Recent testing suggests that the whole left-brain/right-brain dichotomy is not as strong as previously thought. Tests which would be expected to show the brain “firing” one side or the other actually show it “firing” in multiple areas at once, and on both sides of the brain. Still and all, the distinction remains fairly pervasive, and perhaps it’s a useful way of indicating how some of our thought patterns work. There’s no denying that some people are more creative than others, and some people are more logical than others. So the online tests can still be amusing, though one kind of wants to take all of these things with a grain of salt… they’re hardly the paragon of scientific analysis one expects from a controlled environment. A while back, Peggy posted one of these and it looked entertaining. So am I a lefty or a right-y?

Hmm, I thought for a minute there that I had 104% of a brain. Then I saw where it said, “results won’t usually add up to 100% as this test measures each side seperately.” The spelling error is in the original, so I’m not sure what that says about the test. Here’s what else it claims about me:

Left brain dominant individuals are more orderly, literal, articulate, and to the point. They are good at understanding directions and anything that is explicit and logical. They can have trouble comprehending emotions and abstract concepts, they can feel lost when things are not clear, doubting anything that is not stated and proven.

Right brain dominant individuals are more visual and intuitive. They are better at summarizing multiple points, picking up on what’s not said, visualizing things, and making things up. They can lack attention to detail, directness, organization, and the ability to explain their ideas verbally, leaving them unable to communicate effectively.

Overall you appear to have fairly Equal Hemispheres

It goes on:

According to Darwinian theory, optimal evolution takes place with random variation and selective retention. The evolution savvy individual will try many different approaches when faced with a problem and select the best of those approaches. Many historical intellectuals have confessed their advantage was simply considering/exploring/trying more approaches than others. The left brain dominant type suffers from limited approaches, narrow-mindedness. The right brain dominant type suffers from too many approaches, scatterbrained. To maintain balanced hemispheres, you need to exercise both variability and selection. Just as a company will have more chance of finding a great candidate by increasing their applicant pool, an individual who considers a wider set of options is more likely to make quality decisions.

It appears I suffer on both sides. I suppose I might have advantages on both sides, but if I was going to guess one way or another, with my luck, I’d suspect the pessimistic outcome. This particular test also includes something of a personality profile with a focus on careers, which can be handy at times. You know, when you can’t figure out why you hate your job, or which one might be better. Or which careers you’d be good at or might suck at. Turns out I’ve worked or am working in a few of these areas.

I want to say that I would of course be much more altruistic than it claims, but nobody would believe me. I still maintain that these things aren’t very accurate. ;^) Well, speaking of weak premises, I did another brain-oriented test for good measure. IQ tests have been criticized by some people as being a poor measure of that which they purport to gauge. By some theories, innate intelligence is actually impossible to measure, and the best the tests which make the attempt can claim is to report on a person’s preparedness to take a particular time of test at a given point in time. Which doesn’t mean a lot. On the other hand, I really want to try and claim that unlike all the other online 5-minute tests, this one must be accurate. ;^)

Free-IQTest.net – Free IQ Test

Okay, I think my brain hurts now.