I agree with Molly that Shlain probably knows a lot about the brain. But
when he says: "I believe the right hemisphere (of both men and women
who are right-handed) processes tasks traditionally female. The left
hemisphere (of both men and women who are right-handed) processes
tasks traditionally male." (see the interview on
(http://www.penguinputnam.com/static/rguides/us/alphabet_versus_god
dess.html) then I feel strongly entitled to say - Hey! What does this
brain specialist know about culture, social organization at the like? At
least he says "I believe that ..." but this belief involves very large
assumption. What tasks, pray, (beyond a very small number) are
'traditionally female' or 'traditionally male' in all societies?
Stephen
Date sent: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 20:49:22 -0800
From: Molly Freeman <mollyfreeman@telis.org>
To: xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
Subject: Re: from a lefty
Forwarded by: xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
Send reply to: xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
Date forwarded: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 20:42:55 -0800 (PST)
> I certainly agree that it is easy to place Shlain 'beyond the pale,'
> however, as a neurosurgeon it seems to me he knows somewhat more about
> the brain than do we, don't you think? I don't think it is necessarily
> 'reductionist' to provide a different lens, which he admits has its
> limitations.
>
> M
>
> Mike Cole wrote:
>
> >Molly-- Having just sat through a course on development of the brain,
> >and perhaps because I am strongly left dominant, I find the sort of
> >reductionist left/right brain thesis such as put forth in the
> >literacy and the goddess book less than compelling.
> >
> >ditto "the medium is the message" reductionism. As a person who,
> >gulp, started a comm department and believes in the inflection of
> >human experience by the media through which we are/have been
> >constituted, I have a strong affinity for being media inclusive in my
> >trhinking, which is to say, culture inclusive. But again, taken to
> >the extreme, the ideas can turn vicious or at least vacuuous.
> >
> >Nice photo on the cover though and the general thesis certainly fits
> >into a course on mediational theories of mind! mike
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
Stephen Gourlay, PhD; Principal Lecturer, Director of Doctoral Training,
Kingston Business School, Kingston University, Kingston Hill, Kingston upon Thames, KT2 7LB, UK
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