In the 1960s, scientists studied a group of epilepsy patients who had undergone an unusual treatment: the structure that connects the two sides of their brain was surgically severed. This gave scientists a unique window into the role that each side of our brain plays in our behaviors. Turns out, both of them are involved (in slightly different ways) in just about everything that we do.

Over the next half century, these findings got trapped in a grown-up version of the “game of telephone”. They were sensationalized by press releases and media outlets. They were distorted by blogs and word-of-mouth. And today, most people believe that they’re either left-brained or right-brained, because at some point, that’s what they were told. 

A lot of the information that we encounter has already passed through similar filters. It starts with a kernel of truth that’s arbitrarily cut, boosted, and crafted to maximize its curb appeal. The problem is, once it’s catchy enough to catch on, it can be extremely challenging to debunk. As the neuroscientists battling the left-brain / right-brain myth can confirm, the truth is rarely catchy enough to fight back.