What can we learn about the brain by studying history? What do the Classical period, the Renaissance, and the Romantic era have in common?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Contrary to popular opinion, Iain McGilchrist contends that the left brain hemisphere<\/a> should be subservient to the right. He contends that three historical eras embody the primacy of the right hemisphere: classical antiquity, the Renaissance, and Romanticism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read on to get a new perspective on history by seeing it through the lens of right hemisphere dominance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n McGilchrist asserts that the incredible art and literature produced during the classical period, the Renaissance, and the Romantic era is evidence of right hemisphere dominance during those times. Before we dive into the details, it\u2019s worth clarifying what McGilchrist means when he says that an era can embody hemispheric dominance<\/a> (and that this embodiment can change over time from one hemisphere to the other). McGilchrist attributes such embodiment to mimesis<\/em>, a process by which we empathetically imitate certain ways of thinking present in our surroundings, leading to functional shifts in our brain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, though an infant\u2019s brain has the structural hardware needed to process both implicit and explicit meaning, if that infant is surrounded by people who emphasize explicit over implicit meaning, the process of mimesis could sharpen the brain\u2019s function for processing explicit meaning and weaken its function for processing implicit meaning. In this way, McGilchrist says, different functions associated with the left and right hemispheres can become entrenched in different historical eras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: While McGilchrist applies the concept of mimesis to imitating brain functions<\/a> in particular, mimesis was originally applied to art and poetry. Indeed, Aristotle argued that the primary goal of an artist was to reflect reality by imitating it<\/a>\u2014thus, through mimetic imitation, the artist captures the essence of reality in art.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first period that McGilchrist analyzes is the classical period, which lasted from the 8th century B.C. in Greece until the 5th century A.D. in Rome. He argues that most of the classical period demonstrates the proper level of right hemisphere dominance<\/strong>, as shown by classical art, literature, and philosophy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n First, McGilchrist examines how classical portraits displayed the human face, arguing that their emphasis on individuality is evidence of the right hemisphere\u2019s primacy. He writes that, before antiquity, Egyptian depictions of faces lacked expression and were often abstracted from any individual face\u2014all hallmarks of the left hemisphere. Around the 4th century BC, however, faces grew more emotional and diverse, suggesting an emphasis on the individual that\u2019s strongly associated with the right hemisphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: While Egyptian portraits regularly draw negative comparisons to later Greek portraits, experts point out that Egyptian portraiture had a markedly different function than Greek portraiture, which partially explains its different style. Egyptian portraits were typically meant to adorn deceased individuals\u2019 tombs<\/a> and accompany them to the afterlife, so they weren\u2019t intended to be seen by the public. Hence, Egyptian portraits didn\u2019t need the same degree of detail as Greek portraits, since they were largely functional rather than aesthetic.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, McGilchrist discusses the Homeric epics\u2014the Iliad <\/em>and the Odyssey<\/em>\u2014and writes that they exemplify the right hemisphere\u2019s capacity for empathy. These epics, he argues, demonstrated a keen insight into the thought processes of their characters, showing a new degree of psychological depth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: With respect to Homer\u2019s Odyssey <\/em>in particular, psychiatrist Jonathan Shay has argued that Homer captures the nature of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through Odysseus\u2019s experience both in, and after, battle. In Odysseus in America<\/em><\/a>, he details the lessons that the US military and public can learn from the Odyssey<\/em> about PTSD among veterans.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, McGilchrist examines early Greek philosophy\u2014especially that of Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher who lived around 500 B.C.\u2014to show that it reflects the right hemisphere\u2019s preference for unity and the implicit. Heraclitus held that the true structure of nature is hidden, and any attempt to explicitly define it using language and logic is bound to fail. He argued that to understand this structure, we must carefully monitor our perceptions, which allows us to see \u201cthe unity of opposites\u201d that underlies nature. According to McGilchrist, Heraclitus\u2019s preference for the implicit, for our perceptions, and for unity are all characteristic of the right hemisphere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: Though McGilchrist presents Heraclitus as an exemplar of classical philosophy, among his peers, Heraclitus was known for his terse prose that was intentionally ambiguous<\/a> and more akin to poetry than traditional philosophy. For this reason, later Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle would even deem Heraclitus\u2019s work self-contradictory and incoherent<\/a> since it didn\u2019t embody the clarity that they expected.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although classical antiquity occurred some two millennia before the Renaissance\u2014the period between about the 14th and 17th century AD in Europe\u2013McGilchrist contends that the Renaissance represented a return to the hemisphere balance of the classical world. He argues that the Renaissance achieved the ideal right hemisphere primacy<\/strong>, as shown by its art and Shakespearean theater. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Regarding Renaissance art, McGilchrist notes that Renaissance artists rekindled perspective in paintings\u2014that is, representing three-dimensional objects to generate the illusion of depth\u2014after it had been absent for over a millennium. He argues that these perspective paintings suggest the ability to see the world in context<\/em>, as the right hemisphere prefers, rather than the detached view that\u2019s associated with the left hemisphere, as seen in certain medieval religious art<\/a> that abstracts space and proportion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: Renaissance art both influenced and was influenced by an intellectual movement known as humanism<\/a> <\/em>that harkened back to classical antiquity and exalted the human form<\/a>. This close association with humanism shaped several aspects of Renaissance art. For example, it increased the social status of artists, who began to be viewed as intellectuals rather than mere craftsmen<\/a>. Moreover, rather than treating the body as something to be hidden, humanism led to an unabashed emphasis on the human body in Renaissance art.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n With respect to Renaissance theater, McGilchrist argues that the Shakespearean plays that highlighted Renaissance-era drama displayed several strengths of the right hemisphere. For example, Shakespearean characters subvert the standard categories that the left hemisphere sorts individuals into. And at a broader level, Shakespeare\u2019s tendency to mix different genres shows a similar distaste for the left hemisphere\u2019s categorization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: In particular, Shakespeare was responsible for popularizing the dramatic pastiche known as the tragicomedy<\/em>, a genre of play that interspersed both tragic and comic elements<\/a>. For example, tragicomedies might involve genuine danger to the protagonist, as well as farcical scenes designed to create a sense of levity. Of Shakespearean plays in particular, experts point out that The Merchant of Venice<\/em> constitutes a tragicomedy since one of the primary plotlines is a comedy, while the other is a tragedy<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although the Renaissance represented the optimal balance between the hemispheres, it wasn\u2019t the most recent historical period to favor right-hemisphere tendencies\u2014that achievement belongs to Romanticism, the European intellectual and artistic movement in the early to middle 19th century. Citing examples from Romantic art and literature, McGilchrist argues that Romanticism embodied the primacy of the right hemisphere<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, McGilchrist asserts that landscape paintings formed the cornerstone of Romantic art, especially those of Claude Lorrain. Lorrain\u2019s landscape paintings<\/a>, he argues, were noteworthy for their unique depth, which couldn\u2019t be grasped by the left hemisphere alone; after all, the left hemisphere focuses on minute details rather than the bigger picture. Moreover, McGilchrist writes that like Renaissance perspective paintings, Lorrain\u2019s landscapes show a distinctly human perspective on the world\u2014not the \u201cobjective\u201d view that the left hemisphere prefers, but the embodied view that\u2019s distinctive of the right hemisphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: More generally, one crucial commitment of romantic art was the primacy of the aesthetic<\/em>\u2014roughly put, the notion that art and aesthetic beauty are fundamental to the human condition<\/a>. Although this commitment is often viewed in opposition to Enlightenment ideals such as the sovereignty of reason, other experts contend that Romantic artists desired a union <\/em>of beauty and reason<\/a>; in elevating the importance of the aesthetic, they claim, Romantic artists only sought to level the playing field.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Apart from art, McGilchrist suggests that Romantic-era literature reveals the right hemisphere\u2019s influence through its expression of melancholy and yearning. For example, English poet William Wordsworth\u2019s poetry conveys a longing for the past coupled with sadness that it\u2019s irretrievable\u2014emotions felt most strongly in the right hemisphere. In a similar vein, McGilchrist argues that German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe captured this sense of longing<\/a> through poems like \u201c<\/em>Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt\u201d (\u201cOnly he who knows yearning\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\nRight Hemisphere Dominance Throughout History<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Era #1: The Classical World<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Era #2: The Renaissance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Era #3: Romanticism<\/h3>\n\n\n\n