Abstractian

In general people that are left brained are also linear thinkers and people that are right brained are more likely to be abstract thinkers.

Hence one can understand the assumption that these pairs of descriptions are describing the same items; it’s a case of the correlation being so good that it isn’t even noticed.

And yet I know a few examples (scatter points in the wrong quadrants of the plot if you will) that defy the correlation.

So here is my current most likely hypothesis on the matter:

Abstract thinking is also divergent thinking and linear thinking is convergent thinking. The former attempts to open up a line of thought to consider many options, whereas the latter closes things down and minimises the set of considerations.

Pros and cons in both – the former may not miss opportunities but takes much longer to arrive at a conclusion; time can be a killer. And divergent thinkers can also drive convergent thinkers mad because they have too many options to pick for communications; often resulting in a null set.

In the case of, say, a divergent (abstract) thinker there is nothing to prevent each step in the ‘expanding set’ of considerations to be dealt with in a left-brained manner, i.e relying with confidence on the skills of logic, language and analytical thinking. It is unusual but it does occur – my mother is one who has this condition.

Similarly there are convergent thinkers that are quite artistic and have many of the other characteristics of right brain types, i.e. they are more confident with expressive or creative tasks. And yet they will automatically minimise any set of considerations in a proposition.

I suspect that the tendency to be either left or right brained, or to be a linear or abstract thinker is a matter of confidence. We must learn early on in life to lean a certain way and then begin to trust these characteristics.

I am sure the neural pathways that get used are the ones that become neural highways, so there is probably a case of heavy-use leading to imprinting. But we may also inherit certain characteristics as well.

Possibly the ‘scatter plot’ people – the people in the odd quadrants – have had conflicting and unusual early inheritance of both experience and genes. Unsuited parents let’s say. Or grandparents.

p.s. I did in no way ‘consider’ this problem. I first noted these quadrants in a blog yesterday and the question was posed to me, ‘why?’. Since then I have been dwelling on the problem almost entirely subconsciously. However I did formally put the information into my brain in two or three fits of consideration (as I do) and then I have let the brain-computer do its divergent thing, running thousands of scenarios to come up with the best ‘fit’. The ‘abstract’ description is apt because I don’t monitor the process consciously; to do so would be silly because it would slow down the process and stop me doing other things.