Yes Bell's Palsy involves the same facial nerve we are talking about here (cranial nerve VII) - when it's inflamed you get the partial to full paralysis of those facial muscles that maintain tone and movement.
Yes the crossover of handedness is correct - most people are right handed and this is controlled by the left hemisphere. The dominance of right-handedness, as far as I know, is because the left hemisphere is all about tools, grasping, the manipulation of things, and the hand it has control over is the right hand to achieve such ends. So I don't think it's social pressure, I think it's more hard-wired than that. And there are degrees of handedness as well, from extremely right handed to extremely left handed and the ambidextrous in the middle. So the left-handed ones among us demonstrate that variation - what does this mean in terms of the left hemispheres extension to grasp things? I don't know. I imagine it's complex. Iain McGilchrist doesn't tackle it in The Master and his Emissary.
Go for it! Love to hear what you find. There's eyedness as well which is interesting - I'm left eye dominant but right handed - which makes shooting a bow interesting as you shoot according to your dominant eye not dominant hand.
Very interesting point! I`m a portrait photographer, and sometimes I struggle to achive natural (relaxed, sincere) smiles from certain people. Some people smile with only one half of their face. And an asyimmetrical smile (in the mouth area) is a sign of scorn. Maybe it`s more frequent a problem with IT guys... I suspected it`s a neurological tension problem – they`re really nice otherwise, don`t want to show contempt at all. Since our whole western culture is prone to induce left hemisphere dominance, might actually explain the phenomenon.
On facial asymmetry - this is normal and a perfectly symmetrical face (only achieved in photoshop) elicits an uncanny feeling. But what we are talking about is not a “normal” asymmetry and rather consistent in its presentation as Forrest so well documents.
Another interesting essay Winston. I do think that culture and education focus on left side knowledge and learning while neglecting and supressing development of the right side. There is an interesting little book about this titled: "Exploring the Crack in the Cosmic Egg: Split Minds and Meta Realities" by Joseph Chilton Pearce.
All language is symbolic and the left seems to focus on language that is descriptive of objects and as you more or less put it....the micro, the smaller details, or parts (I'm using poor descriptors of what I mean by left language). It's the everyday language of culture and the view of the world as a collection of separate objects. For lack of a better term, the material world. (Another bad descriptor because it implies that the material world is separate from right side perception)
I think there is also a language of the right side. Like all language it is also symbolic but in a different way. This type of language is focused on the macro which incorporates the micro. It can use language to condense concepts similar to have a zip file can condense a lot of information. What this language communicates can only be 'heard' by those who can 'unlock' the zip file. Or as a prophet reportedly put it, "He who has ears to hear, hears."
I think that there are experiences that can 'activate' (another poor descriptor) the right side to various degrees. Sometimes just glimpses. Sometimes much, much more. Sometimes in stages. Sometimes in leaps. I think that there are also times when the right communicates to the left and the left is unaware of the totality of what is being communicated. In his "Apology to the Athenians" Socrates tells of coming upon a group of poets who did not understand the meaning in their own poetry. I would say....metaphorically speaking that they could not open the zip file. They may however at some point be able to unzip the file.
For most the right is the unkown. That which is not seen, the dark side, like the Dark Side of the Moon.
The right contains the realm of semiotics & symbolism. Perhaps there are also practical reasons why the pineal gland and many key systems associated with "animal" functions are singular, gathered primarily along the central axis.
Perception utilizes singular- and dual-axis sensory systems. Even as singularity (I) defines our individual nature and duality (II) reflects certain aspects of our existence, reality appears to be multi-dimensional (III) in both action and principle.
Basically, a singular aspect of our physical being (L) seeks to control and dominate the dualistic aspect (R), in the process limiting perception of any extended awareness of the real deal (III) swirling around us all at once.
Has the nature of the whole "singularity" phenom become clear yet...?
Thanks Professor. I think there is "poetry from the transcendent realm" as the article says. And there's been much speculation about the pineal gland and a connection with such transcendence. There's also the rest of the nervous system - let's not forget the heart, the organ with a neurological system that sends more information to the brain than the other way around and is seemingly not lateralised but adds another dimension of wisdom and understanding to the cerebral hemispheres, maybe an ability to perceive what the central nervous system can't. It's all very interesting stuff to ponder isn't it?
As a layperson in relation to neuroscience and biological systems, the above capsulizes in a clear and unequivocal way what took many years of careful wading to only partially comprehend. Thanks a million for picking up Toby's gauntlet here, melting it down, and forging a modest object of rare explanatory elegance.
Not kissing a** here -- just genuinely thankful for these moments of clarity.
Thanks Doug - I've spent countless hours reading about this stuff and I can only claim to be maybe a step ahead of any layperson. It is true that the more you learn the more you realise how little we really know. A neuroscience friend says I'm to only listen to half of what he has to say because in a few years the other half will have been proven false - "Which half do I listen to then?" I ask. "That's the question isn't it!" he says.
Yes Bell's Palsy involves the same facial nerve we are talking about here (cranial nerve VII) - when it's inflamed you get the partial to full paralysis of those facial muscles that maintain tone and movement.
Yes the crossover of handedness is correct - most people are right handed and this is controlled by the left hemisphere. The dominance of right-handedness, as far as I know, is because the left hemisphere is all about tools, grasping, the manipulation of things, and the hand it has control over is the right hand to achieve such ends. So I don't think it's social pressure, I think it's more hard-wired than that. And there are degrees of handedness as well, from extremely right handed to extremely left handed and the ambidextrous in the middle. So the left-handed ones among us demonstrate that variation - what does this mean in terms of the left hemispheres extension to grasp things? I don't know. I imagine it's complex. Iain McGilchrist doesn't tackle it in The Master and his Emissary.
Go for it! Love to hear what you find. There's eyedness as well which is interesting - I'm left eye dominant but right handed - which makes shooting a bow interesting as you shoot according to your dominant eye not dominant hand.
lol - yep, gota get the right eye sorted out!
Very interesting point! I`m a portrait photographer, and sometimes I struggle to achive natural (relaxed, sincere) smiles from certain people. Some people smile with only one half of their face. And an asyimmetrical smile (in the mouth area) is a sign of scorn. Maybe it`s more frequent a problem with IT guys... I suspected it`s a neurological tension problem – they`re really nice otherwise, don`t want to show contempt at all. Since our whole western culture is prone to induce left hemisphere dominance, might actually explain the phenomenon.
On facial asymmetry - this is normal and a perfectly symmetrical face (only achieved in photoshop) elicits an uncanny feeling. But what we are talking about is not a “normal” asymmetry and rather consistent in its presentation as Forrest so well documents.
Thank you for a very interesting article. I found your Substack from Toby Rogers and I look forward to reading some of your older posts!
Awesome! Thanks Toby! Hope you find the posts interesting :-)
Another interesting essay Winston. I do think that culture and education focus on left side knowledge and learning while neglecting and supressing development of the right side. There is an interesting little book about this titled: "Exploring the Crack in the Cosmic Egg: Split Minds and Meta Realities" by Joseph Chilton Pearce.
All language is symbolic and the left seems to focus on language that is descriptive of objects and as you more or less put it....the micro, the smaller details, or parts (I'm using poor descriptors of what I mean by left language). It's the everyday language of culture and the view of the world as a collection of separate objects. For lack of a better term, the material world. (Another bad descriptor because it implies that the material world is separate from right side perception)
I think there is also a language of the right side. Like all language it is also symbolic but in a different way. This type of language is focused on the macro which incorporates the micro. It can use language to condense concepts similar to have a zip file can condense a lot of information. What this language communicates can only be 'heard' by those who can 'unlock' the zip file. Or as a prophet reportedly put it, "He who has ears to hear, hears."
I think that there are experiences that can 'activate' (another poor descriptor) the right side to various degrees. Sometimes just glimpses. Sometimes much, much more. Sometimes in stages. Sometimes in leaps. I think that there are also times when the right communicates to the left and the left is unaware of the totality of what is being communicated. In his "Apology to the Athenians" Socrates tells of coming upon a group of poets who did not understand the meaning in their own poetry. I would say....metaphorically speaking that they could not open the zip file. They may however at some point be able to unzip the file.
For most the right is the unkown. That which is not seen, the dark side, like the Dark Side of the Moon.
The right contains the realm of semiotics & symbolism. Perhaps there are also practical reasons why the pineal gland and many key systems associated with "animal" functions are singular, gathered primarily along the central axis.
Perception utilizes singular- and dual-axis sensory systems. Even as singularity (I) defines our individual nature and duality (II) reflects certain aspects of our existence, reality appears to be multi-dimensional (III) in both action and principle.
Basically, a singular aspect of our physical being (L) seeks to control and dominate the dualistic aspect (R), in the process limiting perception of any extended awareness of the real deal (III) swirling around us all at once.
Has the nature of the whole "singularity" phenom become clear yet...?
Make of this what you will... =)
Thanks for pointing me to the Joseph Pearce book - I had not been aware of it - I'll check it out.
Some very interesting points here!
This article tries to explain the concept I was referencing above.
https://tjbook-list.blogspot.com/2008/03/article-do-you-hear-what-i-hear-does.html?m=1
Thanks Professor. I think there is "poetry from the transcendent realm" as the article says. And there's been much speculation about the pineal gland and a connection with such transcendence. There's also the rest of the nervous system - let's not forget the heart, the organ with a neurological system that sends more information to the brain than the other way around and is seemingly not lateralised but adds another dimension of wisdom and understanding to the cerebral hemispheres, maybe an ability to perceive what the central nervous system can't. It's all very interesting stuff to ponder isn't it?
Yes. The heart is a large part of perception. The heart has an electromagnetic field that extends up to 3 feet beyond the body.
Yes that’s so cool isn’t it! The work of Heart Math - Rollin McCraty et al., is so interesting.
As a layperson in relation to neuroscience and biological systems, the above capsulizes in a clear and unequivocal way what took many years of careful wading to only partially comprehend. Thanks a million for picking up Toby's gauntlet here, melting it down, and forging a modest object of rare explanatory elegance.
Not kissing a** here -- just genuinely thankful for these moments of clarity.
Thanks Doug - I've spent countless hours reading about this stuff and I can only claim to be maybe a step ahead of any layperson. It is true that the more you learn the more you realise how little we really know. A neuroscience friend says I'm to only listen to half of what he has to say because in a few years the other half will have been proven false - "Which half do I listen to then?" I ask. "That's the question isn't it!" he says.