As an attempt to shed some light on our forever ongoing bipolar "Obama rocks & sucks" debate here on Dailykos and on national scene in general, I like to share with you the thought provoking video in which the world renowned psychiatrist/author/researcher Dr. Ian McGilchrist discusses his recent book titled "The Master and His Emissary." This is not so much of a diary, but a sharing of a scholarly work I believe as consequential to our political realities, simply because I don't feel I have the expertise to interpret McGilchrist's book, other than stating what I see as the bottom line, briefly:
That, when it comes to how our brains work in relation to making sense of the world,
The "right hemisphere" (defined as the "master" in McGilchrist's book) knows that it does not know alone and that it must work in unity and harmony with the "left hemisphere" for proper reasoning and survival. It is the "wise" one, the peaceful one, in other words.
The "left hemisphere" (defined as the "emissary of the master" in the same book) does not know that it does not know alone and therefore is not interested in working with its other half, the right brain hemisphere. In other words, the "left brain" (emissary) thinks that it is the master (and the whole) by itself thus unaware of its dependence for its survival and sense making, on its other half. It thinks black and white, power, win-lose.
"Master" is "aware of its unity with its other half": Tends to bring about Renaissances and evolution in grand scale. The division between the arts and the sciences disappear.
"Emissary" is "unaware of its halfness and its unity with its other half" (forgets, denies, amnesic, controlling, rigid, schizophrenic). Tends to bring about empires, dictatorships, materialism, greed, wars and eventual decline and destruction by insanity. It is "trapped" in a cycle of power and powerlessness.
The book offers a detailed study of the history of the West in which the periods of awareness of both (Yin/Yang), the natural unity of the right and the left hemispheres creating sudden explosions of "Renaissances," followed by steep declines into the left hemisphere's rigid rationality (egoistic and unnatural) takeover resulting in empires and their inevitable destructions. The cyclic rise and the fall of Hellenistic and Roman civilizations are examples to such and the European Renaissance plus the British Romantic period were results of the Yin and the Yang unity awareness.
In addition, Ian McGilchrist observes that we are in another period of left hemisphere ("left" here not to be confused by the political "left") takeover in recent times and thus (in his terms) his study made available to the world in his book, "The Master and His Emissary," is for the purpose of "rising awareness" to our brains' natural unity and how things go wrong when we become unaware (in cyclic patterns) of this unity. I must insert here that it is hard to disagree with him about the "left hemisphere takeover," considering the shape of the things so far.
In conclusion, I do not know if Ian McGilchrist would agree with me on how I think his theory reveals the (unified and aware) mindset of people like Barack Obama but I think it is worth mentioning here. I will however leave the judgment to you, ultimately.
One key point in approaching Ian McGilchrist's theory: One needs an open mindset with a big "O," willing not only to listen but also to hear what is being communicated.
The link for the video mentioned above:
Iain McGilchrist @ Schumacher College: Things Are Not What They Seem
Note: I am currently reading "The Master and His Emissary." I recommend it highly. Well worth your time. It is a book that needs to be read more than once.
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