The Attack On Life and Understanding Our Times. A conversation with Iain McGilchrist and Mark Vernon

The two hemispheres hypothesis, championed by Iain McGilchrist, has become well-known. But what light does it cast on modern society and our direction of travel? The nature of overweening bureaucracy, technologies of control, and the narrowing of freedom are explored in this conversation between Iain and Mark Vernon. They discuss issues from the legacy of the Covid pandemic to the story that modern humanity has come to tell itself about who we are. It turns out that now is a moment to be concerned and to ask again about fundamental matters, from the reality of evil to the meaning of death. To understand more is to find space to respond more imaginatively with a deeper, more expansive awareness of nature, the sacred, and life.

[Jane_Alice_Reprise]

Thank you ever so much for your work. I am a Psychotherapist in Germany, having studied at the IOP/King's College in London I remained connected to English Literature, and that is why I came across your book The Master and His Emissary. It changed the way I do therapy massively and patients are benefitting from it enormously, affecting change where in former times years of therapy were needed! Getting the people to feel, be in contact with themselves, excercising wisdom and compassion, knowing about the different ways of attending the world helps to overcome fears and depression in ways not possible using more traditional therapeutic approaches. Many of my patients develop a fulness of experience they weren't able to before the onset of their disorders. Which proves to me that illness can be seen as a search for a way to heal ones life that very often is damaged by societal system failure. But in the same way I experience healing effects using an approach that I developed out of your wisdom, knowledge and a way, to make sense of the meaning of life. It even came to a point where I was trusting my intuition that much that it helped me tackle daily life problems in miraculous ways, showing me that indeed we are connected to something far greater than us out there, which is beyond our physical senses. So thank you very much for your being with us in these most challenging of times. 🙏🌍

[mickmcmenemy]

@15:00 Iain appeals that we all fight back to regain our liberties lost through Government diktats this past 2 years. I absolutely agree and it's so encouraging to hear his practical wisdom on real life current issues.

[shari]

I hypothesize that our intuition is fed by our “periphery “. What I mean by this is that we are always taking in information subconsciously like body language. If we are living in and connected to Nature we are also alerted to things by the activity happening within earshot and attention. We call intuition a “feeling” because it is a kind of spiritual touch. This is truly indicative of being “connected”. Intuition, like all capabilities, must be experienced, practiced, so that discernment can be honed over time. I have come to rely heavily on intuition which for most of my life I distrusted because I didn’t understand that I could cooperate with it.

[traviswadezinn]

Very important topics - we must regain our humanity!

[maureenconsolati]

It is a tremendous relief to me to find I am not crazy and that there is a grounding for my feeling of isolation. I find very few people who find the present trajectory of society terrifying.
I read Iains first book just after it was published and now it seems prophetic.
I am an ex classical ballet dancer which may explain why I am at odds with many people. Thank you for providing a forum where I can feel comfortable.

[shari]

Dr. McGilchrist is a “voice crying in the wilderness “. Thank you so much.

[Happy-tcjt]

Dear Mr McGillChrist, I totally agree with you... ironically, it is thanks to technology that we can hear your lovely voice...speaking words of wisdom.humanity is an endangered species... I feel alive when I listen to the Amazing song of a Blackbird....when I bury a seed in the soil and watch it grow, when I contemplate life unfolding before my eyes...when I see a bee land on a blackberry flower to enjoy it's nectar... When I enjoy eating the fruit that I watched change colour and become soft and sweet ...almost ready to pick .yes we live in a world where children are no longer enchanted by the song of a Blackbird...but yet get excited by the buzz of a twit on their phone....what kind of world do we want to live in?There is much healing to be done for humanity to reconnect to its intuition...to life itself. Thank you Mr McGillChrist, you are an inspiration 💕

[tolgacan]

Iain's ideas are so inspiring and helpful in these mechanical times. Greetings from Turkey.

[annebaring]

I am reading Matthias Desmet's recent book, The Psychology of Totalitarianism. Its theme fits precisely with what is being discussed here. It, like Iain McGilchrist's recent work, warns us about the change of values that leads to technological control or enslavement of vast populations.

[wildwisdom]

Thank you. i for one am creating and seeking alternatives. Simplifying lifestyles is the start.

[festivalonearth]

THE FIRE IN THE SONG
(excerpt)
He said, "If you only
stop singing
I'll make you safe."
And he repeated the line,
knowing you would hear
"I'll make you safe"
as the comforting
sound of a door
closed on the fear at last
but his darkness crept
under your tongue
and became the dim
cave where
you sheltered
and you grew
in that small place
too frightened to remember
the songs of the world,
its impossible notes,
and the sweet joy
that flew out the door
of your wild mouth
as you spoke.
- David Whyte

[lilmayomouldycrouton]

I am thankful this came up on my feed. For years Ive been desperate to REALLY talk about these issues but people I was close to suddenly shyed away from these conversations, furthering the existential crisis :/

[evanhadkins]

My wife did a fine art course, she got to the stage where the students were expected to make artists statements about themselves and the work. She referred to this as, "making sh*t up". Which is the best description of it I've heard.

[MrNicholasPower]

Thank you Mark and Iain for exploring these important elements of life. So many nails struck firmly on the head. I am particularly delighted to hear Iain discuss the relevance of his hypothesis to how we dysfunction as a society, I share his concern deeply.

[shari]

When we try to suppress doubt we are creating evil. I’ll be thinking about this for some time.

[twmsioncati]

I am very interested in what you state about power and control. I am in my late 50's and I have certainly noticed the change. Brace yourself for a generalisation: When I was starting in the world of employment, it was certainly far from perfect. People got jobs because of factors and influences that we would now certainly, and rightly, reject. We might also reject the hierarchy and structure of authority that existed then. However, there were certain advantages to the "old" system. Firstly, tasks were largely done out of a sense of personal responsibility to the group and to oneself. Decisions were obeyed because of seniority, yet, but also out of a certain type of respect. How the system has changed. Now the 'Disciplinary, ' or threat of a 'Disciplinary, ' is the stick that beats the workforce into compliance. Sadly, constantly working under this threatening cloud can have an overwhelmingly deadening impact on creativity and camaraderie with ones fellow employees. There is also a tendency to feel as if you work for a process, rather than for a team or for an individual you respect. Fear, in short, is the order of the day.



It has almost got the point when all the employees I respect have been 'disciplined' at least twice. They are the people who tend to demonstrate common decency and initiative. The type of qualities that can get you into real trouble with the power structure backed by HR, ever out to justify its ever-expanding empire.

[penelopehill]

This beautifully orchestrated conversation resounds with good vibrations . . . uplifting in face of impersonal evils.

[heatherhall]

Intuition is GOLD 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 I’m so grateful I have it

[TennesseeJed]

Man, we sure need a conversation like this!

[simka]

In my family, there is the story of the way my 17 year old grandfather, who had longed to join the military, signed up for Army service in the early 1930s. On the spot, the recruiter immediately informed him, without a lot of bureaucratic to-do, of his assignment somewhere in Europe.
As Grandpa was whistling down the stairs he ran into his buddy, who had also just joined up, and directly told that he would be going to China.
“Hey, I’ve always wanted to go to China! Let’s swap assignments, ” said my young (future) grandad, at which point both young men hustle back to the recruiting office and make the switch right there on the spot.
Long story short: my grandpa eventually winds up meeting my Russian grandma in Shanghai, a meeting without which I never would have been born (at least, not as “me”).
Such a turn of events would have been impossible in our technolatrous age, and thus I never would have been.