Right-brained, Left-brained - Part II
The results of the right brain-left brain test did not surprise me.
Throughout my life I never thought much about my thought process. My sister is dyslexic and somewhat physically uncoordinated, but I didn't think it related in any way to me. When I was around 55 years old, my sister asked me to read a book about visual thinkers and dyslexia. The first chapter was solely about visual thinking. It was when I read that chapter that I first understood that I was a visual thinker and, as such, I was kind of unusual.
I still didn't make too much of it.
Being physwically uncoordinated: My sister has a hard time using down escalators. Not up escalators -down escalators. Whenever we went to department stores and used a down escalator, lines would form behind us as my sister stood with her foot poised in mid-air, waiting for the right moment to put her foot down. In vain, I would suggest that we take an elevator down, but my sister insisted that she had to conquer the problem.
The following incident took place about 10 years before my sister asked me to read the book on visual thinking: One day when I was in a store by myself, I had a fleeting experience on a down escalator. An optical illusion flashed before my eyes. Stepping out on a down escalator seemed like stepping out into space. The experience was only for a few seconds and then it passed and I stepped onto the down escalator as usual.
My reaction to the experience was one of empathy for my sister. For the first time, I was able to appreciate her experience. What I didn't realize at the time was that this experience said something about my thought process as well - even if it was for a few seconds.