This is a paper i wrote for the Education without Borders 2009 Conference in Dubai, U.A.E..

1. Cognitive Neuroscience Meets Culture
E-xchange: Cultural Exchange for Tolerance, Understanding and Peace
Humayun Khan
Ryerson University, Canada
e-mail: khan.humayun5@gmail.com
Abstract – Based on the most recent research on the brain, much has been revealed through the riveting field of
neuroscience. This paper will attempt to add to and explain the tie between culture and our brains and how each
affects the other’s functioning. In hopes of shedding light on how different cultures pertain to different
neurological functions, the paper hopes to educate and explain the rationality behind the development of western
cultures and that of eastern cultures and how in essence one is really longing and hoping for the characteristics of
the other in creating a reality which is a more balanced point of view. Much like how within each human being
there are two hemispheres responsible for different functions, yet perception is a blend of the two polar points of
view made into a balanced reality. Through a thorough analysis of both the fields of neurology and
anthropology, an understanding will emerge as to how human beings are virtually the sum total of their
perceptual fields and that we all start from a common place once conceived and brought into the world. The
purpose will be to instil empathy and create a tolerance which allows for adaptability and change
Introduction
I was first introduced to the concept of Cognitive Neuroscience one summer when I
decided to pick up a new hobby. I went to the book store to purchase a book from which I
could teach myself, the sales representative recommended “Drawing on the Right-Side of the
Brian” by Betty Edwards. Going through the entire book, with its exercises and insights, I was
suddenly able to draw quite proficiently and effectively. The process was spectacular, I
suddenly become aware that in order to draw I had to turn off my left-brain which didn’t
enjoy doing such activities and simply ‘step to the right’ of my perception. (Edwards, 1999)I
became aware of how the left-brain objectifies and classifies objects by creating symbols to
represent them rather than perceiving them as they are, I also became aware that it was
obsessed with the categorization of my moments and its attention to time was sometime that
had to be put aside if any artistic endeavour was to be pursued. All I had to do was to go
beyond what my left-brain “thought” the object being perceived was and see it for what it
actually was, how it actually was, where it actually was, and with no clock in sight suddenly
everything became a constant flow of ability. (Edwards, 1999)
Next I took up a job as a Research Assistant working for a marketing processor
specializing in the area of decision making. I spent four months getting familiar with the
substantial amount of research which considered why we humans did what we did? Why we
were so often irrational? And where this discrepancy originated from? There was a cognitive-
affective model, there was a rational-emotional model, and there was even an analytic-holistic
model. The more I delved into the subject matter the more I saw the relationship between the
models and the functions of the right and left hemisphere which I will describe in length
following, and then I recalled the other concept I had read about; the competitiveness of the
two hemispheres to establish dominance. This meant there was a great deal of
inappropriateness at times when an emotional situation elicited a rational response, and vice
versa. An example of the first case is a couple in a relationship where one partner is unable to
read the emotions of the other and reacts in a robotic manner that causes the relationship to
end. Whereas, an example of the second situation is so often examined in marketing literature

2. concerning a person purchases an item only to experience dissonance at the thought of
something superior to the product existing.
How I came to relate cognitive neuroscience and culture is even more coincidental. I
had immigrated to Canada 13 years ago from Pakistan, meaning I had come from South Asia
to North America, from the east to the west, and within those past 13 years felt a great deal of
tension pulling me from one culture to the other. I was sitting in my professor’s office one
day, who is also from Pakistan but came to Canada as an adult, about life back home. His
description went something like, “You can’t compare the two. They are two very different
worlds. Life isn’t always on schedule like it is here, you don’t have to pull out your calendar
when a relative or friend wants to do something, and you just do it. There is so much life all
around you, kids running from here to there, one family stopping into eat lunch with you, and
then going to eat dinner at someone else’s home. I tell you, when I was there I didn’t need to
know the end result for me to just do something. I would hop on a bus that took me to another
village where my best friend lived, it would take 3 hours, and I wouldn’t even be sure if he
was home, because we didn’t phones back then. If he was there we spent the whole day
playing, but if he wasn’t I just took the next bus home and thought nothing more of it. I was
more, what you would say, spontaneous. It was nice.”
It didn’t occur to me then the insight that followed, but then we started talking about
life here in Canada. How it was so monotonous at times with all its rules and regulations. All
the calendars and schedules, all the appointments, the work, the longing for leisure time,
everything in its own place, and everything at its right time, it was all so consistent and
reliable. The competitiveness, climbing the ladder of success, dog eats dog, cut throat real
world and so one. It suddenly occurred to me that the world we were describing reminded of
something, the left brain, and the world he was describing before back home in Pakistan,
sounded strangely familiar to how the right brain operated. What follows is an explanation of
the research conducted to date, and the connection between cognitive neuroscience, social
psychology, and the culture clash between the east and west.
The Existence of Dualities
The idea that within one brain there could exist simultaneously two very different
modes of processing first gained popularity in the 1970’s due to the works of the Nobel Prize
Winner Dr. Roger W. Sperry. He came to discover the phenomena by operating on the fibers
of the “corpus callosum” which is popularly described as the highway via which the two
hemispheres interact and communicate. (Sperry, Gazzaniga & Bogen, 1969)
It is fascinating to understand how scientists came about discovering the primary
functions of our brains. These investigations were carried out on “split-brain” patients, who
had been severely disabled by epileptic seizures that involved both hemispheres. These
individuals had their “corpus callosum” severed, which led to one hemisphere being isolated
from the other. (Sperry, Gazzaniga & Bogen, 1969) These patients were then put through a
series of ingenious and insightful tests and experiments that allowed them to grasp how each
hemisphere perceived, interpreted, and processed reality. (Edwards, 1999)
This ideology is by no means a new discovery, it is merely scientific evidence for
what philosophers throughout the centuries have tried to grasp. One interesting item is the
description of the “Ying and Yang” concept described in an ancient Chinese text popularly
known as the ‘I Ching’.
The Duality of Yin and Yang
Yin Yang
Feminine Masculine
Negative Positive

3. Moon Sun
Darkness Light
Yielding Aggressive
Left side Right Side
Cold Warm
Autumn Spring
Winter Summer
Unconscious Conscious
Table 1. - I Ching or Book of Changes, A Chinese Taoist Work
Dualities have perplexed mankind for as long we could first distinguish between man
and woman or masculine and feminine. Being pulled in two directions is a common
experience, whether one yields to reason or lets his passion run wild, due to scientific break-
through we can now identify them as attributes to the hemispheres that compose our brain.
Right Hemisphere
The right hemisphere which is also referred to as the limbic system is composed of the
amygdala, the hippocampus, and hypothalamus is largely responsible for our emotions.
(Taylor, 2006) It constructs reality as composed of an endless barrage of relationships, unable
to differentiate a particular object from the environment within which it exists. (Taylor, 2006)
In other words, it does not perceive objects independent of their environment, but as they exist
in relation to everything else in the environment. It is through the right hemisphere that we
“see” the big picture, how various components come together to compose the whole. (Taylor,
2006) It also allows us to dream, imagine, understand metaphors, and make gestures to
communicate something we are unable to articulate with language. (Edwards, 1999)
Time and space are not perceived in a linear but rather circular or non-temporal
fashion, which means the right hemisphere has difficulty in constructing sequences necessary
for execution of any sort, meaning planning out what needs to be done first, what next, and
what after that. (Taylor, 2006) Reality is constructed moment by moment filled with all the
intensity and sensation that are experienced by our senses. In other words for our right
hemisphere no time exists but the present moment, and it is present to such a degree that it
allows us to recall individual moments with intense clarity and sensation. (Taylor, 2006)
The other thing the right hemisphere does not do is construct categories and
hierarchies; everything exists in relation to everything else. (Taylor, 2006) It is what allows us
to experience empathy, literally imaging how it would feel to be in some one else’s position,
and well as the similarities that exist between one individual to another. (Taylor, 2006)
Stereotypically, one can describe all the qualities of the right hemisphere by describing
an artist, a dreamer, or a poet. It is what allows us to be creative, free from restraint,
passionate, chaotic and think outside the box. (Edwards, 1999)
Left Hemisphere
The left hemisphere is what primarily distinguishes humans from all other forms of
life of earth; it is also often referred to as the neocortex. It is where our language and
language-related capabilities reside. (Sperry, 1984) Historically, because very often language
is seen as a vital component for human survival, the left-brain was deemed dominant or the
“leading” brain by many 19th-century scientists, while viewing the lack of language capability
of the right-brain as more primitive or less evolved. (Edwards, 1999)
As for the functionality of the left-brain, it is completely asymmetrical to the right-
brain. It takes all those individual moments perceived as unique and begins to sequence them,

4. thereby constructing the past, present, and future. (Taylor, 2006) Evidently this is because it
processes information in a very linear and methodological way; one might even go so far as to
say the human construction or idea of time is a result of our left-brain. It is also what allows
us to plan, because of it’s capabilities to sequence events; it comes to understand what must
happen first, then second, and then third in order for the desired result is to occur. (Taylor,
2006)
It’s primary method for coming to know reality is deductive reasoning, for example if
A is greater than B, and B is greater than C, then A must be greater than C. Through this it
constructs hierarchies of categorized information; which are bits and bits of detail it acquires
by singling out and objectifying everything in its surrounding environment. (Edwards, 1999)
While it objectifies and singles out everything, it also constructs a symbol for it to identify it
more quickly the next time. This symbol system is one of the obstacles Dr. Betty Edwards in
her book outlines as a hindrance to learning how to sketch. Because when we sketch, we draw
the perceived object, whether it is ‘still life’ or a human face, “as it is” in reality, not the
symbol of an apple or a generalized version of a face. This is why the shift to the right-brain
allows for effective sketching, as it perceives the object being observed ‘as it
exists’.(Edwards, 1999)
The left-brain is also the home to the ego center, which allows us construct a
conception of “self”. (Taylor, 2006)It is what allows us identify ourselves with a name, what
our credentials are, where we live, and all the other details we know of ourselves. (Taylor,
2006) The ego center delights in our individuality, our uniqueness, and strives for self-
sufficiency and ultimately independence. (Taylor, 2006)
Left Hemisphere Right Hemisphere
Verbal: Using words to name, describe, Nonverbal: Using non-verbal cognition to
define. process perceptions
Analytic: Figuring things out step-by-step Synthetic: Putting things together to form
and part-by-part wholes
Symbolic: Using a symbol to stand for Actual, real: Relating to things as they are, at
something the present moment
Abstract: Taking out a small bit of Analogic: Seeing likeness among things,
information and using it to represent the understanding metaphoric relationships
whole thing
Temporal: Keeping track of time, Nontemporal: Without a sense of time
sequencing one thing after another: Doing
first things first, second things second, etc.
Rational: Drawing conclusions based on Nonrational: Not requiring a basis of reason or
reason and facts facts; willingness to suspend judgment
Digital: Using numbers as in counting Spatial: Seeing where things are in relation to
other things and how parts go together to form
a whole
Logical: Drawing conclusions based on Intuitive: Making leaps of insights, often
logic: one thing following another in logical based on incomplete patterns, hunches,
order feelings, or visual images
Linear: Thinking in terms of linked ideas, Holistic: Seeing whole things all at once;
one thought directly following another; often perceiving the overall patterns and structures,
leading to a convergent conclusion often leading to divergent conclusions
Table 2. Summary of Hemisphere Asymmetry

5. Independence vs. Dependence
Coming to Canada at the age of seven, I now find myself to be unable to identify
myself either as entirely Pakistani or Canadian. Although I am clearly more western than most
people would consider me South Asian, I now tend to think of myself as a hybrid of two
worlds.
One of the first key points I wanted to discuss is the ideology of independence vs.
dependence. One of the great things I’ve observed while living here as I am sure many
easterners have as well, is the inherent desire for North Americans born and raised to go out
into the world on their own in search of an elusive independence. It was a shock for me to
learn that most people moved out at the age of eighteen, and leave to go live out in the world
on their own. The thought was virtually unfathomable for me considering I would have
encountered a great deal of opposition from every member of my family had I stated the fact
that I wanted to go away for a post-secondary education. Not to mention, I was so reliant on
my mother still for food and laundry, I would have highly doubted my ability to survive for
more than a few days. I then realized how South Asian or Eastern families tend to want to stay
together for as long as humanely possible, all the members residing in this fantasy like
mansion which has rooms enough to house everyone, from the grandparents, the parents, the
siblings, the spouses, the children, the nephews, the nieces, and maybe even a pet or two.
Although this sounds highly exaggerated, Eastern parents have a great deal of difficulty
letting go of their children. The emphasis being on relationships, Westerners think they exist
independently or objectivity separate from the rest of their family, while Easterners tend to
thing of their existence in relation to the roles they play in their day to day lives.
Both ways of approaching life have their own pros and cons. In particular because
independence and individuality is so often stressed upon North Americans, many suffer from
feelings of isolation and alienation from people around them. The dreary scene of people on
morning transit going to work with that apathetic look on their face or the exhaustion so
evident when they go back home. The experience is so relative, yet it never occurs to anyone
to just converse with those they commute with to lighten the load. Everyone is caught up in
their own dreary worlds, afraid to make contact with someone who is also having a similar
experience. Everyone feels they exist objectively independent of everyone else.
However, the Asian experience is on the other end of spectrum so far as to say life is
pre-determined to the extent that it is virtually without any conceptualization of an
individualized self that has the capacity to think and feel for itself. I am referring to minute
things which being a South Asian myself have experienced, such as the difficulty in choosing
a career path which does not deviate too far from what parents intend their children to do. Or
even on a personal level, the capacity to go out into the world and find a suitable and
compatible mate on my own instead of settling for families to come together and barter over
the lives of two people as if they were chattels.
The argument here is that a heavy reliance of relationships for identity and a strong
need to diverge from relationships to form an identity both fall short of the mark. The ego
centres in the left-hemisphere has a poor understanding of the need and importance of
relationships, whereas the right-hemisphere and lack of ego has a poor understanding of what
it means to be an individual free to live via self-direction.
There is No Time vs. There is Only Now
North America and much of developed world allots its residents with all the physical
necessities required for survival and healthy. Plentiful amounts of food, and clean water to
drink at the opening of a tap, and for the most part a shelter of more or less significant
adequacy to reside in. Yet, as psychologists will attest all around the developed world, there is
a rising demand for their services, and now more than ever people are suffering from mental

6. illnesses such as depression, anxiety, stress-related illnesses, low self-esteem, and although it
sounds a little exaggerated a lack of meaning to their lives. My reasoning for mentioning this,
is because of it’s correlation with the dominance of the left-hemisphere and neglect of the
right-hemisphere. As I’ve mentioned before, the left-hemisphere constructs reality in
sequential, linear, and methodological order. With the ego centers also residing in the left
hemisphere there is a constant comparison happening between one’s current standing in
contrast to a neighbour or worse yet the life of a celebrity so openly displayed in the media.
So taking that a step further, stress and anxiety are so common of an experience that they have
become commonly accepted variables in leading a life in ‘dog eat dog’ world here in the
western world. But what is anxiety and stress, but a projection of the future in a negative
frame, a reliance of perhaps past encounters to anticipate troubles that lie somewhere out there
in the distance. Examining other negative emotions such as regret and guilt, they are an
inability to let go of the past, as if all the yesterdays were mentally recurring in the present.
In other words, I find these general emotional disruptions to be the result of perceiving
time in a linear or sequential manner, and neglecting the present moment where both the past
and future collide to create ‘now’. As far as low-self esteem and a general discontent, I
believe they arise from the left-brains constant constructions of hierarchies and categories,
which are no doubt very unproductive because they neglect the fact that there will always be
someone better off and someone worse off than oneself. Ironically, in Asian countries like
Japan, self-esteem is a foreign concept; one is often brought up be feel unworthy and
inadequate so that there is constant striving for improvement. (Nisbett, 2004) So one the one
hand Westerners feel bad about themselves because they constantly compare themselves to
ideas, whereas Easterners feel bad about themselves because the idea of egoism is abhorred.
Eastern culture or Asia generally speaking however has its own share of issues. There
is an inability to sequence and plan results in a lack of anything being accomplished. I can
recount several incidences where I will have gotten into a taxi cab to speak with a man from
Pakistan describing his life back home, especially his work life, lacking any particular
structure or order for that matter. People can virtually get away without having actually
“done” anything in their lives in particular government or military jobs, and when they come
to Canada, they are shocked to see how hard people work to earn half the income they were
earning back home doing nothing. Although this is not generally true of other Asian countries
that are of orient descent, it certainly seems to be the case for South Asia. I think the issue
stems from too much reliance on the right-hemisphere. By that I mean the inability to take
pride in one’s job or more profoundly in one’s identity is a variable to a lack of value
attributed to the ego. There is little desire to be distinguished because perception is built upon
where one fits in the world in relation to everyone else, and the thought of elevating one’s
stature or one’s place in the grand scheme of things seems to be contradictory with the notion
of accepting one’s lot in life. Also the idea of linear thinking or constructing time in a manner
that will help sequence events and plans so as to strive for achievement is primarily neglected
as well.
Scientific Research and Evidence
The relationship I am attempting to construct is that North American and Western
culture highly correlates highly with the functionality of the left-hemisphere, whereas the
Asian or Eastern culture is parallel to the workings of the right-hemisphere.
Although the correlation between hemispheric functions and culture is not firmly
established in the current social sciences and cognitive neurology fields respectively, there is
a substantial amount of evidence to which I am thank for conducted around the world. This
scientific evidence is derived from the interest social scientists have taken in understanding

7. the cognitive and perceptual differences between Asians and North Americans. I will attempt
to summarize a few of the experiments done, their results, and their implications.
At the University of Michigan, there is a world-renowned Culture and Cognition
departed headed by Dr. Richard E. Nisbett. His book, “The Geography of Thought” provides
in-dept research as to how and why Westerners and Asians perceive, interpret, and experience
their worlds through very different cognitive lenses. I will attempt to briefly outline some of
their findings and comments which support the view of culture being parallel to hemispheric
functions.
Linguistically speaking, in Chinese there is no word for “individualism”, the closest a
person can come to such a concept is the word for “selfishness”. In Japan, there is no usage of
the personal pronoun “I”, instead there are many variations of “I” depending of course on the
context. (Ip & Bond, 1995)
From a study done in developmental psychology, six-year old American and Chinese
children were asked to report daily events, for instance significant events like birthdays, or
more causal routines of preparing for bedtime. The proportion of self-reference was three
times higher for American children, than Chinese children. They study went on to illustrate
that American children made twice as many references to internal states, such as emotions and
preferences as did Chinese children. Evidently, the conceptualization of an individualized self
happens early on depending on which end of the world one is raised in. (Han, Leichtman &
Wang, 1998)
A very famous study was conducted trying to test the hypothesis that that Asians view
the world more holistically or through a wide-angle lens, whereas Westerners have tunnel
vision or tend to focus in on an object independent of its environment. Students at the
University of Michigan and Kyoto University in Japan were shown eight colour animated
underwater vignettes. The scenes were all generalized by having in them one or more “focal”
or “salient” fish, which were larger, brighter, and faster-moving than any thing else in the
picture. Each individual scene also contained slower moving animals, as well as plants, rocks,
bubbles, and such. They lasted for twenty seconds and were shown twice. The study reported
that both American and Japanese students made an equal reference to the focal fish, however,
the Japanese students made more than 60 percent more references to what the background
was composed of whether it be a rock, plant, or less salient animals. The other interesting
finding was the initial sentence with which the students would begin to describe what it was
they saw. Japanese students more than often started by referring to the environment (“It
looked like a pond”), whereas Americans were three times more likely to refer to the focal
fish (“There was a big fish…”). (Masuda & Nisbett, 2001)
Another fascinating case of cognitive difference which again attests to the
asymmetrical function of hemispheres and cultural differences is an experiment that sought to
test the hypothesis that Westerners tend to think of the world in categories, while Asians tend
to perceive the world in terms of relationships. American and Chinese Children were shown
an illustration with three discernible objects. An example would be a “cow”, and then a
picture of a “chicken” and “grass”. Children were asked to group the items, in other words,
which would be grouped with the “cow”, a “chicken” or “grass”. What the psychologists
discovered was that American children preferred to group objects due to their belonging to the
“taxonomic” category, which means the same classification that could be applied to both,
whereas Chinese children preferred to group objects on the basis of relationships. So an
American child would answer the above mentioned questioned as “the cow and chicken go
together because they are both animals”, while Chinese children would be more likely to say
“the cow and the grass go together, because the cow eats the grass”. (Chiu, 1972)
What these studies ultimately point out is that westerners perceive and approach the
world in a very analytical fashion adhering of course to the left-hemisphere way of thinking,

8. whereas easterners perceive the world in a more holistic manner compatible with the right
hemisphere. (Doidge, 2007)
The “Balanced” Perspective on the World: Why One Hemisphere Needs the Other!
The fact is that within each individual regardless of which end of the world they reside
in, they have within them a brain that is capable of perceiving and interpreting reality in two
very different ways. The issue being that within a specific culture there is usually a preference
for one or the other side of the polarities that exist in the world and this is really a domination
of one hemisphere over the other. Imbalance ultimately leads to incompleteness, by
understanding the functions of each hemisphere we can also come to understand and interpret
culture in a radically different way, thereby understanding what facets of each we can start
integrating into our lifestyles to live the whole of life. In other words, both the East and West
exist simultaneously within any given person; however our adherence to one mode and
neglect of the other is really underlying issue that needs to be addressed.
One day while in a local market in Toronto with friends, who were visiting from
Montreal, I was in a shop that had a wide assortment of buttons which had different messages
written on them to be sported on the knapsacks of politically-aware and activist youths. One
button which caught my eye read the following:
To do is to be
- Immanuel Kant
To be is to do
- Confucius
Do Be Do Be Do
- Frank Sinatra
Although at first one is left wondering one would question the applicability of such
words to the present essay, but for me it carried different implications. “To Do” is ultimately
the function of the left-hemisphere; “To Be” is the functioning of the right-hemisphere. The
West is known for all that it does, the East for it’s capacity to just be, yet what those
philosophers discovered is that truly they are both complimentary ways of being that cannot
exist without each other.
Another striking thing that comes to mind is the billion dollar self-help industry which
is so predominant in the western hemisphere. These spiritual aids are really just packaging
eastern spirituality into a good which is then sold into the marketplace as a recipe for being
happy and living the good life. When I say eastern spirituality, I am referring to Buddhists
teachings of mediation and ‘being in the moment’ as well as real joy and fulfilment derived
from feelings of belonging to a community. In addition, virtually any westerner concerned
with his well-being is practicing the long-held eastern traditions of yoga and Thai-chi.
Implications for Cultural Tolerance, Understanding, and Peace
Unquestionably now more than ever it is necessary for understanding why particular
cultures differ from others. There is no short list of examples of how the inability to
understand or the willingness to exert and understand another culture is leading to bloodshed
wherever one happens to be in the world.
But in understanding how culture is really derived from neurology and in
understanding how one’s own brain works, one can begin to understand and decipher the
world in an intelligible manner.
One of the things I’d like to emphasize is that both Western and Eastern cultures are
not generic as to only follow and adhere to the functioning of one brain hemisphere over the

9. other, rather each distinct culture lies somewhere on a continuum. However, this does mean
that different cultures have different preferences for where they reside on the spectrum and
thus the domination of one way over the other is inevitable.
What this does mean is understanding that adherence to one mode or way of being
usually results in the complete neglect in the other, so we each have to attempt to live a more
holistic life. This requires accepting and integrating both ways as something that reside within
us, and without one we are incomplete or imbalanced.
For example, the Western world can better come to appreciate the importance of
family and community. The underlying relationships which make up the foundations of their
lives, but those in the East can benefit from growing out of such self-repressive relationships
and benefit from being a little more individualistic. Going forward, due to globalization the
high increase in cultural exchange will lead to a convergence of cultures.
The implications of this paper suggest new means of cultural exchange, one that is
profoundly more efficient, tolerant, and understanding. Knowing how one culture is prone to
perceive and interpret the world will lead to tremendous benefits. Imagine business
agreements, diplomatic exchanges, trade bargaining, peace and conflict resolutions, and even
interpersonal exchanges becoming that much more effective.
The interconnectedness of today’s world has led to a housing crisis in America effect
the economy of the entire world. And with China and India on track to becoming the next
superpowers of the world, North Americans need to be able to comprehend how Asians view
their environments, as well as their belief and value systems. The economic future of the
world may very much depend on the degree of understanding both cultural systems have for
each other.
Conclusion
Albert Einstein once said, “The most incomprehensible thing of all is that it is all
comprehensible.” The measure of that is how the secrets of our brains are being unlocked and
exposed due to ground-breaking advances in cognitive neuroscience, which today extends its
reaches to the world of psychology, anthropology, and virtually any other field of human
study. The polarities which compose this world and our perception of them are now
scientifically proven to reside within us as two separate hemispheres capable of perceiving,
interpreting, and processing reality in very asymmetrical ways. With our left-hemisphere’s
capacity to sequence and plan thanks to its linear processing of time and our right-
hemisphere’s ability to give each moment meaning with intense concentration, what occurs is
a blended reality where we are one person viewing the world from two very different view
points.
The fascinating aspect of how Western and Eastern cultures go about and perceive life
as being attributed to a heavier reliance on one hemisphere over the other can provide insights
into why the imbalance often leads to an imbalance within each individual as well. Human
beings have struggled with ideas of selfishness, altruism, individualism, selflessness, for
much of our civilized history. The interesting thing of how each one of those characteristics
can now fall under the functioning of one half of our brain helps us understand that standing
on either extreme leads to incompleteness. The spectrums that can be created are endless,
such as capitalism vs. socialism, independence vs. dependence, individualistic vs. community
oriented, and the most obvious one male vs. female. I believe that because the entire world
has now become a global village, with a strange feeling of interconnectedness that is
occurring, we are now on the verge of understanding how despite all our differences, how
similar we truly are.

10. References
Chiu, L.-H. 1972. “A cross-cultural comparison of cognitive styles in Chinese and American
children.” International Journal of Psychology 7, 235 -242
Doidge, N. 2007. The Brain that Changes Itself. New York, NY, USA: Penguin Group.
Edwards, B. 1999. The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. New York, NY, USA:
Penguin Putnam Inc.
Han, J.J., Leichtman, M.D., and Wang, Q. 1998. “Autobiographical memory in Korean,
Chinese, and American Children.” Developmental Psychology 34, 701-713
Ip, G.W.M., and Bond, M.H. 1995. “Culture, values, and the spontaneous self-concept.”
Asian Journal of Psychology 1, 29-35
Masuda, T., and Nisbett, R. E. 2001. “Attending holistically vs. analytically: Comparing the
context sensitivity of Japanese and Americans.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
81, 922 – 934
Nisbett, R.E. 2004. The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think
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