The Schizophrenic Modern World

In McGilchrist’s new book, The Matter With Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions and the Unmaking of the World, he spends a considerable number of pages discussing the relation of mental illness and other pathologies of the brain to the hemispheric balance. Schizophrenia and autism share a chapter. He provides lots of evidence that the loss of reality and related symptoms in schizophrenic subjects is due to an imbalance of the hemispheres with th left strongly dominating the right. That makes sense as the affected person is operating largely out of the disconnected hemisphere, and had limited connection to the actual… Read More

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Apologies

Again, I apologize for the erratic posting schedule, but this time I do have a reason. As I was composing my to-be-my-next post, I realized that I was almost certainly misinterpreting McGilchrist’s work. I had been reading his new book, but only casually because I found it so daunting. But as I started to read it more closely, I realized it offered more clarity for some of the issues I was concerned about. Nothing much new about the general differences in the way the two hemispheres attend to the world and produce subsequent actions, but lots more about how they… Read More

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The Myth of the Self (4): Caring Connects to the World

For those who haven’t been following closely, I will repost the table containing the several behaviors associated with the right-hemisphere. I have rearranged the rows in the order in which I discuss them in this series of blog posts. * Russell Ackoff’s ways to deal with messes. Right-hemisphere-dominant behavior types Caring is an especially important category because it has existential implications and is also partly constitutive of flourishing. Caring acts incorporate inputs from the contextual world presented to the right hemisphere. Empathy, sensing what is going on with another person and acting in accordance, guides much caring. But not all… Read More

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December 31, 2022

Good-bye to a tumultuous year. A new war. The Jan 6 findings. Horrible performance of the stock market. Covid hanging around. Elections better than expected, but still upsetting the already fractious Congress. Starting to downsize in anticipation of moving to a “retirement community.” But not all with negative ramifications. Halfway to being 92, and in good physical and mental health. Still gifted with a loving spouse to keep me company and warm at night. Busy family, but still no great grandchildren on the horizon. My children haven’t tried to take away the car keys yet, so am happily getting about.… Read More

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The Myth of the Self (3): The Right’s Kingdom—Wonder

Turning to the other side of the brain, the story is quite different. All the entries reflect the dominance of the right hemisphere and all are situation specific. The context of the setting is important, as any action is fitted to the immediate circumstances, unlike routines or habits, which are based on already established (in the left) patterns. The left hemisphere plays a part in most of these types of behaviors, offering up suggestions of responses it believes fit the situation, including options that may not. The right side can either accept or reject these inputs. The ability to say… Read More

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The Myth of the Self (2): The Left’s World

Before you read this, you should read the prior post, if you haven’t already. What I say below requires that you have looked at the two tables and the previous discussion. I do believe that the categorization of the behaviors is consistent with the brand features of the divided-brain-model (very left-hemisphere comment). The idea of self (singular) would signify some unitary being, acting metaphorically like a machine, run by a program that can produce a variety of distinctive behaviors. Distinctive according to some criteria that an observer might use to describe an action, but arising from a common mechanism. One’s… Read More

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The Myth of The Self (1)

I have just completed a course at the lifelong learning institution I belong to about three novels of displacement. Basically they are about how people respond after suddenly being transported from a world in which they have been acculturated to a completely different one. One was The Hunger Angel, by Herta Müller, a Nobel laureate in literature. It’s about an ethnic-German Romanian man who is removed to a Russian labor camp during WWII, and describes how he survives there during the 4-5 years he is interned. Another is Primo Levi’s, Survival in Auschwitz, an actual recounting of his experience. Other… Read More

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More Poetry

I can’t escape, but can reflect. Election Day Fears (A Villanelle) The evening news is full of doom and gloom. Our country may be coming to an end. Each founding father bestirs in his tomb. It doesn’t help to sit around and fume And get disturbed by the latest trend. The evening news is full of doom and gloom. My rising angst pervades the living room As I think what does that report portend? Each founding father bestirs in his tomb. A new forecast shows up. My spirits bloom, But I need be careful and not pretend. The evening news… Read More

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Say No to Virtual Reality

The promises of virtual reality are coming slower than expected. Even Metaverse (formerly Facebook) has reported poorer than expected progress. As well it should because we are not at all ready for such new technologies. We have yet to learn how to cope with real reality, much less something beyond it. If new technology could ever be the answer to dealing with large and significant social/environmental problems, it must first enable us to see the world and ourselves as they really are. What we really need is a clearer understanding about how we humans perceive and act within the world… Read More

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Another Poem

For those who come looking for something new, I apologize for the long absence. I have been working on some new stuff and have been buried in the process. But just to make sure you now I am still up and about, here is a poem that I recently wrote. As it tells, I am in a pretty down mood about the state of the world. Love to have your comments. No Tears Left As I walked, I saw a tree cry. A maple waking up, I thought. No, it was a great oak’s sadness. I passed by a rock,… Read More

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