In 'The Matter with Things', Iain McGilchrist delves into the neuroscience, epistemology, and metaphysics of the brain's hemispheres and their impact on human perception and understanding. The book is divided into two volumes: 'The Ways to Truth' and 'What Then is True?'. McGilchrist argues that the left hemisphere's dominance has led to a skewed perception of the world, neglecting the vital role of the right hemisphere in integrating science, reason, intuition, and imagination. He explores topics such as attention, perception, judgement, and the nature of reality, including concepts like time, space, consciousness, and the sacred. The book is a call to re-enchant the world and ourselves by recognizing the deeper, more holistic understanding provided by the right hemisphere[1][3][4].
In this book, neuroscientist and entrepreneur Anne-Laure Le Cunff argues that life should be approached as a playground for experimentation rather than being molded around linear goals. She provides a science-backed toolkit to help readers break free from limiting beliefs, harness the power of imperfection, and make smarter decisions in uncertain times. The book guides readers in discovering their true ambitions through tiny personal experiments, dismantling harmful beliefs about success, and making decisions true to their own aspirations. It emphasizes the importance of embracing uncertainty as a catalyst for growth and self-discovery.
Tom Morgan (X, Substack) is a "curiosity sherpa," writer, and podcaster who runs The Leading Edge, a community for leaders focused on personal transformation and authenticity.
I first encountered Tom and his ideas during his talk at Sohn on Iain McGilchrist, left vs. right brain, and curiosity. Tom writes about complexity, curiosity, and consciousness, and wades into the deep end of various topics that most of us would place in "woo," mystic, and spiritual territories. He spent most of his career on Wall Street and brings a scientifically-inclined, rationalist approach to researching and amplifying some of the most surprising modern and ancient ideas about the nature of humanity and the universe.
With this conversation, I aimed to create a primer on Tom's writing, approach, and the ideas he returns to most. We discuss following your energy, how curiosity is a guiding force, complexity and emergence, and why the world is overrated toward left-brain rationalism. We explore practical questions—How do you know your gifts? When should you pivot or persevere? What does real exploration look like when the world offers no safety nets? And then we wade into much stranger, or even heretical ideas—at least for a modern, intellectual, western audience—including the notion that consciousness is much vaster than what we've come to understand, and how we are just a small part of a much bigger whole.
I hope you enjoy the conversation and consider some ideas that are much more fringe than you're used to. I definitely left it with more questions than answers. And more than that, I hope you are inspired to attune yourself to your curiosity. Perhaps, you may even have the faith to follow that thread pulling you toward what appears today only to be a wall.
Episode transcript.
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Timestamps:
- 2:03: Following Your Energy and Positive-Sum Games
- 6:04: Curiosity and Complexity: Differentiation and Integration
- 8:12: Entropy & Syntropy: Unpacking Curiosity, Love, and Desire
- 12:34: Emergence and What All the Mystics Point to: Integration
- 15:14: Left Brain & Right Brain: A Primer on McGilchrist's "The Matter with Things"
- 28:58: Hampton
- 30:34: Discovering Your Gifts
- 37:35: Creativity and Sustaining Curiosity
- 43:12: Life Pivots, Especially When You Aren't 22
- 50:24: A Challenge vs. A Grind: When to Keep Going or Try Something Else
- 56:19: Synchronicities
- 1:00:58: Openness and Wisdom
- 1:04:19: Error Correction, or Something Else?
- 1:06:02: Tom's Mission and The Meaning-Mortgage Question: Can you really do what you love?
- 1:08:45: Fear, Faith, Love, and Seeing Reality
- 1:12:59: "Minimum Viable Woo" and Exploring Out There Topics with a Pragmatic Lens
- 1:16:10: Stories
- 1:18:51: Love, Emergence, and Intelligence Beyond Us
- 1:22:52: A Looming Meta-Crisis, Global Consciousness, and Earth School: Blowing Out the "Woo" Rating
- 1:33:41: Lightning Round: Pseudoscience as the Streisand Effect, Mystics, What Would Rattle Tom’s Worldview Most, Joseph Campbell, Fred Again
- 1:40:41: Tom's Encouragement for His 20 Year Old Self
Select Links
Transcript and all references linked at https://dialectic.fm/tom-morgan.
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