The brain hemispheres show a distinction between understanding implicit and explicit symbols
- The right hemisphere allows for the understanding of multifaceted implicit meanings in symbols
The contextual versus abstract distinction between the brain hemispheres is illustrated by the different use of symbols by each hemisphere. In one sense of the word, a symbol such as the rose is the center of an endless network of connotations which ramify through our physical and mental, personal and cultural, experience in life, literature and art: the strength of the symbol is in direct proportion to the power it has to convey an array of implicit meanings, which need to remain implicit to be powerful. In this it is like a joke that has several layers of meaning – explaining them destroys its power. The other sort of symbol could be exemplified by the red traffic light: its power lies in its use, and its use depends on a 1:1 mapping of the command ‘stop’ onto the colour red, which precludes ambiguity and has to be explicit. This sort of symbolic function is in the realm of the left hemisphere, while the first type belongs to the realm of the right.
References
- Mcgilchrist, Iain. (2010). The Master and His Emissary Chapter 2 What Do the Hemispheres Do (103). London, UK: Yale University Press.