Butterfly: Essentially they are both identifying the same phenomenon (i.e. auditory hallucinations in Biblical prophets) but calling it by different names. As Somers does not seem to be familiar with Jaynes’s bicameral mind theory, he is placing auditory hallucinations in a modern psychiatric cont...

Sambrenton, welcome to the forum. I agree with your interpretation, although not necessarily an attack, certainly an explanation. Butterfly: You might enjoy Phantoms in the Brain by V.S. Ramachandran. However, only Chapter 9, "God and the Limbic System," deals with the issue of neuroscienc...

Dr. Herman Somer's psychological analysis of Biblical prophets dovetails nicely with Jaynes's work, specifically Book II, Chapter 6 and Book III, Chapter 2. His books, "Toen God sliep, schreef de mens de Bijbel. De Bijbel belicht door een psycholoog" (While God was Sleeping, Man Wrote the ...

I agree with the last post. Jaynes mentions the advent of writing and the mixing of different populations as critical factors, and in the Afterward (1990 edition) says in retrospect he might not have made as much of the Thera explosion. The shift to consciousness in China and Latin America, for exam...

I haven't read Pullman's books but it sounds similar to the description of Socrates' daemon as described in "Voices of Reason, Voices of Insanity" by Leudar & Thomas. Socrates had a voice he called a "daemon" that advised him and guided his actions. Leudar & Thomas are cr...

This is a very interesting article on Mohammed's trance states (reminiscent of the Oracle at Delphi) and auditory/visual hallucinations: Wahi: the Supernatural Basis of Islam It raises the possibility that Islam was founded on the auditory hallucinations of Mohammed, who perhaps experienced a partia...

[reposted from an earlier version of Jaynes Forum - Mod. ] Hello, I am in the process of reading TOOC and was wondering if there were any others on this board who were familiar with the work of R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz as it relates to Egypt (heiroglyphs, Temple of Luxor, etc.). I feel that there is...

Egyptian Religion by Siegfried Morenz (1973) describes how ancient Egyptians experienced "divine commandments" of the gods that bear a striking similarity to descriptions of the bicameral mind by Jaynes. He writes, "...subject to such divine commands are the living...who are ordered ...

If you accept the idea that the bicameral mind gave rise to the concept of gods via auditory hallucinations, then it makes sense that with the breakdown of the bicameral mind (and the silencing of the gods) there would be a shift to one god belief systems. H.W.F. Saggs (1989) writes that in Mesopota...

While it certainly does not "prove" Jaynes's theory, research supportive of his neurological model is important evidence. I don't think objections or alternate explanations would even be that sophisticated. It's hard to imagine what the response would be. It's pure speculation but my guess...

Anyone interested in augmenting their understanding of this area of Jaynes's theory should read "The Discovery of the Mind: The Greek Origins of European Thought" by Bruno Snell (the new version has the subtitle "in Greek Philosophy and Literature"). I'm currently re-reading it a...

Lévy-Bruhl's book "Primitive Mentality" was influential in Jaynes's thinking on the bicameral mind. Lévy-Bruhl writes that compared to modern society, a greater number of individuals in primitive (i.e. bicameral) societies experience hallucinations, experience them more frequently, and the...

There is definitely a relationship between the development of consciousness and the emergence of the "one god" concept, although it's something I need to ponder a little more. In considering your question, I came across an essay by JJS member and Unitarian minister Todd Eklof that I had no...

The Julian Jaynes Society is always looking for Jaynes-related items such as old photographs, audio or video tapes of lectures, correspondence, unpublished writings, etc.

If you happen to have or know of any related items, please contact: info 'at' julianjaynes . org

Thank you!

When Jaynes's neurological model for the bicameral mind was first proposed, both he and his critics conceded that it would be decades before progress in neuroscience could validate or disprove it. Well, the evidence is now in: several neuroimaging studies show activation in the right and left tempor...