Heroes Not Zombies

I’ve been thinking about the value of Art recently, partly in relation to words I’m wary of.…like “utility”, and partly in relation to an article I read about culture and health.

Then, today, I remembered a scene from The Forsyte Saga, which I think the problem of communication between those who appreciate Art, and those who have a much more utilitarian mindset, is portrayed brilliantly by these two actors, Gina McKee, and Damian Lewis.

C.P. Snow famously described the “two cultures” of science and the humanities. However, I think the clash of world views can’t be neatly fitted into these two domains of learning. Rather, I think Iain McGilchrist’s explanation of the two types of focus which we use when we are using our left and right hemispheres, is a better one. It’s pretty clear that issues of utility and manipulation are in the domain of the left hemisphere, and that our appreciation of connections, and values, requires our use of the right hemisphere.

If you search my blog for “divided brain”, you’ll find some posts where I summarise some of his explanations. Alternatively, start here.