Jaynes's theory draws evidence from a broad range of disciplines. The following table organizes the primary areas of evidence, explains their relevance to the bicameral mind theory, provides alternate or traditional interpretations, and identifies sources for further reading.
Evidence
Relevance to Bicameral Mind
Alternate Interpretation(s)
Selected References
Anthropology
Major role of hallucinations in the daily lives of people in primitive societies.
Hallucinations in primitive societies share similarities to those of bicameral societies.
None
Daniel L. Everett, Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazon Jungle (Vintage: 2009).
Marcel Kuijsten, "Introduction," in M. Kuijsten (ed.) The Julian Jaynes Collection (Julian Jaynes Society, 2012).
L. Levy-Bruhl, Primitive Mentality (Boston: Beacon Press, 1922/1975).
L. Levy-Bruhl, How Natives Think (New York: A.A. Knopf, 1926/1979).
Burial practices in ancient civilizations: corpses propped up; dead often buried with food, tools, and livestock.
The living continued to hallucinate the voices and commands of the dead and believed they were still participating in their lives.
Ancient civilizations did not understand concept of death.
C. Starr, Origins of Greek Civilization: 1100-650 B.C. (W.W. Norton & Company, 1991).
J. Weissman, Of Two Minds: Poets Who Hear Voices. (Wesleyan University Press, 1993, discussion of the Iliad and the Odyssey with relation to Jaynes's theory).
Absence of consciousness-related language in the oldest books of The Old Testament such as Amos. Contrast with consciousness in later books such as Ecclesiastes.
Indicates lack of modern self-awareness in man during this time period.
Absence of consciousness-related language does not indicate absence of consciousness; literary style.
Evolution of the words psyche, thumos, noos in ancient Greek. Thumos ('motion','agitation') comes to mean 'emotional soul.' Noos ('to see') comes to mean 'conscious mind.'
Demonstrates lack of consciousness in the Iliad.
Lack of words for consciousness does not imply lack of consciousness.
Evolution of the word shi in ancient China. From its original meaning of 'corpse,' shi came to mean 'personator of a dead ancestor.'
The ancient practice of personation of the dead provides evidence that the people of Shang and early Zhou China actually heard the voices of their ancestors.
The Chinese practice of personating the dead is referred to as an unsolved puzzle.
Evolution of the word xin ('heart, mind') in ancient China.
The linguistic evidence in the Shijing supports the hypothesis that during the early Zhou period, people were losing unsubjective bicamerality and gaining subjective consciousness.
None
M. Carr, "Sidelights on Xin 'Heart, Mind' in the Shijing." Proceedings of the 31st CISHAAN, Tokyo and Kyoto, 1983, 824-825. Summarized in M. Carr, "The Shi "Corpse/Personator" Ceremony In Early China," in M. Kuijsten (ed.) Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness (Julian Jaynes Society, 2006).
Neurology
Research from split-brain patients shows hemispheres can function so as to seem like two independent persons.
Bicameral man as well as modern schizophrenics perceive hallucinations, emanating from an independently acting right hemisphere, as coming from outside themselves.
N/A
J.E. Bogen, "The Other Side of the Brain: An Appositional Mind," in R. Ornstein (ed.) The Nature of Human Consciousness (Viking, 1973).
M. Gazzaniga, "Principles of human brain organization derived from split brain studies," Neuron,1995, 14, 217-228.
M. Gazzaniga, "Consciousness and the cerebral hemispheres," in The Cognitive Neurosciences (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995, pgs. 1391-1400).
M. Gazzaniga, "The Split Brain in Man," in R. Ornstein (ed.) The Nature of Human Consciousness (Viking, 1973).
A.L. Wigan, The Duality of Mind (1844/1985, with new Foreword by Joseph E. Bogen).
Research from split-brain patients and patients with brain damage shows the right hemisphere has language ability.
Jaynes theorized that hallucinations in bicameral man originated in the right temporal lobe (area that corresponds to the language areas of the left hemisphere).
N/A
M. Gazzaniga, "Right hemisphere language following brain bisection: a 20-year perspective," American Psychologist, 1983, May, 525-537.
Joseph, R. 1996. Neuropsychiatry, Neuropsychology, and Clinical Neuroscience. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.
J.E. LeDoux, D.H. Wilson & M.S. Gazzaniga, "A divided mind: Observations on the conscious properties of the separated hemisphere," Annals of Neurology,1977, 2, 417-421.
A. Searleman, "A review of right hemisphere linguistic capabilities," Psychological Bulletin,1977, 84, 503-528.
Neuroimaging studies show right temporal-parietal lobe activity during auditory hallucinations.
Jaynes theorized that hallucinations in bicameral man originated in the right temporal-parietal lobe. This is the area that corresponds to the language areas of the left hemisphere.
M. Kuijsten, "Consciousness, Hallucinations, and the Bicameral Mind: Three Decades of New Research," in M. Kuijsten (ed.) Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness (Julian Jaynes Society, 2007).
B.R. Lennox, S.B. Park, I. Medley, P.G. Morris, P.B. Jones, "The functional anatomy of auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia," Psychiatry Research, 2000, 100(1):13-20.
M.R. Trimble, The Temporal Lobes and the Limbic System (England: Wrightson Biomedical, 1992).
Studies have found associations between the right hemisphere and negative emotion.
Hallucinations are often critical and condemnatory in nature. The right hemisphere tends to "look down on" the left hemisphere.
N/A
N.R. Carlson, Physiology of Behavior (Boston: Allyon and Bacon, 1998).
E. Perecman, Cognitive Processing in the Right Hemisphere (Perspectives in Neurolinguistics, Neuropsychology, and Psycholinguistics) (Academic Press, 1983).
Right hemisphere dominant for infusing prosody into language. Prosody is the rhythmic and intonational aspect of language. Emotional aspects of language a right hemisphere function.
Jaynes describes rhythmic nature of ancient hallucinations as well as in modern unmedicated schizophrenics.
N/A
R.K. Kretz, "The evolution of self-awareness: Advances in neurological understandings since Julian Jaynes' 'bicameral mind'." Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences & Engineering, 2000, Vol 60 (12-B), pp. 6413.
M. Kuijsten, "Consciousness, Hallucinations, and the Bicameral Mind: Three Decades of New Research," in M. Kuijsten (ed.) Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness (Julian Jaynes Society, 2006).
A large percentage of patients with schizophrenia experience "command hallucinations."
In the absence of consciousness, bicameral man hallucinated a commanding voice that instructed him in times of stress or decision-making.
No mainstream theory for command hallucinations.
R. T. Hurlbert, "A Schizophrenic Woman Who Heard Voices of the Gods," in Sampling Normal and Schizophrenic Inner Experience (Springer, 1990).
M. Kuijsten, "Consciousness, Hallucinations, and the Bicameral Mind: Three Decades of New Research," in M. Kuijsten (ed.) Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness (Julian Jaynes Society, 2006).
Auditory hallucinations more common in normal population than previously believed.
Widespread occurrence of hallucinations provides further supporting evidence that, prior to the development of consciousness, hallucinations once were a normal part of mental functioning.
Abnormal brain functioning (no widely accepted explanation for the occurrence of hallucinations).
P. Brugger, M. Regard, T. Landis, & O. Oelz, "Hallucinatory experiences in extreme-altitude climbers," Neuropsychiatry, Neuropsychology, & Behavioral Neurology,1999, 12 (1), 67–71.
B. Greyson & M.B. Liester, "Auditory hallucinations following near-death experiences," Journal of Humanistic Psychology,2004, 44: 320-336.
A. Grimby, "Hallucinations following the loss of a spouse: Common and normal events among the elderly," Journal of Clinical Geropsychology,1998, Vol. 4 (1): 65-74.
M. Kuijsten, "Consciousness, Hallucinations, and the Bicameral Mind: Three Decades of New Research," in M. Kuijsten (ed.) Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness (Julian Jaynes Society, 2006).
C. McCreery & G. Claridge, "A study of hallucinations in normal subjects." Personality & Individual Differences, 1996, 21 (5): 739-747.
D. Pearson, A. Burrow, C. FitzGerald, K. Green, G. Lee, N. Wise, "Auditory hallucinations in normal child populations," Personality & Individual Differences, Special Issue, 31(3), 2001, 401–407.
D.S. Smith, Muses, Madmen, and Prophets: Rethinking the History, Science, and Meaning of Auditory Hallucination (Penguin Press, 2007).
B. Vickers & E. Garralda, "Hallucinations in nonpsychotic children," Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2000, 39 (9), p. 1073.
Dreams in ancient times and in primitive tribes radically different from modern dreams; primarily consist of a visitation by a god or a spirit which issues a warning or command.
Difference in dreams reflects a fundamental difference in mentality (bicameral vs. conscious).
E.R. Hilgard, Divided Consciousness: Multiple Controls in Human Thought and Action (John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1977/1986).
B. McVeigh, "The Self as Interiorized Social Relations: Applying a Jaynesian Approach to Problems of Agency and Volition," in M. Kuijsten (ed.) Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness (Julian Jaynes Society, 2006).
M. Orne, "The Nature of Hypnosis: Artifact and Essence," Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1959, 58: 277-299.
Language required for consciousness.
Consciousness is a late development; metaphorical language required to set up a mind-space for modern self-awareness, consciousness, complex trains of thought.
Consciousness dates back to at least 35,000 years ago; consciousness not predicated on language.
M. Kuijsten, "Consciousness, Hallucinations, and the Bicameral Mind: Three Decades of New Research," in M. Kuijsten (ed.) Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness (Julian Jaynes Society, 2006).
J. Limber, "Language and Consciousness: Jaynes's 'Preposterous Idea' Reconsidered," in M. Kuijsten (ed.) Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness (Julian Jaynes Society, 2006).
Theology/Religion
Dissociation and hallucinations in religious figures.
Hallucinations of a religious nature are a vestige of the bicameral mind.
Actual contact with spirits/creator/divine entities.
J. Gardner, Faiths of the World (Kessinger Publishing, 2003).
J. Knoll & B. Bachrach, "Medieval visions and contemporary hallucinations," Psychological Medicine, 12(4), 1982, 709-722.
M. Kuijsten, "Consciousness, Hallucinations, and the Bicameral Mind: Three Decades of New Research," in M. Kuijsten (ed.) Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness (Julian Jaynes Society, 2006).
W.D. Morain, The Sword of Laban: Joseph Smith, Jr. and the Dissociated Mind (American Psychiatric Association, 1998).
D.C. Stove, "The Oracles and Their Cessation: A Tribute to Julian Jaynes," in M. Kuijsten (ed.) Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness (Julian Jaynes Society, 2006).
