156 Self and the Phenomenon of Life
b2726 Self and the Phenomenon of Life: A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanity “9x6”Fig. 7.17. Demonstration of left-sided neglect in a patient with right hemisphere
damage. The patient was asked to copy a group of pictures (on the left). Note that the
patient’s copies (on the right) lack details of the left half for each object. This phenome-
non is unrelated to visual loss.
knows about. Conversely, when the stimulus is presented in such a way
that the information enters only the right hemisphere, the patient can-
not talk about it, but he can command the left hand to respond in a
non-verbal manner, such as reaching and touching the object.^26 The fact
that a split-brain person has a “divided mind” strongly supports the con-
tention that mind is grounded in matter — the brain — and dispels the
possibility that the mind is capable of independent existence.^27
7.10 The Brain and the Making of the Human Self
As I emphasized earlier, self is a system and not a molecule, a group of
cells, or an organ — not even the brain. Nonetheless, a well-developed