- L-mode is quick, deliberate, logical and factual, default brain mode.
- R-mode is useful for development, stuck on a problem
- Reach R-mode by writing at least 3 pages upon waking, without a filter. Review for gold nuggets.
- Alternatively, go for a walk, do some task that doesn't require much thought and allows your mind to wander, essentially get your mind off the issue or problem you're needing to solve. L-mode will get bored and peace out, allowing for R-mode to start reporting.
Summary
There were studies done at some point in history by some guy named Roger W. Sperry who won a nobel prize over them. Said studies discovered that the left and right hemispheres of the brain process information differently from each other.
His findings were essentially boiled down by society to mean that some people are left brained while others are right. This is a falsehood and an oversimplification.
This book proposes the idea that we are all whole-brained (well, most of us) and instead have different modes, Linear Mode (L-mode), and Rich mode (R-mode).
L-mode is what drives us to make rapid decisions, rationalize concepts and ideas. It also has draw backs, like oversimplification.
An exercise in this book demonstrated this by having the reader draw a house, pointing out that the result looked like a box with a triangle on top (it did), and giving credit to the L-mode automatically providing a result, albeit a sloppy general one.
The author furthered the point via attempting to active this "R-mode" by directing the reader to this time copy a drawing, made up of distinct lines, pointing out correctly again that the result was more accurate as the reader is looking at and dissecting shapes, versus drawing from a simplified abstract memory.
Personally, I had difficulty understanding the point of this segment, perhaps at the time of writing this I am too l-mode-ed to understand.
The author recommended an exercise, to write 3 pages immediately upon waking, as this is when you're supposedly closest to the non-verbal r-mode running in the background.
In doing this repeatedly the book advises, eventually, you should be able to pick out useful ideas or theories among the ramblings.
I have yet to attempt this but maybe it will give me more understanding, if I ever get around to it.
Processing
L-mode processing is comfortable, familiar.
L-mode gives you these abilities:
Using words to name, describe, and define
Figuring things out step-by-step and part-by-part
Using a symbol to stand for something
Taking out a small bit of information and using it to represent the whole thing
Keeping track of time and sequencing one thing after another
Drawing conclusions based on reason and facts
Using numbers as in counting
Drawing conclusions based on logic (theorems, well-stated arguments)
Thinking in terms of linked ideas, one thought directly following another, often leading to a convergent conclusion