The idea of the brain being split into right and left hemispheres that do radically different things has entered the popular imagination. Following an article exchange on the IAI, Scott Barry Kaufman and Iain McGilchrist finally meet to investigate the remaining untouched ground in this mind-melding debate. 

Ten years ago I wrote an article for Scientific American called “The Real Neuroscience of Creativity”. In that article, I presented an exciting new approach in neuroscience called the network approach that looks at how large-scale brain networks interact with each other to produce creativity, and I noted that these brain structures recruit areas in both the left and right hemisphere. In other words, creativity is not exclusively a right-brain phenomena.

Fast forward to 2023, the Institute of Art and Ideas asks me if they can re-share the article. Of course I give them permission. They published it, and they titled it “The right-left brain hemisphere split isn’t true”.

Next thing I know, I see a response from Dr. McGilchrist on their website called “The right brain is essential to creativity” where he vociferously replied to my post. Oh man, I unintentionally triggered him! I didn't know the good folks at the Institute of Arts and Ideas were going to ask him to reply to that article, especially considering that post was not originally designed as a criticism of Iain’s work. It was more a response I wrote to the pop psych notion that creativity is only a right-brain phenomena.