Frequently Asked Questions about Whole Brain Technology
- I’ve heard of left brain/right brain, but how do we get to whole brain?
- Has the whole brain approach ever been used in schools?
- I’ve heard about the HBDI™ What are the other applications of the whole brain concept?
- Is this brain dominance stuff like astrology or psychology or phrenology?
- Is the basis of brain dominance genetic or enculturation? That is, is dominance a result of nature or nurture?
- Is the brain dominance theory and the whole brain concept valid? What proof exists?
- Why did Ned develop the whole brain technology?
- Isn’t all this brain stuff just a flash in the pan? Won’t it just pass?
Q: I’ve heard of left brain/right brain, but how do we get to whole brain?
A: Upon superficial examination, the brain consists of two half brains and therefore the simplistic left brain/right brain dichotomy seems to adequately describe the differences between these two brain halves.
Closer scrutiny of the brain reveals four structures rather than just two. These four paired structures consist of the two cerebral hemispheres and the two halves of the limbic system. These are paired structures connected together by what is called commissures. The two cerebral hemispheres are connected together by the Corpus Callosum and the two halves of the limbic system are connected together by the Hippocampal Commissure.
It is well established that the human brain is highly specialized. The whole brain theory allocates the brain’s specialized modes into one or more of these four physiological structures. This allocation of specialized modes is the basis of the four quadrant model. Since dominance can only occur between paired structures, we now have the basis of a much more sophisticated and useful model comprising not only the left and right modes, but also the cerebral and limbic modes. The cerebral modes are made up of the two interconnected cerebral hemispheres and the limbic mode is comprised of the two interconnected halves of the limbic system. Extensive data speaks loudly that there are an equal number of people whose mental preferences are primarily cerebral or limbic as those that are primarily left or right. Therefore, the four quadrant whole brain model allows us to differentiate between not only the more popular notions of left brain/right brain, but also the more sophisticated notions of cognitive/intellectual which describes the cerebral preference, and visceral, structured, and emotional which describes the limbic preferences.
The organizing principle of the brain and the physiology of the brain both proclaim a condition for wholeness. The brain is physically constructed so that specialized areas of processing can collaborate with other areas of specialization. We are not single individuals, but rather a coalition. The organizing principle explains how the naturally occurring iteration among different modes (or styles) of thinking is affected by dominance and preference.
Q: Has the whole brain approach ever been used in schools?
Α: Yes. Over the past 15 years applications have been carried out in elementary schools, secondary schools, colleges, and universities. The most significant application currently underway is at the University of Toledo School of Engineering. Not only is the whole brain concept being applied to the teaching of creative problem solving, but also all incoming freshmen and outgoing seniors will be profiled for the next four years as the basis of diagnosing the impact of engineering education on their HBDI™ profiles over the course of their four years at the University.
Q: I’ve heard about the HBDI™ What are the other applications of the whole brain concept?
Α: Known Applications of the HBDI™ and the Whole Brain Concept
UNDERSTANDING OF SELF
- Relationship with Others
- Self Development
DIAGNOSIS
- Thinking Styles
- Learning Styles
- Course Design
PERSONAL GROWTH
- Job Design
- Education/Training Direction
- Article Report/Career Direction
- Book Design
- Job Choice
- Organization Structure
- Organization Climate
GROUP PROCESS
- Organization Culture
- Learning Delivery
- Management/Leadership Style
- Team Building
- Staff Interaction
MODELLING
- Creative Problem Solving
- Creativity
- Teaching/Learning
COUNSELLING
- Communication
- Educational
- Organization Development
- Career
- Productivity
- Job
- Marriage
- Family
MANAGEMENT
- Communication
- Planning Approach
- Task Force Formation
- Strategic/Operational
- Learning Group Formation
- Managing Differences
- Creative Team Formation
- Dealing with Diversity
- Staff
- Dealing with Change
DESIGN
SELLING
- Educational Courses
- Needs Assessment
- Workshops
- Strategy Development
- Meetings
- Communication
- Presentations
- Sales training
- Learning Materials
- Books
- Advertisements
Q: Is this brain dominance stuff like astrology or psychology or phrenology?
Α: No. There is essentially no relationship between whole brain technology and these three approaches.
I think of astrology as a very complicated construct based on ancient myth and anecdotal data. Even after its existence for well over 100 years it remains highly speculative and scientifically invalidated. One of the reasons that the birthdate question is included in the research questions portion of the survey form is to attempt to discover the degree to which there are brain dominance correlations with astrological signs.
Psychology is a highly developed science founded on a conceptual base entirely different than the physiological base upon which whole brain technology is based.
Contemporary understanding of the brain renders phrenology as totally without meaning. Even though phrenology flourished for over 50 years in the 1880′s there is absolutely no scientific validation of this pseudo-science. A positive contribution to present day understanding that comes out of this now discarded approach is the notion of brain specialization in many different categories. Even though these prove to be erroneous they did represent an early understanding of the specialization concept. Whole brain technology is of course entirely based on the specialized brain with the specialized modes being allocated to the four quadrants of the whole brain model.
Q: Is the basis of brain dominance genetic or enculturation? That is, is dominance a result of nature or nurture?
Α: It is both. However, we hold the opinion that for most of us nurture represents by far the greatest impact. While there will always be exceptions, we feel that on the average nurture represents 70% of who we are compared to 30% for nature. It is the profound influence of parenting, schooling, friendships, work, and life experiences in general that shape our mental preferences that in turn lead us to do what we do the way we do it. We consider this a message of hope because if we can change what is happening to us we can also change ourselves. Observation and feedback from many hundreds of participants in whole brain workshops clearly demonstrates the capability of people to change.
Q: Is the brain dominance theory and the whole brain concept valid? What proof exists?
Α: The brain dominance concept has been strongly validated in a number of different ways; First, through the research and experimentation of leaders in the field including Roger Sperry, Robert Ornstein, Henry Mintzberg, and Michael Gazzanniga. Secondly, it has been validated by the hundreds of EEG experiments carried out personally by Ned Herrmann. Third, it has been further validated by the public demonstrations conducted by Ned Herrmann over the past 15 years. Fourth, it has been validated by specific validation studies carried out by C. Victor Bunderson and James Olsen of Wicat and later by C. Victor Bunderson and Kevin Ho, and in parallel with those studies by validation experiments carried out by Schadty and Potvin at the University of Texas. Additional validation comes from the more than 60 doctoral dissertations based on both the HBDI™ and the whole brain concept.
In addition to these more formal studies and activities, there have been thousands of anecdotal validations coming from people who have acknowledged verbally or in writing their strong personal acceptance of the HBDI™ profile as descriptive of themselves and their extremely positive feedback about the understanding both the profile and the concept has provided in terms of understanding others in their personal and work lives. When asked the question, “Does this concept help me understand myself, people I know, and experiences I have had and am having?”-the answers have been enthusiastically positive.
Q: Why did Ned develop the whole brain technology?
Α: As a professional artist for many years, Ned became curious about the nature and source of creativity. Upon exploration, it became suddenly clear to him that the source of creativity was the brain. Pursuing that “AHA” led to the whole brain concept and the development of the HBDI™. At the time this occurred in 1976, Ned was head of Management Education at General Electric’s Management Development Institute. His understanding of the brain as a source of creativity was quickly followed by his second insight that the brain was also the central organ in learning. His dual profession as an artist and educator gave him the opportunity to apply his new understanding to whole brain creative learning. GE supported Ned’s experiments and applications during the late 70′s, and it was these activities that led to the development of the whole brain concept and the HBDI™.
Q: Isn’t all this brain stuff just a flash in the pan? Won’t it just pass?
A: In early Egypt, valued organs of the deceased were preserved in canopic jars; the brain was discarded. In 1989 the US Congress and President Bush declared the 1990′s as the Decade of the Brain. It’s taken 6,000 years to get to this point in our understanding and respect for the brain as the central organ of the body. This idea like many other things of great value take a long time to achieve general acceptance. Considering the rapid increase in worldwide attention being given to the whole brain concept, we expect this technology to be a major plateau for understanding the nature of humans.
