You are hardly alone if you believe that humanity is divided into two great camps: the left-brain and the right-brain thinkers — those who are logical and analytical vs. those who are intuitive and creative. For years, an industry of books, tests and videos has flourished on this concept. It seems to be natural law.
Except it isn’t.
Scientists have long known that the popular left brain/right brain story doesn’t hold water. Here’s why. First, the sweeping characterizations of the two halves of the brain miss the mark: one is not logical and the other intuitive, one analytical and the other creative. The left and right halves of the brain do function in some different ways, but these differences are more subtle than is popularly believed. (For example, the left side processes small details of things you see, the right processes the overall shape.) Second, the halves of the brain don’t work in isolation; rather, they always work together as a system. Your head is not an arena for some never-ending competition, the brain’s “strong” side tussling with its “weak.” Finally, people don’t preferentially use one side or the other.
We all use both parts of the brain but differ in how deeply we use each part. The key is the way the parts interact, not each part by itself. Depending on the extent to which a person uses the top and bottom parts, four possible cognitive modes emerge. These modes reflect the amount that a person likes to devise complex and detailed plans and likes to understand events in depth. (You can determine your own dominant mode with this test.)
Source material from Time