Pre-Bicameral Mind?
Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 5:58 pm
As I understand Jaynes, he means that the bicameral mind originated about simultaneously with language, and that it wasn't fully developed until just before agriculture was invented.
Then, the discussion of whether contemporary hunter-gatherer groups are bicameral or not doesn't go far enough. If Jaynes is right, these people shouldn't even be bicameral, but pre-bicameral. And what constitutes a pre-bicameral mind? Can such a person even communicate with a modern (conscious) human being?
As far as I know, no tribal group has ever been found that has no fully developed language and is non-conscious (in the Jaynesian sense).
Then, the discussion of whether contemporary hunter-gatherer groups are bicameral or not doesn't go far enough. If Jaynes is right, these people shouldn't even be bicameral, but pre-bicameral. And what constitutes a pre-bicameral mind? Can such a person even communicate with a modern (conscious) human being?
As far as I know, no tribal group has ever been found that has no fully developed language and is non-conscious (in the Jaynesian sense).