>"Julian Jaynes (February 27, 1920 – November 21, 1997) was an American
>psychologist, best known for his book The Origin of Consciousness in
>the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (1976), in which he argued that
>ancient peoples were not conscious (did not possess an introspective
>mind-space), but instead had their behavior directed by auditory
>hallucinations, which they interpreted as the voice of their chief,
>king, or the gods. Jaynes argued that the change from this mode of
>thinking (which he called the bicameral mind) to consciousness
>occurred over a period of centuries about three thousand years ago and
>was based on the development of metaphorical language and the
>emergence of writing."
>
>"At one time, human nature was split in two, an executive part called
>a god, and a follower part called a man. Neither part was Consciously
>aware.”
>
>According to Jaynes, ancient people in the bicameral state would
>function in a manner similar to that of a modern-day schizophrenic.
>Rather than making conscious evaluations in novel or unexpected
>situations, the person would hallucinate a voice or "god" giving
>admonitory advice or commands, and obey these voices without question.
>Others have argued that this state of mind is recreated in members of
>cults.
>
>In his 1976 work The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the
>Bicameral Mind, Julian Jaynes proposed that human brains existed in a
>bicameral state until as recently as 3000 years ago. Jaynes builds a
>case for this hypothesis by citing evidence from many diverse sources
>including historical literature. He took an interdisciplinary
>approach, drawing data from many different fields.
>
>Jaynes asserts that until roughly the times written about in Homer's
>Iliad, humans did not generally have the self-awareness characteristic
>of consciousness as most people experience it today. Rather, Jaynes
>argued that the bicameral individual was guided by mental commands
>believed to be issued by external "gods"—the commands which were so
>often recorded in ancient myths, legends and historical accounts;
>these commands were however emanating from individuals' own minds.
>This is exemplified not only in the commands given to characters in
>ancient epics but also the very muses of Greek mythology which "sang"
>the poems: Jaynes argues that while later interpretations see the
>muses as a simple personification of creative inspiration, the
>ancients literally heard muses as the direct source of their music and
>poetry.
>
>Jaynes inferred that these "voices" came from the right brain
>counterparts of the left brain language centres—specifically, the
>counterparts to Wernicke's area and Broca's area. These regions are
>somewhat dormant in the right brains of most modern humans, but Jaynes
>noted that some studies show that auditory hallucinations correspond
>to increased activity in these areas of the brain.[4]
>
>For example, he asserts that, in The Iliad and sections of the Old
>Testament in The Bible, no mention is made of any kind of cognitive
>processes such as introspection, and he argues that there is no
>apparent indication that the writers were self-aware. According to
>Jaynes, the older portions of the Old Testament (such as the Book of
>Amos) have little or none of the features of some later books of the
>Old Testament (such as Ecclesiastes) as well as later works such as
>The Odyssey, which show indications of a profoundly different kind of
>mentality—an early form of consciousness.[4]
>
>Jaynes noted that in ancient societies, the corpses of the dead were
>often treated as though they were still alive (being seated on chairs,
>dressed in clothing, and even fed food) and he argued that the dead
>bodies were presumed to be still living and the source of auditory
>hallucinations (see ancestor worship).[4] This adaptation to the
>village communities of 100 individuals or more formed the core of
>religion. Unlike today's hallucinations, the voices of ancient times
>were structured by cultural norms to produce a seamlessly functioning
>society. In Ancient Greek culture there is often mention of the Logos,
>which is a very similar concept. It was a type of guiding voice that
>was heard as from a seemingly external source.
>
>In ancient times, Jaynes noted, gods were generally much more numerous
>and much more anthropomorphic than in modern times, and speculates
>that this was because each bicameral person had their own "god" who
>reflected their own desires and experiences.[5]
>
>Even in modern times, Jaynes notes that there is no consensus as to
>the cause or origins of schizophrenia (the subject is still hotly
>debated). According to Jaynes, schizophrenia is simply a vestige of
>humanity's earlier state.[4] Recent evidence shows that many
>schizophrenics don't just hear random voices but experience "command
>hallucinations" instructing their behavior or urging them to commit
>certain acts. As support for Jaynes's argument, these command
>hallucinations are little different from the commands from gods which
>feature so prominently in ancient stories.[4] Indirect evidence
>supporting Jaynes's theory that hallucinations once played an
>important role in human mentality can be found in the recent book
>Muses, Madmen, and Prophets: Rethinking the History, Science, and
>Meaning of Auditory Hallucination by Daniel Smith"
>
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Origin_of_Consciousness_in_the_Breakdown_of_the...