Thursday, March 11, 2004
Bi-polar
Can you believe this? I took the test on ABC TV Catalyst tonight. This scientist, Jack Pettigrew, has a theory that our thinking is not controlled by the whole brain, but by either the left or the right brain, and we switch from one to the other - left brain controlling the big picture and right brain the detail. The test was supposed to show how quickly your brain changes from one to the other. This would indicate what type of work you are most suited to. I think the examples they gave were musician or mathematician. They showed dancers whose brains apparently shift very quickly from right to left, enabling them to perform thinking, movement and balance in quick succession.
The test consisted of three bright white stars set in a pattern of small blue moving dots. The bright stars being the 'detail' and the blue dots the 'big picture.' You had to stare at the top left hand bright star and at some stage the other two stars would disappear, meaning your brain had shifted from right (detail) to left (big picture). The two bright stars you were not focused on were supposed to appear and disappear a number of times. The number of times you saw the bright stars in a given time frame indicated how quickly your mind shifts from left to right. The average, or normal, was 4 to 6 times.
I lost the other two bright dots quite quickly -and they never reappeared . Oh, sometimes one of them and sometimes two appeared greyly beckoning but then disappeared again. They never came back bright. Just as I was wondering what this could mean, the answer was given. Apparently people who are bi-polar or manic-depressive shift very slowly - but what about not at all? I don't think this was covered, but I might have missed that bit while I was worrying what was wrong with my brain.
The presenter told us that if we missed the test, we could take it again on-line at Catalyst. Wanting to try again and perhaps take in more details of the results, I rushed to the web only to find a brief synopsis of the story; and no test.
I've felt a bit depressed on and off during most of my life and come to think of it, I've been getting worried lately about getting lost and forgetting names and words (not taking in the details perhaps!) . I thought it might have been the onset of old timers disease but now I'm so relieved; it's probably only manic depression.
Now I'm really depressed and probably won't sleep all night!
Okay, I couldn't leave it at that; couldn't let it rest and at least try to sleep - no, I had to find that test. I found it and more at Jack Pettigrew's website check out Bonneh's Illusion. And joy of joys it turns out I can see them switch and they switch back and forwards quite quickly - so maybe I'm not bipolar after all! Now it's only the old timers I have to worry about!
The test consisted of three bright white stars set in a pattern of small blue moving dots. The bright stars being the 'detail' and the blue dots the 'big picture.' You had to stare at the top left hand bright star and at some stage the other two stars would disappear, meaning your brain had shifted from right (detail) to left (big picture). The two bright stars you were not focused on were supposed to appear and disappear a number of times. The number of times you saw the bright stars in a given time frame indicated how quickly your mind shifts from left to right. The average, or normal, was 4 to 6 times.
I lost the other two bright dots quite quickly -and they never reappeared . Oh, sometimes one of them and sometimes two appeared greyly beckoning but then disappeared again. They never came back bright. Just as I was wondering what this could mean, the answer was given. Apparently people who are bi-polar or manic-depressive shift very slowly - but what about not at all? I don't think this was covered, but I might have missed that bit while I was worrying what was wrong with my brain.
The presenter told us that if we missed the test, we could take it again on-line at Catalyst. Wanting to try again and perhaps take in more details of the results, I rushed to the web only to find a brief synopsis of the story; and no test.
I've felt a bit depressed on and off during most of my life and come to think of it, I've been getting worried lately about getting lost and forgetting names and words (not taking in the details perhaps!) . I thought it might have been the onset of old timers disease but now I'm so relieved; it's probably only manic depression.
Now I'm really depressed and probably won't sleep all night!
Okay, I couldn't leave it at that; couldn't let it rest and at least try to sleep - no, I had to find that test. I found it and more at Jack Pettigrew's website check out Bonneh's Illusion. And joy of joys it turns out I can see them switch and they switch back and forwards quite quickly - so maybe I'm not bipolar after all! Now it's only the old timers I have to worry about!
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