Can show us many things
One that has probably not crossed your mind is the construction of their brains
Ours too
Why do we have two major brain hemispheres?
Why not just one big lump of brain?
Many scientists have wondered about this for a long time
Then through the observation of birds, amongst other things, they understood something
This was that birds, other animals and ourselves need two distinct brain hemispheres for survival
In the case of birds they have to solve a big problem in order to stay alive
They have to be able to feed and look out for predators at the same time
One part of the bird’s brain has to focus intently to locate the piece of grain amongst all the gravel
While another part has to watch out equally intently so that it will not be eaten by some predator
What scientists know about the difference in attention between the two hemispheres makes the apparently impossible problem for birds possible
Birds pay narrowly focused attention to what they are eating with their right eye (left hemisphere) while keeping their left eye (right hemisphere) open for predators
And this difference is preserved as we evolve
The left hemisphere specializes in a sort of piecemeal attention that helps us make use of the world, but in doing so alters our relationship to it
While the right hemisphere subserves a broad open attention which enables us to see ourselves connected to and empathise with - whatever is other than ourselves
These kinds of attention are mutually incompatible though we need to be able to employ both simultaneously
In humans being able to stand back from the world the need for specialization becomes stronger
As we stand back we can either see the world as being separate from ourselves, as something we can use, or quite the opposite as connected to ourselves more deeply, we can see others, for the first time, as beings like ourselves, the ground of empathy
Being able to represent the world artificially - to map it conceptually, substituting tokens for things - enables us to have an overall strategy and this is what language achieves
But it inhibits us from being there, in the experiential world
It places us at one remove from things
So with humans the need to have both ways of understanding the world, and yet keeping them apart, is paramount
The left hemisphere has to do with the capacity to form concepts and the capacity for language and literally to manipulation with the right hand
The right is associated with a whole array of functions that distinguish us from other animals, and relate to our capacity for empathy in intimate connection with the right hemisphere as a whole
It plays a significant part in imagination, creating the capacity for religious awe, music, dance, poetry, art, love of nature a moral sense, a sense of humor and the ability to change our minds
The ways in which hemisphere differences affect what each hemisphere does are profound
Unfortunately, though the hemispheres need to cooperate they find themselves in competition, simply because the left hemispheres take on things is such it thinks it knows it all, while it cannot be aware of what the right hemisphere knows
Each needs the other, but the left hemisphere is more dependent on the right, than the right is on the left
Yet is thinks exactly the opposite, and thinks it can go it alone
The battle between the hemispheres (which is only a battle from the left hemispheres point of view) explains the history of ideas in the West and explains the predicament we find ourselves in today
One that has probably not crossed your mind is the construction of their brains
Ours too
Why do we have two major brain hemispheres?
Why not just one big lump of brain?
Many scientists have wondered about this for a long time
Then through the observation of birds, amongst other things, they understood something
This was that birds, other animals and ourselves need two distinct brain hemispheres for survival
In the case of birds they have to solve a big problem in order to stay alive
They have to be able to feed and look out for predators at the same time
One part of the bird’s brain has to focus intently to locate the piece of grain amongst all the gravel
While another part has to watch out equally intently so that it will not be eaten by some predator
What scientists know about the difference in attention between the two hemispheres makes the apparently impossible problem for birds possible
Birds pay narrowly focused attention to what they are eating with their right eye (left hemisphere) while keeping their left eye (right hemisphere) open for predators
And this difference is preserved as we evolve
The left hemisphere specializes in a sort of piecemeal attention that helps us make use of the world, but in doing so alters our relationship to it
While the right hemisphere subserves a broad open attention which enables us to see ourselves connected to and empathise with - whatever is other than ourselves
These kinds of attention are mutually incompatible though we need to be able to employ both simultaneously
In humans being able to stand back from the world the need for specialization becomes stronger
As we stand back we can either see the world as being separate from ourselves, as something we can use, or quite the opposite as connected to ourselves more deeply, we can see others, for the first time, as beings like ourselves, the ground of empathy
Being able to represent the world artificially - to map it conceptually, substituting tokens for things - enables us to have an overall strategy and this is what language achieves
But it inhibits us from being there, in the experiential world
It places us at one remove from things
So with humans the need to have both ways of understanding the world, and yet keeping them apart, is paramount
The left hemisphere has to do with the capacity to form concepts and the capacity for language and literally to manipulation with the right hand
The right is associated with a whole array of functions that distinguish us from other animals, and relate to our capacity for empathy in intimate connection with the right hemisphere as a whole
It plays a significant part in imagination, creating the capacity for religious awe, music, dance, poetry, art, love of nature a moral sense, a sense of humor and the ability to change our minds
The ways in which hemisphere differences affect what each hemisphere does are profound
Unfortunately, though the hemispheres need to cooperate they find themselves in competition, simply because the left hemispheres take on things is such it thinks it knows it all, while it cannot be aware of what the right hemisphere knows
Each needs the other, but the left hemisphere is more dependent on the right, than the right is on the left
Yet is thinks exactly the opposite, and thinks it can go it alone
The battle between the hemispheres (which is only a battle from the left hemispheres point of view) explains the history of ideas in the West and explains the predicament we find ourselves in today
To learn more visit Ian's website at http://www.iainmcgilchrist.com/
Article by I.McGilchrist
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