The Matter With Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World, 2 Volume Set

After 10+ years McGilchrist published a sequel to The Master and His Emissary. The new book is even bigger: about 1.500 pages. In the Kindle edition it is 3000 pages of which 2000 as the main text and the rest is appendices, bibliography and endnotes. So it is not a hill, but a mountain to climb.You can read it on different levels. One is that of the psychopathology of the brain halves. Part I is almost entirely dedicated to show what the different hemispheres, left (LH) and right (RH) do, what and how their respective take is on reality, where things can go wrong, and what then happens, and how dominance of the LH in an uncanny way corresponds with texts and utterances of several famous philosophers and physicists, which is not a good sign.Another level is as a Kulturkritik, by which I mean that the book shows how the different takes of the hemispheres and the dominance of LH have shaped our current world and why this is very worrying. This level is dispersed all over the content of the book. It shows exceptionally clear how the two-hemisphere hypothesis interweaves with several of the societal and worldwide crises that we face.A third level is that of a philosophic search for the ways of gaining true knowledge. This level expands into metaphysics, later on into mysticism and in the last chapter into a search after the ground of being. This level that in itself is many layered, is mainly part II and III.For some people, like me, all levels are very interesting. But when you are a climate activist, or a politician for that mater, the second level might be the most interesting. But although McGilchrist extensively shows the dangers of the current dominance of the LH, no action plan is to be seen. If you are an activist of some sort, imagination/fancy might lead you easily into any planning to go to the barricades, and this is, I feel, just the pitfall that will lead to further dominance of LH. McGilchrist explains the urgency of a rebalancing the LH and RH, but gives no explicite answer, although the answers are, I think, implicite in the text.He takes quite another turn to metaphysical epistemology (if this is not a contradictio in terminis) that is not for everyone. But he writes beautiful pages on many topics, especially the ones on values. From it I sense a deep Metaphysical Heimweh, which could explain the outcome (i.e. God/god/g’d, although not the Christian one, it is more the general idea of the mysterium tremendum et fascinans of Rudolf Otto, which he mentions only in passing) that, I guess, is only for (the) very few. Such, while as I feel it, insight in the pushes and pulls of the RH and LH, and their take of reality is the real key to a fast-learning track of self-awareness, which is: ‘Know Thyself!’, the adage of the Delphi Oracle. I ask myself if here McGilchrist did not try to stack up up to much hay, so to speak, in one book. Here I sense that the different takes that the reader can take to the book do not always sit well together. You might love one part of the approach, and disagree deeply with another part of it.I agree with any conclusion that rebalancing LH and RH is in the end an individual matter, but culture as a whole shapes us as well as we shape culture, so there is an equally important collective problem here.This said, reading the book is delight because of the erudition, even if you do not agree on every single point. McGilchrist seems to me one of those very precious homines universales, as from a bygone era. It might be his Magmum Opus.McGilchrist quotes, agreeing, Sir Arthur Eddington: ‘We have found a strange footprint on the shores of the unknown … we have succeeded in reconstructing the creature that made the footprint. An Lo! Its our own’. (p 1691 Kindle) But he leaves it at that.So, for me in the end it is us! At the end of the quest I do not find god/God/g’d, but I find us and me, humanity in all its greatness and shortcomings. It is from us that the move has to come to honour the master (RH) and show the emissary (LH) its rightful place. This should not be a battle with a winner and a looser, or a wobbly truce that has to be closely guarded. In the end it is us that need to acknowledge that we belong to Nature in every sense you can think of, that Nature isn’t ours, but we are Nature’s. If we do not understand this no God or mysterium can help us. It is up to us alone!But then how difficult is this? The imbalance between LH and RH has happened before. I feel that RH, to stay in the metaphor, has been lured by LH to a dark place, but RH afterall is the Master, who will take his rightful place. It might be a wild ride for some time to come, and we might be too late, but if not, I am not afraid about the outcome. It only asks for a change of paradigm that many are willing to make, but collectivily is a much harder turnaround. But this is personalJan Willem van EeThe Netherlands

This book is split into two volumes, but also three parts:The first part was a detailed analysis of how he came to realize his theory of an imbalance between the two hemispheres. Although a bit dry for my taste. It was thorough and convincing, an idea all brain scientists should consider.The second part also very compelling and gravitates towards my own taste; where McGilchrist levies how this theory has impacted many of the i institutions of our society, most notably science. Too caught up in the minutia of facts, we fail to see the big picture, and this has corrupted our view of truth.The third part, however, fails to impress for me, as a philosopher. I feel that he was a bit of a fish out of water here. For instance, he labels Zeno's Paradox (and many other paradoxes) as "left-brain thinking." But he fails to understand the intellectual advantages of considering the illogical.He begins to use left-hemisphere thinking as a cudgel in this part. Whereas in the other two parts, he was merely outlining an idea and its consequences in our society. Here it felt like he was flailing around (like so many do), but never finding a raft to ultimately hold onto.Overall, it is a vast tome and delves into an interesting theory about the mind and brain. It is not that he should have stopped after part II. But that he should have deeply considered opposing arguments in part III, instead of just highlighting all his favorite quotes that seem to agree with him.A tremendous achievement, although it came to us with a seriously flawed part III.

My husband ordered this book set and the following review is his:This two-volume set by Ian McGilchrist is an in-depth analysis of the duality of the left hemisphere and right hemisphere physiology of the brain, and the implications for human knowledge and understanding. It is written with thoroughness and detailed scholarship that is reflected in a bibliography that is itself over 300 pages.The book looks at the neurology of the brain, its evolution, how it actually works, and most importantly, what it means with a view to eventually answering the question, who are we. How do we come to apprehend and comprehend our world. What is the nature of reality to be understood not only rationally but through imagination, experience, and intuition.It is an argument against the reductionist, materialist, modern strain of thought that only see's the world as bits of matter that can be understood by simply putting it all together in the right sequence. It effectively dispels simplistic materialism for a more nuanced, more holistic, more integrated understanding of the way our minds work and therefore, the way the world works, and what science can reveal. Well written and compelling.

I have finally finished this 1500 page behemoth. This is McGilchrist's follow up to his previous work "The Master and his Emissary". In "The Matter with Things", McGilchrist beefs up his evidence based analysis of the differences between the function of our left and right hemisphere, a division of the central nervous system that exists in some capacity throughout the animal kingdom. McGilchrist draws on the neurological, psychological and psychiatric literature to illustrate the function of each hemisphere and to draw his conclusions. Once again, as in his previous work, he concludes that the left hemisphere is an analytical processor that divides the world into functional bits so as to gain a survival advantage and manipulate the world, achieving a form of satisfying certainty and avoiding ambiguity. The left hemisphere likes the world "cut and dried". The right hemisphere is a parallel processor that holds onto the big picture, avoids pigeon holing reality and checks the work of the left hemisphere, as the actual world is not nearly as "cut and dried" as the left hemisphere would like it to be. The right hemisphere is more intuitive and able to feel into the rhythms of life. It appreciates art and poetry and revels in the wonder of the great mystery of life. Without the right hemispheres support, the left hemisphere is vulnerable to delusion, false certainty and hubris. McGilchrist once again, points out how our modern world has fallen into the grips of the left hemispheres worldview.What McGilchrist adds in this latest book, beyond further substantiating the argument made in the last book, is a detailed review of the philosophical tenets of how we come to understand "reality" including the pathways of science, reason, intuition and imagination. He goes on to explore the stuff of which "reality": consists, including time, space, motion, matter and consciousness. McGilchrist reveals to us the perspective of each hemisphere and ultimately presents us with paradox after paradox, arguing for a view of reality that unites and resolves each paradox. Life and matter are not what they first appear to be. We are a process, facing resistance, a constant flow that only appears to be material. We can scale our perception from the tiny to the cosmic and perceive a part of a whole or a whole containing parts at any level of analysis, each level disappearing into the next. Here McGilchrist comes into perfect alignment with Ken Wilber, who he does not reference, and may never have read. McGilchrist draws on a vast number of references in the scientific and philosophical realm. He has produced a masterwork of philosophy. He comes to very satisfying but suitably non dual "conclusions" about the nature of reality, god, being, beauty, goodness, truth, religion and the nature of good and evil. This is a very challenging and extremely lengthy book, but I believe it is truly one of the masterworks of our age and perhaps of any age. Highly recommend to those prepared to take the time and effort. (For those less scientifically and medically minded perhaps skim the chapters in part one.)

Um dos livros mais importantes da década.

Practical matters first: I accidentally only received Volume I, but Amazon Service was able to solve the problem in one brief phone call (phone call was essential though, the chatbot did not help).-----This is very likely the most brilliant and the most important book I have read in the past 30 years, if not in my life. It might just hold the answer we should desperately be searching for in the metacrisis we find ourselves in in just this moment in time.I believe this book is essential in understanding that the crises we are experiencing are results of our one-sided view of reality, dominated by the utilitarian, mechanistic LH logic, and that we must reign it in with the integrative wisdom and intelligence of our underused RH capacity that sees, understands and connects with the more beautiful, complex and potent reality that is worth living in - and saving.It is a huge undertaking, but I absolutely recommend reading it. Bring time (and a pencil). It is beautifully written, with an enormous amount of detailed information, brilliantly contextualised and embedded not in analysis alone, but in deep thought and wisdom, and expressed in a language of beauty, precision, and straightforward clarity that makes it a joy to read! It is structured to make it more easily accessible. The introduction is a perfect start. I followed it up with excursions into the chapters I was most intrigued by (Schizophrenia and Autism being the one that stood out most). I followed that up by the chapter summaries, and then finally took a deep breath and started reading it all, beginning at page one.Reading it almost comes as a healing intervention to me - a reconciliation with the painful experience of being educated within a LH-dominated system that forced me to dissociated from the more beautiful, complex and alive world I knew intuitively to be true. I have cried my way through many of the chapters, finding so much of my intuitive understanding of the world and so many of my clashes with how it is seen and managed in science and in our dominant western governance models and narratives laid out and understood with such clarity, intelligence, integrity and tenderness.Iain McGilchrist puts the necessary (!) LH view of reality in its place without alienating it. Instead he puts it in context and offers an integration, an embrace by RH's wisdom. He reconciles, and opens the potential to integrate our intelligence and be in and of the world with awe, care, and joy. Beautiful and essential.

My favorite book, together with Rupert Spira's The Nature of Consciousness and Alessandro Sanna's The Direct Experience.

“This book is what would conventionally be called a single argument. That is why I have chosen not to publish it as three separate books: one on neuropsychology – how our brains shape reality; one on epistemology – how we can come to know anything at all; and one on metaphysics – the nature of what we find in the cosmos. It is intended as a single whole, each part illuminating, and in turn illumined by, the others.”I suspect there are already dozens, if not hundreds, of reviews of this book out there. This review is framed by my concern with the spiritual journey and the place of meditation in that journey, but also by a lifelong interest in science and the fundamental nature of consciousness and reality.I should perhaps begin by issuing a warning – The Matter with Things is not an easy read, and it is not cheap; it is very long (nearly 3,000 pages includes notes, appendices and references). McGilchrist writes exceptionally well but his subject matter is often technical and intellectually challenging; it is definitely not a “skim” read. He does conclude each of the book’s three sections with a summary, but if you left it at that you would miss out on the enormous riches of his references and arguments. For example, Chapter 12 - “The science of life: a study in left hemisphere capture” – is over 100 pages of dense argument about the innate intelligence of living systems, from microbes in the gut to the whole organism. It was a revelation to me, particularly so as I have been brought up to believe that biology is essentially mechanical, driven by DNA, which is usually described simply as a set of instructions, as it were a computer program. That McGilchrist maintains this is absolutely not the case is one of several important themes in the book.Despite its price, the book has sold over 100,000 copies worldwide. It is now available in paperback (only £49!) and as an ebook (£30). It is extraordinarily wide ranging, covering everything from literature, art, music and philosophy to quantum physics, microbiology, neurology and psychology. This reflects McGilchrist’s own idiosyncratic and, by comparison with most of his peers, extravagantly catholic academic journey, from theology, philosophy and literature to medicine, neurobiology and psychiatry, which he has practised for 30 years.A summary of McGilchrist’s argumentIn 2009, Yale University Press published McGilchrist’s “The Master and his Emissary” in which he set out his thesis that the left and right hemispheres of the brain are asymmetrical and that they have different, albeit complementary, functions. The left hemisphere is specialised for language processing, analytic and logical thinking, detail and abstraction. The right hemisphere has a more diffuse set of functions. He shows that left – right asymmetry holds true throughout the animal kingdom, from worms through reptiles all the way up to human beings. And that there is a simple evolutionary explanation for why this is the case. All creatures, whether prey or predator, face a similar challenge. More or less simultaneously, they need to give attention to the hunt for food, which requires a narrow focus on opportunities immediately to hand (seeds and insects on the ground, fruits and nuts in trees, vulnerable prey animals in their vicinity) and at the same time maintain a general awareness of their environment so as to detect potential threats or opportunities. These are two kinds of attention, one highly focused and specific, immediate and local, the other a more general awareness, taking in the whole scene, not being absorbed or distracted by particular elements. The former is task / goal oriented – kill the gazelle, spot the grain among the pebbles, sand and grasses – while the latter is process oriented, observing changes in the environment over time, noticing novelty and difference. So, classically, the left hemisphere likes to categorise or label features of its input from the right hemisphere, that is, direct experience – “that’s a kind of seed, good to eat”, “those are non-threatening animals” – in order to focus on the particular task it has set itself. The right hemisphere almost by definition does not label or categorise, it does not use language or analysis – it sees things as a whole, as parts of a process, in a context of both space and time. It is much more concerned with direct experience, as opposed to stepping back from sense perceptions and picking out some aspect which is of immediate interest.In “The Master and his Emissary” McGilchrist argues that the Emissary – the left hemisphere – has, like the fabled sorcerer’s apprentice, usurped the role of the Master – the right hemisphere – and is now attempting to do and control everything in the modern, western, developed, post Renaissance / Enlightenment world. He argues that this at the root of many if not all of our modern problems – our poor mental health, environmental degradation, the atomisation and alienation of human beings and the constant frustration of our efforts to “improve” things or “solve” problems.There was, inevitably and unsurprisingly, some considerable pushback against his ideas, particularly from those scientists and others who are very invested in contemporary attitudes to science, human nature and the nature of reality. So “The Matter with Things” is at least in part a response to that pushback, but also a much deeper exploration of the ideas and issues raised by “The Master and his Emissary”.ThemesIn no particular order, these are some of the themes explored by McGilchrist. That the world is not made of stuff. Reality is not made of things. We and the Cosmos are not machines, assembled from components such as particles or cells, which together function in the same way as clockwork, or the internal combustion engine, or a computer program. Quantum physicists tell us that the deeper they go to explore the nature of things, the more they realise that there are in fact no things. Particles (the smallest bits of matter discovered by machines like CERN’s Large Hadron Collider) are not things, like billiard balls, as the Greeks thought of atoms (that which cannot be any more divided), or as Isaac Newton conceived of the world; rather particles are more like photographs of processes, snapshots of events which are continuing from past to future. So what we see as things, tables, other people, clouds, are more like the wake of a ship, only in the case of reality, there is not even a ship – we just assume there must be one because we can see its wake.This is important, vital even, because what the right hemisphere is tuned to do is to see the overall process, to experience events as taking place in space and time, dynamic, responsive and reacting, parts of webs and networks of phenomena, all of which are connected and affected by every other process. The left hemisphere, for very good evolutionary reasons, operates in a fundamentally different way. It selects elements from the right hemisphere’s experience, freezes them in time and space, so that it can then examine, manipulate and control them. It does not deal in direct sense experience, but in what it considers useful abstractions. If you are operating through the right hemisphere, you do not see an abstraction, a generalised version of say a tree, but a unique process – a living entity, continuously changing in response to its environment. The left hemisphere sees fuel or building material, shade, food, or a component of a formally designed garden or park. It sees only what is useful or harmful to its purpose, not this unique tree as it is in itself.Left brain thinkers and scientists take an analytic, bottom up, materialist approach, where consciousness or awareness are presumed to be merely phenomena, emerging from inanimate matter, possibly as a by-product of complexity. As a result it is impossible for them to imagine that existence / being could have a direction, a telos. That would surely be simply anthropomorphising the universe – how could dead particles, atoms and molecules, machine like cells and organisms have any plan, any sense of a direction?Religious fundamentalists (who are as left hemisphere dominated as materialist scientists like Richard Dawkins) say that all this is engineered by a God, sitting outside and above his creation. However, McGilchrist shows that intelligence goes all the way down – that individual cells are intelligent – and all the way up – entire ecosystems appear to function intelligently and dynamically (see for example the relationships between funghi and woodland). A single-celled amoeba has awareness, agency and memory. Our bodies function as organic wholes – individual cells respond to their immediate environment, but they also signal to and respond to other cells and to the whole organism. We do not live in a bottom up or top down world of stuff – we live as part of wholes, networks, relationships and processes all the way up and all the way down. It’s all one dance.The brain has evolved to deal with reality. The physical structure of our brains and the way they operate is an evolutionary response to reality – they have evolved for a better fit with the world as it is, as indeed have all living organisms. The brain is the way it is because it conforms to reality – which is both one and many – and we need to be able to deal with both aspects in their proper relation. Meditation helps to put the left hemisphere back in its box, by giving it something empty to focus on; which allows the right hemisphere to resume its rightful place and, eventually, for us to rest in this state of awareness continuously.