According to Nobel Prize winner Rodger W. Sperry, the left side of the brain is better at things like reading, writing, and computations. I find myself to have a more analytical and orderly personality, a characteristic associated with a ‘left brained’ person. There are some gray areas in the characteristics though.

Being someone who has more ‘left-brained’ qualities than I do right, I see a lot of these characteristics in my own life. Understanding that I am more analytical has helped me come to terms with the fact that ‘just remembering’ everything I have to do doesn’t work. Making lists and having a constantly up to date planner helps me feel like my life is together. 

Having these different traits can cause a person to approach life differently than someone with a different dominant hemisphere. 

Someone who is ‘left-brained’ will break down tasks into smaller, easier to manage chunks. I notice myself doing this especially when writing; I separate my paragraphs by categories and order my quotes and sources before I do any actual writing. And honestly, my ‘left brained’ personality is exactly what made the first draft of this story a 750 word research paper.

When it comes to how humans communicate with each other, the left side of the brain has a huge role. Because of this, I consider myself a good communicator and at certain times writing and public speaking comes easily. 

Of course, there is no hard and fast rule as to what makes someone’s left brain dominant. One of the many characteristics of this, being good at math and STEM subjects, is something I have never been able to relate to. It also doesn’t mean that someone like me can’t be creative; I can have qualities of both.

According to Healthline, “despite their contrasting styles, the two halves of your brain don’t work independently of each other.” An example seen in an article from Simply Psychology demonstrates that the left brain may figure out what actions will lead to eating food, such as going to a grocery store or even stealing food from someone. The right brain will filter through these, however, and pick going to the grocery store as the more socially acceptable choice.

Sometimes, when one side of the brain is injured the other side can take over some of the injured side’s jobs. In the end, the two must work together to keep a kind of balance necessary for human life.