Monday 29 June 2009

Developing the right brain...

These days when one has time to ponder, I wonder if we have got it all wrong?

We beat ourselves up silly through 12 years of schooling, 4 to 10 years of tertiary education, work our butt off for organisations who do not really care and then retire and come to the realisation that we had only been using half our brains for more than half of our lives. A blissfully ignorant majority remain happy with their achievements or under achievements, as the case maybe.

Conventional education only focuses on left brain development; from the logical, objective, rational and analytical. It looks at parts rather than the whole. The right brain involves higher functions of intuition, holistic synthesizing and the subjective. Throw in creativity, imagination and feeling, you get the softer side of the human being.


From a medical view point, I can add that at least the medics did try to get it right with problem-solving approaches to learning, synthesising diagnosis and treatment from holistic good medical practice and sharpening intuitive skills along with creative ones. The only critique would be; how true is the implementation in doctor factories of today.

How many times have we come across people in our lives who are overtly unimaginative, insensitive, lack compassion and regularly prove inability to problem-solve.

We are governed by Peters who have no principles and do not have a creative bone in their body. Too harsh?

Perhaps it takes a whole life time to realise certain simple facts about life.

Try this. Its not as easy as it looks . . .


Right brain development requires exercise just like any part of the body.

Some have the gift, which recognised early and further developed can lead to great works.

But to get from here . . .

. . . to here will take practice.

The National Art Gallery in Jalan Termeloh, KL is doing a good job of addressing this niche area, painstakingly nutured by a local artist. Too bad only the expatriate community is taking advantage of it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

nice article..
I have been working on similar ideas..