For most scientists, the mind is little more than a machine. With the rise of AI, some now claim that computers may themselves become conscious. For acclaimed neuroscientist, psychiatrist, and philosopher Iain McGilchrist, this is a profound mistake. The attempt to explain the mind in purely mechanistic terms reflects the flawed assumptions of materialism and reductionism – both symptoms of a civilisation dangerously dominated by left-hemisphere thinking. To understand mind and matter, he argues, we need to restore the right hemisphere to its rightful primacy and move beyond materialism.
Iain McGilchrist is a distinguished British neuroscientist, psychiatrist and philosopher. A former Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, Iain McGilchrist also worked as a consulting psychiatrist, and is known for his influential work on the relationship between the structure of our brains, human cultures and our understanding of the world.
Oliver Adelson is Philosophy Desk Lead at the Institute of Art and Ideas. He is also Head of Speaker Booking for the IAI's HowTheLightGetsIn Festival.
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