“It seems to me that we face very grave crises indeed and that, if we are to survive, we need not just a few new measures, but a complete change of heart and mind.” Iain McGilchrist, The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World
Left-handed vs right-handed. Is it true that the dominant hemisphere predisposes left- or right-handedness?
And if so then would ambidextrousness indicate hemispheres in harmony?
Many infants of an older age were believed to be disabled if they were left-handed. In a world designed for right-handed they would always be at a disadvantage, need to compensate. So they were 'retrained' as they instinctively reached for an object with their left hand. Advised by doctors that it was necessary.
So many children who were born left-handed, predisposed by brain hemisphere dominance, were forced to become righties. Though they retained leftie capabilities and could be ambidextrous with enough practice. Even excelling with their left, more accuracy and dexterity at new functions.
This is a long way to get to the crux of my comment, which is posing a question, can ambidexterity, training oneself to become adept at both right- and left-handedness be a practice that helps bring both brain hemispheres into harmony? And allow for our highest being to develop?
A fascinating theory but it seems too neat, too clean. I think the way we use our brains, not to mention the world we live in, is much messier than McGilchrist's summation.
See one of our civil rights activists has developed an app. He will send WhatsApp messages based on truth which will challenge propaganda. Since it's authentic we share messages in our groups. Also can be translated using google translate.
Western culture is deeply left-brained (language dominant); Christianity incubated Western mind during the Middle Ages using the Platonic dualism inherited by the church fathers; the idea of the soul became the sublimated template for cognition and intellectual activity. Our culture is rooted in the study of ancient languages that few of us know. Ours is a profoundly top-down, cognition-forward culture; we are all initiates of the ancient world.
What an interesting presentation. I’m inclined to think that employment of both hemispherical views is achieves with maturity. In the younger animal, or indeed, human child, a left-hemisphere dominant focus on what is desired and how to obtain it is essential for survival. With increasing maturity comes the appreciation of the wider picture, and how the attainment of one’s desire necessarily affects other things. Also, there is a male-female difference, and of course this correctly brings up the old nature / nurture chestnut. However, it is more typically female to consider the whole picture, and the effect in this whole picture when pursuing and obtaining one’s desire. It is more typically male to single-mindedly pursue one object to the exclusion of all others and the consequences of that pursuit are ignored, or if recognised are dismissed.
This has been a really intellectually stimulating piece, so thanks very much for sharing it.
Left-handed vs right-handed. Is it true that the dominant hemisphere predisposes left- or right-handedness?
And if so then would ambidextrousness indicate hemispheres in harmony?
Many infants of an older age were believed to be disabled if they were left-handed. In a world designed for right-handed they would always be at a disadvantage, need to compensate. So they were 'retrained' as they instinctively reached for an object with their left hand. Advised by doctors that it was necessary.
So many children who were born left-handed, predisposed by brain hemisphere dominance, were forced to become righties. Though they retained leftie capabilities and could be ambidextrous with enough practice. Even excelling with their left, more accuracy and dexterity at new functions.
This is a long way to get to the crux of my comment, which is posing a question, can ambidexterity, training oneself to become adept at both right- and left-handedness be a practice that helps bring both brain hemispheres into harmony? And allow for our highest being to develop?
A fascinating theory but it seems too neat, too clean. I think the way we use our brains, not to mention the world we live in, is much messier than McGilchrist's summation.
Note
Good Morning
See one of our civil rights activists has developed an app. He will send WhatsApp messages based on truth which will challenge propaganda. Since it's authentic we share messages in our groups. Also can be translated using google translate.
https://apps.apple.com/ie/app/dhruv-ratheel.
id1553920898
What is interesting is that McGilchrist does not find value in Julian Jaynes.https://www.julianjaynes.org/about/about-jaynes-theory/critiques-and-responses-part-1/confusion-regarding-schizophrenia-as-a-vestige-of-the-bicameral-mind/
Western culture is deeply left-brained (language dominant); Christianity incubated Western mind during the Middle Ages using the Platonic dualism inherited by the church fathers; the idea of the soul became the sublimated template for cognition and intellectual activity. Our culture is rooted in the study of ancient languages that few of us know. Ours is a profoundly top-down, cognition-forward culture; we are all initiates of the ancient world.
What an interesting presentation. I’m inclined to think that employment of both hemispherical views is achieves with maturity. In the younger animal, or indeed, human child, a left-hemisphere dominant focus on what is desired and how to obtain it is essential for survival. With increasing maturity comes the appreciation of the wider picture, and how the attainment of one’s desire necessarily affects other things. Also, there is a male-female difference, and of course this correctly brings up the old nature / nurture chestnut. However, it is more typically female to consider the whole picture, and the effect in this whole picture when pursuing and obtaining one’s desire. It is more typically male to single-mindedly pursue one object to the exclusion of all others and the consequences of that pursuit are ignored, or if recognised are dismissed.
This has been a really intellectually stimulating piece, so thanks very much for sharing it.
Thanks for sharing. I have not read this work. I need to.