The Garden of Eden as reflecting the Brain Hemispheres

The first story about human beings presents the basic choice: Perception or Reality.

The mistake of Pride could be seen as the predominance of the left brain hemisphere.

In this essay we will look at the degree of overlap between McGilchrist’s brain hemisphere theories, and the representation of the “two trees” in the midst of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2 and 3. We will also see how the suggestion from the serpent corresponds to the very modus operandi of the left hemisphere: to create a model of the world, and put this model above reality - partly in a pursuit of control, domination and removal of ambiguity. This temptation is the foundational hubris of the human mind, to metaphorically making ourselves into gods, which inevitably leads us into deep suffering and destruction.

If we first look at the Hebrew word used for "knowing" when the serpent speaks in Genesis 3:5, יֹדְעֵ֖י (yō-ḏə-‘ê), we find that this word also has the meaning of to “perceive” and of “perception”. So what the serpent says in its ambiguous language is that "ye shall be as gods who think they know/have their own perspective on good and evil". This is the basic deceit with the lure of control and intellectual arrogance.

And already we see how this could be seen as an internal expression of the drives of the left brain hemisphere, as the “emissary” or servant wanting to become the “master” in McGilchrist’s terminology. And this is a drive towards a role which the left hemisphere is not suited for by nature, but desires strongly.

The consequences of making the left hemisphere paramount as the overall cosmology is then described in cascading effects in the story in Genesis: you will remove yourself from the Garden of Eden (seen as the balanced and true outlook of the hemispheres) and put yourself into the desert. You will also “die” in a spiritual sense, and become locked into an artificial hall of mirrors, as McGilchrist often describes the world of the left brain. Furthermore you will feel “naked” - which also means “exposed” in the original Hebrew, since at some level you will be threatened by and revealed by truth. Therefore they are also “hiding” when confronted with God (in the sense of reality and transcendent truth), in the same way the left hemisphere is avoiding, suppressing and mocking the world of the right hemisphere, which it largely does not understand.

So these are the effects of the left-brain turn of our consciousness.

What does the story then propose as the remedy, for a more balanced and “right-hemispheric” outlook? The other tree, the Tree of Life. This is the complementary tree in the midst of the Garden, which is guarded by metaphorical Cherubim, meaning wisdom and transcendent knowledge. This tree largely corresponds to the world and experience of the right hemisphere. And the key is to have the humility to scale back the left brain, and letting the wisdom of the right brain unfold. That is the path back to the Garden, and back to a balanced, generative and more virtuous internal paradise.

So in short; one aspect of the story is the warning of letting the left brain take too much control, as the primary sin that leads to a distortion of your own view of reality. Thousands of years ago the ancient Hebrews intuited this foundational dichotomy in the life of the mind - that McGilchrist now has revealed to us in more scientific terms.

And this reinforces a central point, that true knowledge is different from the perception of knowledge, and that the primary virtue of the Greeks is still helpful and pertinent today: Prudenza - the ability to discern Truth and the Moral Good. That is the starting point for relating to reality and beginning to understand the world, and to participate in the Good, and not merely what might “feel” or “seem” good from a limited understanding of the world.

The Anglo-American culture in general has become increasingly steeped in the illusions of the left hemisphere over the last few centuries, and the way out is to step back in humility and reconsider reality and truth with the right hemisphere, for a fuller and richer view of reality. That is the path and key towards a re-balancing of the culture, with the Tree of Life, and to move us towards a New Renaissance of Human Flourishing.