The most encompassing book I've read this year. At a surface level, it is a sweeping description of the human brain and its relationship to human culture, especially as concerns the left hemisphere (emissary) and the right hemisphere (master). Iain McGilchrist is uniquely situated to write such a book, as he is one of the greatest living polymaths. He is a fellow of All Souls College, which is a staggering achievement; he taught English, philosophy, and psychiatry, and eventually dove into medicine, doing neuroimaging at Johns Hopkins. The great intersection of that Venn diagram lets him write as an expert about both the anatomical reasoning for his thesis and the cultural ramifications those conclusions historically have—you can read the book for its excellent summary of Western culture alone. He came to Hillsdale to give a lecture this spring (it wasn't recorded, but this podcast is similar), which covered some of what he discusses in this book, and motivated me to tackle his book [b:The Matter With Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World|58955313|The Matter With Things Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World|Iain McGilchrist|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1641262000l/58955313._SX50_.jpg|92917408] next year.

After establishing the distinct difference between our hemispheres, he takes the yoke from books like [b:1984|61439040|1984|George Orwell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1657781256l/61439040._SX50_.jpg|153313], [b:Brave New World|5129|Brave New World|Aldous Huxley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575509280l/5129._SY75_.jpg|3204877], and [b:The Abolition of Man|25825420|The Abolition of Man|C.S. Lewis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1435685201l/25825420._SY75_.jpg|14823978]. The criticism of hyper-rationalism in each of those is expounded in McGilchrist's argument that modern culture has upset the balance of the left and right hemispheres. The left views the world as distinct parts, each a problem to be solved; it is very good at this. But the right takes the birds eye view, appreciating beauty; while not great at specifics, intuition is the realm of the right hemisphere. The 21st century West though has more and more embraced the pure reason of the left hemisphere while tending to reject the more human and transcendental aspects of the right.

While this argument probably isn't new to you, his proof for it (at times very empirical, at other times intuitive—like the brain) is likely novel, and he ties together countless aspects of the Western tradition to arrive there. I listened to the audiobook and so have forgotten most of the excellent quotes in here, but I purchased the physical version and intend to read it more carefully in the future, because there are many many insights to be gleaned.

Overall a highly integrated book that touches much that is dear to me; highly recommend this thought provoking read if you're willing to dedicate some time to it!

"Our talent for division, for seeing the parts, is of staggering importance – second only to our capacity to transcend it, in order to see the whole"