Left versus Right Hemispheres 1) Why do you think the human brain evolved cognitive systems that are

represented asymmetrically between the cerebral hemispheres? The human brain evolved cognitive systems represented asymmetrically in the cerebral hemispheres because the human being relies on cognitive abilities to survive, meaning the human being needs one side of the brain to be rational and adaptive, and sense patterns in previous occurrences and behavior in the interests of adapting intellectually and mentally to the environment. The right hemisphere which is dominated by emotional instinct is more viable for the existing in the original state of nature, which incidentally being called upon to react instinctively to the challenges of survival. The left hemisphere serves higher functional purposes, based on cataloging the results of the environment and converting them into adaptive action, through such functions in the left brain as controlling the dexterity of the right hand, which is most commonly used to write and perform primary functions; and the ability to classify, and establish routinized forms of behavior that serve specific daily functions and demands of life (MacNeilage et al, 2009). The right hemisphere is more reactive and instinctive, and more resemblant of the state of nature that animals must maintain in order to survive in an environment which is primarily focused on survival, as opposed to other intellectual, educational or social pursuits, such as reacting to emergencies, organizing items spatially, recognizing faces and processing emotions (MacNeilage et al, 2009). The right brain is more heavily environmentally and sensorily oriented, the interactive side of the brain, that perceives and reacts basically without thinking.

2) What are some of the advantages of asymmetrical processing? 1

As research describes the distinction between the two sides of the brain: the left hemisphere originally seems to have focused in general on controlling the well-established patterns of behavior; the right specialized in detecting and responding to unexpected stimuli (MacNeilage et al, 2009). The main advantage of asymmetrical processing is clearly and effectively a complementary division of labor between the two sides of the brain, where the human being is very heavily dependent on that left side of rationalized intellectually based processing and unique human cognition. The specific division of labor serves to fulfill functional cognition, in our ability to recognize patterns and adapt behavior to meet goals according to the the messages and obstacles and previous success that we have experienced, sensed, and observed in the environment: This articles is keen to the ability of brain to modify as result of the right brain capabilities, which the right side clearly does not have, where the right brain is sufficient for most organisms, but not for some vertebrates: ...the left hemisphere of the vertebrate brain was originally specialized for the control of well-established patterns of behavior under ordinary and familiar circumstances. In contrast, the right hemisphere, the primary seat of emotional arousal, was at first specialized for detecting and responding to unexpected stimuli in the environment (MacNeilage et al, 2009). In effect,the left brain remembers stimuli, and does not react to unexpected stimuli, but seeks to eliminate or track stimuli so as to render it expected, and thus to functionally address it more effectively. Left brain characteristics provide functional powers of survival that only human beings or thinking organisms can possess, providing humans with the ability to develop culturally and socially and glean meaning and enjoyment from life that 2

animals are obviously incapable of, as slaves of the right brain, with no development of skills for left brain processing. Left brain processing also provides the nose for novelty (MacNeilage et al, 2009), which guides further stratification of information by human beings, as well as distinguish reactions according to demonstrated urgency, where the most urgent reaction would be transferred rapidly to right brain, in the moment where the speed of the reaction is appropriate.

3) What are some potential disadvantages of an asymmetrical brain? In a strict survival sense, it reduces the organic survival reaction in the state of nature, or elemental state, which technically is abandoning or dulling the survival function and instincts of the individual. The asymmetrical brain uses half the brain to technically weaken us or remove us from the state of nature, where our instincts are dulled, and other functional skills are used to survive, but in the strictest Darwinian sense, leave us more vulnerable to predators, ie less physically capable of defending ourselves. Separate and parallel processing taking place in the two hemispheres increases brain efficiency, but it does not explain why, within a species, one or the other specialization tends to predominate. Why, in most animals, is the left eye (and the right hemisphere) better suited than the right eye (and the left hemisphere) for vigilance against predation? What makes the predominance of one kind of handedness more likely than a symmetric, 5050 mixture of both? From an evolutionary standpoint a broken symmetry, in which populations are made up mainly of left types or mainly of right types, could be disadvantageous because the behavior of individuals would be more predictable to predators (MacNeilage et al, 2009). 3

Predators instinctively encroach on a prey's logical side, where predators for us could include other human beings, or animals that eat human beings, or even parasites or microbes. However, the asymmetry of the brain that is our greatest strength is also the key to our vulnerability; social predators such as criminals or serial killers prey psychologically on left brain-right rain asymmetry in application, becoming more effective at manipulating human beings because they are aware of the ways that specific humans depend on the left brain. The loss of physical strength or prowess, as a byproduct of mental cognitive developmental reliance, can also be manipulated by predators, where vulnerability to predators is raised in he process whereby the predator attacks the less physical right side of the brain of the prey in a process whereby the uneven proportion of left- and right-type individuals in many populations thus indicates that the imbalance must be so valuable that it persists despite the increased vulnerability to predators (MacNeilage et al, 2009). In other words, our left brain reliance technically increases our vulnerability to predators, because it abandons the development of our physical prowess and survival instincts, and also plots course of mental vulnerability through manipulation specifically via the right brain patterns of human individuals. In text citations can only be used from the article.