Bi-cameral brains in depth

Wed Jan 27 03:00:09 CST 2016

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
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://waste.org/pipermail/pynchon-l/attachments/20160127/06be19ff/attachment.html>