Episode 9: Better Together
Our ancestors made sense of the world – survived it, and sometimes even flourished – through the gift of a balanced brain. Can we do the same?
“Your brain will do more of whatever it’s doing right now.”
And your brain does what it’s doing right now in response, or reaction, to whatever’s emerging from the reality around you, with those responses – or reactions – encoded by all your brain has “learned” from how it’s been used before.
It’s kind of a wild thought. Your brain has configured itself by attending to the reality around you since the earliest chapters of your life. It’s paid attention to the world around you and has optimized itself for the most common and rewarded ways you’ve used it.
Think of your school years. Maybe your grammar school years.
Imagine yourself in the classroom. The teacher calls out a math problem. Hands shoot up in the air as students vie for the “reward” of getting the right answer first. Approval, validation, the sense of being smart, or good at math: solving an equation delivers an unambiguous reward, one where we can know we are right.
Contrast that with something like, say, a theoretical physics class. I used physics as an example to break the mold of the usual right brain associations of art (not that I have anything against art!). In that class there’s not always “one way” to explain or answer a question. You may feel you have to “dig deep” to reach an understanding of an answer – and that answer might continually feel evasive, like there’s still more to understand.
Very different forms of thought … can you feel that?
BOTH hemispheres deliver complementary layers and handoffs when it comes to complex problem solving or thought.
Yet the level of stimulation the left hemisphere receives in modern times – largely due to the tsunami of stimulation it receives through our use of tech – are, in my strong belief, limiting the balanced capacities of a “whole brain.” We see the affects showing up in the rise of social and mental disorders, tech addiction, and even the astonishing drop in college applications in the humanities, social sciences, and liberal arts.
This episode opens up an ongoing dialog about that mental “sea change” and the risks to our personal and societal well-being it suggests – AND how our increasingly linear pursuits put focus on the small, short-term view of the world that blocks our big-picture problem solving.
“Meaning emerges from engagement with the world, not from abstract contemplation of it.”
— Iain McGilchrist
Trailer for “The Divided Brain,” a powerful documentary exploring Dr. Iain McGilchrist’s research and insights about the hemispheres and how our increasingly conditioned use of them is affecting our lives – and our world.
Full film here: The Divided Brain
An excellent “explainer” introducing Iain and his view.
Occipital lobe asymmetry, AKA Yakalevian Torque. Individual brains show significant variances. Some research suggests a correlation between anatomical “twist” variances and cognitive specializations, as well as mental health conditions .
You might enjoy exploring this article about grey and white matter.
And although “grey matter” doesn’t seem to be the star of many videos any of us would actually like to watch, the one below is actually quite good. And watchable.
Thank you and more to come.
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You’ll also find info on our beautiful theme song, used with permission from the artist, below.
Best, Ellen
ellen@thebrainandbeyond.com
I hope you enjoy the music I’ve arranged with artist Lucia Lilikoi to share on my podcast.
Here’s her website, lilikoimusic.com … and you can listen to the full version here, and follow her on Apple Music and Spotify. Her website links to a range listening platforms. Enjoy.
