This mind chopping also happens with religious types.
It's not just a materialistic thing, but its more apparent now because science is the current state religion.
Jumping to conclusions- heuristics that seek patterns and ignore other patterns. Pretty efficient, you need less brain power if you can predict the "right answer" that ensures your survival in the situation.
In effect this left brained thing was an adaptation to writing
Yes, fundamentalism or the idea that there is a strict, objective "moral rule book" are definitely LH shenanigans. I would say though that real religiosity is the complete opposite of this.
A lot of what you're describing here - simplistic binary, all-or-nothing thinking, in which relevant data are discarded to save a theory, or useful theories rejected due to some trivial defect in relevant data - is consistent with the left brain's characteristic cognitive architecture. I'm drawing on Ian McGilchrist's work here, which is rather different from and far more compelling than the usual (wrong) understanding that the left brain does logic and the right brain does creativity. It's more that the left brain analyzes things down into parts and prefers simple models of reality to reality, whereas the right brain comprehends the whole and prefers an accurate picture of reality to an incorrect model.
Mind Matters had an interesting episode on it recently:
Thanks a lot for the comment, John! Since I'm currently reading "The Matter With Things", it was a big part of the inspiration to write this post. I should probably have made that clear and may add a note. Great article btw on your substack about TMWT!
I just found your Substack and I like your content on philosophical topics. I'm part of a group called the Online Synthesizers and it's led by a Youtuber by the name of Andrew Kirby. Reach out to him on Youtube or Twitter, and he could showcase your content via his newsletter. He could find your content interesting.
This mind chopping also happens with religious types.
It's not just a materialistic thing, but its more apparent now because science is the current state religion.
Jumping to conclusions- heuristics that seek patterns and ignore other patterns. Pretty efficient, you need less brain power if you can predict the "right answer" that ensures your survival in the situation.
In effect this left brained thing was an adaptation to writing
https://robnitro.substack.com/p/alphabet-vs-the-goddess?s=w
Yes, fundamentalism or the idea that there is a strict, objective "moral rule book" are definitely LH shenanigans. I would say though that real religiosity is the complete opposite of this.
When I think of real religiosity, I think it's identical to real science.
Being open minded and knowing what you know and what you cannot know is essential.
Healthy skepticism is something that is lacking in religion and modern science.
I don't know if god exists, I don't know if atoms really exist the way we're told.
I do know that both theories don't change a thing in my everyday life, so there's no need to prove that protons electrons or God exists.
Even quantum theory is broken along with modern physics
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkdAkAC4ItcFyNFBywN0wiZ45pCnMr-Ay
A lot of what you're describing here - simplistic binary, all-or-nothing thinking, in which relevant data are discarded to save a theory, or useful theories rejected due to some trivial defect in relevant data - is consistent with the left brain's characteristic cognitive architecture. I'm drawing on Ian McGilchrist's work here, which is rather different from and far more compelling than the usual (wrong) understanding that the left brain does logic and the right brain does creativity. It's more that the left brain analyzes things down into parts and prefers simple models of reality to reality, whereas the right brain comprehends the whole and prefers an accurate picture of reality to an incorrect model.
Mind Matters had an interesting episode on it recently:
https://www.sott.net/article/465656-MindMatters-Beyond-the-Schizo-Autistic-Worldview-Introducing-the-Matter-with-Things
I also riffed on McGilchrist's ideas here, with an eye to contemporary political divisions:
https://barsoom.substack.com/p/left-and-right-brains-and-politics
Thanks a lot for the comment, John! Since I'm currently reading "The Matter With Things", it was a big part of the inspiration to write this post. I should probably have made that clear and may add a note. Great article btw on your substack about TMWT!
Thanks Luc, a nice refreshing look at things which can get a bit hard to entangle in one's mind.
I just found your Substack and I like your content on philosophical topics. I'm part of a group called the Online Synthesizers and it's led by a Youtuber by the name of Andrew Kirby. Reach out to him on Youtube or Twitter, and he could showcase your content via his newsletter. He could find your content interesting.