Marijuana.com

secretagentman

I am currently studying a book called drawing on the right side of the brain. The premis of the book is that artists can switch (or always function) to a mode of thinking using primarily the right side of the brain. Because we all have right brains, the books goes on to say, all of us can be artistic and creative, we just need to learn how to switch our focus from the left to the right.
The right brain is the artistic creative, and intutive side of the brain. The right brain is also responsible for visual processing and spatial reasoning. Wheras the left brain is more logical and deductive. The left brain is largely symbol based, making it much more difficult to do "artisitic" things with it. The left brain is also the more verbal side of the brain. Our society is left brain. Our education system puts a huge amount of effort into developing left brain skills but almost complletly ignores, and sometimes intentionaly squashes the right brain.
The book teaches you to consciously shift your thinking from the Left to the Right. When you do this many interesting things happen, time melts away, you relate to (and see) the world as is, and stress and tension seem to melt away.
What I have ntocied is that this shift is very similar to getting high. Although there are other aspects to the marijuana high the experience shares many similarities with the feelings of shifting to a right brain thinking style.
Could this mean that Cannabis causes a similar congnitive switch.
I have done the switchero into the right brain mode and smoked cannabis. That is something else. I felt like I was transparent, merely part of the landscape, and insignificant, yet important in my own way. An intense feeling of peace. A feeling of understanding everything, but not having the words or thoughts to express it, and not careing.
The fact that cannabis inhances artistic ability has long been known. I am merely hypothesising as to WHY it does this, I believe that it enhances artistic ability because it facilitates this cognitive shift.

__________________
Dave

Car-free! My bod's my hotrod

The ultimate measure of a man
is not where he stands
in moments of comfort and convenience,
but where he stands
at times of challenge and controversy.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

matty86

That is deffinitely a really interesting theory. What is this book called? Any tips on how to make the switch? I do agree though that marijuana really does seem to give you that sense of just belonging where you are. A complete contentness I guess. You know those machines that can sense brain activity? I wonder if it's possible to use one of them to see just how marijuana affects which sides of the brain you are using. It's probably been done.

Matt

Mamabudz

As a predominantly right brained person .... I fond the hypothesis interesting...

Keep up the research and let us know what you are finding

...and have a cookie

Mama Budz

HeadphoneSavior

Very interesting. I'd like to know the name of the book, too. I'm a left sided person, very analytical and logical. The only time I get an artistic break is when I smoke. I have a profound new appreciation for most arts and higher understanding. Wouldn't trade it for the world.

You might want to check out Mechanics of the Mind, it's usually easy to find at used book stores. Originally it was a series of lectures on BBC Radio.

secretagentman

The book is
Drawing on the right side of the brain

 

secretagentman

If Cannabis facilitated the left to right cognitive shift, it would certainly explain many things about the high, for instance how we percieve time (or don't), how colors seem more vivid and patterns stand out. It would also explain why holding a logical train of thought can be a bit more difficult while high, the free associating nature of the right brain makes it difficult to follow a specific path of logic, making you more likely to accidentaly switch topics mid stream.
Cannabis also has a large effect on musical perception and ability. I play the guitar, and music just seems to flow out more naturally when I'm high. Also my appreciation is much greater and I can appreciate almost (no pop) any music. If only I could get the instrumentation to actually monitor the brain and see what happens. So unfortunatly my conclusions for the moment will have to be based on subjective information.

vladimir

tim leary wrote a book about this. he said that there are 8 brain circuits, four on each side. the first four, on the left side, deal solely with the real world, its problems, and how to survive basically. the last four, on the right side, are used to 'step out' of the real world, and be able to create your own reality. for each circuit, there is a drug that goes along with it somewhat (ie, 2nd circuit is emotions, drinking alcohol really brings that out). marijuana is the drug for the fifth circuit, so the first one that is on the right side and which is supposed to seaparate you from reality without changing it.
and he supposedly did research that showed that when people do 'creative' drugs, their right side of the brain is much more active than usual.

__________________
If a drug (or technique or process) were ever to be discovered which would consistently produce a plus four experience in all human beings, it is conceivable that it would signal the ultimate evolution, and perhaps the end of, the human experiment.

secretagentman

Vladimir: you wouldn't happen to know the title of this book?

yuri420

What's the author of The Right Side of the Brain?

__________________
Think a full-body contact, fast-moving and vicious game with no offsides. Think Aussie Rules...http://www.afl.com.au/

Know the truth about Israel..http://www.jpost.com/

DiabloPotHead

This whole "I'm left, or right" is bull****. Your brain equalizes it, so it depends on what your interests are. It's all on preference, and that's determined by how you were raised (parents or otherwise).

Now, they did a study on nutjobs where they cut the equalizer in half. They then showed signs of bieng left or right brained, but otherwise, you just prefer it.

Just learned that in science class

__________________
Government's idea of War on Drugs
What War on Drugs really does

"**** yah DPH, reppin the mutha ****in hatchet" - smokinJuggalo