Video Transcript

How Whole Brain Thinking Can Save the Future

If you would like to better understand the world in which we live, if you would like to find greater peace of mind, perhaps I can help. I study the operation of the brain—how it affects our viewpoint, thoughts, and behaviors. Our viewpoint is important because what we see shapes the thoughts and beliefs that determine what we do and how we feel. Do you know that the brain’s division into two hemispheres gives us two viewpoints and that they are radically different? Having two ways to view our world polarizes us internally and externally. Still, once we understand how the brain polarizes our thinking and behavior, many of the problems of polarization disappear. Learning more about the brain’s operation can also help us better understand gender. Knowledge of how the brain operates can help men better understand women, and women better understand men, leading to more peaceful minds and a more peaceful world. It is immensely valuable to understand how the brain’s operation affects the way we think.

To describe the brain’s role in shaping our thoughts How Whole Brain Thinking Can Save the Future takes a broad, holistic approach. The book considers how the brain works to inform us, especially how it advances our search for truth and how this knowledge might help us better understand who we are as human beings. Not only does the book explore the brain’s influence on our thoughts and behaviors, it also explains that we can exercise some control over this process—I’ll tell you how at the end of the video. The first half of the book considers the brain’s operation from a scientific perspective. The second half draws on stories to illustrate how the brain’s division into two hemispheres splits our values, beliefs, and behaviors into two broad categories and polarizes us. Issues discussed include war and peace, politics, the military-industrial-congressional complex, gender, sexual orientation, abortion, and religion.

To appreciate how the brain processes information and influences our behavior we need to understand the systems that manage the brain’s operation. Each hemisphere of the brain is operated by an autonomous system. The two systems complement one another: one is dual, the other nondual. Their viewpoints complement one another. So do their values and functions. Complementary viewpoints, values, and functions lead to complementary beliefs and behaviors. The discovery that each hemisphere is independently conscious helped Roger Sperry win a Nobel Prize.

We can learn a lot about how the brain affects our thinking by studying genetic dominance. Researching genetic dominance, I discovered that the brain is managed by one of four types of operating systems. The two most common types occur when one hemisphere and its operating system completely dominates the other—in other words, when either our dual or our nondual operating system is dominant. A third variation in consciousness is brought about when dual and nondual systems work together as a team to inform mind. In a fourth group of people dual and nondual systems integrate to form a hybrid system of operation. The four variations in consciousness produced by dual, nondual, team, and hybrid systems can further combine to produce a total of 16 variations, each with its own unique gender characteristics. And because males and females inherit one of 16 types, this model describes 32 different sexual orientations. It also helps explain gender fluidity.

The ultimate purpose of this book is to explore how we can attain peace—within ourselves and with others. As left-brain and right-brain systems of consciousness compete for control in our minds and cultures they often come into conflict. However, much of this conflict is a consequence of failing to recognize the underlying unity of the two brain systems. Once we understand that the two systems are cooperative as well as competitive, then ideas and individuals viewed as competitors and treated as a potential threat are seen as what they truly are: complements, teammates.

If you are left- or right-brain dominant, this book will help you develop greater access to the non-dominant side of your brain, the recessive side. In other words, it will help you achieve whole-brain thinking. Once you are familiar with the two operating systems and know which is your dominant system, simply consult your recessive system. Consider its viewpoint, values, and problem-solving skills. If you are not left- or right-brain-dominant this book will help you better understand and interact with the majority who are. It will also help you better understand your own system of consciousness.

To learn more about how the brain affects consciousness and behavior, subscribe to my YouTube channel—WHOLE BRAIN THINKING WITH JAMES OLSON—or visit my website TheWholeBrainPath.com