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55th Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture

the ALPhABet verSuS the GoDDeSS: the conFLict Between worD & imAGe Leonard shLain

[Editors Note: On October 26, 2007, Leonard Shlain, author of Alphabet Versus the Goddess, delivered the 55th Annual Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture. Mr. Shlain holds the position of Chairman of Laparoscopic surgery at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco and is an Associate Professor of Surgery at UCSF.]

A child learns a novel bit of information. A set of neurons fires in his or her brain. With each reinforcement of the lesson, the same neurons fire again, The surrounding neurons, sensitized to the discharges of the first set, also begin to join in what becomes an ever-magnifying electrochemical chorus. Learned information becomes burned into neuronal pathways. Such is the manner by which we acquire knowledge that will endure throughout our lives. Conversely, what we fail to learn causes the withering of whole tracts of other neurons as a result of their disuse. For example, a preschooler can learn a second language with ease if taught at the right time. The same individual having to learn that second language many years later in college will find it a far more difficult task.

Butwhateffectdoesthekindoflearninghaveonthelargerorganizationofthehumanbrain?Separatingourspeciesfromvirtuallyallothers,wehavetwohighlyspecializedbrainhemispheres.Eachlobeisdesignedtohandleessentiallydifferent types of information.The left lobe in over 90%of people is the seatoflanguagethatisperceivedinalinearstream.Wecall thiscarefulsequencinggrammarandsyntax,withoutwhichstringsofwordswouldbe incoherent.Themajorityofotherlinear,sequentialmentalprocessessuchaslogic,reason,algebra,causality,andarithmeticalsoresideprincipallyinthelefthemisphere.Ingeneral,themainfunctionsoftheleftproceedlinearlyonethingafteranotherintime.Itisasifevolutiondesignedthelefthemisphereasanewsenseorganchargedwith

perceivingsequentialtime.The right hemisphere, in contrast, is non-verbal, yet it contributes a global

awarenesstoeventsoftenendowingthemwithemotionandmeaning.Ingeneral,therightperceivestheworldholisticallyandsimultaneously.Itrespondstobodylanguage, the voices inflection, facial expression and is expert at grasping gestalts. It takes inwhole images in a glance.The rights primary functions are visual-spatial. We rely on it to read a map, figure out mazes, and discern faces all-at-once. Evolutionassigned the righthemisphere toperceive spaceandcomplement theleftstemporalskills.

Butthisdichotomyalsocanbeappliedtothesexualduality.Addressingright-handers(whocomprise92%ofthepopulation),eachmanandeachwomanisacomposite of both a feminine side and amasculine one.Many of themoduleslocatedinthebrainthatarenecessarytocareforchildrentooyoungtouseverballanguageresideprincipallyintherighthemisphereandthestrategy,planning,andcooperationnecessarytohuntandkilllargemammalsresideprincipallyinthelefthemisphere.

Ingeneral, the righthemisphereofbothmenandwomencanbesaid tobetheseatoftheirfemininesideandthelefthemisphereofbothmenandwomeniswheretheirmasculinesideresides.Everycultureintheworldacknowledgesthesedifferencesintheirmyths,customsandculture.Theleftsideofthebodycontrolledby the rightbrain is considered femaleand the right sidecontrolledby the leftbrainisconsideredmale.Forexample,Toriesarecalledrightwingersbytheiradversaries and are generally for discipline, fiscal responsibility, and arms. Labour iscalledleftistbyitsadversariesandismoresupportiveofwelfare,childcare,andtherightsofwomen.Leftissinisterandhumanrightsarelaudable.Thesamedistinctionsholdthroughouthistory.WilliamBlakewrote,Time&SpaceareRealBeings,aMale&aFemale.TimeisaManandSpaceisaWoman.

Allhumansarebornwith the innatecapability to learn thegrammarof thefirst language he or she hears. And every human is born with an innate ability to readthebodylanguage,gestures,andfacialexpressionsofothers.Evolutiondidnot,however,preparehumansinthesamewayfortheimmenseinnovationcalledliteracy. The invention of writing approximately five thousand years ago, followed bytheimprovedsystemcalledthealphabet3500yearslater,wasonequalparwithfire, the wheel and agriculture. Alphabets, the most abstract, linear, sequential, reductionistformsofwriting,mimicthefeaturesofthelefthemisphere.Marshall

111the alphabet versus the goDDess

Learned information becomes burnedinto neuronal pathways.

112 etc apriL 2008

McLuhan, the1960smedia theoristoncewrote,Themediumis themessage.Literacy,unlikeoralitywhichrequirestheuseofbothverbalandnon-verbalcues,dependsprimarilyontheuseofonlythelefthemisphere.

Westernculture,withitsuniquemonotheisticreligions,dualisticphilosophies,and distinctive perspectivist art, advanced science, and written legal codes,Ipropose, is thedirect resultofchangesoccurring in thebrainsof theusersofalphabets.

Whilealphabetliteracyhasbeenanincontestableboontohumankind,womensrightsandimageshavesufferedunderregimesnewlyinformedbyalphabetliteracy.ItisthecentralthesisofThe Alphabet Versus the Goddess thatalphabetliteracy,aformofinformationtransferthatreinforcesthelefthemisphereofbothmenandwomenwhiledenigratingtheroleoftherighthemisphereofbothmenandwomen,causedthedominanceofmasculinethinkinginthecultureatlarge.Thisledtothedownfallofgoddesses,womenlosingimportantrights,andpropertypassingnotthroughthemotherslinebutinsteadthroughthefathersline.

The Israelite adoption of the Wests first alphabetic sacred book introduced theRule of Law andmonotheism, but itwas accompanied by an abominationofimagesandthegoddess,andacurtailingofwomenspropertyrights.LiterateAthenswasmisogynistandpatriarchal,comparedtoSpartathatlefttoposteritynotasingleliterarywork.YetSpartanwomenenjoyedextraordinaryrights.

WomenenjoyedrealpowerinthenewChristianreligionfoundedontheoralsayings of Jesus andwatched it disappear following the transcription of JesusspokenwordsintoasacredalphabetictextbythePatriarchs.DespiteallthedetailthegospelwriterssuppliedaboutJesus,noneincludedevenasentencedescribingJesusappearance.LikeYahwehandAllah,Jesusdidnothaveanimage.ToknowHim,onehadtoreadHiswrittenwords.

Thecentralcauseof theDarkAges that followed the fallofRomewas thelossofliteracyin99%oftheEuropeanpopulation.Itwasduringthisperiodthatthe astonishing ascendancy of Mary occurred. Her image soon dominated theEuropean landscape.Thiswas also a timewhen abbesses headedmonasteries,theChivalricCodeandcourtlylovehonoredwomen,andtheChurchrevereditsfemaleChristianmystics.Inthetimeofilliteracy,righthemisphericmodesoflove,intuition,mysticism,romanceandmotherworshipwereinevidence.

Gutenbergs inventionof theprintingpress in1454caused literacy rates tosoar.The primarymotive driving literacywas peoples desire to read theNew

Alphabets, the most abstract, linear, sequential, reductionist forms of writing, mimic the features of the left hemisphere.

113the alphabet versus the goDDess

Testament.SincetheScripturestresseslove,kindness,andforgiveness,itwouldfollowthattheperiodfollowingtheprintingpressshouldhavebeencharacterizedbythesethreetraits.Rather,theprintingpressspawnedtheProtestantReformation,whichstressedreformsthatincludedreadingScriptures,destroyingimages,andjettisoningMary.

The outbreak of fierce religious wars among kinsmen was unprecedented. Neighbors burned neighbors at the stake.This sadistic carnage occurred in thesameperiodthathistorianscalltheAgeofReason.PerhapsthesteepriseofliteracyinEuropeansocietyreinforceditslefthemisphereattheexpenseofitsright.

While the literate countrieswerebestowingonposterity theworksofGalileo,Shakespeare,Newton,andBach,themensufferedapsychosissoextremetheybelievedtheirwomenweresodangerous theymustbemurdered.Thewitch-huntswere themostvirulentinthosecountriesexperiencingthesteepestriseinliteracyrates.Russiaremainedlargelyilliteratethroughoutthisperiodandalsosufferednowitchhunts.

A colossal shift I call the Iconic Revolution began in the 19th century. Theinventionofphotographyandthediscoveryofelectromagnetismcombinedtobringus film, television, computers, graphic advertising and the Internet; all of which are basedonimages.Theincreasingrelianceonrightbrainpatternrecognitioninsteadofleftbrainlinearsequencinghasmovedculturetowardequilibriumbetweenthetwohemispheres,betweenmasculineandfeminine,betweenwordandimage.Sincetheadventoftelevision,womenarereclaimingrightsthattheyformallyexercised.Women are serving as priestesses once again and literate cultures saturatedwithimageinformationareonceagainembracingfemininevalues.Themediumisthemessage.Perhaps,thethugwhomuggedthegoddesswastheinventionofliteracy.

The printing press spawned the Protestant Reformation.