I think therefore I am...not“I think therefore I am” said René Descartes in his “Discourse on method” (Descartes 1637). A pretty clear statement that says why I think I exist. By our very act of thinking we provide proof of our existence. But Jill Bolte Taylor, in her video presentation on TED.com, adds to that idea the idea that through purely right-brain thinking “I think therefore I am not.” Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor provides a detailed and sometimes moving description of the morning. who had a stroke in the left hemisphere of his brain. During the conversation he first explains to us that our left brain is a serial device, which processes things logically, one step at a time. That the left brain deals with the past and the future. The left brain also sees ourselves as unique individuals, placed in a 3D space where we interact with the rest of the world as a distinct entity, separate and apart from other objects. But our right brain, he continues to explain, is much more abstract and tends to see ourselves only as bundles and collections of energy, easily attuned to the energy of the rest of the world, not unique and independent, but part of a whole . much larger together. At one point during her presentation she describes leaning against the wall of her house and watching in wonder as her arm begins to blend with the wall (Taylor 2008). His claims are supported by studies on left/right brain lateralization (the differences in how our left and right brains function and how each processes information and stimuli (Meyers 2009)), which show that each half of our brain performs certain tasks better than its neighbor. The left hemisphere excels in math and science…middle of the paper…consciousness available through the right hemisphere, as described by Jill Bolte Taylor. References Descartes, René (1910). The Five-Foot Bookshelf of Harvard Classics - French and English Philosophers Charles W. Eliot LL D (ed.). Discourse on the Method (pp 28) New York, NY, P. F. Collier & Son (original work published 1637) Meyers, David (2009). Psychology in Everyday Life New York, NY, Worth Publishers Morris, Rich (2005-2007). Left brain, right brain, whole brain. Retrieved from http://www.singsurf.org/rightbrain.php Taylor, Jill Bolte (presenter). (filmed February 2008, released March 2008). TED talks. Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of intuition. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.htmlCharles MilamPsych 2301-015February 17, 2010