It took me a bit of googling to figure out that it is the right half of brain that is to do with imagination and artistic ability. So far removed I am from this part of life that I don't even remember which part of brain we use for it.
I recall a conversation I had at work couple of days ago. I was making a point there, that as we are trying to get better at communication, we are getting worse at expression. We may be able to write a concise email about all the things we need to get done for a project. But we hardly know to write a letter (or say an email) to our friends recalling our good old days in school. One of my colleague was of the opinion that the younger generation is smarter and faster than we are. But smarter and faster at what? Math? Computers? Science? How many of the children have a passion today? How many of them waste hours and days at painting? or may be swimming? The younger generation is getting increasingly left-brain-centric. Very logical and calculative in thinking. But the imagination does not have wings. The emotions are calculated. Ask a kid to imagine a sky in Pink colour and be assured to see a confused face. The empathy one could have for a fellow living creature has been narrowed down to some soft corner only for friends and family.
I have a young cousin back in Goa who cried when one of the buffalo in our stable died. Stupid it may sound to anyone, she felt the pain the buffalo's calf went through. She is not exceptionally well at drawing, but she has the patience to sit and try a Rangoli. She likes to have pets at home and maintains her own patch of garden. All at the age of 12. Many children need to be given a project in school to know names of some of the common garden plants. Where does this difference come from?
In my opinion, this difference comes from the way of life that we have chosen for ourselves. If we make a list of 10 most important things in our lives today, I bet 8 of them will be 'purchasable'. Our happiness, fulfillment, accomplishment are all achievable through that extra money we always want to earn. It has been a long time since I have heard someone dedicate his entire life to something other than his job. I sincerely hope I am in the wrong circles and there is still an increasing number of people who use & develop the right side of their brain.
I recall a conversation I had at work couple of days ago. I was making a point there, that as we are trying to get better at communication, we are getting worse at expression. We may be able to write a concise email about all the things we need to get done for a project. But we hardly know to write a letter (or say an email) to our friends recalling our good old days in school. One of my colleague was of the opinion that the younger generation is smarter and faster than we are. But smarter and faster at what? Math? Computers? Science? How many of the children have a passion today? How many of them waste hours and days at painting? or may be swimming? The younger generation is getting increasingly left-brain-centric. Very logical and calculative in thinking. But the imagination does not have wings. The emotions are calculated. Ask a kid to imagine a sky in Pink colour and be assured to see a confused face. The empathy one could have for a fellow living creature has been narrowed down to some soft corner only for friends and family.
I have a young cousin back in Goa who cried when one of the buffalo in our stable died. Stupid it may sound to anyone, she felt the pain the buffalo's calf went through. She is not exceptionally well at drawing, but she has the patience to sit and try a Rangoli. She likes to have pets at home and maintains her own patch of garden. All at the age of 12. Many children need to be given a project in school to know names of some of the common garden plants. Where does this difference come from?
In my opinion, this difference comes from the way of life that we have chosen for ourselves. If we make a list of 10 most important things in our lives today, I bet 8 of them will be 'purchasable'. Our happiness, fulfillment, accomplishment are all achievable through that extra money we always want to earn. It has been a long time since I have heard someone dedicate his entire life to something other than his job. I sincerely hope I am in the wrong circles and there is still an increasing number of people who use & develop the right side of their brain.
Comments
I really do hope this observation is not representative of the entire lot!