Symbolism and the Left and Right hemispheres
Again, this page is dedicated to the shifting of consciousness from matter to emotion. The
view is that, we are emotional or spiritual beings and that matter is a construction that we
use to guide and inform us. The relationship between emotion and matter is explored starting
with the nature of symbolism. Then the relationship between the left and right hemispheres
is explored which leads to a discussion of the masculine, feminine relationship.
Matter and Symbolism
As emotional beings in an emotional reality we can presumably communicate with each
other directly without the use of matter or any other sensual construct. We can also, at the
other extreme, communicate almost solely through matter, which in some respects would
amount to communicating with the use of symbols. That is to say, the way we, as emotional
beings, communicate through matter is similar to how we as material beings, communicate
using written and spoken words.
The process of learning to read involved you being taught to invoke in yourself certain
emotions when you see certain words. As you read this and scan the different words you are
stringing together those different emotions that you have been taught to feel. For example I formed these words that you are reading right now, a while ago, and you are now reading this collection of words and are getting a simplified notion of what I was thinking a while ago. Through this process I am indirectly causing you to feel a certain series of emotions.
This is what we as emotional beings are doing as we project our material bodies out into this
material world. Again even as we just look at each other, we are communicating with each
other using a sensual construction, we are indirectly inducing sensations in each other, and in
doing so giving a general sense of what each other's emotional state.
Actual communication between us as emotional beings is a mixture of these sensual
emotions and deeper heartfelt emotions. "Small talk" predominantly involves sensual emotions and
so the level of direct emotional contact is low. On the other hand a "heart to heart"
conversation is when two emotional beings are communicating on an almost direct
emotional level. In a "heart to heart" the level of direct emotional exchange is high and the
information contained in the sensual emotions plays a less dominate role.
Mathematics involves the clearest use of symbols and is an example of how the symbols, just like matter, almost seem to take on a life of thier own.
Take the symbolic statement, 2 + 3 = 5. In school you learnt to associate the symbol 2
with two objects, the symbol 3 with three objects and the symbol 5 with five objects. You
learnt to attach a process to the symbol "+" , and a meaning to the symbol " = " .
Those symbols are sensual constructionss that we are using to represent or stand in for more
detailed "real" emotions. The sensual emotions you feel when you look at the symbol 2 are
different than the sensual emotions you feel when you look at the symbol 3 . Take the two
pictures below...
When you glance at the left image, the sensual emotions you feel are different than the ones
you feel when you look at the right one, the emotions associated with the left one might be
described as more edgy. When you use a pencil and paper to perform longhand
multiplication you are generally manipulating mathematical symbols without thinking to
much about their underlining meaning, that is to say the emotions you are manipulating are
generally sensual emotions. You are somewhat emotionally disconnected from the
underlying heartfelt emotions that the symbols represent. If you were to observe the
mathematical symbols related to a long hand calculation, magically appearing on a piece of
paper as someone was performing a calculation, that is to say if you were unable to directly
see the source of the symbols, you might be lead to believe that there was a causality between the actual
symbols. That is to say, if you studied the symbol's positions and order of appearance, you
would see them abiding by strict rules, however what would actually be the case was that
someone was using the symbols to guide him or herself in some thought process. That's the
way it is with matter, our bodies and the associated sensual emotions have order only
because they are mirroring to some extent an underlying emotional reality.
When manipulating mathematical symbols, mathematicians, unlike many of us, have a good
emotional feel for the underlying emotional reality which the symbols are representing.
While mathematicians also use the symbols as an aid, they, to a much greater extent, are
manipulating the actual underlying emotions.
People who don't enjoy math, don't enjoy it because as they are manipulating the symbols
they are heavily focused on the sensual emotions. They are effectively just shifting symbols
around on a page, this of course is an empty experience. A real parallel can be made
between that empty emotional experience and having sex in contrast to making love.
So as your eyes scan the equation 2 + 3 = 5 you first feel the sensual emotions associated
with the shapes of the symbols, and then those sensual emotions lead you to feel the deeper
heart felt emotions that the equation is meant to symbolize. You were taught those specific
connections by a teacher. In the case of the number "two" the person first showed you
the symbol 2 and then either showed you a picture of two objects or just pointed to two
objects. In looking at the two objects you felt the heartfelt emotions of two-ness and learnt to
associate them with the sensual emotions surrounding the symbol 2 . That is to say after a
while you learnt to cause yourself to feel the heartfelt emotions of two-ness each time you
felt the sensual emotions associated with the symbol 2 .
The same thing was done with the sensual emotions you feel when you look at the letters t,
w, and o in the word "two", you have learnt to feel the heartfelt emotions of two-ness when
you feel the sensual emotions associated with the group of letter t w o . And likewise,
concerning the sound "two" you have learnt to feel the heartfelt emotions of two-ness when
you feel the sensual emotions associated with the sound "two".
Of course what is true for the word "two" is true for every other word in the English
language as well as all the words in all the other languages.
To summerize, a language is a construction of sensual emotions consciously developed by
a group of people to facilitate communication.
It is worth noting at this point that this conscious use of symbols and the conscious
development of a language is considered by scientists to be the intellectual achievement that
distinguishes us most strongly from the other animals. The other animals as they grunt,
growl and chirp communicate their emotional feelings without consciously understanding
that the sounds which they are making, in a way symbolize there feelings. They are not
consciously aware of the distinction between the sensational emotions and the corresponding
heartfelt ones, we on the other hand are, and as a result we consciously refine the sensual emotions.
Again it is our awareness of the symbolic nature of those sensual emotions that has resulted
in the great advances of our human race. Likewise as we develop a conscious awareness that
matter itself is a symbolic representation of emotional reality we can expect further grand
advances for the human race. In fact, I believe, as we discover the true nature of matter,
whatever it is, we will be achieving nothing less then a new level of consciousness.
In moving from the sensual emotions associated with the symbol 2 to the heartfelt
emotions of two-ness, you may have used your imagination as a bridge. That is to say, when
you felt the sensual emotions 2 you may have faintly imagined two objects which then
caused you to feel the heart felt emotions of two-ness. Interestingly enough, it would seem,
our personal imaginations are more directly connected to our emotional being then matter is. Any good night club stripper does not simply walk out onto the stage and take off all of her clothes, unlike a hooker, her arsenal of sensations is limited and they must be used to
their maximum effectiveness. She at first only flashes a breast, and this causes the men to
use their imaginations. It is the men's activity of imagining that then stirs their emotional
being. The active effort on our part to construct a visual image, engages our emotional
beings in a more fundamental way. Also, the "best" directors of horror movies know that to
create the most intense level of fear in the audience they need to stir the imaginations of the
viewers. Hitchcock's shower scene in the movie Psyco created emotional scares, in some
women, that last to this day.
In fact it would be a reasonable prediction that all sensual emotions work by triggering our
personal imaginations on one level or another. Much more will be said about our personal
imaginations latter.
Unlike the learning of languages, the different connections between the sensual emotions
of matter and the underlying emotional reality is not made on a conscious level. It's during
the birth and growth process that this learning is unconsciously taking place and the union of
the two separate worlds is formed.
The Left-Right Hemispheres
As emotional beings experiencing what this universe has to offer, we have one foot in
matter and the other foot in Spirit or emotion. The masculine, feminine polarization of our
society is a result of individual emotional beings choosing to "specialize" in one field or the
other. Those expressing the masculine nature are more conscious of the sensual emotions
and are thus more adept at dealing with the material aspect of things, those of the feminine
nature are more conscious of the heartfelt emotions and are more adept at dealing with the
emotional aspect of things. But before that we as emotional beings are individually faced
with the prospect of dealing with these two distinct worlds, and as a result we have divided
our brains into two separate hemispheres. Generally speaking, our left hemispheres are
devoted to symbolic thinking which involves the manipulation of sensual emotions and our
right hemispheres are devoted to intuitive thinking which involves more direct access to the
greater emotional reality. Because of the different strengths and weaknesses, the left
hemisphere can be considered the masculine hemisphere and the right hemisphere the feminine.
The two hemispheres of our brains are physically separated like the two meaty parts of a
walnut, all that connects them is a collection of nerves called the corpus callosum. It is
described as a "body of densely packed fibers knitting together the cerebral hemispheres"
Picture of two hemispheres
The human body is "wired" such that the left or masculine hemisphere controls the right
side of the body and the right or feminine hemisphere controls the left side. So not only does
the left hemisphere control the right arm and right leg but it also only sees the image that is
in the right eye. The right hemisphere controls the left arm and left leg and sees with the
left eye.
The differences between the two hemispheres are seen most clearly in behavior
experiments that were conducted on people who had their corpus callosum severed in order
to reduce the intensity of their epileptic seizures.
It was discovered that each hemisphere of these patients were able to operate
independently, in fact some patients where able to preform two different tasks at once and
one patient told about how one time, while getting dressed he found himself pulling his pants
on with one arm and pulling them off with the other. The experimenters in fact, in many
ways, had two different people. First, an experimenter would know he was dealing with the
left hemisphere if it was the body's right hand that was, for example, attempting to solve a
puzzle. The right hemisphere, on the other hand, would solve the puzzles using the body's
left hand.
While things vary from individual to individual, it generally turns out that only the left
hemisphere is generally able to understand language, the reason is tied to the left
hemisphere's greater ability at dealing with symbolism. This meant that during the
experiments only the experimenter and the left hemisphere of the individual were able to
communicate using speech. To communicate with the right hemisphere, the experimenter
had to use hand gestures and such and make sure that the left eye of the person could see
what was being done, the right hemisphere would then respond using the left hand.
One experiment involved having each hemisphere attempt solutions to visual puzzles,
again if the pieces were being move by the right hand one would know it was the left
hemisphere attempting to solve the puzzle. It turns out the left or masculine hemisphere has
problems with this kind of visual task relative to the right or feminine hemisphere, in fact the
feminine hemisphere seeing the masculine hemisphere struggling would sometimes, with the
left hand, push the masculine hemisphere's right hand away and attempt to do it "herself". In
general we use our right feminine hemispheres to deal with spacial concepts, this would
include for example, the identification of people's faces.
On the other hand the left hemisphere is good at tasks that involve logic and sequential
reasoning, the process of logic involving the converting of concepts into symbolic form and
then manipulating those symbols. An example of logic follows. Say you had three different
lengths A , B and C . Say you were able to compare length A to length B and length B
to length C but you were not able to compare length A directly with length C . Now say
length A was less than length B and length B was less than length C . You would use
logic to conclude that length A was less that length C . That process of logic involved
associating three different lengths with the symbols A , B and C and then assuming that
distance conforms to the symbolic relationship... If A < B and B < C then A < C . Note
that the symbolic relationship of A , B and C just stated is true not only for distance but for
many other things as well.
The right feminine hemisphere generally has trouble with tasked that involve the converting
of something into a symbolic form and then manipulating those symbolic forms, that is to
say, it is not as strong at symbolic reasoning. Again the left masculine hemisphere is good at
problems of analysis that involves breaking something down into symbolic components and
then manipulating those components according to certain rules.
A good example of this form of analyzes is when an engineer takes a problem, reduces it to
a series of equations, solves the equations and then reinterprets the solutions of the equations
back into the given material situation. Note however that matter itself is, strictly speaking, a
symbolic expression of emotion, and so this process is to some extent, the converting of
something from one symbolic form into simpler symbolic form.
The same thing is done when someone is engaging in, for example moral philosophy, that is
to say pure emotional concepts are converted into a symbolic form and then those symbolic
forms are manipulated. In all cases the symbols or sensual constructions are acting very much
as a guide and here is a simultaneous manipulation of sensual and heartfelt emotions. We,
like the moral philosopher are all engaging in this symbolic conversion process when we
"think out loud" or reason things in our minds with the aid of words. We are also engaging
in the process when we are imagining things and as emotional beings when we manipulate are
material forms.
The best example of pure reason is pure mathematics and even then mathematicians are
ultimately pondering emotion. Many mathematicians would balk at the idea of their field
being about emotion in anyway, for the whole idea of mathematics, to many of them, is that
its independent of changeable sometimes inconsistent emotion.
Now the symbols in abstract mathematics don't stand in for specific emotions any more
then the word "DOG" stands in for a specific hairy four legged animal that wags it's tail.
You may write the word "dog" with a particular dog in mind, but the actual word then loses
that connection and begins representing all animals with a particular set of characteristics,
unless you refine your use of the word. In the same way mathematical symbols end up being
places holders for potential emotions. The definitions and such, while not definitions
regarding specific emotions, are definitions regarding the potential relationship of emotions.
In my opinion this is why, using mathematics, physicist are able to repeatedly predict what
they'll discover. It is the reason that the material universe "conforms" to mathematics.
Physicists today have no explanation for this conformity of the universe, that is to say how it
is that the universe can be described using equations. This conformity of the universe can be
explained by appreciating that the universe and mathematics both have a common origin,
that common origin being emotional reality.
Again it is the power of mathematics that it operates on a general yet fundamental level,
expressing the framework of potential emotions.
So the left hemisphere is not used to deal with specific heartfelt emotions but instead is
used to convert heartfelt emotions into a symbolic form and then manipulate those symbolic
forms which are fundamentally collections of sensual emotions.
The right hemisphere on the other hand seems to be used more to provide a link between
matter, this sensual construct, and emotional reality. Its involvement with the sensual
emotions seems to be more limited to just using them as they are.
Note that I may, at times, talk about the left and right hemispheres, as having a
consciousness all of their own as in the sentence "The right feminine hemisphere generally
has trouble with tasked that involve... " , but remember that the point of view being
expressed here is that the universe, including our left and right hemispheres, are emotional
constructions that we, as emotional beings, are using for guidance.
Besides facial recognition the right hemisphere has greater musical talent, playing music
does not involve symbolic manipulation but a facilitating of the relationship between sensual
emotions and the heartfelt ones that they are related to. In fact the right hemisphere is more
artistic in general, all the different forms of art such as painting, drawing, sculpting and
again music involve the immediate sensations as related to the heartfelt emotions. Said
again, it would seem that the right hemisphere is used by us, more so, to connect with
emotional reality, by either by aiding us in taking heartfelt emotions and expressing them
sensually or taking sensual emotions from the construct and feeling their heartfelt emotional counterparts.
The right hemisphere's greater consciousness of emotional reality, results in what's called
holistic thinking, a viewing of the whole, a seeing of the big picture. It is the hemisphere
involved in intuitive insight, which is about a bringing of ideas from the emotional realm to
our material consciousness. Note however the right hemisphere is unable to analyze, it does
not necessarily understand an intuitive insight with regards to the detailed workings of the
sensual construct.
The following is an example of the left and right hemispheres in action.
First if you were to copy the first picture below, the one which is right side up, you would
end up with a drawing of a certain quality.
If you were to then copy the second picture which is the same picture but upside down, and
as you copied it made a point of not analyzing it, that is to say you did not try to understand
what it was you were copying but just matched it line for line , you would end up with a
picture of a different quality.
Picture of a face, 89 degree profile, upside down
Picture of a face, 89 degree profile, upright
The second picture of the object you drew would be of a higher quality then that of the first.
The reason is that as you were drawing the first picture you would have been using your left
hemisphere to a greater degree. Now if you are right handed you would have been in both
instances using your left hemisphere to move you right hand but also when drawing the first
picture you would have be also using it to analyze the picture. This analyzation would
involve converting different aspects of the picture it into a symbolic form. When you drew
the second picture, because it was upside down, you did not use the left hemisphere for this
converting process, there was nothing recognizable for the left hemisphere to convert, while
the right hemisphere doesn't have control of your right hand, the right feminine hemisphere
excels a spacial tasks and would have pretty much ended up making the decisions. Again the
left hemisphere analyzes and part of that process involves breaking things down into smaller
parts by converting the different ideas into symbols. When drawing the first picture your left
hemisphere "digested" the picture, but instead of reproducing the picture line for line as
your right hemisphere did, it drew its symbolic representations for the different parts of the
face. For example in the extreme case it may have drawn for the eye...
Stereotypical picture of an eye
for the nose it may have drawn....
Stereotypical picture of a nose
for the mouth it may have drawn....
Stereotypical picture of a mouth
That's how the left hemisphere thinks, it breaks complex things down into their constituent
parts, using symbolism as an aid.
(Note if you drew both pictures equally well your left hemisphere either new to leave
things up to your right hemisphere or did it itself but was able to avoid going through the
conversion process. You may however still be able to notice a slight difference in approach
if you carefully study the lines and how they were made. )
This interpretation business of the left hemisphere can also be seen in the case of optical illusions.
Take the picture of the two trees below, they are the same size on the screen, however if
you look at the same two trees with a specific landscape as a background, the right tree
suddenly seems larger. This is because the landscape in the background, is suggesting that
the right tree is further away, it is the left hemisphere that reasons that it must therefore be
larger and so you interpret it as being larger.
Pictures of trees
Your left hemisphere if it were copying the picture might very well draw the second tree
physically larger on the page. The third picture is the second picture upside down, the
optical illusion again is broken and the left hemisphere, not interpreting what is being seen,
again considers the two objects to be the same size.
This interpreting business of the left hemisphere is also the reason the moon seems to be
larger when it is just above the horizon. That is to say, when the moon is up in the sky there
is no indication as to how far away it might be. However when the moon is above the
horizon the left hemisphere reasons that the moon is further away and so emotionally
interprets the moon as being larger.
Again it is the left hemisphere's nature, as well as the masculine's nature, to analyze things
in this way.
Words that describe the left hemisphere are.. Verbal, Analytical, Logical, Linear, Rational,
Abstract, Symbolic.
Words that describe the right hemisphere are..Visual, Musical, Creative, Intuitive, Holistic
I need to qualify the use of the word creative above. Matter, not being real, means art for
example, is strictly speaking, not a creative endeavor. Art is about taking something from the
emotional realm and finding a collection of sensations that mirror it to a limited extent, this
is not a creative act in the deepest sense of the word. Some are considering it to be a
fundamentally creative act only because they are not taking into consideration the pre-existence of the emotions in another realm. I prefer to reserve the term creation to the act of
expanding of one's emotional consciousness. That being said, art can and does play a role in this.
Here lifted more or less directly out of a book on the brain is a collection of some of the
results of brain experiments.
Left Hemisphere
- is strong in the analytical and verbal skills
- deals in the abstract symbols of language and numbers
- is logical, linear, fragmentary and sequential in information processing
- is strongly involved in reasoning
- is involved in the scientific skills
Right Hemisphere
- it grasped things as a whole
- generates mental images of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell
- is source of imagination
- is involved in the comparing of relationships
- is holistic and simultaneous in its thinking
- is involved in musical awareness, art awareness
- is source of insight
It should be noted that both the left and right hemispheres of those people who had their
corpus callosum cut, where able to show strong emotions, though the emotions they showed
were different given the same situation. It is generally thought that reason and logic is a
mode of thought that does not involve emotion, it is in fact a mode of thought that only
involves a purposeful toning down of the emotions. The toning down results in greater
versatility and control.
As an example, imagine an engineer is faced with building a bridge that must withstand a
certain load, he could theoretically do it by trial and error. That is to say he could build
something close, subject it to the load and each time a beam beaks replace it with a stronger
one. He however is called an engineer precisely because he doesn't do that. What an
engineer does is mathematically model the bridge. He designs something on paper that is
close and then through calculations determines if it would stand up to the load. If a beam in
the design fails or come close to failing he replaces the beam in the design with a stronger one.
Instead of manipulating actual beams and so forth, the engineer achieves great versatility
by reducing his proposed bridge to a mathematical model and then manipulates the model.
In the case of aerodynamics where the engineering problem is beyond exact mathematical
modeling, engineers will build a scaled down model of the wing or plane and place it in a
wind tunnel, in doing so they are using trial and error but on a level where the forces and
such are much weaker. The left hemisphere is used to engage reality though a combination
of symbolic conversion and a turning down of emotion, it is used more to deal with the
nature and structure of emotion.
I will just mention here that the obvious shortcoming of building a model or symbolic
representation and then manipulating it, is that you are not dealing with the real thing. Your
success will depend almost entirely on how good a model you have, the accuracy of your
results will depended entirely on the accuracy of your model. A person's results will be
flawed if his model is flawed, irrespective of his intellectual capacity.
So to summerize, we tend to use the left hemisphere to deal in symbolism which involves
the exchanging or representation of complex emotions with simpler, less intense emotions.
On the other hand we tend to use the right hemisphere to link emotional reality with the
sensual construct we call matter.
Masculine, Feminine Emotional Dynamic
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