If you haven’t seen this amazing video of Jill Bolte Taylor, neuroanatomist, speak at TED about her experience of having a stroke and discovering nirvana, um, you should. (My mom sent it to me…momma, I promise to stop talking so much shit about the things you forward.)
Today I want to thank Jill, who was moved to study the brain because of her schizophrenic brother. That original love led to a whole career of critical research, and in this wild twist of fate, a stroke that led to a whole different understanding about the way our brains work, not to mention consciousness and life’s meaning as a whole.
At a time when brain research has become so trendy, and reductive female vs. male brain analysis particularly “sexy,� it’s moving to hear a female scientist (Larry Summers bite us) explore the brain and its interworkings in such a revolutionary, non-gendered way.
And while we’re at it, why not thank our sturdy, little, stupendous brains. Sure, sometimes they freak out, break down, burn too bright, but most of the time they are frickin’ miraculous.
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Wow, I'm so glad I watched that, what a wonderful speaker she is, I loved the way she described everything, from the emotions she felt during her stroke, to the differences between the brain hemispheres and the effects she felt on her own consciousness. I also loved hearing about her vision for peace and harmony which, she hypothesized, may be achieved through a greater connection with our right hemisphere, and through greater connections with other beings, with the goal of ultimately achieving a sort of cosmic awareness or nirvana.
I think what she was describing partly, at the end, was the ability to feel empathy and the ability to live and see things from a perspective that is outside one's own body (the outer body experience she mentioned). Empathy, (I think) is activated by the right side of the brain, so it makes sense that greater harmony and peace would be achieved if we humans we more in touch with this side of the brain.
Overall this was a wonderful, beautiful talk, that made me think about our position as humans; both as individuals and as a whole species here on earth. It also makes me want to "get in touch" with my right hemisphere, sans the stroke part, of course. Although, I wonder how one would go about "getting in touch with their right hemisphere" anyways?
Meditation perhaps? I've just met a couple Buddhists but they said they meditate every day. I don't know what would happen if they stopped but they are so happy and friendly to everyone! It's so refreshing. This has reminded me to try meditating again. It is hard to get into a new habit.
Yes, meditation, I was thinking something along those lines! Thanks!
That makes sense, since I know the essential - and inherently frustrating - key to successful meditation is to stop that linear monologue, which I suppose would translate into muting the individualistic assertions of that left hemisphere that usually governs our interpretation of reality. Amazing.
wow, that gave me chills. absolutely unbelievable. she seems like an amazing and super strong woman.
Hey, this is awesome. Thanks for sharing it.
For those of you who are interested, feminist biologist Anne Fausto-Sterling has a LOT of thought-provoking things to say about brain research, especially the male-brain/female-brain type. I highly recommend her books "Myths of Gender" and "Sexing the Body."
Non-gendered? Dividing the world into two parts, one is linear, unemotional, calculating and the other about feeling, emotions, timeless oneness. Gee, that sounds rather gendered to me.
Frankly, I'm highly unimpressed. It sounds like a lot spiritual nonsense.
ropty: Non-gendered? Dividing the world into two parts, one is linear, unemotional, calculating and the other about feeling, emotions, timeless oneness. Gee, that sounds rather gendered to me.
Umm, hello? She's talking about our brains here, not genders. As far as I know, male AND females both have left and right brains.
If you have a legitimate critique of the science, I'd be interested to hear it. If you want to be offended by the science, I'm gonna have to call bullshit on you.
I have read an academic article about how the way we divide the brain in half is waaaay too simplistic. It is interesting she divides the left and right brain up so simplistically. Here's a site that outlines brain research on this. http://www.rense.com/general2/rb.htm
It ends by saying, "whatever the story about lateralisation, simple dichotomies are out. It is how the two sides of the brain complement and combine that counts."
A representative of my own college-the counseling department-hosted an entire program based on "explaining gender differences" which translated as patriarchal spew about female and male brains that founded generally accepted genderstereotypes. Then, when I raised my hand and told the counselor that I did not agree with his use of 'male' and 'female' brain terms, he said it was simply because I didn't understand. "If you had listened properly, you would have understood," he told me. A visit to the Women's Center later, I seriously doubt that programming will continue. Horrifically, he's done it twelve times before. Ugh.
LOL MonsierChauvin:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/101079
spaceninjamonkey: Umm, hello? She's talking about our brains here, not genders. As far as I know, male AND females both have left and right brains.
If you have a legitimate critique of the science, I'd be interested to hear it. If you want to be offended by the science, I'm gonna have to call bullshit on you.
I think that lyndorr addressed the bit about the right-left brain thing. As for "gendered" I would think a poster on a feminist blog would know the difference between "sex" and "gender." If you don't, then maybe you should spend some time with google or a good feminist reader.
Speaking of gender, sex, and brains, I just saw an article on the differences between male and female brains (OK, in fruit flies) in which the researcher emphasized the similarities...
from "Flies get 'mind-control sex swap'" by Rebecca Morelle, Science reporter, BBC News, 18 April 2008:
"...Researchers genetically modified the insects so that a group of brain cells that control sexual behaviour could be "switched on" by a pulse of light.
"The team was able to get female fruit flies to produce a courtship song - behaviour usually only seen in males.
"The study, published in the journal Cell, suggests that the wiring in male and female flies' brains is similar...
"...The insects had been genetically modified so that a pulse of light would activate this group of courtship neurons.
"First of all, the researchers looked at male flies and found that the light would indeed spark a song.
"'The second, more exciting question we wanted to ask, was what would happen if we turned the neurons on in females.
"'Females don't normally show this kind of behaviour, but we wanted to find out if they had a hidden capacity to do it,' explained Professor Miesenboeck...
"...Professor Miesenboeck explained: 'When we analysed the songs, we found there were subtle differences between the male song and the artificially induced female song - the pitch was a bit off, the rhythm was off, the song, overall, was less well controlled.'
"Nevertheless, the researchers say the study reveals that male and female brains are extremely similar in flies - even the circuits thought to be dedicated to sexual behaviours such as courtship...
Speaking of gender, sex, and brains, I just saw an article on the differences between male and female brains (OK, in fruit flies) in which the researcher emphasized the similarities...
from "Flies get 'mind-control sex swap'" by Rebecca Morelle, Science reporter, BBC News, 18 April 2008:
"...Researchers genetically modified the insects so that a group of brain cells that control sexual behaviour could be "switched on" by a pulse of light.
"The team was able to get female fruit flies to produce a courtship song - behaviour usually only seen in males.
"The study, published in the journal Cell, suggests that the wiring in male and female flies' brains is similar...
"...The insects had been genetically modified so that a pulse of light would activate this group of courtship neurons.
"First of all, the researchers looked at male flies and found that the light would indeed spark a song.
"'The second, more exciting question we wanted to ask, was what would happen if we turned the neurons on in females.
"'Females don't normally show this kind of behaviour, but we wanted to find out if they had a hidden capacity to do it,' explained Professor Miesenboeck...
"...Professor Miesenboeck explained: 'When we analysed the songs, we found there were subtle differences between the male song and the artificially induced female song - the pitch was a bit off, the rhythm was off, the song, overall, was less well controlled.'
"Nevertheless, the researchers say the study reveals that male and female brains are extremely similar in flies - even the circuits thought to be dedicated to sexual behaviours such as courtship...
I just watched this in public and started crying, it was beautiful.
I've been recommending a book by Jill Bolte Taylor called "My Stroke of Insight" to everyone I know. It's an amazing story, both uplifting and powerful on three levels: physical, emotional, and spiritual, but the spiritual aspect alone makes this the best book I've read all year.
How often do you get to hear a neuroscientist describe having a stroke, nearly dying and finding Nirvana, and then making a miraculous recovery so that she's back to teaching medical students!?!
I came away with a renewed sense of understanding, wonder and hopefulness about the capabilities of the human brain. I give "My Stroke of Insight" highest marks!
You can get the book for just $16.47 with free shipping from Amazon!
The New York Times Sunday Newspaper on May 25 had a great two page article on Jill Bolte Taylor and her book, "MY STROKE OF INSIGHT". Her book is a must read and this NY Times article - called "A Superhighway to bliss" is worth checking out too.
I read "My Stroke of Insight" in one sitting - I couldn't put it down. I laughed. I cried. It was a fantastic book (I heard it's a NYTimes Bestseller and I can see why!), but I also think it will be the start of a new, transformative Movement! No one wants to have a stroke as Jill Bolte Taylor did, but her experience can teach us all how to live better lives. Her TED.com speech was one of the most incredibly moving, stimulating, wonderful videos I've ever seen. Her Oprah Soul Series interviews were fascinating. They should make a movie of her life so everyone sees it. This is the Real Deal and gives me hope for humanity.
MY STROKE OF INSIGHT was ranked #5 in all books sold on Amazon today and #1 in Memoirs above even Barbara Walters' memoir. Babs had been promoting her book for months in advance and Dr. Taylor's book was self-published.
Then Oprah recommended it. There's the Power of Now, and then there's the Power of Oprah!!
"My Stroke of Insight" is out in Hardcover now for less than the old paperback edition. Amazon has it for 40% off.