James R. Carey on Letters from an American

[James R. Carey]

Joan, I'm sure it does. I'll check it out. However, my argument is that adding "plenty to the understanding" built on an unstable foundation is not what we need in this moment. What we need in this moment is the stable foundation. See my first (351 word) newsletter:

Link: https://jamesrcarey.substack.com/p/a-stable-foundation-e01?r=2nayrh

[Joan Lederman]

I'm not arguing; I'm investigating, and I appreciate science while knowing that the instruments for monitoring and quantifying (and legitimizing) some kinds of brain functions are lagging behind this time of stimulated neural functioning. Seeing the brain as parts in slow motion is unlike seeing the potential of an intuitive artist in the midst of creating (one example). The computing power of monitoring brain functioning isn't up to speed, even while it's surging ahead. I spent several hours at Harvard's Lichtman Lab years ago, where I began comprehending glia while watching Google-funded equipment try to capture the micro-dynamics of our chemical and electrical systems. I now have a better grasp of what I do not know.

As it applies to our social behavior, nothing beats self-reflection, but wounds skew our abilities to focus. I recommended Gabor Mate because he's done so much work with humans in pain, in the grips of addiction, ruled by trauma -- I'm not idolizing, I'm saluting his ability to be present as a compassionate witness which is a needed skill for complementing more mechanistic models for understanding.

Bringing psychedelics into the conversation makes sense because many billionaires in tech (some of whom are now holding political power up front and behind the scenes in our country) have admitted to using them; they shift consciousness and I'm guessing, often bypass polarized concepts like left/right brain and conscious/unconscious functioning.