A Whole New Mind - Chapter 1

What is the human brain but "the [single] most complex thing we have yet discovered in our universe," declared James Watson, a former Nobel Prize recipient, and it is in this mindset that the reader begins to explore Daniel H. Pink's  A Whole New Mind as if they were a cosmonaut on a V-2 rocket being launched blindly into outer space. In chapter one, "Right Brain Rising," the reader is introduced to a very rudimentary understanding of the cerebral hemispheres. Additionally, the author provides some preliminary evidence as to the differences between the two hemispheres that he then uses to hypothesize a current changing trend in human thinking.

According to the book, the cerebral hemispheres are divided into two haves that we call the "left hemisphere" and the "right hemisphere."  These two haves look very much the same, but their purpose and differences have been baffling scientist for decades. Pink goes on to discuss how these views have changed over time from the 1800s, when scientists believed that the left hemisphere is what made us truly human, to the 1900s, when scientists began to decipher that the left hemisphere seemed to play a large role in reasoning, analysis, and the handling of language. On the other hand, scientists of the more recent decades no longer believed that the right hemisphere was worthless, like their more barbaric forefathers; instead, they discovered that the right hemisphere reasoned more holistically and assisted in pattern recognition.

It is in this later research that Pink is continuing to push the boundaries of what we know about the human brain.  He is working with the National Institute of Mental Health to further the understanding of how the brain works using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This new method using MRIs to capture the brain in action as participants perform different levels of mental tasks. Because of this and other research, Mr. Pink believes that we know the following about the brain's hemispheres: 

1. The left hemisphere controls the right side of the body; the right hemisphere controls the left side of the body.
2. The left hemisphere is sequential; the right hemisphere is simultaneous.
3. The left hemisphere specializes in text; the right hemisphere specializes in context.
4. The left hemisphere analyzes the details; the right hemisphere synthesizes the big picture.

While these assertions seem fairly conservative, Pink begins to make a more liberal hypothesis towards the end of the chapter in a section titled "A Whole New Mind."  In this section, he proposes that current trends in our more globalized, techno, rapid-evolving society will tend to reward those that have more right hemisphere directed thinking. He says that this is in direct opposition to the past that has traditionally favored those individuals who thought with a more analytical left hemisphere approach.  

As of the end of the chapter, the reader is left unsure of this rather boastful understanding of societal needs in specific left- or right- brained individuals. It seems all a bit sci-fi and one is left with a fear that by the end of the book there may be a lack of proof to pin down this seemingly straightforward statement. The reader can only hope that they won't end up like poor Albert II on this space mission and end up with a parachute failure on landing.