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The Left and Right brains are physically separated, and have complementary functions (q.v. Iain McGilchrist [1]).
The Left cortex deals with what is already known so that can be made use of. It is a tool-making brain that deals with the world as a set of objects that can be manipulated. This is the kind of mental activity most dominant during danger.
The Right cortex is interested in play, detail, exploration – so that we can discover what we do not yet know. This is a relational brain that appreciates and navigates the connected Living world. Entering Right-cortex activity is a strong signal to the whole body-mind that the world might be safe.
The brain, like all other Life-forms, separates to create more complementary complexity – I this case, into a Left and a Right – in addition to all the many other structures that can be identified.
What is of most importance is that survival-bad ("survive") has a particular way of attending (form of attention) that anticipates danger, requiring the external senses to be activated, alert and very focussed for certain key indicators, the body’s physiology to be ready to respond appropriately. If there is danger, we like everything to be known and familiar, there to be no surprises. Familiarity equals safety (even if the familiar isn’t actually safe). If there is danger, the human brain shifts most activity into the Left cortex, putting everything into two boxes : (1) "maybe not safe" (and therefore of further interest), and (2) "known, safe" (and therefore of no further interest). Interoception (awareness of the body) is less easy; the senses just don’t want to turn in that direction because the danger is "out there". This kind of curiosity is distinctive, having a slippery, skippy, whisp-like quality, not resting in any one place, becoming disinterested as soon as something has been categorised and labelled. "It’s a tree". "It’s a rock".
Seeing is forgetting the name of the thing one sees
Robert Irwin
In contrast, survival-good ("thrive") has more variation in quality of attention. It may be relaxed or even exploratory. It may allow for a tiny possibility of danger, but one that is/will be manageable. The quality of curiosity is different to that of "survive", drifting across to the Right cortex, being more interested in detail – not because there is any particular purpose, but because it’s genuinely interesting or enjoyable in its own right. There is a possibility of more spacious, even timeless, attention. There is room for interoceptive curiosity (as well as interest in the external senses) and a generally broader sensory platform (more senses available at once, easier transitions between different senses). Relationality is not necessarily so conflicted or utilitarian. To quote Muhammad Ali (quoting Roger Miller):
some people walk in the rain, others just get wet
The Left cortex is a tool-making brain, interested I how we can manipulate the world. So it deals mainly in nouns, placing things into useful categories. If the Left hemisphere of the cortex is dominant, everything (including the body) is experienced as a tool that can and must be manipulated. This is a dangerous mindset to leave in control, which is why McGilchrist referred to the Left cortex as the "Emissary" and not the Master. The Left hemisphere would be useless without the exploratory, playful and relational Right cortex, because the Right brain finds the new through interest in detail. It is only by interest in detail that we can differentiate known from unknown, which may lead to discovering something new. And it is only by finding the new that creates memory and Gestalts that populate the Left brain with "knowns". The right cortex also deals with processes rather than things, and is therefore more active in relationality and the complexity of a Living (i.e. not human-constructed) world. The acts of learning vs. using what has been learned are so radically different – and the two functions are so crucial to survival - that every single organism with more than a few dozen neurons to rub together develops an asymmetric bilateral central nervous system. Entering Right-cortex activity is only possible if the world is "safe-enough" for there to be space for an interest in the apparently trivial or interactions not directly (in a utilitarian way) related to safety. As such, Right-brain activity is of itself a strong signal to the whole body-mind that the world might be safe-enough.
The conundrum is – it is only possible to fully re-calibrate to "mostly safe" by engaging the Right cortex and a curious participatory form of attention, along with its relational participatory way of experiencing the world. But any feeling of "not-safe-enough" will tend to drop us back into a Left cortical way of seeing, along with its tool-making manipulative separateness from and lack of interest in the world. This transition may be made through Zen Satori – something jolts us into a wider awareness. But these moments and opportunities are rarely big enough to get through the fug of inattention. So re-calibration requires a decision and a will to active engage with the world in a softer, slower, more relational way just in case there is something there worth attending to.
Iain McGilchrist has written a series of books about the divided brain ,and how the Left and Right hemispheres of the cortex have very different complementary functions - "its not what they do but how they do it". His description of the Left and Right brains - The Master and his Emissary - is considered to be one of the most important books of the 21st Century. See https://channelmcgilchrist.com/
