Will, I highly recommend reading the books The Master and His Emissary and The Matter with Things, both written by the psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist. The books are rigorous, and have been praised by many of the world’s leading psychiatrists and experts in hemispheric specialization. These books could have told you that EA was destined to fail from the beginning. Here’s the blurb for the first of these books:
Why is the brain divided? The difference between right and left hemispheres has been puzzled over for centuries. Drawing upon a vast body of brain research, the renowned psychiatrist, author, and thinker Iain McGilchrist reveals that the difference between the two sides is profound―two whole, coherent, but incompatible ways of experiencing the world. The detail-oriented left hemisphere prefers mechanisms to living things and is inclined to self-interest, while the right hemisphere has greater breadth, flexibility, and generosity.
In the second part of his book, McGilchrist takes the reader on a journey through the history of Western culture, illustrating the tension between these two worlds as revealed in the thought and belief of thinkers and artists from the ancient to the modern, from Aeschylus to Magritte. He ultimately argues that, despite its inferior grasp of reality, the left hemisphere is increasingly taking precedence in today’s world―with potentially disastrous consequences.
Reading these books makes it clear that the downfall of EA was predictable, has historical precedent, and has a clear neurological basis. The tools of EA (standardized epistemic rules, forecasting, and so on) cannot save us, because the EA community has made a point of consistently relying on the least reliable and least insightful hemisphere of our brains.
I know that this may sound wacky, but I really, really, really strongly recommend reading these books. They will bring everything into focus, and make what went wrong look painfully obvious. Here is a short YouTube video that gives a short summary of the ideas in the first book, if you are interested (though the YouTube video is no substitute for actually reading the book).
And here is a talk by V.S. Ramachandran that discusses hemispheric specialization. Ramachandran is one of, if not the world’s leading neuroscientists (who, by the way, speaks highly of McGilchrist’s work). Again, watching Ramachandran’s talk is no substitute for reading McGilchrist’s books. But it will be enough to show you just how wacky an over-reliance on the left hemisphere can get, which should be enough to at least pique your interest.
Will, I highly recommend reading the books The Master and His Emissary and The Matter with Things, both written by the psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist. The books are rigorous, and have been praised by many of the world’s leading psychiatrists and experts in hemispheric specialization. These books could have told you that EA was destined to fail from the beginning. Here’s the blurb for the first of these books:
Reading these books makes it clear that the downfall of EA was predictable, has historical precedent, and has a clear neurological basis. The tools of EA (standardized epistemic rules, forecasting, and so on) cannot save us, because the EA community has made a point of consistently relying on the least reliable and least insightful hemisphere of our brains.
I know that this may sound wacky, but I really, really, really strongly recommend reading these books. They will bring everything into focus, and make what went wrong look painfully obvious. Here is a short YouTube video that gives a short summary of the ideas in the first book, if you are interested (though the YouTube video is no substitute for actually reading the book).
And here is a talk by V.S. Ramachandran that discusses hemispheric specialization. Ramachandran is one of, if not the world’s leading neuroscientists (who, by the way, speaks highly of McGilchrist’s work). Again, watching Ramachandran’s talk is no substitute for reading McGilchrist’s books. But it will be enough to show you just how wacky an over-reliance on the left hemisphere can get, which should be enough to at least pique your interest.
Best of luck, Will.