Left — Brained | Right — Brained
The obsession to polarize.
Creativity or logic? We never reason such questions. We simply start looking for an answer. And affirm the one that seems the safest. Not right or meaningful, but safest! Choosing the right thing to do is necessary in an unsafe situation. However, when the feeling of insecurity is perpetuated to simulate an ever unsafe environment, there are no choices only albatross. The choice between creativity and logic is a fiction we are conditioned to be beguiled by.
The popularization of the left brain/right brain theory showcases our innate (but acquired) obsession to polarize. An organ or organization is formed by different parts. The more parts it has, the more complex it is. To understand the mechanism of the organization we must study the parts and the parts of parts. But when it is not a study, only observation with no consumptive value, we try to appraise the observation by entertaining ourselves.
Contesting is the most favored form of entertainment. It is a complete package for a prolonged engagement. Grading is more satisfactory than perceiving the balance among different parts/individuals. We test the parts on unquestioned norms, declare champions and commoners and then contest the champions again. The obsession to contest turns into an organ itself that remains ever insatiable, making us powerless to accept differences or equality.
Difference is always contested and never accepted. This errored compulsion to contest has thwarted the mental faculty that helps to acknowledge the whole. Testing and comparing is a step in the process of comprehension. When we deduce by comparison, the conclusion is always immature. It has been convicted way too early in the process. This is not really deducing but forcing a processed preconceived induction.
We use this induction like a knife to chop every perception. Distinguish not to examine but to chop up to fragments. Then choose the favorable pieces and try discarding the rest. We do this not only to the object of our perception but also to ourselves. The fragmentation gives an instant gratification which is momentary. The obsession to keep sensing that gratification turns the mechanism to divide into a mental organ. When an organism keeps dividing, it does not reduce but mutates. Like the cell that cannot stop dividing mutates into death.
Dividing is not just a method anymore but a principle we are drilled to serve religiously. By this principle, we contest different parts of our own body, become biased to one side, and then make this bias a doctrine. The body has two limbs to retain efficient mobility. Each side completes the functioning. But they also function well individually: nothing other than a useful aspect of a coherent physical form. Being right-handed does not make one any more capable/righteous than the left-handed. It only indicates a more common manner of using limbs.
The fixation to divide begins from inside. When the mind contests itself and develops biases for its own body parts, how can it not do the same to others. All forms of outward discrimination are embedded within. We discriminate between left and right organs, upper and lower parts, head and heart; the worse of all is the euphemism for genitals. Objectification of body begins with self. Our body is what we are in this world. It is the only thing that is truly ours. The axiom ‘Respect the body’ is not enough. We must learn our bodies subjectively.
The only way to uproot discrimination is to relearn comprehension. Different parts perform different functions. The function does depend on our use. Body and mind are shaped by their usage, for example, slouching results in a bad posture. There are two ways of utilizing our faculties — use and misuse. Misuse generates errors, like bad posture. If having a bad posture helps us live well, it is not a misuse. But does it? Classification is a useful cognitive mechanism. We must learn to use it and not abuse it.
The left and right hemispheres cannot be contested for satisfying our narratives about ourselves and others. They are one brain. Everything inside is processed by both. We need to bring a healthy balance between them and not test them against each other. Yes, one side can have more executive functioning than the other but that does not make the other any less functional. It is a workflow. This flow helps the organism live well. The difference in mechanism is to complete each other and not to compete.
Creativity and logic are/were never contestants. They beautifully work in harmony if they are allowed to. We have created barriers between different vantage points. But the truth is, all vantage points exist in the same space. Before industrialization, there was no classification between logic and art. This division is of course lucrative. Hence, it is peddled generation after generation. There is no need for an ideology that divides not to analyze but to categorize. It is utterly unhealthy.
When creativity and logic work together the outcome is alive. It promotes collective wellness. I understand comprehending oneness is difficult. It takes time and effort. But it is necessary. More than ever before, it is needed to be practiced now. When we collectively have a whole view, the world will reform without much disturbance.
Let us not be divided in left or right but be united in left and right.
