Know Thyself?
I stumbled across this test on YouTube (okay, I was sposed to be putting the final touches on my web site redesign … I was taking a little break!) You can take this left-brain/right-brain test by watching the video at right.
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Done? Okay. Here are the “results.”
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WHAT IT MEANS
If [you see the dancer turning] clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and [if you see the dancer turning counter-clockwise, then you use more of the left side of the brain].
Most of us would see the dancer turning anti-clockwise [counter-clockwise] though you can try to focus and change the direction; see if you can do it.
LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic, detail oriented, facts rule, words and language, present and past, math and science, can comprehend, knowing, acknowledges, order/pattern perception, knows object name, reality based, forms strategies, practical, safe
RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses feeling, “big picture” oriented, imagination rules, symbols and images, present and future, philosophy & religion, can “get it” (i.e. meaning), believes, appreciates, spatial perception, knows object function, fantasy based, presents possibilities, impetuous, risk taking
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Okay, so I don’t know if this test tells if I’m right- and/or left-brained or just highlights my suspicious nature, because I see this dancer moving in BOTH directions and a (pretty big) part of me still thinks it’s a trick. (C’mon, if there isn’t something in the image that determines the spinning direction, how can they “change” the direction in the video? You know, when they tell us “now the image is moving clockwise”, “now it’s moving counter-clockwise?” Like I said, suspicious.)
Putting my misgivings aside, I guess the important parts are that …
- I see the dancer move clockwise first and
- I can change the direction in which she spins. (Don’t know what that means?)
Fascinating!
Why? Because if you’d shown me the two lists above and asked me which list best applied to me, I’d have chosen the left brain functions hands down. (And I don’t think I’m deluding myself — I suspect people who know me well would say the same.) But according to this, I am more right-brained. Who’d’ve thunk?
(Is improvising changing my brain?! How cool would that be!)
“So bye, bye Miss American Pie/ Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry” and them good ol’ boys weren’t singing.
At the October Songtaneous event, we worked on improvising from images. The singing circle held a tone and each person composed a solo from an image she or he drew from a bag. I like using images to facilitate working on soloing.