Two Aspects to the Brain

 Storing information in the memory >>>

 Processing information, applying knowledge for → creativethinking, → decision
making and → problem solving in a variety of unforeseen situations

The Tasks Specific To Left and Right Brain

Left Brain Right Brain
Logical → Creative, random
Sequential Intuitive
Analytical Colors
Objective Rhythm
Focus and Details Big Picture
Numbers Pictures >>>
Three Metafunctions of the Mind3

1. Analyzing: separating a whole into its constituent parts. Analytical → thinking is closely related
to logical step-by-step reasoning. Logic has two main parts: deduction (inferring from the
general to the particular; the process of deducing a conclusion from what is known or assumed)
and induction (inferring or verifying a general law of principle from the observation of
particular instances).
2. Synthesizing and Imagining: putting or placing things together to make a whole. You can do it
physically or mentally (imagining).
3. Valuing: judging people, establishing success criteria, evaluating, appraising
performance and so on. In all valuing there is an objective element and a
subjective one. What you actually value depends very largely upon your
environment and → culture.
4. Limited Attention Span
5. "The brain is a wonderful organ: it starts working the moment you get up in the morning and
does not stop until you get into the office." ~ Robert Frost
6. The limited attention span means that only part of your memory surface can be activated at
any one time. "This limited attention span is extremely important for it means that the
activated area will be a single coherent area and that single coherent area will be found in the
most easily activated part of the memory surface. The most easily activated area or pattern is
the most familiar one, the one which has been encountered most often, the one which has left
most trace on the memory surface. And because a familiar pattern tends to be used it becomes
ever more familiar. In this way the mind builds up that stock of present patterns which are the
basis of code communication."1

7. → Subconscious vs. Conscious

8. Your Brain Can Process Only Positive Information
9. The language of brain are pictures, sounds, feelings, tastes and smells, i.e. inputs from your
senses. Your brain cannot work with negative information, i.e. inputs you haven't experienced.
It can work only with positive information, i.e. "information from the experiences of your five
senses, which it then manipulates in the emotional blender we call the imagination."4

10. Left Brain / Right Brain

11. Research on brain theory helps you understand why some people are excellent inventorsbut
poor producers or good → managers but weak → leaders. The research indicates that the brain
is divided into two hemispheres, the left and the right, and that each hemisphere specializes in
different functions, processes different kinds of information, and → deals with different kinds
of → problems. The left brain works more with logic and analysis, the right works more
with emotions and imagination... More

12. Can You Reflect and Act at the Same Time?

13. Well... sort of. Reflecting and acting at the same time is very difficult as our mind can only hold
one thought at a time. You can be going through periods of reflection and action at the same
time but at any specific moment in time you are only spending energy in one of these two
areas. You need to be focused on either reflection or action at one point and then be able to
switch quickly and effortlessly to the other polarity when required. This is an important point to
remember when you are considering focus and →balance → your life.9

14. → Work Smart and Hard

15. Your Brain Cannot Think While It Focuses on Two Sensory Inputs
16. Research shows that "when a person is thinking actively (as documented with EEG equipment)
and then focuses on one perceptual happening such as sound, a tactile sensation, or an image,
the brain waves remain basically the same and thoughts continue flow through the mind. We
can expand our mind's attention to include one perceptual input and still keep thinking actively
without loosing our concentration on our thoughts. However, when the human mind focuses
on two distinct sensory inputs at the same time (a sound and an image, for instance, or breath
and heartbeat), all thoughts almost immediately stop flowing through the mind."7

17. → Flexibility
18. Mental Patterns
19. Mental pattern is a memory trace formed in your brain tissue to record something that you
have experienced. As you see, hear, feel, smell, sense or taste something over and over, your
brain builds a pattern of it.
20. When you experience it again, or something like it, your brain activates the existing memory
trace or patterned thinking and you go on autopilot.8

21. Capacity of Our Working Memory

22. The maximum amount of items we can store in our working memory, or conscious mind, is
three or four. If you need to hold more items in your mind at one time. use tricks like repeating
items over and over or grouping items together, like we do with phone numbers.
23. Intelligence is related to working memory. The more information you can hold in your mind at
one time. the more information you can interrelate. If you have a better working memory
your → creative problem-solving abilities are better.

24. Mediation
25. Meditation is the most powerful mind tool ever developed. Meditation has been scientifically
proven to improve → creativity, intelligence, memory, alertness, and to integrate left and right
brain functioning. It has been shown to improve physical, mental, and emotional health... More