Myths vs. Facts

Myth 9: “Gordon Gallup’s ‘mirror test’ measures consciousness.” ALSO “Chimpanzees can recognize themselves in a mirror, and this ‘provides clear evidence of self-awareness in chimpanzees’.” …

Myth 8: “Julian Jaynes argues that people in ancient times heard the actual voices of gods, spirits, or other supernatural entities.” …

Myth 7: Confusing bicamerality with schizophrenia; or thinking that “Julian Jaynes claimed that people in ancient civilizations ‘were …

Myth 6: “Recent studies in neuroscience have disconfirmed or disproven Julian Jaynes’s theory of the bicameral mind” …

Myth 5: “Julian Jaynes’s theory of consciousness and the bicameral mind has been ‘debunked’ or ‘disproven” …

Myth 4: “The gods in the Iliad were ‘just a literary device.'” “The Iliad is “just a story” and as such does not tell us anything about the …

Myth 3: “Julian Jaynes’s theory does not apply to cultures outside of the Eastern Mediterranean.” “The transition to consciousness could not have …

Myth 2: “Julian Jaynes was mistaken in areas outside of his expertise.” Jaynes — unmarried, without children, and uninterested in seeking …

Myth 1: “Julian Jaynes’s book was not peer reviewed.” While Jaynes ultimately chose to publish his book with a non-academic publisher, which …

Read the introduction to our section on common myths vs. facts about Julian Jaynes’s theory of consciousness and the bicameral mind. …