Iain McGilchrist and the RSA
The Divided Brain
About the speaker
Iain McGilchrist is an author and former Consultant Psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital. His ground breaking book ‘The Master And His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World’ put him firmly onto the world stage as a thought leader and inspirational speaker.
The big issue
Why is the division of the brain something neuroscientists don't like to talk about anymore? What do we really mean by a split brain? Why is our brain asymmetric while our skulls are symmetrical? In this fascinating talk, Iain McGilchrist really gets into our heads and looks at the myths surrounding the ‘divided brain’, before explaining how our 'divided brain' has profoundly altered human behaviour, culture and society.
Read the book
The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World
Iain McGilchrist explores the differences between the brain's right and left hemispheres and their effects on every aspect of our history and how we live. He draws from a deep pool of recent brain research to reveal that our brain’s hemispheres give us two whole, coherent, but incompatible ways of experiencing the world- the left, with its narrow focus on detail and the right with its broader vision and flexibility. He goes on to contend that our modern world is favouring the hemisphere that has less of a grip on reality – with potentially disastrous results.
