The left / right brain myth.

We've heard over and over again that the right brain is concerned with creativity and the left brain, logic and language. A whole bunch of books are about "how to tap into the right brain".

Not surprisingly, this idea is one of those science folk tales that is way, way over simplified in popular culture. The fact is that the brain is way too complex to be simplified into right and left. Brain modules stretch across the brain.

Here's a wikipedia quote referenced in a book called Mind Myths:

"One explanation for why research on lateralization is so prone to exaggeration and false application is that the left-right brain dichotomy is an easy-to-understand notion, which can be oversimplified and misused for promotion in the guise of science."

Here's a quote from an article titled "In Search of...Brain Based Education" by John T. Bruer:

"What modern brain science is telling us - and what brain-based educators fail to appreciate - is that it makes no scientific sense to map gross, unanalyzed behaviours and skills - reading, arithmetic, spatial reasoning - onto one brain hemisphere or another."

So there you go.