## Metadata - Author: [[Iain McGilchrist]] - Full Title: The Matter With Things - Category: #books ## Highlights - The idea of a Gestalt is central to this book: by it I mean the form of a whole that cannot be reduced to parts without the loss of something essential to its nature. ([Location 350](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09KY5B3QL&location=350)) - One way of looking at paradox is as an indicator that we are dealing with two apparently valid world-pictures which yet do not concur. These two ways of seeing the world are each vital to our survival. We need to simplify and stand apart to manipulate things, to deal with the necessities of life, and to build the foundations of a civilisation. But to live in it, we also need to belong to the world and to understand the complexity of what it is we are dealing with. This division of attention works to our advantage when we use both. However, it is a handicap – in fact, it is a catastrophe – when we use only one. ([Location 789](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09KY5B3QL&location=789))