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Julian Jaynes' theory dates consciousness to about 3,000 years ago
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A blog post by Mark Dominus summarizes Julian Jaynes' controversial theory that human consciousness emerged only about 3,000 years ago, replacing an earlier 'bicameral' mentality.
For engineers working on AI or cognitive science, Jaynes' theory challenges assumptions about the nature and history of consciousness. The blog post offers a concise overview of a foundational but disputed idea, useful for understanding debates in the study of mind.
Written by elseif from the cluster below · every claim links back to a sourceThe three things worth knowing
Jaynes argues consciousness is a recent development, dating back at most about 3,000 years.
He proposes a 'bicameral' mind where the right hemisphere generated hallucinated voices of gods.
The theory is supported by literary, anthropological, and neurological evidence, but is widely debated.
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