Modernity and Postmodernity

Posted by Jonathan Brink
March 20, 2008

Newton’s third law of motion is, “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” And over the last thirty years we’ve seen a distinct change in culture from a modern to a postmodern society. And after watching Jill Bolte Taylor I began to really wonder if this is a shift in culture from right brain to left brain.

Jill describes the two halves of the brain in very distinct terms. Physically the are independent of each other and are connected by a thin white matter called the corpus callosum. She describes the two halves by saying, “they think about different things, they care about different things, and dare I say they have very different personalities.” This sounds like the culture issues with the traditional church and the emerging church to me.

The right brain:

The left brain:

After reading Tony’s book, I realize that much of the threads that show up in modernity are left brain oriented. And the threads that show up in postmodernity are right brain oriented. Modernity is interested in facts and figures, charts and graphs. Modernity is the PC guy from the Apple commercials. Postmodernity is the righ brain interested in images and colors, the present moment when we’re having coffee. Postmodernity is the Mac guy in the Apple commercials.

But what is the most interesting to me is that the right brain is about connectivity and relationships. What draws us together, not divides us. And much of the postmodernity movement/era I think is a response to the long drawn out centuries of living exclusively in the left brain world that can’t operate in relationships.

Must of what Jesus did was about restoring relationships, especially us to the Father so we could discover the power of the Holy Spirit. I for one think that this can only come from the right brain that draws us together.

PS: After seeing Jill, I realized why I gravitate towards the postmodern emerging church conversation. I’m right brain. You can test yourself here.

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Emerging Church, Science, humanity, postmodern

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  • I was fascinated by this presentation, as well. I've been following John LaGrue's blog (http://microclesia.com/) of his experience at this year's TED conference.

    Anyway, while agreeing with your thoughts here, what I was struck by was a challenge issued from M. Scott Peck for an increase in what he called "androgenous thinking" -- the fostering of both left and right brain activity, rather than the focus on just one as prime reality. I'm now going to have to return to his book, "The Road Less Traveled -- and Beyond," and reread his chapters about thinking. Perhaps this should be an annual exercise, at least! ;^)

    I find that I do not fit neatly into either category -- but resonate with both as well as finding myself frequently moving toward a synthesis (androgenous?). I realize that this is a factor in what FuturistGuy (http://futuristguy.wordpress.com/) has coined as being an Interpolator (http://futuristguy.wordpress.com/interpolators/). It is an interesting perspective from which to engage the conversations of our times.

    Thanks for your summary of Jill's remarkable talk.
  • i think this, like a lot of other "there are two kinds of ..." thinking is good to help us see that differences exist and must be taken into account and considered to have effective communication.
    but, i think they also pose a big risk of saying "this is good and this is bad" or at least "this is ok, but this is better".

    i think we risk alienating a lot of naturally left brained people if we start attempting to couch our "improved spiritual journey" as a journey of the right brain.
  • Peggy, I share your thoughts about fitting neatly into one category. And in no way do I think anyone does. I think, as Jill shows, that we need both sides to function.

    The problem has been the loss of balance over history. I think the tendency of humanity is to operate in control mechanisms, of which the left brain functions. Does this make the person bad...no. It makes them broken and human at the same time.
  • Hi Jonathan.

    Tim Keel interacts with the right brain in a fantastic way in his book Intuitive Leadership. He approaches leadership from a starting point of creativity and cultivation.
  • Jhimm, as I said to Peggy. I'm not calling left brain thinking bad. I'm calling the loss of relationships that predominant left brain tendencies have created destructive and oppressive. I've met a lot of left brain people who were deeply compassionate. But humanity is designed for relationship.

    The tendency is to polarize, which I don't want to do. I don't hold that all human beings are one sided. Remember, improved spiritual journey are your words, not mine.

    In spite of that, I still do think that the modern/postmodern response is a left brain to right brain swing. Hopefully we can find the balance.
  • The right brain/left brain test with the dancer totally freaked me out! The dancer would spin clockwise for about 20 seconds, then I'd glance away and look back and she'd be spinning to the anti-clockwise. 20 seconds later and she was going back the other way again! I could not "make" her change direction by concentrating on, but whenever I'd look away and then back, she had changed direction again. Very disturbing :). I'm not sure what that says about my brain--maybe very little separating the two halves--ha!
  • Jonathan, yes -- it is about balance. Or, I would say it is mostly about restraint ... because the truism that "any strength taken to an extreme becomes a weakness" fits perfectly in this scenario.

    It takes time and effort and discernment and encouragement to mature into a person who is willing to engage both sides of the brain. We are to love God with with all our mind -- not just the right or left sides. ;^)

    And absolutely, we value both sides -- sometimes leaning left and other times leaning right. This goes a bit to the dancing image of perichoresis -- it's a dance we're invited into ... there are songs to learn and steps to master, but then you've got to get out there and, well, dance with the rest of the troupe!
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