Julian Jaynes' Bicameral Brain

Ye Olde Mothman · 28 Oct 1998, 20:57 · from urth-v0021.mbox · original

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From: "Ye Olde Mothman" <mothman at peak.org>
Subject: (urth) Julian Jaynes' Bicameral Brain
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1998 20:57:54
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Has Julian Jaynes' theory expressed in "The Origin of Consciousness in the
Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind" ever been discused in relation to Wolfe's
"Soldier of the Mist?"  If I read it right, Jaynes beleives that self
consciousness didn't develop until about 500 B.C. and that any internal
voices, motivations, or initiative, prior to this thinking shift, would have
been attributed to Gods -- that in the Iliad, when the gods speak they are
only heard by the heroes they are speaking too -- this is what makes humans
act.  Sounds like the situation the character in Wolfe's book finds
himself -- hallucinating gods, being at their mercy, no real concept of
having a say in what's going on around him. Maybe not...

"Even Bedouins hate their Phone Company!"
                                                 -The President's Analyst

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