"GO RIGHT"

At first, Web 2.0 made me feel like I was being taken over by the computer.  It gave me negative feelings, maybe because a lot of it is unknown to me.  I agree that because the web opens up so many new possibilities, students should be learning how to utilize those new boundaries.  After reading Revenge of the Right Brain, however, I lost the desire to learn more about the web. I felt like the video and the information on the brain contradict each other. Daniel Pink explains that the left side of the brain is being replaced by computers, so does that mean in order to tap into the left side of our brains, we need to learn more about computers and the web? If so, the subjects no longer contradict. Maybe the new boundaries of the web are the result from people using the their whole brain to the fullest. One of the most interesting and positive things I’ve learned from the reading is a new appreciation for the web.  Hypermedia “is best adapted to the whole brain”, and because of that we can exceed the boundaries of learning and knowledge (Jerome Bump 8.). So in order to use our brains to the fullest, we must learn to use the web and computers to the fullest.

I liked the way Daniel broke down the different ages: The Industrial Age we used our bodies, the Informational Age we used our minds, but only one side. In the Conceptual Age, we will learn to use the right side of our brains to the fullest. “More people are searching for meaning,” says Pink, and I couldn’t agree more. I think that’s what is sparking the Conceptual Age.  Covey explains the differences between the left and right sides of the brain very well. What stuck out the most to me was that one of the best ways to use the right side is to use you imagination. It also reminded me of something Mr. Pink mentioned: “do something computers can’t do faster”. Every person is so different when it comes to their imagination, and that is something I think people should be very proud of. I recently read a book on DMT by Rick Strassman and it made me think that the reason psychedelic drug research is becoming more popular is because many researches believe that the drugs can stimulate more things that have to do with the right side of the brain such as creativity and no time limits.

            After reading the information about the left and right sides of the brain it made me wonder why the left side has been so strongly pursued. I think a big part of it has to do with what classes were stressed in school: Math, Science, Reading and Writing. Daniel’s idea of the Conceptual Age goes along with what Covey encourages people to do in his book: “Expand your mind. Visualize in rich detail. Involve as many emotions and feeling as possible. Involve as many of senses as you can” (Covey pg 131). I think these ways of thinking will lead to Art classes being taken more seriously, writing and reading classes will stress more of what you feel and imagine than the context. That is how we will no we are in the Conceptual Age.