The right hemisphere is attentive to everything without any preconception about what that might be. And that is very, very important. Because in effect, the way we attend to the world governs what it is we find there. – Ian McGilchrist
In 1961, a groundbreaking surgery on a patient known as “W.J.” revealed something extraordinary about the human brain. W.J. had undergone a corpus callosotomy—a procedure that severs the connection between the left and right hemispheres of the brain—to alleviate severe epilepsy.
The result? His seizures stopped, but something far stranger emerged. When shown an image only to his left eye (processed by the right hemisphere), he couldn’t name what he saw—his left brain, responsible for language, was out of the loop. But when asked to draw it with his left hand (controlled by the right hemisphere), he could do so with ease.
Even more fascinating, if W.J.’s right brain “knew” something the left brain didn’t, his left brain would simply fabricate an explanation. If his left hand pointed to a picture of a snow shovel (seen by the right brain), his left brain might say, “That’s for cleaning the driveway,” even though it had no idea why the right brain made that choice.
This is the paradox of the divided brain: two independent minds within one skull, each with its own way of perceiving the world.
Let’s dive deeper into how this impacts you.
My guest is Dr. IainMcGilchrist.
Iain is a true polymath—he’s a psychiatrist, neuroscientist, philosopher, and literary scholar.
He’s been a Fellow of All Souls College at Oxford and is currently an Associate Fellow at Green Templeton College. He’s also a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and previously served as Clinical Director at the Bethlem Royal & Maudsley Hospital in London. He’s been a research fellow in neuroimaging at Johns Hopkins and was a Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Stellenbosch.
Ian is also the author of a number of groundbreaking books, but is best-known for The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World,and his monumental two-volume work, The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World.
In his books Iain contends that the way the two hemispheres of the brain operate is fundamentally distinct. It’s not that the hemispheres handle different functions, but that they approach these functions in entirely different ways. These differences shape how we think, relate, and according to Ian, even how we build societies. When one hemisphere dominates, it influences our worldview, often with profound consequences for our personal and collective lives.
At the individual level, recognizing when your thinking is more left- or right-brain dominant allows you to cultivate balance. By consciously shifting focus and engaging both hemispheres, we may better navigate challenges, relationships, and opportunities.
During our conversation, we cover …
- The divided brain, how and why
- Attention and survival
- Hemispheric differences
- The dangers of left hemisphere dominance
- Mental Health and modern society
- Black and white thinking
- The benefits of mindfulness
- Intuition and emotion
- What open-mindedness really means
- Consciousness and the brain
- Mechanization and AI
- The general purpose of life
During our conversation, Ian weaves neuroscience, history, philosophy, and even poetry into a rich and compelling narrative.
Enjoy!
Resources / Links
- Book: The Master and His Emissary, The Divided Brian and the Making of the Western World
- Website: Channel McGilchrist
- Related Book: Resonance by Hartmut Rosa
- Topic Inspiration: William James on consciousness
