Robert Ornstein
Encyclopedia
Dr. Robert Evan Ornstein (born 1942) is a psychologist
, researcher and writer
.
He has taught at the Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute, based at the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco, and been professor at Stanford University
and chairman of the Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge
(ISHK).
's Queen's College.
In 1964 he was awarded a bachelor's degree in psychology at Queen's College, and went on to gain a Ph.D
at Stanford University
, California
in 1968. His doctoral thesis was On the Experience of Time.
with other scientific and cultural traditions. His work has been featured in a 1974 Time
magazine article entitled Hemispheric Thinker.
He has written on the brain's role in health in The Healing Brain with David Sobel of Kaiser Permanente
; the way in which human consciousness is unable to understand the fast paced modern world in New World New Mind: Moving Toward Conscious Evolution with Paul Ehrlich
; and the way in which our current consciousness has developed in The Axemaker’s Gift, with James Burke
. He worked to reconcile the wisdom traditions of the east and science in The Psychology of Consciousness and is interested in promoting the modern Sufism
of Idries Shah
. Shah and Ornstein met in the 1960s. Realizing that Ornstein could be an ideal partner in propagating his teachings, translating them into the idiom of psychotherapy
, Shah made him his deputy in the United States. Ornstein's The Psychology of Consciousness (1972) was enthusiastically received by the academic psychology community, as it coincided with new interests in the field, such as the study of biofeedback
and other techniques designed to achieve shifts in mood and awareness. Ornstein's book The Right Mind deals with split-brain
studies and other experiments or clinical evidence revealing the abilities of the right cerebral hemisphere.
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
, researcher and writer
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
.
He has taught at the Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute, based at the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco, and been professor at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
and chairman of the Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge
Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge
The Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge is a non-profit educational charity and publisher established in 1969 by the noted and award-winning psychologist and writer Robert E. Ornstein and based in Los Altos, California, in the USA...
(ISHK).
Early life and education
Robert Evan Ornstein was born in 1942 in Brooklyn, New York, USA, and grew up in the city. He was twice high school math champion in a city-wide contest, and "wavered between physics and poetry before compromising on psychology" at the City University of New YorkCity University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
's Queen's College.
In 1964 he was awarded a bachelor's degree in psychology at Queen's College, and went on to gain a Ph.D
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1968. His doctoral thesis was On the Experience of Time.
Psychology career
Ornstein has been involved in reconciling the scientific understanding of mind and consciousnessConsciousness
Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
with other scientific and cultural traditions. His work has been featured in a 1974 Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine article entitled Hemispheric Thinker.
He has written on the brain's role in health in The Healing Brain with David Sobel of Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is an integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield...
; the way in which human consciousness is unable to understand the fast paced modern world in New World New Mind: Moving Toward Conscious Evolution with Paul Ehrlich
Paul Ehrlich
Paul Ehrlich was a German scientist in the fields of hematology, immunology, and chemotherapy, and Nobel laureate. He is noted for curing syphilis and for his research in autoimmunity, calling it "horror autotoxicus"...
; and the way in which our current consciousness has developed in The Axemaker’s Gift, with James Burke
James Burke (science historian)
James Burke is a British broadcaster, science historian, author and television producer known amongst other things for his documentary television series Connections and its more philosophical oriented companion production, The Day the Universe Changed , focusing on the history of science and...
. He worked to reconcile the wisdom traditions of the east and science in The Psychology of Consciousness and is interested in promoting the modern Sufism
Sufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
of Idries Shah
Idries Shah
Idries Shah , also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el-Hashimi , was an author and teacher in the Sufi tradition who wrote over three dozen critically acclaimed books on topics ranging from psychology and spirituality to travelogues and culture studies.Born in India, the descendant of a...
. Shah and Ornstein met in the 1960s. Realizing that Ornstein could be an ideal partner in propagating his teachings, translating them into the idiom of psychotherapy
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
, Shah made him his deputy in the United States. Ornstein's The Psychology of Consciousness (1972) was enthusiastically received by the academic psychology community, as it coincided with new interests in the field, such as the study of biofeedback
Biofeedback
Biofeedback is the process of becoming aware of various physiological functions using instruments that provide information on the activity of those same systems, with a goal of being able to manipulate them at will...
and other techniques designed to achieve shifts in mood and awareness. Ornstein's book The Right Mind deals with split-brain
Split-brain
Split-brain is a lay term to describe the result when the corpus callosum connecting the two hemispheres of the brain is severed to some degree. The surgical operation to produce this condition is called corpus callosotomy and is usually used as a last resort to treat otherwise intractable epilepsy...
studies and other experiments or clinical evidence revealing the abilities of the right cerebral hemisphere.
Books written
- On the Experience of Time (Penguin BooksPenguin BooksPenguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
, 1969) - The Psychology of Consciousness (Harcourt Brace, 1972)
- 4th rev. ed. (Penguin BooksPenguin BooksPenguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
, 1986)
- 4th rev. ed. (Penguin Books
- On the Psychology of Meditation, coauthor to Claudio NaranjoClaudio NaranjoClaudio Naranjo is a Chilean psychiatrist who is considered a pioneer in integrating psychotherapy and the spiritual traditions. He is one of the three successors named by Fritz Perls , and a developer of the Enneagram of Personality and founder of the Seekers After Truth Institute...
(Allen & UnwinAllen & UnwinAllen & Unwin, formerly a major British publishing house, is now an independent book publisher and distributor based in Australia. The Australian directors have been the sole owners of the Allen & Unwin name since effecting a management buy out at the time the UK parent company, Unwin Hyman, was...
, 1973) - The Mind Field (Viking PressViking PressViking Press is an American publishing company owned by the Penguin Group, which has owned the company since 1975. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim...
, 1976)- paperback (Malor Books, 1996)
- The Amazing Brain, with Richard F. Thompson (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1984)
- Multimind (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1986)
- The Healing Brain, with David Sobel (Simon & SchusterSimon & SchusterSimon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
, 1987) - New World, New Mind: Moving Towards Conscious Evolution, co-authored with Paul R. EhrlichPaul R. EhrlichPaul Ralph Ehrlich is an American biologist and educator who is the Bing Professor of Population Studies in the department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University and president of Stanford's Center for Conservation Biology. By training he is an entomologist specializing in Lepidoptera , but...
(Methuen, 1989) - The Evolution of Consciousness, illustrated by Ted DewanTed DewanTed Dewan is an England-based American author/illustrator, born in 1961 in Boston, Massachusetts. He is married to fellow-illustrator Helen Cooper and has a daughter Pandora Dewan, and is the brother of musician/artist Brian Dewan.-Life:...
(Prentice-Hall US, 1991) - The Roots of the Self, illustrated by Ted DewanTed DewanTed Dewan is an England-based American author/illustrator, born in 1961 in Boston, Massachusetts. He is married to fellow-illustrator Helen Cooper and has a daughter Pandora Dewan, and is the brother of musician/artist Brian Dewan.-Life:...
(HarperCollinsHarperCollinsHarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
US, 1993) - The Axemaker’s Gift, with James BurkeJames Burke (science historian)James Burke is a British broadcaster, science historian, author and television producer known amongst other things for his documentary television series Connections and its more philosophical oriented companion production, The Day the Universe Changed , focusing on the history of science and...
, illustrated by Ted DewanTed DewanTed Dewan is an England-based American author/illustrator, born in 1961 in Boston, Massachusetts. He is married to fellow-illustrator Helen Cooper and has a daughter Pandora Dewan, and is the brother of musician/artist Brian Dewan.-Life:...
(G. P. Putnam's SonsG. P. Putnam's SonsG. P. Putnam's Sons was a major United States book publisher based in New York City, New York. Since 1996, it has been an imprint of the Penguin Group.-History:...
US, 1995) - The Right Mind: Making Sense of the Hemispheres (Harcourt Brace & Company, 1997)
- MindReal: How the Mind Creates its Own Virtual Reality illustrated by Ted DewanTed DewanTed Dewan is an England-based American author/illustrator, born in 1961 in Boston, Massachusetts. He is married to fellow-illustrator Helen Cooper and has a daughter Pandora Dewan, and is the brother of musician/artist Brian Dewan.-Life:...
(Malor Books, 2008) - Humanity on a Tightrope: Thoughts on Empathy, Family, and Big Changes for a Viable Future co-author Paul R. EhrlichPaul R. EhrlichPaul Ralph Ehrlich is an American biologist and educator who is the Bing Professor of Population Studies in the department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University and president of Stanford's Center for Conservation Biology. By training he is an entomologist specializing in Lepidoptera , but...
(Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2010))
Academic monographs
- Physiological Studies of Consciousness (Institute for Cultural ResearchThe Institute for Cultural ResearchThe Institute for Cultural Research is a London-based, UK-registered educational charity, events organizer and publisher which aims to stimulate study, debate, education and research into all aspects of human thought, behaviour and culture...
, 1973)
See also
- Cerebral hemisphereCerebral hemisphereA cerebral hemisphere is one of the two regions of the eutherian brain that are delineated by the median plane, . The brain can thus be described as being divided into left and right cerebral hemispheres. Each of these hemispheres has an outer layer of grey matter called the cerebral cortex that is...
- Lateralization of brain functionLateralization of brain functionA longitudinal fissure separates the human brain into two distinct cerebral hemispheres, connected by the corpus callosum. The sides resemble each other and each hemisphere's structure is generally mirrored by the other side. Yet despite the strong anatomical similarities, the functions of each...
- The Master and His EmissaryThe Master and His EmissaryThe Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World is a detailed and extensively documented scientific study of the specialist hemispheric functioning of the brain...