Bi-cameral brains in depth

Tue Jan 26 15:54:00 CST 2016

Yes, I do believe it.  In fact, I have extensive first hand experience with
it.  But before my personal experiences with it, I thought it was new-age
silliness.  So I'm not surprised that others might think it "superstition
and foolishness."  I stumbled upon it via a serious meditation practice
before I had any teaching about it.  I assure you, it is real (and I was an
atheist before this discovery).

But have you ever had acupuncture? Maybe you think that is also "superstition
and foolishness?"  It's not, and it is based on a parallel understanding of
the "energy body."

David Morris

On Tue, Jan 26, 2016 at 3:36 PM, john bove <malignd at gmx.com> wrote:

> Do you really believe that these, as you say, ancient, notions --
> kundalini, sushumna nadi -- are about anything other than superstition and
> foolishness?  ""... the workings of the Chakra system, is to achieve a
> balanced blending of the right and left energy channels into the central
> channel ..."  You buy into this?  Energy channels?
>
> *Sent:* Monday, January 25, 2016 at 4:00 PM
> *From:* "David Morris" <fqmorris at gmail.com>
> *To:* "Ian Livingston" <igrlivingston at gmail.com>
> *Cc:* "Joseph Tracy" <brook7 at sover.net>, "P-list List" <
> pynchon-l at waste.org>
> *Subject:* Re: Bi-cameral brains in depth
> 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/?listpynchon-l
>
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