Knowledge + Application = Harmony

Can you come here and help me finish this jigsaw puzzle?” Melissa was enjoying a visit from her aunt, uncle, and slightly older cousin and used every excuse to do things with him. “When I finish what I’m doing,” he called back.

Stomping into the kitchen, fists shoved into jean’s pockets, Melissa exclaimed, “I do not understand why he can’t leave what he’s doing and go back to it later!” “What’s he doing?” I asked, keeping my face straight when I really wanted to laugh. “Oh, some egregious algebra project.” “Get used to it,” I said smiling.

“When you grow up, you’ll likely marry someone just like him.” Melissa grimaced. “The male brain is wired quite differently from ours,” I went on.

“It actually takes less energy to run too because if he’s working in one hemisphere, the other side is idling. Think of their brain as having two rooms connected by a narrow hallway. To leave his algebra project in the left hemisphere, metaphorically he’d need to turn out the lights and lower the air conditioner, walk along a narrow hall, and then turn on lights and air in the right hemisphere.

After that he’d be ready to work on the jigsaw puzzle, a right-brain activity. It can take several seconds to switch gears.” “Oh,” said Melissa.

“No wonder he wants to finish the algebra project first.” “Our brain hemispheres, yours and mine, function much more as one unit. If any part is on, it’s all on. The hallway between the hemispheres is much wider, and we tend to run back and forth easily between the two sides.” “I do that all the time,” said Melissa, laughing.

“It’s easy. I start one thing, work on it for a while, start something else, go back to the first project, move to yet another, and so on.” “Understanding more about gender brain-function differences can help you to be kindly affectionate to each other,” I said. “The apostle Paul specifically admonishes that.” “OK,” Melissa called to her cousin, laughing. “Let me know when you’re ready to switch gears and move into your right brain. Meantime I’ll work on something else.” It would be wonderful if we adults would learn as quickly as a child does, I thought.

Arlene R. Taylor