The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral MindWhat is human consciousness, where did it come from, and how does it determine who we are and how we live in the world? At the heart of this book is the theory that human consciousness did not develop over time--that, in fact, ancient peoples from mesopotamia to Peru did not "think" as we do and therefore were not conscious. Drawing on laboratory studies of the brain and clos examination of archaeological evidence, the author concludes that consciousness is not a product of evolution but of catastrophic events in our own history, events that occurred as recently as three thousand years ago. |
Contents
Book I | 1 |
The Mind of | 19 |
The Consciousness of Consciousness | 21 |
Copyright | |
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The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind Julian Jaynes Limited preview - 2000 |
Common terms and phrases
Achilles analog ancient animal aoidoi Assyrian auditory hallucinations become beginning behavior bicameral mind bicameral voice brain breakdown called century B.c. chapter civilizations commands consciousness culture cuneiform divine E. R. Dodds earlier Egypt epic evolution experience eyes feel function glossolalia gods Greek H. W. F. Saggs hallucinated voice hallucinations Hammurabi He-who-is hear heard hemi Hesiod Hittite human hypnosis hypnotic hypostases idols Iliad important introspect kind king language later learning left hemisphere Marduk mean mentality Mesopotamia metaphier metaphor metaphrand millennium B.c. mind-space narratization nervous system neurological noos occur Odyssey Olmec omens oracles paraphrands particularly patients perhaps period person phenomena phrenes poem poetry poets possession problem prophets psyche Psychology right hemisphere schizophrenics sciousness second millennium sense similar simply sometimes spatial speak speech statue suggest tablets temporal lobe texts theocracy theory things thought thumos tion trance translated visual Wernicke's area word York ziggurats