The Left Brain/Right Brain Theory is BS
Growing up I was always told I was a “right brain thinker”; I excelled at reading, writing, art, and history, while my math and science skills were average at best. Being told that from a young age that we were either “left brain” or “right brain” systematically separated my peers and I into groups. The kids that were considered the “left brain” thinkers were quick to form friendships with each other, as were the other “right brain thinkers” and myself. It is important to note here, if only briefly, that the “right brain” thinkers were overwhelmingly children of color and young girls, while the young white boys were considered to be the “left brain” thinkers.
These brain-type classifications stuck with me all through my schooling, and when I would do poorly on a math test, or wouldn’t fully grasp a concept I would shrug it off and move on, reminding myself what had been engrained in me when I was younger — I’m right brain thinker, my brain just doesn’t work like that- honestly believing that improving in these areas was a lost cause because I was just born with a different brain than my peers that were good at math and science.
This past summer I moved to New York not knowing exactly what I would do, telling myself something would come to fruition… it had to, and if not, then worst case I could bartend, or find freelance jobs until I found something more fulfilling. Within my first week I made a new friend, a code bootcamp graduate, who pointed me in the direction of the path I am on now. I spent the second half of July, August, and most of September working through Bootcamp Prep courses, banging my head against the wall reminding myself that this is just not how my brain works. Yet despite my utter ignorance and complete frustration, I still woke up everyday telling myself I was going to get into a bootcamp and become a software engineer.
As I cried over for-loops and algorithms, every day, problem, and concept was more intense than the last, leading me to almost quit more times than I care to remember. I struggled through only the beginning of several different prep work programs I found, because as my brain would constantly remind me, I was not cut out for this kind of thinking, because it’s just not how my brain works. It took about a month of this self deprecating mind set for me to have my first realization that I actually could be good at this. Resigning to the fact that online learning might be playing a hand in my struggle, I signed up for a prep course at one of the top bootcamps in the city. On day one as I still shook with nerves after some terribly awkward ice breaking exercises, the instructor released a couple of basic JavaScript problems and to my disbelief, I actually knew how to solve them. Not only did I know how to solve them it turned out, I helped a couple of my classmates grasp the concepts as well. I had spent almost 2 months beating myself up, not realizing that I had actually been learning the entire time. Through my struggle to learn to develop, I had begun to learn how to think differently, and more importantly, how to problem solve.
Up until this past summer, I had still fully conceded myself to the dated idea that there are left brain and right brain thinkers, despite the plethora of science debunking it. I’ve learned that we should never close off our minds to anything just because it’s not innately easy right off the bat. I’m only a few months into my programming career, and I still feel terrified every day. Learning to program is already hard enough, and the last thing anyone needs is to add to this struggle by getting in their own way. After finishing the first module at the Flatiron School Access Labs campus in Brooklyn, I am trying my best to apply this insight to my daily frustrations. I know the next couple of months will continue to be difficult, that this mountain will at times seem steeper, but I can’t wait to learn everything they throw at us.
Kids today already have more challenges than every generation before them. As we face the societal issues of growing education disparities, and a spike in violent crime, to peer pressure, and bullying, we need to remove the stigma that some are just not born to rise to the levels of others; whether this is rooted in race, gender, sexuality, class, or dated concepts like the contrived “left brain/right brain” theory. There is a difference between qualitative and quantitative thinking and we shouldn’t limit ourselves or others to just one.
