Embodied
The body is a potential for the soul
In the last post about the left hemisphere I mentioned three areas that are principally right-hemisphere mediated and this potentially outside the left hemisphere’s sphere of control1. The first of these is the body, or more broadly embodiment.
Although we might seem obsessed by the body, McGilchrist’s contention is that we can be focused on an objectified and mechanical attitude toward the body - it’s a machine, a thing we possess and utilise - an object like any other object, but this object we are necessarily attached to. The mechanical view of the body is the view by an isolated left hemisphere, as indeed it is from many accounts of schizophrenic perceptions of the body.
Schizophrenic subjects routinely see themselves as machines - often robots, computers, or cameras - and sometimes declare that parts of them have been replaced by metal or electronic components. This goes with a lack of transparency of the flesh. No spirit is seen there: ‘body and soul don’t belong together - there’s no unity’, as one patient eloquently puts it. This results in the body becoming ‘mere’ matter. As a result, other human beings, too, appear no more than things, because they are walking bodies. (McGilchrist, 2009, p. 439)
However our embodied nature is more than being in a machine that gets us around, it is not incidental but essential. We are inextricably enmeshed with our biology in such a way that the analogy of hardware and software for our body and mind simply belies the complex reality of things.
Everything about the body, which in neuropsychological terms is more closely related to and mediated by the right hemisphere than the left, makes it a natural enemy of the left hemisphere, the hemisphere of ideal re-presentation rather than embodied fact, of rationalism rather than intuition, of explicitness rather than the implicit, of what is static rather than what is moving, of what is fixed rather than what is changing. The left hemisphere prefers what it has itself made, and the ultimate rebuff to that is the body. It is the ultimate demonstration of the recalcitrance of reality, of its not being subject to our control. (McGilchrist, 2009, p. 440)
And this attitude of the left hemisphere extends to the natural world where every part of the material world is a resource, valued by utility. It is the right hemisphere that appreciates the interconnectedness and embodied nature of everything around us, not as mechanical or something to be exploited and commodified, but something vastly more precious for it’s ‘being’. This intangible, even spiritual, aspect of the embodied world is incomprehensible and intolerable to the left hemisphere.
So if we bring this home now to the current global situation with the virus, vaccines, mandates, the denial of body autonomy, and all the rest. Can we see a left hemisphere bias2 in the attitude toward our bodies, especially the bodies of the collective? I think we can easily see the objectification, generalisation, and mechanisation of our bodies when it comes to managing the virus. A myopic3 understanding of how to prime the collective immune system and provide a shield of protection by a big machine looking at a lot of little machines. And could it be accepted by the masses with a more left-hemispherical attitude in general toward treating our bodies as discrete machines, ignoring the broader context of the body-mind-spirit embodied in a highly interconnected world and spiritual domains? The acceptance of the narrative “only the vaccine will get us out of this,” ignores the vast complexities and opportunities the right hemisphere can conceive but is largely lost by the left. Yes I realise the narrative and the application of the current ‘pandemic’ management and treatment has been carefully constructed for commercial ends (and maybe more sinister ends), but the thing that befuddles me is the blind acceptance of such a narrative and execution. Could it be that the masses have been so leaning toward a left hemisphere way of ‘being’ in the world that such an out of touch (with the broader reality) narrative is convincing? I think there is something to be gleaned here. I think the constructed narrative and the acceptance of such is hand in glove.
So what can we do? For many reading this it would be what you are doing already; nurturing an open and holistic perspective about health, our bodies and relationship with the world around us, and making choices to fit our specific circumstance. Not obsessing about our bodies for vanity or pure utility, but respecting our embodied selves and those around us with a reverent awe.
The one-size-fits-all solutions that have been forced on the population denies the complexity and individuality of everyone and every community. We must respond by considering every individuals situation and every community, in context, and tailoring a response with a big picture in mind. Being aware of commercial interests that see the individual as just something to extract value out of and counter that with a compassionate interest in the fabric of the whole. To hell with Big Pharma’s bottom line, there is a living, breathing, fragile and priceless world that deserves a more thoughtful, compassionate, and even spiritual4 response. This must not only be practiced on an individual basis but articulated and encouraged on a community basis5. I don’t mean to sound like a hippie6, but we really are in an embodied interactive milieu with each other and the rest of the planet - what we do to ourselves, or let happen, affects those around us. Let’s have a positive effect.
McGilchrist, I. (2009). The master and his emissary: The divided brain and the making of the Western world. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
And I don’t imagine for a second this is the only variable from a neuropsychological perspective as there would be certain conditionings and both bottom-up and top-down processes at play. But I do want to tease out this one perspective for the moment.
This may be on purpose or may be the result of a desperate pharma industry becoming so unaware of the non-liner complexity of a human being (or just don’t care) that they have become blinded in their silo, cut off from the reality of the embodied world.
We will touch on the spirit next time.
As we are seeing in small communities all around the world who are rejecting the narrative, standing up for freedom and articulating a perspective that is altogether more holistic.
I’m probably showing my age by using this word, but I think it still holds up in this day and age.
Thank you for another great article!
Another amazing piece. Thank you!