A friend asked me how we can introduce children to the idea of limited resources, but without spoiling their enjoyment. Perhaps it's all about who makes the decisions, and when.
Often, when we give children limitations, we do it from a confrontational perspective, and at the time of most "need". For example, we may say, in front of a funfair ride: "I have no money left, so you can't go on any more rides!" A passionate argument follows. The parent is seen as the sudden resource-restricter, and the child sees themselves as a frustrated freedom fighter!
The child hasn't has a slow and timely introduction to the decision, hasn't seen the process of arriving at the decision, and hasn't participated in the decision-making process.
Maybe there are three things to bear in mind:
1. Introduce the idea of resource restriction early
2. Make the decision process a visible one, so that the child can see what's going on
3. Make the decision process participative if at all possible
For example, if you want to spend only £25, get hold of 25 £1 coins, and a little bag. Sit with the child before you go, show them the coins and the bag, and explain that all those coins are for the outing! Let them put the coins into the bag themselves. The decision has now been shared early, is entirely visible, and the child is participating - they even have their own bag of money!
One more suggestion - try to use "we" instead of "you", and show shared feeling. Instead of saying "I haven't got any money left, so you can't do any more!" - try "Oh dear! We haven't got any money left, so we can't do any more!"
Just some ideas, but hopefully helpful ones.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
VECTOR STATES
There are two parts to any mental state: the factual position we find ourselves in, and any connected emotional state. The two can become interwoven in an unmanageable way. We tend to say things like: 'That person/thing drives me up the wall'.
To help, we might borrow the idea of vectors. A vector is a kind of 'separating label' that contains two or more pieces of information. For example, velocity is treated as a 'composite state' and split by scientists into two pieces of information, one about magnitude, and one about direction.
An uncomfortable reactive psychological state could be split into two: rational situation and emotional reaction. For example, you might feel uncomfortable, and diagnose your rational situation as 'rejected', and your emotional state as 'angry'. Rejected is not an emotional state in itself - you can be happy and rejected if you want! Conversely, angry is not a rational situation, it is an emotional state. So you could describe your 'vector state' as rejected/angry. The advantage of this kind of analysis, is it helps the self-analyser to disentangle the situation from their response. Behaviourally, the act of analysis itself is at the very least likely to calm the emotion identified.
It's true that complete dissociation of emotional response from situation is one symptom of what we might consider madness. But analysing the pairing of situation and emotion doesn't remove the normative association, it just gives the chance of bringing the emotion, if uncomfortable, within the bounds of comfort and manageability.
So, next time you're uncomfortable, try the old good-friend trick on yourself, of asking yourself two questions: (1) What's happening, and then, SEPARATELY, (2) How do you feel? Don't say 'How do you feel about it' - '...about it' just asks for a reinforcing of the connection. Keep the questions separate. First, what's happening. Second, how do you feel?
The result of the separation of the 'vector state' into two separate components can be that your response becomes more manageable. Just as scientists get more control over matter, so we can get more control over mind, by defining separable components.
To help, we might borrow the idea of vectors. A vector is a kind of 'separating label' that contains two or more pieces of information. For example, velocity is treated as a 'composite state' and split by scientists into two pieces of information, one about magnitude, and one about direction.
An uncomfortable reactive psychological state could be split into two: rational situation and emotional reaction. For example, you might feel uncomfortable, and diagnose your rational situation as 'rejected', and your emotional state as 'angry'. Rejected is not an emotional state in itself - you can be happy and rejected if you want! Conversely, angry is not a rational situation, it is an emotional state. So you could describe your 'vector state' as rejected/angry. The advantage of this kind of analysis, is it helps the self-analyser to disentangle the situation from their response. Behaviourally, the act of analysis itself is at the very least likely to calm the emotion identified.
It's true that complete dissociation of emotional response from situation is one symptom of what we might consider madness. But analysing the pairing of situation and emotion doesn't remove the normative association, it just gives the chance of bringing the emotion, if uncomfortable, within the bounds of comfort and manageability.
So, next time you're uncomfortable, try the old good-friend trick on yourself, of asking yourself two questions: (1) What's happening, and then, SEPARATELY, (2) How do you feel? Don't say 'How do you feel about it' - '...about it' just asks for a reinforcing of the connection. Keep the questions separate. First, what's happening. Second, how do you feel?
The result of the separation of the 'vector state' into two separate components can be that your response becomes more manageable. Just as scientists get more control over matter, so we can get more control over mind, by defining separable components.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
EMPATHY AND ASSERTIVENESS
Yesterday I read an article about empathy. It suggested that some people have too much empathy, and this can result in them over-prioritizing other people's needs. I disagree. I think it is lack of assertiveness that causes the problem, not high empathy.
We exercise empathy when we understand and share others' feelings. Many forms of meditation encourage this - putting yourself in another's position, so you can experience how life feels for them, and accommodate that in your mind. The capacity to see and take others' perspectives is key to living a fair and just life. In particular, it enables us to take other people's suffering into account.
However, it is unlikely we will eliminate all the suffering in the world with today's actions. Therefore, even though we might see a lot of suffering, we must decide how to use our limited resources. There will be some suffering we choose to actively reduce; and there will be some suffering we decide not to attend to.
Hence, several people might each have the same high level of empathy - but they might decide to behave very differently. One might fall on the floor with grief all day at the world's suffering; another might neglect their own health and security to help others all day; another might be seen living an apparently normal suburban life. It is what they do with their empathy which makes the difference.
If empathy involves feeling, then it becomes relevant to decide how we manage that feeling. Empathy - the ability to sense others' feelings - can be a good perceptual tool, just like the ability to discern colour, or the ability to solve problems.
But empathy need not dominate the social proceedings. In fact, logically, it can't... If two high-empathy people sit there experiencing each others' feelings, then what are they experiencing? Nothing but their own reflection in the other person. They might as well be two mirrors looking at each other.
A good way to manage high empathy is to work on assertiveness - in other words, if you have an ability to sense suffering, match that with a realistic confidence about what you will and will not do to help. You'll still worry about others, but you have a better chance of sleeping at night. There's an awful lot of suffering in the world, and only one you.
We exercise empathy when we understand and share others' feelings. Many forms of meditation encourage this - putting yourself in another's position, so you can experience how life feels for them, and accommodate that in your mind. The capacity to see and take others' perspectives is key to living a fair and just life. In particular, it enables us to take other people's suffering into account.
However, it is unlikely we will eliminate all the suffering in the world with today's actions. Therefore, even though we might see a lot of suffering, we must decide how to use our limited resources. There will be some suffering we choose to actively reduce; and there will be some suffering we decide not to attend to.
Hence, several people might each have the same high level of empathy - but they might decide to behave very differently. One might fall on the floor with grief all day at the world's suffering; another might neglect their own health and security to help others all day; another might be seen living an apparently normal suburban life. It is what they do with their empathy which makes the difference.
If empathy involves feeling, then it becomes relevant to decide how we manage that feeling. Empathy - the ability to sense others' feelings - can be a good perceptual tool, just like the ability to discern colour, or the ability to solve problems.
But empathy need not dominate the social proceedings. In fact, logically, it can't... If two high-empathy people sit there experiencing each others' feelings, then what are they experiencing? Nothing but their own reflection in the other person. They might as well be two mirrors looking at each other.
A good way to manage high empathy is to work on assertiveness - in other words, if you have an ability to sense suffering, match that with a realistic confidence about what you will and will not do to help. You'll still worry about others, but you have a better chance of sleeping at night. There's an awful lot of suffering in the world, and only one you.
Monday, January 31, 2011
BOREDOM - SHOULD WE TOLERATE IT?
This morning, in the car on the way to school, my son asked a question about boredom. He wondered what our response should be to tasks which are inherently boring – should we just refuse to do them? And how did this relate to our life choices as to what to do with ourselves?
A great question. As we negotiated our way through the morning traffic, I suggested that whether we choose to tolerate boredom may depend on how important we think the boring task is. If we don’t think it’s important, we can just do something more interesting. But if the task is part of something important to us, we can try to work through the boredom. That begs a first question: how to decide what it’s important/valuable to do?
My son is doing his A-levels, so he is sometimes exposed to boring academic tasks. He also hears from friends who are going abroad to work in bars. That sounds interesting to him, but he is stuck doing his schoolwork. It is very tempting to choose to do something more fun in the short term, but the problem is that everything we do in the short term has longer term consequences. That begs a second question: how to select something important/valuable to us, but at the same time make sure we don’t get too bored.
I suggested applying three considerations:
1. What are my talents and special abilities? This will never alone solve the problem of what to do. When I was younger, I remember being told ‘if you have a talent, you should use it!’ But this cannot be done in isolation. I often used to reply: ‘So if I’m a great murderer, should I go around perfecting the art?’ We should listen for compliments and positive feedback from teachers, friends and family, and be aware of what areas of activity are likely to suit us.
2. What are my values? Again, unless we want to be fanatics, this alone will not solve the problem. Our values may ask us to become a suicide bomber, but that activity may not be particularly personally fulfilling, or suit us. So those values, to achieve a balance, need to be weighed against a third thought.
3. What do I enjoy? Yet again, enjoyment alone is no guide. Some people get short-term enjoyment from destructive habits. But unless we have some fun, motivation will be in short supply, and we will dry up.
None of the above three, I suggest, is adequate alone. But following all three in balance – talents, values, and enjoyment – have a better chance.
Back to the issue of boredom… If you have consciously decided on a plan of action where you are doing what you’re good at, doing something you believe in, and doing something you enjoy – then you have a good chance of avoiding too much boredom. And when you reach a boring task, you know from the context that it will not be with you for ever, but is just a brief, necessary evil.
If you are bored all the time, then maybe it’s time to review the plan to ensure it’s ‘you’! But being bored some of the time is tolerable, as long as we know that we're on a journey that suits us and our values.
I don't know whether our chat helped my son with his schoolwork, but it certainly made us think!
A great question. As we negotiated our way through the morning traffic, I suggested that whether we choose to tolerate boredom may depend on how important we think the boring task is. If we don’t think it’s important, we can just do something more interesting. But if the task is part of something important to us, we can try to work through the boredom. That begs a first question: how to decide what it’s important/valuable to do?
My son is doing his A-levels, so he is sometimes exposed to boring academic tasks. He also hears from friends who are going abroad to work in bars. That sounds interesting to him, but he is stuck doing his schoolwork. It is very tempting to choose to do something more fun in the short term, but the problem is that everything we do in the short term has longer term consequences. That begs a second question: how to select something important/valuable to us, but at the same time make sure we don’t get too bored.
I suggested applying three considerations:
1. What are my talents and special abilities? This will never alone solve the problem of what to do. When I was younger, I remember being told ‘if you have a talent, you should use it!’ But this cannot be done in isolation. I often used to reply: ‘So if I’m a great murderer, should I go around perfecting the art?’ We should listen for compliments and positive feedback from teachers, friends and family, and be aware of what areas of activity are likely to suit us.
2. What are my values? Again, unless we want to be fanatics, this alone will not solve the problem. Our values may ask us to become a suicide bomber, but that activity may not be particularly personally fulfilling, or suit us. So those values, to achieve a balance, need to be weighed against a third thought.
3. What do I enjoy? Yet again, enjoyment alone is no guide. Some people get short-term enjoyment from destructive habits. But unless we have some fun, motivation will be in short supply, and we will dry up.
None of the above three, I suggest, is adequate alone. But following all three in balance – talents, values, and enjoyment – have a better chance.
Back to the issue of boredom… If you have consciously decided on a plan of action where you are doing what you’re good at, doing something you believe in, and doing something you enjoy – then you have a good chance of avoiding too much boredom. And when you reach a boring task, you know from the context that it will not be with you for ever, but is just a brief, necessary evil.
If you are bored all the time, then maybe it’s time to review the plan to ensure it’s ‘you’! But being bored some of the time is tolerable, as long as we know that we're on a journey that suits us and our values.
I don't know whether our chat helped my son with his schoolwork, but it certainly made us think!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
HOW TO KEEP YOUR BRAIN HEALTHY AS YOU AGE
Many people are familiar with the idea of going to the gym to keep your body in good shape. But, as yet, there are no local gyms for the mind. The closest we have are adult education institutions, and perhaps certain clubs and day centres. This means that it is largely up to the individual to organize his or her own ‘training programme’ for their most important internal organ – the brain.
Like body, like brain
The brain is very similar to the rest of the body in its responsiveness to training. When you go to the gym and exercise, you are putting demands on your muscles. In response, your body rushes oxygen to the area needing support, and, even after exercise has finished, continues to build up the body parts that have been challenged. Your body, over weeks and months, changes shape to meet the new demands. The brain works in the same way. If you challenge it, it will physically change to meet the demands you place on it. As well as challenge, interest and stimulation are important: the richer and more varied you make your environment, the more alive your brain will be in response.
Diet
As with the body, adequate nutrition, exercise and sleep help enormously. A low-calorie diet containing oily fish (i.e. rich in omega-3 fatty acids), along with plenty of vegetables (especially leafy green ones), is likely to slow cognitive decline, and hold back the onset of Alzheimer’s and dementia. Avoiding hydrogenated fats (found in fast food, biscuits and crisps) will prevent your brain’s arteries from clogging up, and a low cholesterol diet prevents the build up of amyloids – the bad substances behind much brain disease. In terms of alcohol, red wine (and only red wine) - in moderation - can benefit the brain.
Exercise
Those wishing to keep their brain healthy are well-advised to invest in physical exercise. Regular exercise increases blood flow to the brain, enhances mental focus, and promotes the formation of new brain connections. In addition, contrary to a previous belief that the brain does not make new cells in adulthood, it is now known that exercise causes your brain to make brand new memory cells for future use.
Sleep
Sleep not only restores the brain, but also develops it selectively in response to recent mental challenges. During sleep after activity, your brain chooses, and develops, the areas found to be most in need of enhancement. Good quality sleep at night, and short naps during the day, are both beneficial.
Sensory memory
A healthy brain can handle a broad range of sensory inputs, whereas a less healthy brain has diminished ability to process stimuli from the immediate environment. You can work on your sensory memory by giving yourself challenges in processing what you see, touch, smell and hear. Photography and art encourage visual observation. Attentive cooking or wine-tasting will stimulate the olfactory sense (could you identify unlabelled wines or spices?).
In particular, activities requiring fine finger control are helpful – the brain gives more resource to the hands than any other part of the body. Learning to read and play music provides a rich burst of visual, tactile and aural stimulation. In addition, using new instruments and equipment develop additional kinesthetic sense (the instrument becomes a ‘part of you’, and your brain develops new structures to accommodate it). Tai chi enhances the body’s ‘peripersonal space’ in much the same way, developing your ability to visualise and manage your own position.
Informational memory
Your informational memory has two aspects. First, you need working memory – this enables you to hold immediate information in your mind, and make quick calculations and judgements. This type of memory uses the front of your brain, which atrophies through disuse as you age. It can be developed by activities which require you to retain a number of items in your mind while you perform a related task. Games such as chess and bridge develop this type of memory. In day-to-day life, try to rely less on paper and electronic devices, and more on your own brain – for example, maintaining a short list of shopping items in your mind while you plan your journey around the shops.
Secondly, you need long-term memory – recall of what you learned or experienced a while ago. The pathways supporting long-term memory can be developed by encouraging focus and sensory visualization. For instance, you can try to memorize a longer shopping list by creating a lively story involving all the items; or to remember people’s names by associating the words with personal characteristics. These techniques not only help your present ability to remember – they also act as exercises to keep your brain more healthy and active.
Develop a hobby and practise, practise, practise
If you have a hobby which interests you, then use that motivation to push you to hours of practice. The intense focus required for improvement – whatever the activity – leads, even in adulthood, to dramatic changes in the brain’s structure and function. The important thing is to be always stretching your capacities, and finding new ways to develop your skills.
Use action video games
Action video gamers have better visual search and attention skills, short-term memory, and response times. One hour a day is enough to make a noticeable difference. Your visual fine-tuning will improve, as well as your ability to respond to simultaneously occurring events. Surgeons who play video games for more than three hours per week make fewer errors, and work faster, in the operating room. Elderly subjects do better in intelligence tests after only one hour of gaming per week. So, rather than regarding action video games as the preserve of the ‘young’, join the fun… just watch out for the addictive nature of many of them!
Keep educating yourself
In general, people with more education are less likely to be diagnosed with dementia in their lifetime. Education trains more efficient use of available brain networks, and is thought to compensate for the loss of resources associated with dementia. It may not stop dementia taking hold eventually, but it significantly delays the effects of its onset by developing ‘cognitive reserve’ – your brain’s equivalent of a savings account.
Reduce stress
A final, more emotional recommendation: stress is known to make the brain less efficient, and to hasten its decline. So avoiding stress, at all ages, makes sense in terms of preserving brain function.
A comfort – an advantage of having an older brain
Finally, psychologists acknowledge one important capacity of the mature brain which is deficient in younger brains. While young brains are better at ‘fluid intelligence’ (solving new and unpredictable problems), older brains have better ‘crystallized intelligence’ (using expertise and judgement to solve predictable problems). Finding a social use for any special expertise you have will maximise your self-esteem, as well as reinforcing your memory.
In summary, make sure you eat well (a Mediterranean diet is a good guide), and keep giving yourself physical and mental challenges, developing new and interesting hobbies, until the day you drop. That’s not rocket science. But it is brain science!
Acknowledgement
Think Smart, a book by neuroscientist Richard Restak, contains tips for keeping your brain healthy throughout your life. This article is a short summary of the book’s main recommendations for maintaining good brain performance in old age.
Like body, like brain
The brain is very similar to the rest of the body in its responsiveness to training. When you go to the gym and exercise, you are putting demands on your muscles. In response, your body rushes oxygen to the area needing support, and, even after exercise has finished, continues to build up the body parts that have been challenged. Your body, over weeks and months, changes shape to meet the new demands. The brain works in the same way. If you challenge it, it will physically change to meet the demands you place on it. As well as challenge, interest and stimulation are important: the richer and more varied you make your environment, the more alive your brain will be in response.
Diet
As with the body, adequate nutrition, exercise and sleep help enormously. A low-calorie diet containing oily fish (i.e. rich in omega-3 fatty acids), along with plenty of vegetables (especially leafy green ones), is likely to slow cognitive decline, and hold back the onset of Alzheimer’s and dementia. Avoiding hydrogenated fats (found in fast food, biscuits and crisps) will prevent your brain’s arteries from clogging up, and a low cholesterol diet prevents the build up of amyloids – the bad substances behind much brain disease. In terms of alcohol, red wine (and only red wine) - in moderation - can benefit the brain.
Exercise
Those wishing to keep their brain healthy are well-advised to invest in physical exercise. Regular exercise increases blood flow to the brain, enhances mental focus, and promotes the formation of new brain connections. In addition, contrary to a previous belief that the brain does not make new cells in adulthood, it is now known that exercise causes your brain to make brand new memory cells for future use.
Sleep
Sleep not only restores the brain, but also develops it selectively in response to recent mental challenges. During sleep after activity, your brain chooses, and develops, the areas found to be most in need of enhancement. Good quality sleep at night, and short naps during the day, are both beneficial.
Sensory memory
A healthy brain can handle a broad range of sensory inputs, whereas a less healthy brain has diminished ability to process stimuli from the immediate environment. You can work on your sensory memory by giving yourself challenges in processing what you see, touch, smell and hear. Photography and art encourage visual observation. Attentive cooking or wine-tasting will stimulate the olfactory sense (could you identify unlabelled wines or spices?).
In particular, activities requiring fine finger control are helpful – the brain gives more resource to the hands than any other part of the body. Learning to read and play music provides a rich burst of visual, tactile and aural stimulation. In addition, using new instruments and equipment develop additional kinesthetic sense (the instrument becomes a ‘part of you’, and your brain develops new structures to accommodate it). Tai chi enhances the body’s ‘peripersonal space’ in much the same way, developing your ability to visualise and manage your own position.
Informational memory
Your informational memory has two aspects. First, you need working memory – this enables you to hold immediate information in your mind, and make quick calculations and judgements. This type of memory uses the front of your brain, which atrophies through disuse as you age. It can be developed by activities which require you to retain a number of items in your mind while you perform a related task. Games such as chess and bridge develop this type of memory. In day-to-day life, try to rely less on paper and electronic devices, and more on your own brain – for example, maintaining a short list of shopping items in your mind while you plan your journey around the shops.
Secondly, you need long-term memory – recall of what you learned or experienced a while ago. The pathways supporting long-term memory can be developed by encouraging focus and sensory visualization. For instance, you can try to memorize a longer shopping list by creating a lively story involving all the items; or to remember people’s names by associating the words with personal characteristics. These techniques not only help your present ability to remember – they also act as exercises to keep your brain more healthy and active.
Develop a hobby and practise, practise, practise
If you have a hobby which interests you, then use that motivation to push you to hours of practice. The intense focus required for improvement – whatever the activity – leads, even in adulthood, to dramatic changes in the brain’s structure and function. The important thing is to be always stretching your capacities, and finding new ways to develop your skills.
Use action video games
Action video gamers have better visual search and attention skills, short-term memory, and response times. One hour a day is enough to make a noticeable difference. Your visual fine-tuning will improve, as well as your ability to respond to simultaneously occurring events. Surgeons who play video games for more than three hours per week make fewer errors, and work faster, in the operating room. Elderly subjects do better in intelligence tests after only one hour of gaming per week. So, rather than regarding action video games as the preserve of the ‘young’, join the fun… just watch out for the addictive nature of many of them!
Keep educating yourself
In general, people with more education are less likely to be diagnosed with dementia in their lifetime. Education trains more efficient use of available brain networks, and is thought to compensate for the loss of resources associated with dementia. It may not stop dementia taking hold eventually, but it significantly delays the effects of its onset by developing ‘cognitive reserve’ – your brain’s equivalent of a savings account.
Reduce stress
A final, more emotional recommendation: stress is known to make the brain less efficient, and to hasten its decline. So avoiding stress, at all ages, makes sense in terms of preserving brain function.
A comfort – an advantage of having an older brain
Finally, psychologists acknowledge one important capacity of the mature brain which is deficient in younger brains. While young brains are better at ‘fluid intelligence’ (solving new and unpredictable problems), older brains have better ‘crystallized intelligence’ (using expertise and judgement to solve predictable problems). Finding a social use for any special expertise you have will maximise your self-esteem, as well as reinforcing your memory.
In summary, make sure you eat well (a Mediterranean diet is a good guide), and keep giving yourself physical and mental challenges, developing new and interesting hobbies, until the day you drop. That’s not rocket science. But it is brain science!
Acknowledgement
Think Smart, a book by neuroscientist Richard Restak, contains tips for keeping your brain healthy throughout your life. This article is a short summary of the book’s main recommendations for maintaining good brain performance in old age.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
SUGAR HELPS YOU BE LESS ANGRY
I always thought so! Results from Ohio State University support the idea that sugar intake reduces aggressive behaviour.
Winning competitors in a game were given the chance to punish the loser with a blast of noise. Those given sugared lemonade were less aggressive in their punishment than those given unsugared lemonade.
So next time you are caught with a can of coke, just say you're doing the world a favour and keeping the peace!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Never forget you have two brains in one head
Ian McGilchrist is a psychiatrist who has written a book on the two sides of the brain. He contends that the left brain does narrow thinking, whereas the right brain looks at the big picture. On Radio 4 this morning he pointed out a dual task evolution gives birds: trying on the one hand to eat a piece of food, and on the other hand trying to avoid being eaten. The first task needs a narrow, analytical view to solve a given task; the second task needs broader vision, and an understanding that something might 'come from nowhere'.
Philosopher A C Grayling has suggested that the state of brain science is not sufficient to prove the scientific case about the function of each hemisphere. And McGilchrist himself admints that in fact both sides of the brain are involved in most thought in highly complex ways. However, McGilchrist's point, apart from the science, is that western culture has spent too long on narrow, logical analysis, and too little time on wide, imaginitive thought.
The book is called 'The Master and His Emissary'. The name comes from a story in Nietzche's writings, in which a wise master trusts an emissary to help rule his kingdom. The emissary, however, becomes contemptuous of his master, and takes over, only to create a tyranny which eventually collapses. McGilchrists suggests that the 'wide-thinking' master is the right hemisphere, and its somewhat grandiose 'narrow-thinking' emissary the left hemisphere. McGilchrist suggests that the history of ideas in the western world show a struggle between the two 'thought types', with the left hemisphere in danger of successfully, but disastrously, usurping the right.
More info at:
http://iainmcgilchrist.com/index.asp
Philosopher A C Grayling has suggested that the state of brain science is not sufficient to prove the scientific case about the function of each hemisphere. And McGilchrist himself admints that in fact both sides of the brain are involved in most thought in highly complex ways. However, McGilchrist's point, apart from the science, is that western culture has spent too long on narrow, logical analysis, and too little time on wide, imaginitive thought.
The book is called 'The Master and His Emissary'. The name comes from a story in Nietzche's writings, in which a wise master trusts an emissary to help rule his kingdom. The emissary, however, becomes contemptuous of his master, and takes over, only to create a tyranny which eventually collapses. McGilchrists suggests that the 'wide-thinking' master is the right hemisphere, and its somewhat grandiose 'narrow-thinking' emissary the left hemisphere. McGilchrist suggests that the history of ideas in the western world show a struggle between the two 'thought types', with the left hemisphere in danger of successfully, but disastrously, usurping the right.
More info at:
http://iainmcgilchrist.com/index.asp
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