really important, interesting stuff.

For example; it's our left brain, the part of our brain that governs our spacial awareness ~ the rational part of us that is also the part which makes us self centred.

This part has been highly significant (we suspect) in allowing us to organise as society, to speed our progress. It enables us to think strategically. Strange that this part which is essentially "me me me" is what has enabled us to function as a society by increasing our conformity ("convergent thinking").

The theory, (probably unprovable) is that it's a result of this side becoming dominant that enabled us to really become human because it's connected to impulse control. Its vital for planning and goal setting. It will have allowed our ancestors to put off satisfaction now for satisfaction tomorrow or next month and will have been inextricably linked to our development as social beings and our creation of society and "civilised" behaviour, by helping us strive for goals, put off rewards and want to fit in.

Without its dominance over our left brain we simply wouldn't be what or who we are.

The down side to this is that we are, as a society (and I'm talking global society) becoming very overinvolved with left brain activities. It's dominance is causing our right brain to be less and less used. 

It's much more difficult to track what the right brain does, since it is in charge of emotion, creativity (but not outcomes) it has no understanding of time other than, "I'm hungry so it must be dinner time", "I'm bored so I must have been doing this long enough".

People whose right brain is more active tend to be highly imaginative, intuitive and communal in their focus. They see things as a whole and are interested in patterns, shapes and sizes. The right brain is associated with artistic ability like singing, painting, writing poetry, etc

They want satisfaction now though and may not be very successful at school because of their "divergent thinking" style.

Our education system with its emphasis on rote learning and exam syllabi is more tuned to encouraging left brain activity, often to the detriment of right brain creativity. School examinations are designed to test left brain activity and encourage conformity in thought. There is a possibility that if right brain skills are not exercised, they may not develop sufficiently.

When it comes to academics, children with a stronger left brain predisposition do well at school, as they are more likely to respond to formal learning. They exhibit greater responsibility, are quite content to study by themselves and have greater concentration. Strongly right brain children, on the other hand, are less likely to perform well academically. They prefer to study with company, cannot sit still for very long and are more responsive in informal settings. 

We all need both sides of our brain to be working strongly and cohesively to be able to operate at our full potential.

If you want more of the science on this see the work of Roger Sperry

The main theme to emerge... is that there appear to be two modes of thinking, verbal and nonverbal, represented rather separately in left and right hemispheres respectively and that our education system, as well as science in general, tends to neglect the nonverbal form of intellect. What it comes down to is that modern society discriminates against the right hemisphere.

-Roger Sperry (1973)
We get plenty of opportunity to use and develop our left brain, but what can we do for our right brain, to help it to become stronger? Like any muscle, we have to use it or lose it and if we're not using it we're denying ourselves up to a massive half of our potential!

Rather than rushing around and analysing how much we're getting for any time we put in we need to focus more on the process, feel our way and take note of our intuition.

Our right brain isn't linear, it enjoys now and has no interest in effectiveness. We may not immediately recognise how much more we're getting by accessing it, it doesn't work in that kind of evaluative way. If we want both parts of our brains to work at their most effectively they need to work together, in harmony. We need to give our right brain some nutrition and nurture.

Next time you're in the bath, allow yourself to lose track of time playing with the bubbles. If you're too busy to bath and always shower that is a sign you are very left brain oriented, but you can still take a moment and just feel how great it is to be in all that warm water and enjoy it pouring over you...