Holistic Thinking

Holistic thinking is one of six cognitive functions that are believed to work in conjunction with many other neural processes to create (among other things) a person’s belief systems. The right hemisphere is primarily involved in holistic representations, perceiving how things are connected into a whole. For example, facial recognition relies heavily on holistic processing. Holistic functions are not language based and so are more difficult to define or communicate. Spiritual experiences seem to rely on the brain’s holistic functions. Individuals often define spiritual experiences in broad, sweeping, poorly defined terms (e.g., enlightenment, transcendence) rather than more definite and precise terms—remember that language is believed primarily housed in the left hemisphere regardless of handedness. When holistic processing predominates, one consciously does not feel a very strong need to analyze, compare, quantify, or justify one’s perceptions or beliefs.