A Critique of Iain McGilchrist

McGilchrist says that attention is a moral act, but what if he doesn’t see what he doesn’t see? He has replaced one formula (it’s not either/or but both/and) with another more complicated, and, notably, more subtle, one (it’s not either/or or both/and, but either/or and both/and). He loves it! He’s very good at this kind of thing! And his followers love it! Hence, all are convinced? But, maybe, just maybe, he has pushed it too far, so it, according to his own way of thinking, has turned into its opposite? Here’s what I see!

1. We have two hemispheres because we have two body halves, with two eyes, two ears, two hands, two arms, two legs, two kidneys, and so on. Why two, you ask? You tell me! Why do we have five fingers? Nobody knows?
2. Nature is very creative and innovative! We have two eyes in the front of our head, so we can see depth. Not all animals can do that. We have two ears on opposite sides of the head, so we can hear direction. Many animals can do that. We have two legs, so we can walk on, well, two legs. Very few animals can do that. And, since dolphins have two hemispheres too, they can stay awake with one hemisphere while the other is sleeping, and thus avoid drowning. We can’t do that.
3. Dolphins don’t have two hemispheres because they need to avoid drowning. They can avoid drowning because they use their hemispheres creatively. And, I’d suggest, we don’t have two hemisphere’s because we need to simultaneously attend to the world in two incompatible ways. Why only two, I ask? And, by the way, we obviously can’t, and we don’t have to? We are not chickens with eyes on the opposite sides of the head, who simultaneously have to keep an eye on food and hawks.

McGilchrist may, quite frankly, mistake the map for the territory? I’d suggest some of his deep metaphysical assumptions may be an artifact of a certain way of seeing—yes, a certain way of attending to the world. Neither do I share his views on the admirable Christian mythos. But that’s another story.

Update 2024-10-08:
Link added to last paragraph. Related posts added.

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Deep Metaphysical Assumptions