Oh The Brain...

Sometimes when I hear the word brain, I think "Ew! That's disgusting!", but I learned that the brain is actually a lot more interesting than what I thought!

Click the book to read it!

So the other day in my Language Arts class, we read a part of a book called "A Whole New Mind" by Daniel Pink.


We read a chapter that was about the left and right hemispheres in a brain.
I never knew that the different sides of your brain had like a task I guess.
I always thought that the only difference between the hemispheres was that the left hemisphere controlled the right side of your body and the right hemisphere controlled the left.

But apparently, the left hemisphere is about logic and organization.
The right hemisphere takes care of all your creativity.

Here's a little cartoon about the left and right brain:

And if you still don't understand the difference...

But, in the article we read, Daniel Pink said:

"...leading a healthy, happy, successful life depends on both hemispheres of your brain."

I learned that humans need to be able to use both their left and right hemispheres just as easily as the other.

It might take awhile to happen, but a good life depends on BOTH hemispheres, not just one.

Look at this to show that you always use both sides of your brain!

Your right hemisphere observed the color of the word,

And your left hemisphere saw the actual word.

I actually found all of these brain facts very interesting because I just thought the brain controlled how you think, if that makes any sense.

Well, that's all for this week! I'll be back next week with another topic. Byeeee (:

Why is it so hard to listen?

So last week, our class read a passage about the habits of mind.
Listening to others with understanding and empathy was one of the habits.
They called listening a complicated skill.
But why is listening so hard?

In the passage, the text states:
"This is a very complex skill, requiring the ability to
 monitor one's own thoughts while attending to someone
 else's words."

There aren't very many steps to actually listen and understand what someone said.

Here's a video that are really the steps on how to listen:

I just don't understand why they call listening such a complicated skill...

But on the other hand, reserchers suggest that humans only remember 25-50% of the things we hear.

Maybe we only hear so much of a conversation because a lot of people doze off in the middle of a conversation. If the topic is about something I'm not really interested in, I wouldn't really pay attention. But I think humans need to learn that not all topics we like will be discussed during class or during any conversation with a friend. 

Basically, the only steps to be an active listener are:

1.) Pay attention to what the person is saying and be sure to make eye contact.

2.) Show that you are listening by either nodding your head or say something relavent to the conversation.

3.) Share your opinion AFTER the person you are talking to finishes speaking their thoughts/opinion.

It just came to me that it's not actually THAT hard to listen.