Each of us unfortunately is a product of our time. We all now live in a time of fragmentation. As Pinker notes, language itself is a marvelous intricate discrete combinatory system of words and logic that allows us to connect with one another, the construction of language is not in a vacuum. Historical, cultural, political, and economic powers all inform our semiotics. Our ways of thinking are drenched in the social currents we’ve been thrust in. If I were born in the medieval ages, I would think everything revolves around the earth, heaven was directly above me, and a witch lies lurking in a bog somewhere (that still might be true). This is obvious, yet we cannot quite separate ourselves from our own time and observe with a “necessary distance” as Iain McGilchrist put it in his Ted Talk. We are too close to the present moment, too wrapped up in the maelstrom of today. And today and for some time, Image and its Spectacle have usurped Language as the dominant mode of expression.
Today, I enjoyed Iain McGilchrist’s Ted Talk. I thought he articulated well how left brain v right brain are not symmetrically opposed (literally and figuratively) nor distinct entities really. They are different modes of focus for the same system, our whole cerebral system. The Left Brain focuses narrowly on the tasks at hand: survival, food, drink, categorization, classification, fragmenting each part of our life so that our duties are met. We must identify parts, so that they can be used properly. The Right Brain paints the whole picture, the bigger picture, drawing connections and deepening understanding. We live in a Left Brain world now, clearly. In the era of Big Tech and neoliberal technocracy, everything is managed to approach maximum efficiency. No stone is left unturned to be commodified. The body is seen as a site of parts to be modified and improved. Living in the world means living digitally to some regard, having to strike the right pose at the right time, lest you fail to impress people who might give you precious attention or a job. I am seen as a fragment in today’s society, a part that is meant to play its role in the game. We all are, even as we all know the game is volatile and confusing. What is my mind supposed to make of the Big Picture today with the sea of fragments and information I’m flooded in?
To push against the oppression of today, I feel that bringing in our psychological societal picture will deepen our understanding of the mind, rather than relying on solely science, which itself is not separate from our culture. When I say that the Image has usurped the Word today, I am not really the first person to say that. Guy Debord, Jean Baudrilliard, Theodor Adorno all elaborate on the rise of mass media, of the Spectacle, of how our performances generate performances and copies and so on. On a personal level, I’m not immune. I have read less, preferring the easy consumption of images and videos and text as accompanying captions readily available at all times in my pocket. In redesigning my personal portfolio, I’m told again and again by smart designers, “No employer is going to read a paragraph, maybe a sentence or two.” Words are so weaponized today. The uttering of words activates the Algorithmic Machinery to place what you said in its proper category. What was that you said about Charlie Kirk? Be careful, you might get reported to your employer. Your thoughts on the President tell me to categorize you as a normal person or one to be avoided. We can hardly talk about all of the violence occurring in the world without the Sorting and personal Posing overwhelming any discussion if it’s not among trusted friends. Language is policed. The influx of images provide comfort. They can be interacted with or discarded at whim, curated according to taste, twisted by interpretations and cropped framings (what is in picture versus what is left out).
I will keep fighting the good Right Brain fight in making connections, even with the Left Brain, and holding empathy and crafting humor. As Frantz Fanon put it, solidarity in the struggle is the only way to forge something new in our identity, individually and collectively.
Ryan Rotella 
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