Footnotes

1. The influential seventeenth century French philosopher René Descartes famously said: “I think, therefore I exist (cogito ergo sum).” He arrived at this conclusion by realizing he could doubt everything (he posited that his very existence and everything he encountered could be manufactured by what he calls a “deceiving God”) except that fact that he doubted. His views were powerfully influential and propelled us into further separation from ourselves and each other as the left hemisphere capacity to analyze and reduce was seen as the ultimate triumph of knowledge and understanding.

2. “Integration in the brain… involves the linkage of differentiated neural areas and their specialized functions with each other. (This is done through focusing attention, which) directs the flow of energy and information through particular neural circuits.” (Siegel 2010)