Why Right-Brain Cultures Are More Flexible: A Possible Explanation of Yu. Manin's Observation

Yuri Manin, a renowned mathematician, observed that it is much easier for a person raised in a right-brain culture to adjust to the left-brain environment than vice versa. In this paper, we provide a possible explanation for this phenomenon. 1 Manin’s Observation: Formulation of the Problem Manin’s observation: formulation of the problem. In his talk [?], Yuri Manin, a renowned mathematician, made several observations about cultures that place more emphasis on left-brain, logical, discrete reasoning (e.g., traditional Western cultures) and cultures that place more emphasis on right-brain, intuitive, continuous reasoning (e.g., traditional Chinese culture and other Oriental cultures). One of his observations is that it is much easier for a person raised in the traditional right-brain culture to adopt to a left-brain one than vice versa. For example: • many students and researchers who are originally from China blossom in the Western academic institutions, but • for a Western researcher it is much more difficult to fully adjust to a Chinese academic institution. What we plan to do. In this paper, we provide a possible mathematical explanation for this phenomenon.