"Other ways of knowing," aka Different Cognitive Styles

[LeftishBrit]

21. Curtis' description here is pretty misleading

He is no doubt an excellent artist and art educator, but he has picked up some very misleading myths that go around about the brain.

In particular: the right and left hemispheres do not have fundamentally different cognitive styles and personalities in the way that's often implied. There are some important differences between the hemispheres: the left hemisphere in most people controls language, and the right is more involved in spatial awareness. It is also true that in visual processing, there is a tendency for the left hemisphere to be better at perceiving features and the right hemisphere at perceiving wholes - though this is not cut-and-dried. However, it is not the case that the left hemisphere is analytical and logical, and the right hemisphere intuitive and creative. Both hemispheres are heavily involved in all complex mental tasks, whether 'logical' or 'creative' (the two are not mutually exclusive in any case). Nor do most people consistently 'prefer' one to the other, insofar as they can be divided; it tends to depend on the task and context.

As regards preferences for visual/auditory/kinaesthetic, etc. learning - it is certainly true that some people seem to rely more on particular senses than others, though even here on the whole, except for people compensating for a disability (e.g. blind people emphasizing learning through hearing and touch), sensory processing is influenced by task differences at least as much as through individual differences.

Moreover: most complex activities involve a wide variety of skills, and can't be reduced to two different cognitive styles. For balancing the budget, approximate 'intuitive' arithmetical estimation is at least as important as systematic arithmetical reasoning in working out what you can afford. And mathematical reasoning can be quite important to art.

This is not a comment on religion - and indeed there is some (controversial) evidence that particular areas of the brain are particularly activated by religious emotions and experiences - but attempting to counter some of the 'neuromyths' that have become prevalent.