Eric Scheske

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The Hemisphere Hypothesis

The Hemisphere Hypothesis

Iain McGilchrist explains how our left hemispheres have gone rogue. The left hemisphere is meant to serve the right hemisphere, but it has usurped its master's position. This usurpation is the essence of modernity. It cripples society and each one of us individually because it disconnects people from full reality: only the right hemisphere connects to the Tao and the full spectrum of reality that it leads to. "[T]he god who got things done bore the name of Moloch." GKC

Community Gardens

Community Gardens

This is an odd little piece. The author applauds gardening because it is a great example of Joseph Pieper's "active leisure." That's a great observation. But she puts it in the context of community gardens, which, the author says, lead people to sharing produce,

What are the Four Parts of Existence Strikes Back?

What are the Four Parts of Existence Strikes Back?

Preamble: Wisdom wants to know reality. A region of reality (“the Tao”) isn’t knowable. Wisdom respects reality’s unknowability while pursuing reality nonetheless. This unending pursuit reached its apex in the 13th century, then the pursuit started to decline. Modernity was the rejection of respect for the Tao. Postmodernity

Day Drinking

Day Drinking

This NYT piece had great potential, none of it actualized. It was just the same palaver: empty stomach increases effect of alcohol, the sun further dehydrates you, yada and yads. I think the cue ("Why do we like to drink in the afternoon?") could've led to

Primer: Understanding the Hemisphere Hypothesis

Primer: Understanding the Hemisphere Hypothesis

Many smart people think Iain McGilchrist has effected a Copernican revolution in metaphysics. I tend to agree. Here's a summary of the revolution.

Why was the "Door" Concept Such a Big Thing in the 1960s?

Why was the "Door" Concept Such a Big Thing in the 1960s?

Tao Teh Ching, Chapter 1

Tao Teh Ching: A Short Meditation on Its Title and Its Importance

Tao Teh Ching: A Short Meditation on Its Title and Its Importance

Introduction to an 81-Part Series

35,000-Word Tribute to The Matter with Things

35,000-Word Tribute to The Matter with Things

I typically read the essays I post or link to, but I haven't read this one: "Beyond the Scientific Revolution: Ian McGilchrist's The Matter with Things." But I might be forgiven. It clocks in at 35,000 words. And based on the first 2,

The Picture Book: Foe of the Left Hemisphere?

The Picture Book: Foe of the Left Hemisphere?

A Medieval Christmas Dollar-for-word, this book is a terrible deal. It's 28 pages long and, except for a short appendix, every word is merely a paste job from the 2003 Revised Standard Edition (Catholic Edition) of the Bible. And the book costs $44! These publishers oughtta be locked

Paradox, The Hemispheres, and the Tao

Paradox, The Hemispheres, and the Tao

A basic tension mars the intellectual framework of the spiritual life. Pole 1: The first virtue of the spiritual life is humility, and humility is first and foremost selflessness. Pole 2: We cannot be so selfless that we don't desire our own happiness. “The rational creature . . . cannot wish

Paul Kingsnorth on the Collapse of the Left Hemisphere's Reign and the (Hopeful) Rise of the Tao

Paul Kingsnorth on the Collapse of the Left Hemisphere's Reign and the (Hopeful) Rise of the Tao

The global Machine is teetering, even as it clamps down on its citizenry in an attempt to tamp down unrest and rein in its own wanton destruction of creation and culture. A way of seeing that sets itself against what C. S. Lewis happily characterized as the Tao—the way