Have you ever found yourself in a trade that later you wondered, “who was controlling my mouse? This happens because there are other “parts” of us that can emerge and they lurk in either side of our brains. As you probably know, we have two brain hemispheres that make up what can be termed “the dual brain.” The dual brain has two distinct brain systems in which one analyzes piece-by-piece, detailing changes and the other makes an overall update and applies it until the next change. This dual function might well have offered a greater advantage: A) That there would be redundancy in checking conclusions about the nature of events and plans for possible action. And, B) Two very specialized ways to deal with the world.

Brain development is like city development, often, early growth was without a plan; it developed as result of water, or a spur from a train, or where most people laid their roots. Consequently, brain growth like that of the city can be haphazard and lack organization which promotes smooth processing and can greatly impact your analysis of the price action.

Below is a list if conventional wisdom’s hemispheric attributes

LEFT (Analytic)                                 RIGHT (Global)

Successive Hemispheric       Style    Simultaneous Hemispheric Style

1. Verbal 1. Visual, tactual, kinesthetic
2. Responds to word meaning 2. Responds to word pitch, feeling
3. Sequential 3. Random
4. Processes information linearly 4. Processes information in chunks
5. Responds to logic 5. Responds to emotion
6. Plans ahead 6. Spontaneous
7. Recalls people’s names 7. Recalls people’s faces
8. Speaks with few gestures 8. Gestures when speaking
9. Punctual                         9. Less punctual
10. Prefers formal study design                   10. Prefers sound/music background
11. Prefers bright lights while studying       11. Prefers frequent mobility while studying

Now that we have taken a look at some of the functions of the left and right brain and the general importance of each to your trading success, let’s take a look at one of the right brain’s most powerful tools to healing and change—metaphor.

Metaphor is the language of the right brain and it permeates our lives. In order to get something done we “step up to the plate.” With difficult choices, we’re “doing heavy lifting.” We “grab the bull by the horns” to “break the ice.” The lexicon is replete with metaphor, and it is powerful. Metaphor can be riveting, motivating, captivating, enticing, mesmerizing, elegant, simple, elaborate, and highly effective. Emotions are activated on unconscious levels through metaphor due to the rich symbolic association with concepts, both painful and pleasurable, in our subconscious. Metaphors tie into the images of our unconscious and solicit hopes, fears, and longings.

Carl Jung spoke of the strength of the archetype. In Jung’s psychological framework, archetypes are innate, universal prototypes for ideas and may be used to interpret observations. A group of memories and interpretations associated with an archetype are a complex, e.g. a mother complex associated with the mother archetype. Jung treated the archetypes as psychological organs, analogous to physical ones in that both are morphological givens that arose through evolution. Milton Erickson, the grandfather of clinical hypnosis in the US used metaphor and stories to speak directly to his patients’ subconscious and initiate unconscious resources to bear on issues that presented obstacles to them. His storytelling manor both relaxed and put at ease patients’ conscious mind as he began to engage them on an unconscious level. For part 2, please return to the blog tomorrow.