What's your day job/trade?

aja · 2011-01-19T12:55:56+00:00

What do you do to pay for all the guitar gear? It seems many people around here are IT guys... Would be interesting to see the demographics... I am a fresh graduate mechanical science engineer (mechatronics major). I'm currently consulting in the industrial/consumer embedded electronics industry (consumer product design/injection molded plastics etc.) and doing my master's part time.

Renesongs

I never bought into that left brain being analytical and right brain being creative theory and particularly when it gets extrapolated to peoples careers like accountants and engineers are left brained and artists and musicians are right brained. It kind of goes together with that theory that there are two types of people, those who divide people into two types and those that don't.

AlanRatcliffe

Renesongs wrote I never bought into that left brain being analytical and right brain being creative theory and particularly when it gets extrapolated to peoples careers like accountants and engineers are left brained and artists and musicians are right brained.

Actually there is very strong proof of that - ever see someone who has had a corpus callosotomy (where the connections between the two hemispheres are cut to control extreme epilepsy)? Some freaky stuff:

A patient with a split brain, when shown an image in his or her left visual field (the left half of what both eyes take in, see optic tract), will be unable to vocally name what he or she has seen. This is because the speech-control center is in the left side of the brain in most people, and the image from the left visual field is sent only to the right side of the brain (those with the speech control center in the right side will experience similar symptoms when an image is presented in the right visual field). Since communication between the two sides of the brain is inhibited, the patient cannot name what the right side of the brain is seeing. The person can, however, pick up and show recognition of an object (one within the left overall visual field) with their left hand, since that hand is controlled by the right side of the brain.

The same effect occurs for visual pairs and reasoning. For example, a patient with split brain is shown a picture of a chicken and a snowy field in separate visual fields and asked to choose from a list of words the best association with the pictures. The patient would choose a chicken foot to associate with the chicken and a shovel to associate with the snow; however, when asked to reason why the patient chose the shovel, the response would relate to the chicken (e.g. "the shovel is for cleaning out the chicken coop").

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-brain

Wizard

Renesongs wrote I never bought into that left brain being analytical and right brain being creative theory and particularly when it gets extrapolated to peoples careers like accountants and engineers are left brained and artists and musicians are right brained. It kind of goes together with that theory that there are two types of people, those who divide people into two types and those that don't.

There are actually three kinds of people ... those who can count, and those who can't ...

Tonedef

Renesongs wrote I never bought into that left brain being analytical and right brain being creative theory and particularly when it gets extrapolated to peoples careers like accountants and engineers are left brained and artists and musicians are right brained. It kind of goes together with that theory that there are two types of people, those who divide people into two types and those that don't.

There is substantial evidence for the left brain right brain thing. I agree though that it doesnt auto-map into career choices. IMHO, the two types of people you DO get are those who are happy and fulfilled in their jobs, and them wot aint.

Riaan

ever see someone who has had a corpus callosotomy

I've also heard of some patients who have total left/right independence after that procedure - imagine what that can do for drumming or Tommy Emmanual style fingerpicking... ?

G-Man

I watched a short clip about the real rain man (the one that Dustan Hoffman formed his character from) and he has no left or right brain because its just one sphere, making his brain 30% larger than a normal persons. He can't forget anything (or very rarely does) and he can do massive multiplication and division in his head, but obviously as in the movie he does have a mental disability . I think our understanding of the human brain is still in its infancy.

AlanRatcliffe

Riaan wrote
ever see someone who has had a corpus callosotomy
I've also heard of some patients who have total left/right independence after that procedure - imagine what that can do for drumming or Tommy Emmanual style fingerpicking... ?

...and I thought that "left hand not knowing what the right is doing" was a bad thing. ?

Actually, I think that would be the problem - you need some feedback between the two to keep them synchronised (it would be like two people playing the same guitar). Being able to play different time signatures with both hands is one thing, but different tempos is another entirely. Plus, while your left could read music, the right would not be able to and the left would be able to sing/speak, while the right would not. Actually... that's beginning to sound like a lot of bands/duos. ?

G-Man wrote I watched a short clip about the real rain man (the one that Dustan Hoffman formed his character from) and he has no left or right brain because its just one sphere, making his brain 30% larger than a normal persons.

Yup. a guy called Kim Peek: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Peek

G-Man

Alan Ratcliffe wrote
Riaan wrote
ever see someone who has had a corpus callosotomy
I've also heard of some patients who have total left/right independence after that procedure - imagine what that can do for drumming or Tommy Emmanual style fingerpicking... ?
...and I thought that "left hand not knowing what the right is doing" was a bad thing. ?

Actually, I think that would be the problem - you need some feedback between the two to keep them synchronised (it would be like two people playing the same guitar). Being able to play different time signatures with both hands is one thing, but different tempos is another entirely. Plus, while your left could read music, the right would not be able to and the left would be able to sing/speak, while the right would not. Actually... that's beginning to sound like a lot of bands/duos. ?

G-Man wrote I watched a short clip about the real rain man (the one that Dustan Hoffman formed his character from) and he has no left or right brain because its just one sphere, making his brain 30% larger than a normal persons.
Yup. a guy called Kim Peek: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Peek

Oh , looks like he died of a heart attack in 2009 according to wiki ☹

[deleted]

All I know is the "right brain" left brain" test that you got on some websites, the one of the woman spinning clockwise or anti- clockwise, I could see both at will. Any body else able to do that? I'm kind of bragging, but also asking. Weirdly enough, I noticed a difference in how I thought for seeing it the two ways. One ways "taking it apart" kind of thinking, the other was "let it flow" kind of thinking.

Sean

Viccy wrote All I know is the "right brain" left brain" test that you got on some websites, the one of the woman spinning clockwise or anti- clockwise, I could see both at will. Any body else able to do that? I'm kind of bragging, but also asking. Weirdly enough, I noticed a difference in how I thought for seeing it the two ways. One ways "taking it apart" kind of thinking, the other was "let it flow" kind of thinking.

Yes, also saw her turning both ways, but not immediately. Most of my colleagues began "getting the hang of" seeing the spin go both ways. Not sure if the test is valid for the initial observation, probably, because after some time, it seems as if most folk can work it out

[deleted]

Guess we all use both brains and just a matter of letting them do their thing.

vic

Well... it's believed that people who are musical are also good at maths...? Which side of the brain is for which ?

Riaan

Actually, I think that would be the problem

You're right Alan, there's a difference between practiced independence vs surgical disconnection. The feedback needs to be there.

Actually... that's beginning to sound like a lot of bands/duos.

Also sounds like the organisation I'm working for...

Renesongs

Yes it has been established that different regions of the brain are responsible for different functions I just don't agree with all the pseudo science that extrapolated from this information ideas such as accounts think predominantly with the left brain and artists with the right brain. Surely if this bore any truth this would manifest itself in our physical appearance. "Mr Jones I'm afraid we can not hire you you as an advertising consultant because your head is too bulbous on the left side, you would be better off in accounting.

My problem is that 80% of my guitar students are from so called left brain professions. You might well infer that musicians are closet lefties but I also know of accountants and actuaries that are poets, painters and sculptors. My view is that we all use all of our brains equally as much regardless of our primary professional inclinations. It wasn't too long ago that pseudo science tried to infer that we only use a fifth or a tenth of our brains based purely on how many of the function centres have had been accurately mapped. I may be a bit out of date but when I last checked no one had a comprehensive physiological explanation for why we need to sleep.

[deleted]

The reason is that television programming from midnight to six is absolute rubbish.

Gearhead

I think it's because caveman took a long time to invent light sources. Without light at night they couldn't do anything useful or fun except for making more cavemen. And we all know that that makes you sleepy...

Banditman

Looks like I'm in the Alan/Keira/Viccy/Renesongs etc. bracket of "different career paths".

I'm a riding instructor (as in motorbikes,scooters etc.) - for which I'm paid in money. Started up a school when life happening meant having to start again from zero.

Part-time I look after a bikers' church youth group (guess that makes me some kind of unlabelled youth pastor/counsellor)- for which I'm rewarded differently.

The pay's not stunning, but the satisfaction's immense: after all, my office chair has 1200cc under it.

Riaan

I may be a bit out of date but when I last checked no one had a comprehensive physiological explanation for why we need to sleep.

Huh? We need to? I better try a bit harder then... ?

giggsy

Only saw this thread now (was out of action after an op this whole week)...

I'm a freelance editor/sub-editor/writer.

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