I once saw an interview with a Finnish artist (can’t remember his name), who actually said one thing, which stuck with me:

We, in the Western World have a tendency to fill up the left part of our brains, when we go to school. Choices are primarily made in the right part of the brain (which among other things control illogical thoughts, feelings etc.). So we tend to have a lot of knowledge, but make wrong decisions. War is such a decision. It may stem from a lot of knowledge, but the decision is wrong, because our minds aren’t used to make use of the right part of the brain.

Gut feelings, playfulness, fantasy, creativity. Such things are governed by the right part of the brain, which is greatly neglected and has been so since Descartes’ thoughts became the standard. Sadly enough, all industries cries for more innovation and creativity, because there is a great lack of it.

Contradictory, we still think that the solution to this problem is to start stuffing children’s brains with more and more knowledge at an earlier stage of their lives, instead of just letting them be what they are: Playful, fantasising, creative and socialising kids. It is time to shift the paradigm to a more balanced view of what knowledge is. And to bring creativity into the school programme.

Let me suggest that music has to play a part in that, since major studies show that children with musical experience (not abilities, because ‘talent’ is not required), have higher IQ and better social and concentration abilities than those who do not participate in musical courses. This has to do with the way the brain works when you’re involved in, for example, sight-reading where the brain is dealing with both past (what has been played), present (what you’re playing right now) and future (what you are going to play next). This combined with the improvement of the motoric and sensory system makes music a strong player in this field. Plus, it’s a lot of fun!

Furthermore, a paradigm shift will also generate a stronger respect for those people, who doesn’t fit into this highly effective and ‘lefty’ world. It is time to go back to the time before Descartes, so we can innovate, instead of stagnate - with the right decisions in mind.

(Two links for those of you who want to read a bit more: One | Two)

And now: Bread & Eggs:

Breakthrough II

Breakthrough

Bread in the hole