30 tips in 30 days: #10.

Integration of new learning often requires time to reflect on what we’ve learned. However, sometimes we integrate a lesson seamlessly. We are shown how to do something better, like adding pure vanilla to French toast batter, and we adopt it without a second thought.
A vital factor is whether the left or right hemisphere of our brain dominates our thinking. The left side of the brain tends to be verbal, logical, and linear. The right side of the brain tends to be symbolic, intuitive, and nonlinear. The left brain prefers facts and hard reality. The right brain prefers abstract ideas and imagination.

If our left brain dominates our thinking process, we learn best in a logical and sequential way, step by step. We may love how Aristotle classified all aspects of life into concrete categories, so everything we encounter fits into its pidgeon hole. We want certainty at every level of learning before we feel comfortable going to the next level.

If our right brain dominates our thinking process, we learn best in an intuitive and creative way, like assembling random clusters of jigsaw puzzle pieces until we see how they all fit together into a big picture. We may love how Socrates described the wholeness of life, so all of the details make sense. We feel comfortable with ambiguity, and we can wait for a gestalt, that unifying flash of insight.

We learn with more than our brains. Howard Gardner’s research on multiple intelligences explains the varied genius of a gifted athlete or an artist. Michael Gershon’s inquiry into intestinal gut intelligence is important, too. Ultimately, learning how we learn is vital for learning to practice mindful self rule.

If you wish to help create a quantum shift into global consciousness on our planet, please share with others this excerpt from my book: GLOBAL SENSE: The 2012 Edition: A spiritual handbook on the nature of society and how to change the world by changing ourselves

If you wish to read Global Sense, please visit Amazon.