Everybody’s
brain is different. No two people have the exact
same skills and abilities. You already know that.
What you may not know is exactly what your own
strengths and weaknesses really are. That may seem
hard to believe. After all, you’ve known
yourself your whole life. Few illusions are more
widespread than
the ones people fall prey to when they define themselves
in terms of what they are or aren’t “good
at.”
If
you try the full range of selftests and puzzles
in this section, you may surprise yourself with
what you do well. And whatever your weaknesses
are, it’s important to know those too, so
you can target and improve those skills (in the
next section). The difference between one person
and the next doesn’t lie in unequal potential.
It lies in what they actually do with their potential.
When you place new demands on your brain, it changes
physically to meet them. Your brain is a lot more
flexible than you think.
Paper
Folding Paper
Folding tests your spatial-temporal reasoning
ability, a specific spatial/ constructional
skill that requires you to visualize a
succession of patterns through time. It’s
a handy skill for chess, engineering, and
some kinds of math. Researchers have discovered
in experiments with university students
that listening to certain types of music
can give a temporary boost to spatial-temporal
skills, a phenomenon popularly known as
the “Mozart effect” — an excellent example
of the way that apparently different types
of intelligence can interact in surprising
ways.
Mental
Rotations Are these two shapes identical in structure? Most
people decide by rotating one in their mind’s eye
until it is in the same position as the other.
The ability to rotate an image in the mind’s eye
is one that varies greatly from one person to the
next. It’s also a skill that shows a clear gender
difference, with males on average performing better
than females. Applications of mental rotation skill
include engineering and some kinds of math. It
is a classic right-brain skill.
than
the ones people fall prey to when they define themselves
in terms of what they are or aren’t “good
at.” 
