Tom Guarriello explores left brain vs right brain thinking and reminisces about his reading as a philosophy student trying to make sense of Heidegger.
Heidegger makes a distinction between calculative and meditative thinking. The former is our typical “right brain” oriented approach, in which we view the world as objects to be analyzed and manipulated.
Meditative thinking is a more difficult and cryptic enterprise. It requires patience (not “waiting for” exactly, since that puts us into a mindset that is anticipatively anxious and very close to calculative), and a lingering persistence; the courage to “dwell” in the presence of the world. Heidegger called this releasement towards things and openness to the mystery. It is “focused” on the transcendent; a way of getting to the invisible side of the visible.
It is usually right around here that modern readers find themselves getting very queasy.
This reminds me of what Chris Corrigan writes about holding Open Space; a willingness to be present to chaos, with confidence in a resolution without forcing one.
(By the way, Wittgenstein was the one who did my head in as a student.)
