Never Mind Which Side…

Just Give Him A Lobotomy To Go…

TimeZone post on 4/3/98

A gentleman came in my store yesterday, and he claimed to be a “watch idiot savant”…but I want to stress “Idiot” in this particular case…more like a refugee here on earth, on a witness protection program from Mars.

Here’s my story…we got to talking about watches, and I was showing him stuff that I was particularly fond of, but he just wanted to see what Rolex’s I had in. Then he saw that I was using a
Macintosh computer, and went into this long involved theory of his that Mac users we more “right-sided brain” people and would probably be more prone to wear a more “off the beaten path” watch…like Ventura, Silberstein, or a Vintage watch…and PC people, being more left- side brain would be more prone to wear a more “blue chip” watch…Rolex.

Now, I have to admit I don’t wear a Rolex , and never have, but I know lots of Mac people who wear
Rolexes, and conversely I know “plenty” of PC guys who love the more esoteric watches.

So I started to argue with this guy…then I stopped in mid-sentence and thought of this saying I once heard…”Who’s the greater fool…the fool or the one who argues with the fool !!!!!”

Needless to say, the guy left with the knowledge that he had hit a nerve with me, and I couldn’t argue the case…and needless to say the guy left and I was endlessly relieved!!

I need to hear from you…the TimeZone audience…Is there any credibility to this guys theory??

best regards, Richard Paige

I can see where this guy is headed, but his argument is flawed…

Posted by Mycroft on April 03, 1998 at 2:06:41:

In Reply to: never mind which side..just give him a lobotomy to go… posted by R. Paige on April 02, 1998 at 20:49:14:

Hi Richard,

I can sympathize with you when you get such customers and have to remain polite in the face of stupidity. He is not entirely wrongly, but his synapses got screwed up along the way. Let me explain.

It has long been postulated that right brain dominant persons are more arts and culturally bent, ie. music, performing arts, dance etc. Right brain dominants are also likely to be left-handed and hence the large number of lefties with a creative/artistic bent. But not always. Dominance of the motor cortex MAY be associated with higher activity on the
ipsi lateral (same side) thinking/frontal cerebral processes, but not all the time is this true. Also, there seems to be a better sense of spatial orientation in these people. This is of course a
generalization.

The left dominant, right-hander, is generalized to be the intellectual, more cerebral/logical type. These 2 stereotypes have been made through association of observed common traits with some degree of neuroanatomical inference thrown in. This of course does not mean it is 100% right or wrong (just like saying that it is true that the left testicle generally hangs a little lower than the right; or that the left breast is usually larger than its sister in the female – check it out for yourself!). Exceptions abound of course.

The Mac has long been considered to have a better OS (operating system). And has been and still is acknowledged to be THE platform for print layouts and arts/advertising formats – hence the association with the right brain. He then assumes that the IBM PC (which is far from a logical machine in its many
idiosyncrasies and compatibility problems) is associated with the intellectual logical left brainer, right hander.

Well, there is some credence to the fact that right brainers (creative types) do tend to let their feelings lead them to less conventional types of watches with perhaps a more design based flavour.

I guess, you can then say that Rolex is a logical choice if you look at its recognition, decent quality and excellent resale value that everybody touts. It is indeed a logical persons watch although it is common, and lacks character,
something the lefty may be looking for.

So I can see a grain of truth in what that guy says, although to be insistent either way is a fallacy as there are NO absolutes in medicine, and that is the first thing that any physician will learn, whether he is right or left handed, right or left brained.

I forgot to mention that the dominance of the hand is always associated with dominance of the motor cortex in the
contra lateral (other) side of the brain. Now the trick is whether the
Hypo campus/Limbic system works the same way and involves the Temporal lobe in this dance of logic vs creativity, I don’t know, and I suspect, no one does.

This has been a public announcement brought to you by your friendly
neighborhood watch psychotic.

Regards

TC