How whole brain thinking can save the future : why left hemisphere dominance has brought humanity to the brink of disaster and how we can think our way to peace and healing

Olson, James 1943- (Author).

Summary: Our brains have numerous functioning parts, all of which serve us at any one moment. But decades of research reveal the existence of two basic brain (3z(Boperating systems(3y(S?(Btwo fundamental ways in which the whole brain processes incoming information. Because of this phenomenon of brain dominance, most of us tend to favor the input of either our (3z(Bdualistic(3y(B left-brain (which focuses on parts instead of wholes) or our holistic right hemisphere. This means that typically only half of our innate intelligence informs our thinking?and since the left-brain operating system dominates most males, our culture has itself become left-brain dominant. How Whole Brain Thinking Can Save the Future explores this left-brain bias in our civilization, revealing it to be the root cause for centuries of war, racism, and political polarization?and eons of misunderstanding between the sexes. While most of our technological and scientific progress is driven by left-brain thinking, the great advances to come will require that we consciously harness both sides of our brain to greatly improve our cognition. The author goes on to explain how we can achieve greater internal harmony between the two operating systems of the brain?both as individuals and as a culture?thus showing us how and why thinking with our whole brains will lead us to peace and to the ultimate healing of our relationships and our world.

Record details

ISBN: 9781579830519 (paperback)
ISBN: 157983051X (paperback)
Physical Description: print
xii, 333 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.
Publisher: San Rafael, CA Origin Press, [2017]
Copyright: ©2017

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Part One: Holistic and dualistic systems in action -- Brain lateralization: The big picture -- The nature of holistic operating systems -- The nature of dualistic operating systems -- Gender war -- The complexities of sexual orientation -- Part Two: How perspective and brain dominance produce polarization -- Parts, whos, and holons: satisfying our need for wholeness -- Sacred geometry's role in perception -- The roles of perspective and perception in cognition -- Polarization: The separation of unity in duality -- Dualistic operating-system patterms revisited -- Further consideration of the holistic feminine -- Part Three: How brain dominance shapes culture -- Understanding the cultural brain -- How brain dominance affects our perception of abortion -- The brain behind the military-industrial-congressional complex -- Making war: The default response of left-brain dualism -- Finding peace, being peace.