Two Brains

After swimming with a few dolphins in Jamaica, I learned how they sleep. Only one hemisphere sleeps at a time, so they're never really fully unconscious. Made me wonder what it would be like, as a human, if only one brain hemisphere slept while the other took over all functions.

It's widely known that the left side of the brain is the "planner" and where language is located, and the right connects everything into a coherent picture. It seems on a time scale, the left hemisphere functions with a past and a future, and the right side functions in the ever present NOW.

Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist, had a stroke that effected a large section of her left hemisphere. As soon as she became aware of it she recognized the opportunity she had - a first hand experience of a stroke with a deep understanding of stroke symptoms and the neurological systems effected by stroke.

In a nutshell, she basically started tripping out about how beautiful and connected everything is. Sounds like inhibiting the left hemisphere and inhabiting the right hemisphere is like smoking a good joint. Who knew?