The Master and His Emissary

The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World

By: Iain McGilchrist

Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman

Length: 27 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

This pioneering account sets out to understand the structure of the human brain - the place where mind meets matter. Until recently, the left hemisphere of our brain has been seen as the "rational" side, the superior partner to the right. But is this distinction true?

Drawing on a vast body of experimental research, Iain McGilchrist argues while our left brain makes for a wonderful servant, it is a very poor master. As he shows, it is the right side which is the more reliable and insightful. Without it, our world would be mechanistic - stripped of depth, color and value.

©2009 Iain McGilchrist; Introduction copyright 2018 by Iain McGilchrist (P)2019 Tantor

a must read

for a better world...
a monumentally important work fir our current predicament.
all educators, all humans,all that work in government, please read and reflect

Vivid and stunning.

Absolutely and wholly stunning. If you can grasp the subject and it’s implications, you will step into the river and become something else.

Excellent

I’d call it a “must” for anyone with an interest in neuroscience or philosophy of mind. The scope is impressive, and you’ll learn about many fascinating differences in L vs R hemisphere function.

Changed the way I see the world

What an impressive book. Philosophy, science, history, psychology, all rolled together to make sense of the world.

I love this book

Great ideas that I have been struggling to apprehend. I am excited to read his next book.

A profound listen of great potential

Warning: This book that may change how you think, not just what you think. I can’t tell you precisely why you might read or listen. But you may become more aware of the limits of your own awareness. You may recover deep feelings of humility, awe, wonder, connection, longing, and belonging. If that sounds interesting, and you can track with a verbose set of observations that span many schools of social science, psychology, theology, and philosophy—then this book is for you.

applications to real life

I really like how this author handled a subject matter that is somewhat controversial in the research world. He directly addressed the controversy and stated his case. Then he also made neurology accessible to laymen. And so his conclusions were both believable and very relevant.

Long and well worth

This book was suggested to me by a good friend years ago. It was daunting in length, but well well worth the time. Incredibly well thought and enlightening. Every investigation necessary and informative: giving you a new perspective on all aspects of the world you live in.

Detailed and engaging.

This work covers a lot of material including neuroscience, history, philosophy, poetry and the arts. The work is very dense but incredibly well organized.

The narrator did an outstanding job.

An Amazing Journey

Dr. McGilchrist, with painstaking research and historical reference, weaves the story of our left/right brain structure and it’s interplay with society throughout the ages. Most chillingly fascinating were his predictions for the future (published in 2009) which are showing themselves true today.