Bi-cameral brains in depth

Sat Feb 6 11:03:18 CST 2016

If the listed illnesses are ameliorated or cured, by a Western or Eastern
practice, then that will be provable. Amelioration or cure, in the absence
of ruling out other influences is the proof.  "you're gonna get your cause
& effect".
I suggest you are using the word "paradigm" too broadly or metaphorically
if you use it to describe Western vs. Eastern medical practices.
Kuhn's use is the one I mean when I use it, although I haven't.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradigm

On Sat, Feb 6, 2016 at 11:48 AM, Keith Davis <kbob42 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Yes, Mark, and it may not be possible to prove one by the other, because
> they operate in different paradigms.
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On Feb 6, 2016, at 11:40 AM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Joseph sez:
> "The thing about that is that you will not see large effort to test this
> since no idependent and provably objective western scientists or doctors
> want to be put on the line if their examination of the phenomena shows it
> to be real."
>
> If "provably objective by western or any area scientists, this is
> science." I do not think that resistance by doctors is the ONLY reason it
> is not more widespread.
>
> On Sat, Feb 6, 2016 at 11:25 AM, Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net> wrote:
>
>> Dan’s post goes into more depth than I was able to convey with a nice
>> clarity.
>>
>> As far as Chinese healing techniques. Robert Peng has taught Qi Gong
>> healing at several eminent Hospitals. Acupuncture is being used at
>> Stanford’s 2 hospitals for anesthesia. It is being used at Mt Sinai
>> Hospital for the *list of conditions below.  There is a qigong hospital in
>> China that claims to have had a number of cancer cures including ones that
>> have ben recorded via ultrasound. Skepticism makes sense with such claims
>> but they should looked into. The thing about that is that you will not see
>> large effort to test this since no idependent and provably objective
>> western scientists or doctors want to be put on the line if their
>> examination of the phenomena shows it to be real. Resistance to these
>> things is still very high.
>>  *• Anxiety
>> • Arthritis
>> • Bursitis
>> • Constipation
>> • Frozen Shoulder
>> • Headaches
>> • Insomnia
>> • Joint Pain
>> • Lower Back Pain
>> • Migraines
>> • Nausea
>> • Neck Pain
>> • Neuralgia
>> • Nicotine Dependency
>> • Sciatica
>> • Sinusitis
>> • Stress
>> • Tendonitis
>> • Tennis Elbow
>> • Tinnitus
>> • TMJ
>> • Weight Problems
>> About 1/4 of US hospitals now include non-allopathic medical treatments
>> from accupuncture to homeopathy
>>
>> Then there is biofeedback which combines techno monitoring of brain and
>> body signals in order to empower the mind to facilitate healing.
>>
>> > On Feb 6, 2016, at 8:58 AM, Danny Weltman <danny.weltman at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > At the very least, from Bove's list of "subjective observations that
>> are most typically wrong," geocentricity, phlogiston, humours, and leeching
>> were undoubtedly part of science as it existed at the time. The Ptolemaic
>> geocentric model of the universe provided BETTER predictions than the
>> Copernican heliocentric model for some time, for instance, thanks to all
>> the "epicycles" that they added into the Potlemaic model as they refined it
>> over the years. Phlogiston was a respectable theory of combustion until we
>> came up with tests to distinguish it from its competitors, at which point
>> it was disproven. That ought not to be a black mark on phlogiston:
>> scientists can be wrong sometimes! The same can be said for humours and
>> leeching, which were our best bets at figuring out what was going on and
>> how to fix it.
>> >
>> > Thus what it takes for something to be "proven" knowledge is a little
>> opaque to me. Certainly things that we thought were right later turned out
>> to be wrong, such as Aristotelian physics and Newtonian physics, or
>> geocentricity, or phlogiston. Much of what we now think is right may one
>> day similarly turn out to be wrong, and if you think about it, the track
>> record for science is actually one which suggests that we're likely to
>> DISPROVE much of what we now take to be "proven" as we make progress, hence
>> the idea of what philosophers call the "pessimistic induction" or the
>> "pessimistic meta-induction," which is that one ought not to think that
>> science has proven ANYTHING yet, because at some point in the future, the
>> next Einsteins will make us throw out everything we are now as sure about
>> as we were once sure about Newtonian physics (see here:
>> http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scientific-realism/#PesInd ).
>> >
>> > This is not to say that anything goes, but it is, I think, ludicrous to
>> deny that science is not just a magic objective process that serves us
>> slices of truth on toast every once in a while. Scientists don't have a
>> mystical ability to divine the truth - instead they have a process that
>> lets the muddle along and improve on our current models with models that we
>> think do better. How long will these models last? It's very had to predict
>> this sort of thing. People have been as certain as anything about things we
>> now know are wrong. Kant thought Newtonian physics was fundamental to our
>> understanding of reality such that there's no way to conceive of space and
>> time outside of Newton (if you're a human, at least). Because science is a
>> process undertaken by scientists, it's subject to all the vagaries of those
>> scientists themselves, including (for instance) Eurocentricity about the
>> sorts of medical treatments that are subject to sustained study and
>> refinement in the "proper" scientific manner. Maybe acupuncture and so on
>> is all bullshit, maybe it isn't, but there are more reasons than "it's
>> bullshit" for the fact that the Mayo Clinic isn't sticking needles into
>> people (if in fact they aren't).
>> >
>> > Danny
>> >
>> > On Fri, Feb 5, 2016 at 8:57 PM, Joseph Stafura <jzstafura at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> > Snide comments on here aside - my life has been marked by a decreasing
>> number of people who believe in the value of the scientific method. The
>> weird mortality bump among 50-ish whites in America is likely a result of
>> this, as is an inability to think in certain organized ways that allow one
>> to see the world clearly - in at least one way! not the only way! It used
>> to depress the living shit out of me, but now it is not surprising in the
>> least.
>> >
>> > Peace all….Joe
>> >
>> >
>> >> On Feb 5, 2016, at 11:52 PM, Christopher <christophperec at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Bove's aggression and sneering is just another case of the increasing
>> number of people who aggressively believe in scientific 'progress' in
>> retaliation to a fear of the unknown and an anxiety over that which they're
>> unable to 'master'.
>> >>
>> >> And, of course, science requires an act of faith as anything else
>> does....
>> >>
>> >> On Sat, Feb 6, 2016 at 4:44 AM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >> There have always been things that are not measureable by current
>> "science." Science is limited by theory and technology.  Science IS a
>> belief system. If you don't know that, you should check yourself...
>> >>
>> >> David Morris
>> >>
>> >> On Friday, February 5, 2016, john bove <malignd at gmx.com> wrote:
>> >> I make myself too important?  If there are things that exist tht are
>> not measurable by science, explain to me what it is you're proposing to
>> show that they do exist.  Science isn't a belief system; it's a method, a
>> program, for verifying or not the things that you want to believe in
>> without verification, most of which are tied up with superstition, ancient
>> ideas, etc.  and "ultimate realities"?  What the fuck does that mean?
>> >>
>> >> Sent: Friday, February 05, 2016 at 10:28 PM
>> >> From: "David Morris" <fqmorris at gmail.com>
>> >> To: "john bove" <malignd at gmx.com>
>> >> Cc: "pynchon -l" <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>> >> Subject: Re: Bi-cameral brains in depth
>> >> Bove,
>> >>
>> >> You make yourself too important, like Trump.
>> >>
>> >> There are things that exist that are not measureable by current
>> science. There are ultimate realities that defy describing by words,
>> because they are beyond words.
>> >>
>> >> Mysteries are real.
>> >>
>> >> David Morris
>> >>
>> >> On Friday, February 5, 2016, john bove <malignd at gmx.com> wrote:
>> >> Eons of subjective observations that are most typically wrong -- the
>> flat earth, geocentricity, witches, devils, over one thousand invented gods
>> and counting, phlogiston, humours, leeching, Christian scientists, Jung,
>> intelligent designers ...  It may be deep in the genes, but that's
>> precisely why it can't be trusted.  And horrors attributable to the pursuit
>> of objectivity, to the scientific method?  You want it abandoned?  Or do
>> you mean the ends, e.g., atomic bombs, to which that knowledge has been put
>> to -- horrible because effective, because it was correct.
>> >>
>> >> And interesting to see how criticism of what one person -- me -- finds
>> unscientific (untestable, subject to irresponsible, anecdotal, and naive
>> claims) makes people so angry.  Someone who has chosen to call himself
>> "Jerky" wants me tossed off the list. Been there before ...
>> >>
>> >> Good luck with your pursuits.  I suggest Madame Blavatsky, if you
>> haven't yet embraced her.
>> >> Sent: Monday, February 01, 2016 at 10:47 PM
>> >> From: "David Morris" <fqmorris at gmail.com>
>> >> To: "john bove" <malignd at gmx.com>
>> >> Cc: "pynchon -l" <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>> >> Subject: Re: Bi-cameral brains in depth
>> >> Bove,
>> >>
>> >> You somehow think your measure of reality is superior because it is
>> somehow "objective?"  But your objectivity discounts multitudes of eons of
>> subjective observation.  Call it what you will, but it is deep in the
>> genes. Your standard is modern, but not inherently superior.  It has its
>> benefits, but its horrors are also rife.  A real scientist would look at
>> the eons of other esoteric sciences and be less hostile. They don't
>> threaten you.  They don't care about you.  Truth will prevail.
>> >>
>> >> David Morris
>> >>
>> >> On Mon, Feb 1, 2016 at 5:39 PM, john bove <malignd at gmx.com> wrote:
>> >> I'm not picking a fight. I'm in fact doing the opposite, trying to
>> take this seriously.  But  Chunlian Al Huang said or did this, and Spinoza
>> thought that in the 15th century and even Nietsche gave it a green light
>> ... The two houses of the brain ... (Why "houses"?), natural wisdom, a
>> helix curved ...  By any standard this is laughable non-science, and so you
>> have to fall back on the argument that science misses important keys of
>> knowledge or undiscovered pathways or the wisdom of the ancients or
>> whatever.  If you can't do better than that or, instead, offer up anecdotal
>> evidence ("my backache's gone!"), it's on the level of astrology.
>> >> Sent: Monday, February 01, 2016 at 2:20 PM
>> >> From: "Ian Livingston" <igrlivingston at gmail.com>
>> >> To: "ish mailian" <ishmailian at gmail.com>
>> >> Cc: "pynchon -l" <Pynchon-l at waste.org>
>> >>
>> >> Subject: Re: Bi-cameral brains in depth
>> >> Keith, my teacher's teacher was Chunliang Al Huang. It is a less
>> martial, more simply chi-oriented style that resembles dance more than
>> combat-training--but, then, tai chi chuan resembles dance in individual
>> practice anyhow, doesn't it?
>> >>
>> >> Joseph, there is indeed support for the linear / holistic activities
>> for recognizing a division of labor between the two houses of the brain.
>> Language is associated with the left brain, so pretty much all we express
>> in linguistic terms (remembering that mathematics is a language, as may
>> movement be) is dominated by left-brain activity. That, of course, implies
>> that even the most finely-honed linguistic approaches to expression also
>> engage the broader, synthetic functions of the creative, visionary areas of
>> the right brain. I look forward to reading The M & Em.
>> >>
>> >> And pain, yes. Some of the neurons associated with pain messages
>> extend the entire distance from the mid-brain to the tip of the big toe.
>> That can be a 7' long neuron. Don't know where I'm going with that, but,
>> hey--it's just one of those remarkable factoids contained within the fact
>> of the non-duality of the body and mental activity. It still fascinates me
>> that Spinoza postulated that argument so effectively in the 15th c. That's
>> quite a stretch for a lens grinder! For all his eagerness to dismiss
>> Spinoza for his methods, even Nietzsche embraced the rightness of his
>> thought.
>> >>
>> >> On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 3:47 AM, ish mailian <ishmailian at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >> In this brief and simple piece some of the ideas discussed here
>> >> recently are addressed. One of the ideas is the Natural wisdom we
>> >> have, of our bodies, bodies that are not separate from our heads or
>> >> minds, not divided. .  We got here without much of modern medicine's
>> >> miracles. The miracle of conception, of two sharing the energies of
>> >> life, the double, is a black hole, is a helix curved.
>> >>
>> >> Does Lamaze “Work”?
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3431777/
>> >>
>> >>
>> https://www.timeshighereducation.com/content/book-review-black-hole-by-marcia-bartusiak
>> >>
>> >>
>> http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jun/12/lifes-greatest-secret-story-race-genetic-code-matthew-cobb-review
>> >>
>> >> On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 12:09 AM, Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net>
>> wrote:
>> >> > Just caught your reply tonight. Thanks for the feedback. Your
>> experience with accupuncture, where the healing takes place overnight, is
>> typical of several people I have talked with and my own experience. Makes
>> me think pain works in the brain in a self-reinforcing cycle. I find that
>> sending consciousness and , in my imagination, breath/chi to an aggravated
>> or painful area while doing qigong exercises has reliably good results.
>> >> >
>> >> > As far as the hemisphere differences, McGilchrist often repeats what
>> your studies are saying that complex processes engage  more than one
>> hemisphere. But it does seem irrefutable that when there is for instance a
>> stroke that severely impairs one hemisphere or the other the disabilities
>> are dramatically different for each and fall into distinct patterns of
>> effect that point both to the kinds of things that each hemispere is likely
>> to handle and to the way each side processes personal experiences and
>> mental tasks.  Of course what is hard to tell by that means would be
>> something that initiates in one hemispere and is sent to the other  for the
>> bulk of processing. But his extensive citations show he is not alone in his
>> leanings about some general and specific  differences between the
>> hemisperes. McGilchrists mastery of the current reasearch is not of a
>> pop-science quality, but the expression of a life devoted to brain research
>> and its interpretation in a larger context.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >> On Jan 27, 2016, at 4:00 AM, Ian Livingston <
>> igrlivingston at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> >>
>> >> >> A single accupuncture treatment cured my sciatica a decade ago
>> after I had thrown useless hundreds away on massage therapy and
>> chiropractic treatment. The next step was to be weeks of bed rest I could
>> not afford combined with pain meds. Would've cost thousands in lost work
>> and expenses. On a whim, because I figured I had nothing to lose, I stopped
>> at an accupuncture school in Santa Cruz, Ca, where I lived at the time, and
>> got a low-cost treatment from an advanced student. That night the pain was
>> incredible, but I eventually fell asleep and woke in the morning pain-free,
>> with full range of motion. True story. I took up tai chi chuan as a
>> maintenance plan, and have had no flare-ups of the pain I experienced while
>> trying to climb trees (I was a full-time arborist then) and carry heavy
>> logs and limbs, and generally bend, lift and twist 8 hours a day.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> I do not understand all the energy theories. I've been at the
>> fringes of all that stuff for decades, on and off, of course, but I've
>> mostly worked in heavy labor and played in book-learning. It was shortly
>> after the incident with the sciatica that I took up a serious Zen
>> meditation practice, which did wonders for helping me to stop smoking and
>> quit caffeine without anxiety or cravings. I went on to study Chinese
>> alchemy as a result of reading Jung on the subject, and found myself in
>> agreement with him that alchemy is indeed a psychological pursuit of
>> integrity on a relatively subtle level. There's a terrific little intro
>> book used in Traditional Chinese Medicine schools here in CA, The Web That
>> Has No Weaver. Worth a look.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> In direct response to your query, Joseph, my profs were cautious
>> about the left-brain / right-brain differentiation primarily because recent
>> work with fMRI studies shows that, when complex problems are presented, the
>> whole brain lights up, with higher activity levels in some areas than in
>> others. Also, the role of the corpus collosum appears to be that of making
>> sure that action potentials carry effectively between the two cerebral
>> lobes. Furthermore, it would be false to say that the entire brain is
>> divided by the corpus collosum. Only the cerebral cortex is thus divided
>> and united, as it were. The why of that is the study of a great many
>> lifetimes. Maybe humans will someday know. One of the darkest areas of
>> brain research is still to do with neurotransmitters. Research reveals how
>> they work in synapses, but how many operate within the brain is still
>> anybody's guess, and the functions of only a very few are known. Folks are
>> discovering new ones all the time.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> I'll leave off with a wonderful quote from one of my neuropsych
>> texts: "The number of possible synaptic connections in a normal human brain
>> exceeds the number molecules in the known universe." I suspect it'll be a
>> while before we fully understand an organ with that level of potential
>> complexity.
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> On Tue, Jan 26, 2016 at 6:44 PM, Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net>
>> wrote:
>> >> >>
>> >> >> The Chinese have been working with energy flow  for thousands of
>> years and have developed a medical system based on it that is very
>> effective. The west too is beginning to study the flow of low level
>> electric charge in the body.   Many would have mocked  mindfulness
>> meditation as having any value a decade ago. Now, based on clinical trials,
>> it is being incorporated into western medical practice. Tibetan herbs are
>> being used in medical operations in Israel to minimize drug side effects
>> and improve the speed and comfort of healing.  Such herbs are being studied
>> in Switzerland and Germany for the treatment of high cholesterol.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> At 64 i have personally only found increased flexibility, better
>> posture,  improved non drug -dependent energy levels, and other sometimes
>> dramatically  positive effects from yoga, acupuncture, tai chi and qigong.
>> I teach a small class on qi-gong and tai chi and others report similar
>> positive results.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> I understand  and practice skepticism. I see from a friends post
>> that the Dalai Lama is going in for prostate surgery. No Kundalini bolt up
>> the spine for me so far.  I don’t so much believe in energy meridians as
>> hold them in my mind as a map, and pay attention to my actual experience
>> with qigong practices. Accupuncture can be simply amazing for things that
>> doctors can’t seem to treat. Myself and several very rational friends have
>> seen severe chronic pain from an injury disappear overnight through
>> accupuncture.
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> > On Jan 26, 2016, at 4:38 PM, john bove <malignd at gmx.com> wrote:
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > And you too?  The Kundalini awakening???  Good luck.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > Sent: Monday, January 25, 2016 at 4:33 PM
>> >> >> > From: "Joseph Tracy" <brook7 at sover.net>
>> >> >> > To: "P-list List" <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>> >> >> > Subject: Re: Bi-cameral brains in depth
>> >> >> > Very interesting response in that I am myself very engaged
>> currently with trying to learn to meditate with particular interest in the
>> Kundalini awakening. For years I have done yoga and for the last 3 years
>> have shifted my interest to qigong and tai chi. But for a couple months now
>> I have been trying to meditate and doing some breath practices. If you have
>> any personal thoughts or advice or suggestions for reading or online info,
>> I would be interested. With qigong I am experiencing very discernible
>> warmth and tingling in my arms and hands and have been able to profoundly
>> and at least for 2 months now, completely relieve some muscle knots in my
>> left shoulder and neck - knots that had been with me for probably cloose to
>> a decade.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > In general it seems that asian philosophies and practices have
>> much greater emphasis on balance. The idea/knowledge base that the central
>> channel has no power of its own is something I had missed but really fits
>> with role of emptiness in Taoism and Tibetan Buddhism. Anyway thanks,
>> David. This one went right past the conversation at hand to hit dead center
>> of my own interests and pursuits.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > > On Jan 25, 2016, at 4:00 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >> >> > >
>> >> >> > > In Eastern meditation/spiritual schools there is a concept of
>> Kundalini energy that is the life-source of all animated flesh. This model
>> is part of the ages-old Chakra system that illustrates the pathways of
>> something called the "subtle body." In that model chakras are nodes of
>> energy passage, crossings along the vertical main highways of the three
>> main energy channels: the Right side (Bingala Nadi), the Left side (Ida
>> Nali), and the Central channel (Sushumna Nadi). In some ways it might be
>> said that the goal of meditation when it come to the workings of the Chakra
>> system, is to achieve a balanced blending of the right and left energy
>> channels into the central channel, achieving a synthesis greater then the
>> sum of the two sides, because the central channel has no power of its own,
>> only that supplied from the two sides. But when the two sides unify into
>> the center, that is when transcendence happens.
>> >> >> > >
>> >> >> > > I expect the bicameral structure of the brain might be also
>> mapped to this ancient system.
>> >> >> > >
>> >> >> > > http://www.freemeditationnz.com/our-three-energy-channels.html
>> >> >> > >
>> >> >> > > David Morris
>> >> >> > >
>> >> >> > >
>> >> >> > >
>> >> >> > > On Monday, January 25, 2016, Ian Livingston <
>> igrlivingston at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> >> > > My neuropsych profs were eager to caution that we have now
>> reached such a deep understanding of the brain and its functions that we
>> can at last say with confidence that we know almost nothing about it.
>> >> >> > >
>> >> >> > > On Mon, Jan 25, 2016 at 8:47 AM, Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net>
>> wrote:
>> >> >> > > Yes I read those reviews. What I am finding so far is that the
>> book is very careful to build its picture of how the hemispheres work from
>> data. Every step of the way, he draws on research and is very careful so
>> far not to overreach and to include differing takes on that data. One of
>> the things he points out is that brain science is with current technology
>> and perhaps will always be a matter of intelligent interpretation since it
>> deals with qualities and actions for which quantification makes little
>> sense, like empathy, unjustified self confidence, manual grasping behaviors
>> etc. Also it is almost impossible to really track the mechanisms involved(
>> if they really are of a mechanistic nature) because they take place in a
>> living organism. So brain scans give correspondences between activities and
>> brain metabolism but not clearly detailed causal relationships. Also many
>> mental processes draw on both sides of the brain which he frequently
>> reminds the reader.
>> >> >> > >
>> >> >> > > Stlll, I think any reader will be surprised and amazed at the
>> wealth and specificity of the data and how much can be meaningfully and
>> confidently understood about the hemispheric differences. I know I am.
>> >> >> > >
>> >> >> > > It is true that he is trying to say something philosophically
>> profound and that is always dangerous terrain, though I have not gotten to
>> the heart of that part of the text. The question is whether there is enough
>> data to support it. So far the data base is so rich that the book cannot
>> fail to leave a powerful imprint and sense of enriched understanding for me.
>> >> >> > >
>> >> >> > >
>> >> >> > > > On Jan 25, 2016, at 10:22 AM, Paul Mackin <
>> mackin.paul at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> >> > > >
>> >> >> > > > One of a number of favorable reviews, this one glowing.
>> However a couple of reviewers according to Wikipedia cautioned against
>> culture and psychology conclusions getting too far ahead of hard brain
>> science.
>> >> >> > > >
>> >> >> > > > http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jan/02/1
>> >> >> > > >
>> >> >> > > > On Mon, Jan 25, 2016 at 6:39 AM, Mark Kohut <
>> mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> >> > > > "You're gonna want your cause and effect, eh?"
>> >> >> > > > Since his first book is entitled Against Criticism, I hope he
>> isn't IN GR--
>> >> >> > > > but I'll mic drop in advance. ......
>> >> >> > > > Just a little metajoke there, heh, heh.
>> >> >> > > >
>> >> >> > > > On Sun, Jan 24, 2016 at 8:10 PM, Joseph Tracy <
>> brook7 at sover.net> wrote:
>> >> >> > > > I am currently reading Iain McGilchrist’s The Master and his
>> Emissary
>> >> >> > > >
>> >> >> > > >
>> >> >> > > >
>> >> >> > > > One of the most scientifically, psychologically and
>> philosophically profound books I have ever read. It really has me reeling
>> with information and insight and makes sense of so much that seems
>> inscrutable in human history and personal behavior. I came across the title
>> and a description with a brief quote while doing research on another book.
>> It seemed the more intriguing book so I got it from the library. Will be
>> looking for a used copy.
>> >> >> > > > The topic is the roles of the 2 hemispheres of the brain and
>> he brings together an unexpected wealth of medical/scientific research,
>> both contemprary and historic to build a very powerful picture of the
>> nature of each hemisphere, as well as the evolutionary logic of their
>> differentiation. Both from the introduction and from some peeks ahead I
>> know he has a philosophic intention that argues for a greater balance in
>> our cultural biases, and greater awareness of the brain-structure origins
>> of those biases.
>> >> >> > > > From a Pynchon reader POV McGilchrist takes on the brain
>> structure basis of major themes and historic tendencies that appear
>> throughout the body of P’s work. Essentially it is about the division in
>> the brain between left hemisphere’s tendency to seek and produce control
>> achieved through manipulable units of thought, communication, structure,
>> manufacture and the right brain’s holistic, individualistic and socially
>> empathic style. ( there is no way to adequadetly summarize this or the
>> pages of precise information derived from scientific research). This
>> struggle appers in all P books and with profound starkness in Pynchon’s
>> essay on CP Snow, and the GR theme of mechanistic control vs nature/pursuit
>> of bliss/personal freedom, humane solidarity.
>> >> >> > > >
>> >> >> > > > The writer’s background for this book is about as good as
>> possible. Professional Psychiatrist specializing in physiological brain
>> issues, a researcher in neuro-imaging and an Oxford English teacher 3 times
>> elected Fellow at All Souls College. Of equal or greater importance is the
>> originality of his brilliance and the humane depth of his quest to
>> understand how our brain structure fits into our historic development, and
>> his sense that understanding these things might free us to find a better
>> way forward.
>> >> >> > > >
>> >> >> > > > Has anyone else read it?
>> >> >> > > >
>> >> >> > > > 462 pgs of text and over 100 of end notes etc.-
>> >> >> > > > Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>> >> >> > > >
>> >> >> > > >
>> >> >> > >
>> >> >> > > -
>> >> >> > > Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>> >> >> > >
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > -
>> >> >> > Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>> >> >> > - Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>> >> >>
>> >> >> -
>> >> >> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>> >> >>
>> >> >
>> >> > -
>> >> > Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>> >> -
>> >> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>> >> - Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>> >> - Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>> >> - Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>> >>
>> >
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>>
>> -
>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>>
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