Though easily overlooked, this natural behaviour offers a powerful lesson about organising your money.

Let’s look at what is happening here. Psychologist and neuroscientist Iain McGilchrist suggests two distinct and conflicting processes. Animals need food to stay alive, so they focus on foraging. At the same time, they scan the broader environment for harmful predators.

McGilchrist suggests that this conflict has shaped today’s bipartite brain. The left hemisphere focuses on immediate tasks like finding food. In contrast, the right hemisphere scans for threats and maintains a broader awareness of the environment. Together, these opposing functions ensure survival.

The rise of left-brain dominance in finance

But what happens when one side of the brain dominates? Modern society increasingly reflects a shift toward left-brain dominance, particularly in how we approach our finances.

Left-brain dominance, characterised by logic, analysis, and detail-oriented thinking, gained prominence during the Enlightenment. This rationalistic approach is now deeply embedded in our society, often sidelining the right brain’s creative, intuitive, and visionary contributions. In recent years, an increasingly bureaucratic, check-box-oriented society reliant on computers and smartphones has accelerated the shift.

And money, of course, is a natural for digitisation and computerisation..

So, what does left-brain dominance look like in personal finance?

• Investment returns become more important than having the right money in the right place at the right time.
• Money becomes an end in itself, not a means to an end.
• Financial decisions are made without reference to life goals.
• Spending money to satisfy today’s wants becomes more important than saving for emergencies, leisure, retirement, and old-age needs.

Much like animals focusing on food at the expense of safety, left-brain dominance can lead to a narrow focus on immediate financial gains without considering the broader context of future needs and risks.

The Inner Consultants Framework: A path to financial balance

Animals survive by uniting the efforts of both brain hemispheres, and we must do the same when managing our finances.

I advocate a framework of three inner consultants: the accountant, the technician, and the counsellor. The accountant and technician represent left-brain logic and efficiency. At the same time, the counsellor taps into the visionary, emotional aspects of the right brain.

For a balanced approach to personal finance, I recommend allocating 30% of your time with your inner accountant, 20% with your technician, and 50% with your counsellor. This ensures that your financial decisions are not solely driven by immediate gains but are informed by a broader, more holistic perspective.

By creating this balance, you’ll avoid the pitfalls of left-brain dominance and, like wild animals, ensure that your financial choices support both your short-term needs and long-term security.

Photo attribution

Photo by Jon Flobrant on Unsplash

Audio link

https://audio.com/jeremy_deedes/left-brain-dominance/

Other attributions and references

Mcgilchrist, Iain. The Master and His Emissary : The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World. Yale University Press, 2019.

Mcgilchrist, Iain. The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World. London, Perspectiva Press, 2021.

“Are We Possessed by One Side of the Brain? – the Sickness of the Modern Age.” Academy of Ideas | Free Minds for a Free Society, 26 Mar. 2024, academyofideas.com/2024/03/are-we-possessed-by-one-side-of-the-brain-the-sickness-of-the-modern-age/. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.

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Embrace Your Inner Consultants: A Path to Financial Clarity

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