Why do we have Two Brains?

Why is the Cerebral Cortex Split in Two?

There are several existential questions we need to ask ourselves
as to why we each walk around with two brains housed inside a single head

Why are two cerebral cortex's necessary for our survival?
Do both brains experience the same perception of reality?
If not, what is the basic function of each brain?
How do we process information?
How do we consciously access both brains?
Which side of the brain engages us in dreams?
Why do we dream?
How important are the answers to these questions?


If we can determine the precise evolutionary purpose underlying the need for having two brains
can we, then, evaluate the survival advantages of two separate modes of perception in a more comprehensive manner than we do at present.?


From that position of knowledge we may be able to redefine the enigmatic dynamic of the human psyche – of being both objectively analytic and subjectively intuitive at one and the same time. - and thereby devise and introduce an entirely new methodology designed for a more holistic dual brain education - and in doing so - improve our intelligence and the ethical quality of our lives.


What Science does know about the two brains

Anatomically, we know from split-brain research that the left side of the cortex controls the motor reflexes of the right side of the body and processes mental perception analytically and that the right hemisphere handles the left motor reflexes and is the source of intuitive insights.

Left and Right Brain Modes of Perception

Intellect - intuition
Convergent - divergent
Digital - analogic
Secondary - primary
Abstract - concrete
Directional - free
Propositional - imaginative
Analytic - relational
Lineal - non lineal
Rational - intuitive
Sequential - multiple
Analytic - holistic
Objective - subjective
Successive - simultaneous
J.E.Bogen
"Some Educational Aspects of Hemispheric Specialization "
in UCLA Education 1972

Though not conclusive there is some validity to the argument that the left and rights sides of the brain respectively represents the masculine and feminine principles of the individual psyche

Here are some insights from the I Ching or Book of Changes

Yin - yang
Feminine - masculine
Negative - positive
Moon - sun
Darkness - light
Yielding - aggressive
Left side - right side
Cold - warm
Autumn - spring
Unconscious - conscious
Emotion - reason


After examining data from his split-brain experiments neurosurgeon Professor Sperry made the following statement:

"The main theme to emerge is that there appear to be two modes of thinking, verbal and non-verbal, represented rather separately in left and right hemispheres respectively, and that our education system, as well as science in general tends to neglect the non-verbal form of intellect. What it comers down to is that modern society discriminates against the right hemisphere."

Roger W. Sperry
"Lateral Specialization of Cerebral Function
in Surgically Separated Hemispheres" 1973


In the forty years since wining the Novel Prize for Sperry's work on the two brains, neither the State nor private educational systems has done anything about that warning from the Nobel Prize laureate and tried to correct the imbalance. The main reason why is because nobody as yet has explained exactly what the value of intuitive input is or even why the brain is split into two separate modes of perception in the first place. Consequently nobody is certain how to devise the exact right brain exercises that could correct the imbalance.

One of Sperry's disciples, Dr. Betty Edwards, devised a system of simple drawing exercises designed to excite the right brain into creative expression. She achieved almost instant success with all her beginner art students within a few weeks they progressed from initial childish sketches to astonishing minor master pieces. Since then her book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" has sold several million copies and remains a perennial best seller

So we know, at least, that the right brain is home to artistic perspective and that with a little stimulus it responds positively and beneficially.

But we still do not know exactly how valuable or how vital that input is - not just in terms of encouraging a more holistic conscious development - but also in terms of how the output of both brains working in harmony could improve the general level of the human intelligence quotient and social behavior in particular

In the next segment
I will post a visual exercise that clearly reveals left/right brain conflict
You can then decide how serious this disconnect is
and whether you want to correct it

Please fell free to comment.

to be continued.....

Alien Abduction

Imagine your first sight
of your birth site
the moment you left the womb

Staring up in an operating theater
Blinding light
back-lighting masked faces
looming in and out of the shadows above you
pairs of eyes
staring down
unloving fingers
poking and prodding
cold instruments pricking

and we have a recollected infant vision of a hospital birth
indelibly imprinted on consciousness
one that resurfaces years later
and more or less mirrors the same negative discription of an alien abduction
many thousands of "abductees" attest to

This is one of the reasons why a natural birth
in a natural environment home
is essential

Galileo and the Prodigal Son

The wisdom underlying
both the scientific retraction forced upon Galileo by the Roman Catholic Church
as well as the basic psychology underlying the parable of the Prodigal Son
has been entirely lost in translation by our culture

Galileo [b][i]had[/i][/b] to be rebuffed
not because he was disbelieved by the intelligentsia of his time
who were all educated members of the Roman Church
but because of far wider implications than simply under-mining the authority of the Pope
and refuting the religious teachings of the Holy Bible

Galileo's discoveries also challenged the credibility and investment
of a vast world-wide mission-based educational infrastructure
that had taken 1500 years to install
one that had sent out thousands of learned scribes
to educate tens of millions of illiterate peasants
graduated whole tribes out of an antiquated oral-based system of instruction
putting an end to an entire Bronze Age of contentiously conflicting totemic idiosyncrasies
and clannish feuding
replacing it with a formalized Iron Age standard of literate development
and religious disciplines
essential to formulation and government of national industries of thought and application

It is upon this primary school base of education
established by organized Religions
that the High School of Science
has evolved and flourished

Even now
five hundred years later
the Religious system of education is not yet quite finished
with literate goals it originally set out to achieve

The wisdom underlying the parable of the Prodigal Son
and rejection of an authoritarian Father
while gambling away his inheritance
refers to typical teenage rebellious demands for independence
reckless self determination
pseudo-intellectual political argumentation
and an eventual humble return to responsible ancestral estate management

We can see the biblical parable duplicated
in the scientific rejection of an authoritarian god
its scorn for religious dogma
its wars over political ideologies
its gamble with commodities on the global market
and its bankruptcy into a collapsing environment
forcing us into a humble return
to a religion of responsible stewardship

A Matured Society

An immature society needs a Bible in order to believe in God
Preachers to interpret it
Saviors to idolize
A written Constitution in order to behave lawfully
representatives in order to state their case
leaders to follow and bow before
printed money in order to be motivated to work
and text book instruction on how to raise and educate their children

A mature society graduates beyond all of those childish learning modes
leaves behind all the arguments of interpretation and policing they engender
acknowledges the collective responsibilities and cooperation of a matured society
trusts in the personal honor and integrity of each of their fellow citizens
and relies on its natural evolutionary abilities to navigate successfully
through the adult stages of a Nation's life

not a single person on this planet has ever arrived at adulthood
let alone an entire society
we are all in various stages of evolving maturity
the most advanced societies are teenage protesters
playing Russian roulette with nuclear bombs
and gambling on the market with natural resources
still hellbent on selfish aggrandizement
and to hell with the consequences

all I am espousing is the criteria needed
for us to grow up and become responsible adults
I do believe it must happen eventually
and the sooner the better
we are running out of resources
we may be immature
but we are not stupid

Dissenters are teenagers striving for a necessary transitional state of independent self-awareness
this is best done via self-aggrandizing (aka greedy) competition among their peer group

Adulthood is a state of self-awareness related to a profound understanding
that existence itself is meaningless without compassionate and constructive inter-dependence
that without responsible cooperation and mutual respect among peers
endless competition is no longer creatively productive but also destructive
This state of adult mind is clearly realized as a parent seeking future security for its children
where the welfare of the next generation
is more important than the present one

In an adult state of mind
anarchy is moot
all parents desire precisely the same sharing and caring family values
which are founded on equality of resources and of opportunity

In a society of adult peers
the mind of the parent and that of the State
are one and the same

Freedom. Fraternity and Equality
then become the existential democratic realities of a matured society
not merely the precocious idealistic slogans
of a prior rebellious, self-determinant teenage consciousness