ABSTRACT
This chapter pivots from analysis and critique to a prescriptive framework for rectifying the current situation. McGilchrist’s work is shown to conform with classic pragmatism, that is, having great power to explain observed effects. His work is, in essence, a monumental collection of clinical observations which can be explained by the bihemispherical model. Accordingly, human behaviors fall into a dichotomous pattern. The right hemisphere leads to empathetic, authentic, caring actions, being close connected to the world of the actor. The left produces actions based on abstractions it has explicated from the actor’s experiential history. It exercises control, dominating institutional behaviors where conformance with rules is paramount. Mirroring its analytic power, the divided-brain model can serve as a roadmap towards flourishing as a destination, pointing to three pathways: 1) changing individual behaviors, 2) living with complexity, and 3) changing institutional structures. All assume that recovering the primacy of the right-brain will slowly change societal behavioral patterns, and open the possibility for flourishing to emerge. Given its importance to authentic caring, institutional and technological designs should enrich, not diminish, the context accessible to actors.
