Ivan Tyrrell interviews Iain McGilchrist
HG co-founder, Ivan Tyrrell, was delighted to interview Dr McGilchrist recently. Dr McGilchrist is a highly-respected psychiatrist, neuroscience researcher, philosopher, and author of the seminal and highly recommended book, The Master and His Emissary – and he has just released his latest publication, The Matter With Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions and the Unmaking of the World.
Iain had kindly shared the final draft of this important new book with Ivan before it went to press. The Matter With Things represents another major contribution to our understanding of ourselves and the world around us and addresses some of the oldest and hardest questions humanity faces … Who are we? What is the world? How can we understand consciousness, matter, space and time? Is the cosmos without purpose or value? Can we really neglect the sacred and divine?
In their fascinating conversation, Ivan and Dr McGilchrist work through some of these topics together, as they discuss the complex and intriguing relationships which exist around and between us, explore the role that language plays in our lives, consider how the two hemispheres of the brain can work together in today’s world – and much more.
Dr McGilchrist has been interested in the HG approach for a long time, saying in a previous interview, “I thought immediately that it resonated with what I believe. Both from living to the age I have reached and from being a doctor and psychiatrist, I can very much endorse the tenets the human givens approach puts forward. I think your work is important and much needed…”
Iain features in the latest issue of the HG Journal, where he tells Denise Winn what the functioning of the left and right brain hemispheres can show us about ourselves, mental illness and the cosmos we are a part of. You can find out more and order your copy here.
I can very much endorse the tenets the human givens approach puts forward. I think your work is important and much needed, and let’s hope that people listen.
Iain McGilchrist - Psychiatrist, writer, and former Oxford literary scholar