Let's forget everything we thought we knew about the differences between the two brain hemispheres, because it's largely wrong.

What matters isn't what each hemisphere does—both participate in everything—but how each one does it. The main difference is how they manage attention. We need one hemisphere to pay more attention to details while the other takes care of everything else. The result: one hemisphere makes better use of the world, while the other understands it more effectively.

Attention isn't just receptive; it actively alters and creates the world we inhabit. Therefore, how we pay attention to something—or how we fail to pay attention to it—is of great importance. This book will help us perceive what our peculiar culture teaches us not to notice.