I’m sure you’ve probably heard the old “right-brained /left-brained” comparison. Usually when I hear this comparison it is in reference to someone’s ability (or inability) to make something happen – “He can’t draw well, he’s too left-brained to be creative”. Or “She is terrible in Science, she is too creative minded”. I tend to disagree with it all. I have a fine art background, focused on drawing & painting, and now I do mostly programming and project management. Not very related, or are they?
When you compare many things that seemingly fit the left/right brain separation, you find that there are more things alike than are different. Music, art, and dance all require a good bit of math and physics to pull off. Likewise, solving an in-depth mathematical formula can require a creative approach in order to visualize patterns or similarities that offer up the solution. In my opinion, a one-sided approach to any situation or problem can be much more difficult to handle.
In web programming and design, there is even less of a distinction between left and right brained approaches. To make a web site clean and attractive, yet still fully functional, can be an extremely difficult challenge. I think it takes several people’s input to expose as many issues as possible when building a site. Once all the possible issues and concerns are identified, the creativity lies in solving these problems as eloquently as possible. There is as much creativity in figuring out how to program a really savvy user interface as there is in producing a traditional oil painting. It’s all about communication, how the final product is perceived by the intended user.
Maybe someone is more comfortable working with numbers than colors, but in my experience most tasks in life require the full brain. Oh well, there may still be some hope for me somewhere.
