Know Thy Left Brain and The Chinese Right One
Wed Jul 02, 2008 at 10:31 am By admin
By Ernie Tadla
When I went to China, I had a negative, self-righteous view of all things Chinese. It was a communistic, godless dictatorship. We in the West, on the other hand, were a capitalistic, democratic, Christian society.
So after seven years and several major epiphanies, I changed my paradigm and discovered many positive things about the Chinese way.
I returned to Canada and wrote a book from my fresh, new Chinese perspective. My editor, Ross Freake, brought to my attention that I was now bashing the Western way as I had earlier bashed the Chinese way. I had been infected with the Stockholm syndrome.
Through synchronicity, I received another epiphany.
It is the concept of whole-brain integration and the differences between the two brain hemispheres. Compare the same numbered phrase in each group and notice the contrasts.
The left hemisphere
1. uses logic/reason
2. thinks in words
3. deals in parts/specifics
4. will analyze/break apart
5. thinks sequentially
6. is time bound
7. is extroverted
8. is characterized as male
9. identifies with the individual
10. is ordered/controlled
The right hemisphere
1. uses intuition/emotions
2. thinks in pictures
3. deals in wholes/relationships
4. will synthesize/put together
5. thinks holistically
6. is time free
7. is introverted
8. is characterized as female
9. identifies with the group
10. is spontaneous/free
I learned the importance of learning how to create balance with both sides of the brain.
-
analysis vs. synthesis
reasoning vs. intuition
extroversion vs. introversion
outer vs. inner
male vs. female
friend vs. enemy
capitalism vs. communism
As for my a-ha? The West is left-brain and the East is right-brain!
Our actual brain structure includes the corpus callosum, a band of nerve fibers that bridges the two hemispheres. Interestingly, the female corpus callosum has 33 per cent more neurons than the male. That leads us to suppose that the female integrates both sides better than the male. Maybe that is why women can multi-task better than us guys.
East, West, left, right, wrong, right: which is best, which is right?
I believe the right way for humanity is to balance, to integrate the best parts of both. Instead of yes-but, it is yes-and.
Might this kind of thinking help us in our desperate search for world peace? Let us build bridges and have harmony, prosperity and peace.
Oh…and do better business with each other.
Editors’ note: This article is republished with permission from How To Live & Do Business In China, by Ernie Tadla. Mr. Tadla also is a China business coach. He can be reached at www.odysseychina.net.
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July 2nd, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Ernie, interesting article, You have learned a lot about Chinese confusionism.
Balance is a state of mind, it is changing, like the truth, in our history, many truths have been proven wrong many times. Balance have many levels too.
July 2nd, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Sounds like you may be a negative, self-righteous person who read the China Daily too often. It’s scientifically constructed to kill the brain cells responsible for critical reasoning and political analysis.
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Steven, thanks for your comment. Your message is deep. I think I’m going to have to brush up on Confucius to understand more.
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:14 pm
JD, you should buy a copy of Ernie’s book. A lot of people don’t like Rush Limbaugh, but they still tune in to listen (I’m not one).
Here’s book summary: http://www.amazon.com/How-Live-Do-Business-China/dp/1425101208/ref=tag_tdp_sv_edpp_i
We appreciate your view of China Daily by the way, and hope you find more enlivening perspectives here.
Thanks for your comment.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:02 pm
JD, Not everything have to be political, isn’t it? I suppose Ernie learn the balance from the people, the culture and the history here, rather than Chinadaily.which is pretty useful for us to learn new regulation and micro economy.