A Stroke of Insight?

A Stroke of Insight? A Reaction to Jill Bolte Taylor on TED.com

Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for. Jill had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions shut down one by one, giving her a dramatic and astonishing insight into her research field. The video of Jill describing her experience has become a sensation of sorts. She has become a bona fide celebrity, appearing on Oprah, and recently being named one of TIME Magazine’s one hundred most influential people. Her message is simple: we can all have a spiritual experience just like hers if we simply get out of our left-brains, and into our right brains. But what would a so-called left-brained person like myself have to say about this?

I greatly appreciate the stunning experience Bolte Taylor had, her inspirational story of recovery, and her devotion to the goal of bringing love, joy, and peace to others. That being said, her interpretation of a massive stroke is separable from it. Had this been framed differently, and presented not as science, I may have been more receptive to the message. I believe that Bolte Taylor framed her story this way in an attempt to appeal to a so-called “left-brained” audience. However, as I would consider myself a more “left-brained” individual, I found myself picking the presentation apart.

In my opinion, while the experience itself was remarkable and looks to me like a scientific learning experience, her interpretation of it as a call to move to the right brain is questionable as science. The experience is quite fascinating, and Bolte Taylor’s account of it is engaging and entertaining. She now says that she is a new person who “can step into the consciousness of my right hemisphere” whenever she chooses and be “one with all that is.” Her talk concludes with a call to make this choice ourselves.

My reaction to all of this is mixed. Bolte Taylor strikes me as a fascinating person, and her experience is truly...