Leonard Schlain : How the Onset of Literacy Initiated the Decline of the Goddess

Dr. Leonard Shlain, a surgeon and inventor, came to Bodhi Tree in 1998 to discuss his book The Alphabet Versus the Goddess, where he argues that while literacy reinforced the brain’s predominantly linear, abstract, masculine left hemisphere, it was at the expense of the holistic, iconic, feminine right one. Shlain, the author of four books including Leonardo’s Brain, which he completed shortly before his death in 2009, delivered stunning visual presentations based upon his books in venues around the world. In this talk, he explains how, with the onset of television, film, advertising and computer imagery, society is finally witnessing the end of a 5,000-year reign of patriarchy.