★★★★★ I've just finished reading the first two parts of The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World, by Dr Iain McGilchrist, and begun part 3 in the second volume. This book follows on from his earlier epic work, The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World.
Rather than attempt to summarise the voluminous, varied and rich content of the book (and fall far short of doing it justice), let me simply say that this work does not simply talk about science, reason, intuition and imagination (among so many others), but is masterfully crafted by an author who has much life experience and insight to offer and clearly embodies the best of such paths and qualities.
“If we want others to understand the beauty of a landscape with which they may be unfamiliar, an argument is pointless: instead we must take them there and explore it with them, walking on the hills and mountains, pausing as new vantage points continually open around us, allowing our companions to experience it for themselves.
“Such, at any rate, is my intention in this book.” ...
“What I hope for my readers is that, if they are willing to accompany me on this adventure, they will never see the world the same way again; that they will have a Gestalt shift ...”
Sadly, I've already seen some comments in the social media from certain detractors who, in spite of not having read this book, believe that they can dismiss the work – which is 1,500 pages in print and 2,997 pages in the Kindle edition, and contains hundred of pages of closely-argued, liberally-referenced and deeply-nuanced text in Part I of the book alone – by posting single articles these “Google scholars” have found while carrying out their “research” (that is, searching the web for material with which to debunk the work).
In my opinion (for what little that is worth), it's not a matter of agreeing with the author 100% or, on the other hand, utterly dismissing his work (or even damning it with faint praise), in terms of either/or, black and white, or even shades of grey – which is surely the domain of left hemispheric thinking – but rather a matter of and-both, often in glorious Technicolor; an open-ended exploration and a varied and rich experience, more characteristic of the right hemisphere and with the holistic, transcendent experience of both (where the left is servant to the master, the right).
No matter: as the author quotes Friedrich Waismann: “No philosophic argument ends with a QED.” It's not a finite game but a wonderful infinite game, as James P. Carse proposed, in which playing the “game” rather than winning, the journey and the companionship rather than the final destination, is what it's all about.
Sooner or later, I trust that we will come to see this in a whole new light (a Gestalt, even) – see that what we are not only witnessing but in the throes of here, in these increasingly “interesting times” is nothing less than a “Copernican Revolution” and “Fall of the Roman Empire” of the psyche (and hence Being. Or rather, Becoming). And in this, Iain McGilchrist will have played a major pivotal role. His work could not be more timely and apposite.
Having said that: of course your mileage may well vary. Indeed, it would be strange if it did not.
Eureka!
Well, I've finished reading the work now, though I'll be dipping into it often again. I've read a few good books in my time, and The Matter with Things is the best book I have ever read. 1,001 thanks!
Left brain rationale: Money very well spent.
Right brain: My soul is singing.
I'd love to see a loya jirga (grand assembly) convened with a wide range of leading luminaries, for an open-ended exploration of Iain McGilchrist's work and its implications to, and overlap with, their own work, and possible ways ahead; perhaps also a collection of essays along the same lines.
Foot Note
I'd be interested to see what research has to say about hemispheric lateralisation in John Heron's six‐category intervention analysis: Authoritative (Prescriptive, Informative, Confronting) and Facilitative (Cathartic, Catalytic, Supportive), in which I'd also consider the transpersonal. Similarly other management styles, such as Douglas McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y.
Have just written a brief overview of The Matter with Things across at Wikipedia.
