Am I my Right Brain? Or Am I my Left Brain?

Saw the movie Sleepless in Seattle a few weeks back. Meg Ryan looked too different for me in this movie.Anyways it was a nice movie. Very sentimental. Some touching scenes. Some humour. But there was something missing. Somehow I didn't feel as moved.

And I think it was because this movie lacked intellectual content. Now not to be unfair to the director, but this movie seemed to be meant for the heart alone. And I just wasn't so convinced about the two people destined for each other thing.

And then I happened to see Next Stop Wonderland again. And it hit me; this movie had the same theme about two people destined for each other, who keep walking by each other only to meet at the end of the movie. But this was a movie I immensely enjoyed!

So here's the question. Two movies. Same stories. Same theme. Same ending. Why then is it that I found one kinda ok. And the other too good. Why did I enjoy one so much more over the other?

And I think it has to do with the two halves of my brain :-).

I had been researching the Right Brain/Left Brain theory a while ago. So, left brain is analytical reasoning, logic and maths. And your right brain is intuition, music, art and emotion. Basically people are either of the brains dominated. And some of us are active in both.

So why is this important? And what does all this have to do with me liking a movie? or a book? or even a person?

Well, a person who is active in both, appreciates stimulation of both areas of his brain. And so he is more likely to enjoy a movie that appeals to his intellect as well as his emotion.

He won’t enjoy a book with intellectual content, if it doesn’t move his heart. At the same time he won’t enjoy a book which targets human emotions alone. The perfect book or movie is the one that has a good mix of intellectual and emotional content.

And that why I think I was left unsatisfied after Seattle. Or may be this was just the hangover of Before Sunset. But then, this theory again does explain why I liked that movie so much.

Next Stop Wonderland had a very intelligent heroine. And there was lots of intelligent humour throughout the movie. The movie seemed closer to real life.

Women, it seems are naturally right brained. Its a well know fact that women have a better sense of intuition than men. May be they are better at the arts than us men.

It seems to me, most of the women I know are really good at photography. May be they don’t understand the technicalities well, but they seem to have a natural sense of composition and aesthetics.

Photography, poetry and writing are right brain activities. But software development is obviously left brain and I love what I do. And so I think I am  active in both areas.

And that does explain, much more than ever before, why I like some things more than the others.

And now I also know for sure (can you ever be sure in love?), whom I will end up falling in love with :-)

I feel more at peace now. To know who you are and understand why you are as you are is a beautiful feeling. Explains a lot of things.