Dr. Jill Taylor chose to share a story about a hemorrhage she survived because it was through this experience that she claims she found peace. In her speech, Taylor states,“I'm still alive, and I have found Nirvana. And if I have found Nirvana and I'm still alive, then everyone who is alive can find Nirvana.” Taylor now believes that living primarily through the right hemisphere of the brain can bring peace. Dr. Jill Taylor finishes her presentation with, “I believe that the more time we spend choosing to run the deep inner-peace circuitry of our right hemispheres, the more peace we will project into the world, and the more peaceful our planet will be. And I thought that was an idea worth spreading.” Taylor’s closing remarks show that she hopes sharing this information with others will allow them to find peace as well and choose peace above all else.
When Dr. Taylor asked what the audience would choose, I immediately chose the left half of my brain. The left hemisphere of my brain is the closest thing to an embodiment of myself because, first and foremost, it helps me formulate all of my thoughts. Every bit of language I use, whether it is spoken or thought, is made possible by the left hemisphere of my brain. I would argue that language is the best tool we have to express ourselves and for that reason, I would hope to maintain my ability to speak and understand language. “And in that moment, my left hemisphere brain chatter went totally silent. Just like someone took a remote control and pushed the mute button… because I could no longer identify the boundaries of my body, I felt enormous and expansive. I felt at one with all the energy that was, and it was beautiful there.” Even though Taylor praises the experience, it’s hard for me to imagine that I would feel the same way. I’m not looking for peace in an unrealistic world, I choose who I am and how I experience things with the help of my left hemisphere.
I agree, I would also choose my left-brain. When she started talking about how each side of the brain processed, she obviously seemed to like the right brain better. She said the right brain connected us with the people around us and the world around us. The left-brain, I felt like she explained better at the end. She said the left-brain was how she is able to say she is Jill Bolte Taylor neuroanatomist etc. This is why I would favor the left-brain. The left-brain is how I am not the same as everybody else; I am able to distinguish myself with my left-brain. I also could not live without my brain chatter. The Nirvana world she claims is perfect and we should all hope to find it sounds great but the real world is great also, just is real and also has bad things in it. The right brain could help us better empathize with others, break down societal divides we think we have and be able to, as she said, have world peace. This is why we need both halves. However, if I had to choose a half, it would be the left-brain.
ReplyDeleteI actually disagree because I think I would rather have the right side of my brain because it allows for creativity and artistic ability. The right hemisphere of the brain is all about “pictures and how it learns kinesthetically through the movement of our bodies (Taylor 3:44)”, I am a visual learner so I can relate to learning through pictures and body movements. Though the left side is all about details and organization, without the energy and ideas of your right hemisphere then your brain would be boring. You make think with great detail but it would be black and white, you would have no color in your thoughts. That is why I value the right side of the brain over the left because I value the creative side of the brain. It allows you to go to your “La La Land (Taylor 9:19)”, and we all space out like when were in a really boring lecture. Just imagine not being to zone out, all you can think about is that brain chatter and what you have to do today and tomorrow and the rest of your life. Sometimes the left side overwhelms me because I don’t want to know everything I have to do I just want to figure it out.
DeleteI also would choose the left hemisphere of my brain because living in a world where peace is constantly attainable would not be functional. It is also unrealistic like you said. If it was possible to consciously choose the right side of your brain to be at peace, there would be no reason to leave that state. Personally, if I could be at peace like that whenever I wanted, I would probably spend almost all of my time there. However, the problem with this is that being at peace would ruin our human experience. Always being at peace would make our lives boring and uneventful. Also, human beings are meant to experience pain and struggle too. Just like in the book "Brave New World," when pain and struggle are taken away, so are things like individuality and emotion. If there is no pain and struggle, there will be no change and improvement. The left hemisphere allows us to communicate with others and make choices. Living only in the right hemisphere would not be functional because no work would get done and the human population would not be able to sustain itself for very long. I think that humans have a purpose in life and living only in the right hemisphere of the brain would not allow us to reach are full potential and fulfill our purpose.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Brianna. I would have to choose the left side of my brain. Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor describes her experience as something remarkable, nothing like she has ever experienced before. She shares with us how peaceful it was to not have that brain chatter. Although some people might find it amusing to not have that inner voice, to me it is frightening to imagine a world without it. “It’s that calculating intelligence that reminds me when I have to do my laundry. But perhaps most important, it’s that little voice that says to me ‘I am. I am”. (Taylor, 3:44) Personally, I consider this part of the brain chatter to be the most important. It lets us know what we have to accomplish throughout the day and it reminds us of who we are, what we are capable of. It’s also the way we connect things, we learn from them and eventually find peace either way. The way the system of our left hemispheres work is more impressive to me than the way our other hemisphere works because it allows for us to appreciate the small details. Both hemispheres are necessary and significant to the human life, but I would have to choose the left hemisphere of my brain.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Brianna, I would choose the left side of my brain as well. Although she managed to view the world as "euphoric" when she no longer had control of the right side of her brain, I feel as though I would be terrified if I no longer possessed the ability to understand myself, or what was happening around me. Without the "voice in my head" allowing me to process thoughts, I would not be the same person I am, although that is true for the right hemisphere as well I feel that the left hemisphere if more important in how we function. As mentioned by 'Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor' the world would be more peaceful if people thought only with he right side of their brain, which sounds appealing until we realize that without the left side of our brain the world would not be able to function in the way it does, we would not be able to function at all the way do.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely. The left hemisphere just seems like the more realistic decision. In my opinion. The thought of being trapped in my own mind with just my voice alone is quite terrifying. That’s not something everyone is capable of surviving. As she mentioned about her brother having schizophrenia, its not just his voice in there. My mother is schizophrenic. I personally think only having access to the right sight of her brain would be fairly dangerous for her and those around her. I understand why Dr. Jill would like for us to only think with our right side, it would bring out more happiness and positivity. The world is not always like that, and thinking that it is isn’t going to change anything. Its quite unrealistic
ReplyDeleteoverall, I believe that the left hemisphere is the more powerful for communicating with others, because it separates me from everything. Having only your left brain would make intercommunication much easier, but would eliminate any sense of self knowledge.
ReplyDeleteLikewise, having your right hemisphere only would allow for full knowledge of ones self, but would eliminate the ability to communicate with others.
taking both of these into account, i cannot make a choice for which one i want to lose. in my opinion its not a choice of what you want, but of what you can live without. not being able to communicate would isolate me to depression, and not being able to understand myself would leave me wanting. neither of these outcomes are acceptable, i don't believe that i could choose to just have one.
however, at the end Jill taylor talks about being able to "step into" either of these hemispheres and fully control where she is in that moment. This is the choice that i make, i want to be able to fully control which hemisphere i inhabit, so that i can have both inner meaning, and intercommunication.
I agree with you Brianna. Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's experience without having much insight from her left brain was not the best experience portrayed. I understand how she describes the fact that you will find more peace within yourself and the world through using your right hemisphere; however, as you stated, this world is nothing near peace so why should we conform to it. She allows us to see how she did hit a state where she felt like she was in “Nirvana”, but we all know this was just going to be temporary. I would definitely choose the left side of my brain because as Dr. Taylor stated that the left hemisphere of the brain thinks of the past, future, it thinks in language, and methodically. I think of the actions I do to have a better future by relating it through my past actions. My left hemisphere distinguishes me from many and the right hemisphere seems to be to present.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you; I would also choose the left hemisphere of my brain. There's a saying that in order to achieve "Nirvana" like Jill Taylor, one must "live in the moment." That is essentially what the purpose of the right hemisphere is according to what Jill Taylor says about it in My Stroke of Insight on TED. She says that the purpose of the right hemisphere is to account for everything during the present moment, but I think that is where my trouble lies and where I choose the left portion. In everything that I do I think about my past decisions and how the decisions I make will affect my future. When thinking about a career, I think about money and how I will be able to help my family in the economy. When I think about people I interact with, I think about similar previous people I've interacted with and how it affected me in the future. I think this is why I say that I am primarily my left side of the brain.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely. I do feel as though the left side of brain more accurately reflects who I am as an individual and it gives me a sense of real individuality and uniqueness. In reality I do use my left side of my brain more as I use my conscience to reflect on the past and future quite a bit. I seem to use the left side in almost every situation whether it be whether or I should skip class for example. I reflect on my past decisions and in turn they determine the future of what I'll do. From my past experiences skipping class has not done me any good so in turn I rarely do so. Also I agree with you that I don't seek peace in an imperfect world. I'd rather choose who I want to be as an individual.
ReplyDeleteI am torn between the two honestly. There are great aspects of both sides of the brain in my opinion. I agree with the fact that if we all figure out how to utilize the right side of our brains, that it will lead to peace amongst the nations of our world, but I also see that very hard to come by. Honestly I don’t think we will ever be able to accomplish that, no matter how hard we try, because there will always be people out there who’s main goal is to go against everything that the people want done. This being said, I would have to agree that I would rather try to use the left side of my brain. This is in fact where all the language comes from, so the left side of the brain helps make up who we are. This side of the brain allows you to think and speak out language, which honestly sounds more appealing than having peace for all, like she says would happen with the right side of the brain. As an individual I would rather have the right side of my brain, as a society, I believe we need the right side, I just don’t know how realistic that theory is.
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