While it might seem like we have a good grasp on the human brain, there is a lot we still don’t know. We have come a long way. We recognize the brain is the most complex part of the body. However, disproven theories still frame our modern understanding of this organ. Here’s one: The left brain is responsible for logic, and the right is for all creative things. Here is another one: We only use 8-12% of our brain's ability. Some people like to believe we are much more magical and powerful if only we can open up just 1 more % of our brain.
The truth is we use our whole brain all of the time. Plus, pigeonholing yourself as left or right-brained could limit your perspectives and cognitive abilities.
“Having personally researched both brain function and creativity for the same 20 years, I have concluded that creativity is a mental process utilizing all of the brain’s specialized capabilities,” Ned Herrmann, researcher, and author, wrote in Scientific America. in 1999. “It is, therefore, ‘whole brained’… The role of the right hemisphere is essential to the creative process. But it supplies only a quarter of the thinking needed to realize the full creative process.”
In addition, Dr. Federmeier, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois, told that “it takes two hemispheres to be logical - or to be creative.” And though damage to the left hemisphere can cause difficulties producing language (as seen in stroke patients), the right hemisphere isn’t necessarily non-verbal. “My laboratory studies the hemispheres’ ability to comprehend (rather than produce) language. We, like others, have shown that both hemispheres can figure out the meaning of words and sentences - and that they have different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to comprehending,” she added.
Year after year, specialists who work on brains, prove that it is not possible for us to use only some parts of a brain. In anything we do an absolute 100% of the brain is involved.
When someone creates a myth, it spreads fast and becomes a part of human belief for a very long time. When a myth fails, it takes forever for people to accept the fact they were wrong. Some of you reading this still will leave the page thinking it is bs and the "science" is correct. For you, I want to say you may have always thought of yourself as one or the other - logical or creative, left-brained or right-brained. However, it’s time to start seeing yourself as both. Telling yourself that you’re only good at creative activities may lead you to avoid logic-based activities, which are excellent for brain health. The opposite is also true; avoiding creative pastimes like playing musical instruments or dancing means you’re letting go of important brain exercise.