![]() We are all capable of using our left and right brain sensibilities to do amazing things. Students Need Both STEM Skills And Creative Skills It’s a vicious cycle that reinforces itself! Then, they remind themselves that it doesn’t matter because they don’t need math or science. ![]() In turn, they get worse grades and fall behind in true comprehension. When they devalue math and science, they devote less attention to them. As creative people, they won’t have to use math or science in their adult lives. Internalizing this message tells students that they don’t need to try to learn math if they aren’t math people. They learn that STEM and creative subjects have nothing to do with each other, and internalize this mutual exclusivity. Students are stifled and discouraged from blending these aspects of their cognitive abilities. When the idea of left and right brain is used to separate math people from creatives, we lose more than we think. Think about it! If a math person truly lacked creativity, they couldn’t think on their feet, solve new problems, or synthesize disparate ideas.Įach of us possesses an innate ability to use math and logic, at the same time that we use creativity and imagination. Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory required months and years of careful observation, sketching, and imagining the transformation of his famous finches. Johannes Vermeer’s paintings are so celebrated because of his incredibly precise mathematical understanding of three-dimensional space and perspective. They use multidisciplinary thinking, drawing from sources outside the strict boundaries of their specialized fields.Īlbert Einstein’s theory of relativity has an element of the fantastical and certainly required an enormous amount of creative problem-solving. The folks in history who are truly gifted, those who are remembered as a “genius”, have thought beyond this dichotomy and looked at what they do in a whole new light. We’re integrated beings, needing both logic and creativity to survive and thrive. We use both hemispheres of our brain every day, at the same time, to solve problems, do daily tasks, and consider new information. We don’t get to simply choose one hemisphere to work on and one to leave alone. The Dangers Of The False Right Brain/Left Brain DichotomyĪlthough the right brain/left brain model is a useful way to understand psychology and the layout of the human brain, it’s not good for much else. You can just smile, shrug, and say that you’re more of a right-brain person. You don’t have to try very hard, because you are given the perfect excuse from the beginning. If you aren’t a “math person”, you get a pass. We limit the opportunities and infinite possibilities that we could open up if we didn’t corral young students into one camp at the expense of the other. If you're a creative person and you have more language available to you, does that somehow stifle your creativity?Īs a society, we’re too set in our ways of thinking about math and creativity. Storytelling requires a strong sense of internal organization and logic. Art is increasingly digital and relies on a robust slew of mathematical and coding skills to execute. Scales, notes, and music theory are governed by the rules of sound and physics. When it comes to art or music, math and science are intimately linked as well. Complicated math and science require creativity and an artistic sensibility. The basic language of math that we all learn in school is simply built up even further. Science uses math and adds new language to solve even more complex problems. It’s a simple way of conveying complex problems and working towards the solution. Math is the basic, initial language that we use to start problem-solving. It takes creativity to solve problems and think outside of the box to search for new solutions. STEM subjects require an enormous amount of creativity and creative subjects require logical thinking-and yes-even math! It happens before we have any real chance to notice how math and science are linked to creative subjects. We’re lumped into one or the other, and told it’s where we belong.įor most people, this split happens before first grade rolls around. All it takes is a burgeoning fascination with painting or storytelling, or a youthful love of bugs, tornadoes, or multiplication. These are categories that we get thrown into at a young age. Are you a math person or an art person? Left brain or right brain?ĭo you love the stable logic of numbers or are you partial to the subjective possibilities of the creative arts?
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