The Master and His Emissary

The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World

By: Iain McGilchrist

Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman

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

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.

Incredibly Important

Fantastically informative and thought provoking, this book is essential for all curious minds, especially in the Western world.

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.

A True Epiphany

Look at the moon, not the finger pointing at the moon. This Daoist saying is true, but this is a wonderful map to the moon, and a reminder that we should never stop trying to get there.

Game changer

The world needs to read and reflect. Anyone will be a better person for reading this book.