Left Brain, Right Brain

Jim McKelvey is an engineer, entrepreneur, artist, environmentalist, co-founder of Square and Third Degree Glass Factory and general partner of Cultivation Capital.
So reads an online article by CNN. Quite a combination right? Rather different to the usual pigeonholing that is foisted on people and their skills and inclinations.

There is an extremely prevalent notion that is currently circulating. It goes something like this: You are born either creative or rational, left brained or right brained. There is no point attempting to be the one if you are the other. Acceptance of this thesis appears to be widespread; evidenced in comments asserting that creative people can't be good at maths and the incredulity pervading this article on Jim. A frequent ice-breaker in conversation is the question: what do you do? Or, its' cousin: what are you? The expected mono-syllabic answer to the question of your employment is used to categorise you and allow for easy mental filing. Jim the engineer. Period.

Not only is this idea rather one dimensional, it is also not supported by science. Humans need both sides of the brain, even for the simplest of tasks. Jill Bolte Taylor's book, My Stroke of Insight, provides a gripping account of what happens when a stroke strikes. Half of her brain shuts down and she can't even pick up the phone to call for help.

So, now maybe you agree with me that we use both parts of our brain. But what about people who seem naturally better at certain tasks; either creative or logical? The answer: Practice?

Dr George Bartzokis researches Myelin. This is a substance that is a neurological insulator. When a mental circuit fires, this substance reacts by wrapping your synapses with myelin. Repeated use of these circuits allows the electrical impulses in your brain to travel approximately 300 percent faster, and with less noise being introduced to the signal. An expert of any kind is simply someoen with more myelin insulation in that area of their brain than someone else. The relevant feature of this substance for our discussion is that myelin exists everywhere in the brain. Myelin does not know the difference between "creative" mental circuits and synapses used for more rational pursuits. Myelin does not differentiate.

I find this to be rather liberating. If you want to sing, myelin will help you. If you want to be good at math, myelin will be your study partner. In short, don't limit your aspirations.