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The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind Paperback – August 15, 2000
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At the heart of this classic, seminal book is Julian Jaynes's still-controversial thesis that human consciousness did not begin far back in animal evolution but instead is a learned process that came about only three thousand years ago and is still developing. The implications of this revolutionary scientific paradigm extend into virtually every aspect of our psychology, our history and culture, our religion -- and indeed our future.
- Print length512 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateAugust 15, 2000
- Dimensions6 x 1.25 x 9 inches
- ISBN-100618057072
- ISBN-13978-0618057078
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Editorial Reviews
From The New Yorker
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"When Julian Jaynes . . . speculates that until late in the twentieth millennium b.c. men had no consciousness but were automatically obeying the voices of the gods, we are astounded but compelled to follow this remarkable thesis." -- John Updike The New Yorker —
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Product details
- Publisher : Mariner Books; 31578th edition (August 15, 2000)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 512 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0618057072
- ISBN-13 : 978-0618057078
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.25 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #24,104 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book fascinating and enlightening, providing insightful ideas and deductions about human consciousness. They praise the writing style as well-written, articulate, and readable. Readers appreciate the author's creativity and original thinking. Many consider the book worth reading and ground-breaking at first publication. However, opinions differ on the scholastic content - some find it compelling and well-researched, while others feel it lacks convincing arguments and prejudicial conclusions.
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Customers find the book fascinating and enlightening. They appreciate the brilliant deductions about human consciousness. The book contains important information and is a must-read for intelligent, curious people. It explains much of our history that doesn't make sense and provides little tidbits about ancient peoples that they were not aware of.
"...in Jaynes capable hands it explains deftly and plausibly a number of cultural artefacts of antiquity, including religion itself, that traditional..." Read more
"...“Daring and brilliant … well worth reading by any person interested in theories of human learning and behavior, in theory development, and in seeing..." Read more
"...scholar, in his educated and quirky style, does a good job in outlining his theory and he draws support for it from a variety of sources, most..." Read more
"...Julian Jaynes was one of the most original thinkers of the 20th century and this book has been called one of the most influential books of the 20th..." Read more
Customers find the writing style clear and readable. They appreciate the author's articulate grasp of the subject matter, the audiobook narration, and the clear presentation of ideas. The book also offers a light, graceful, and playful prose that readers enjoy.
"...a "heavy" subject could be delivered in such light, graceful and playful prose; *..." Read more
"...A wonderfully intriguing and evocative book…” — J. Harold Ellens, Ph.D., in Understanding Relgious Experience" Read more
"...that the book is a pleasure to read particularly due to Jaynes' florid writing style...." Read more
"...It’s not an easy read, but Jaynes attempts to help the reader with subtle analogy and summarizations...." Read more
Customers appreciate the author's creative and original ideas. They find the book brilliantly thought-out and well-developed. The style is described as imaginative, dazzling, and original. Readers also like the light, graceful prose that sparks their imagination.
"...individual, apparently working more or less alone, authored such an imaginative, dazzling and, to be frank, brilliant, multi-discipline synthesis..." Read more
"...I also liked his style - he came up with the stark, unappealing black and white cover with the convoluted title just to keep pop-psychology..." Read more
"...There's no hard evidence behind it. But it's presented beautifully and is very thought-provoking...." Read more
"...gods with different functions. Jaynes develops this idea in great detail, first rigorously defining what consciousness is and isn't, then..." Read more
Customers find the book engaging and worth reading. They describe it as ground-breaking at first publication, with interesting insights into consciousness. The opening chapters are enthralling for those interested in non-religious topics.
"...with its basic take-home message, a book I consider highly worth reading. His notion of psychohistory is very, very interesting...." Read more
"I was enthralled by the opening chapters -- a discussion of "consciousness" that leads to an analysis of The Iliad, highlighting the difference..." Read more
"...This alone makes *The Origin of Consciousness* a stupendous start for those interested in non academic, non psychoanalytic models of the human..." Read more
"...style may be difficult to assimilate at first, but the effort is well worth it...." Read more
Customers have mixed views on the scholastic content. Some find it convincing and well-researched, with an exciting and well-presented thesis. Others feel it lacks rigor and questionable science, with some prejudicial conclusions.
"...at first blush seems outlandish, yet in Jaynes capable hands it explains deftly and plausibly a number of cultural artefacts of antiquity, including..." Read more
"...though it is very valuable to think along his lines, the core of his thesis is wrong. In my opinion there are two reasons for that:..." Read more
"...Jaynes's theory provides a fascinating reexamination of the psychology of our ancient past and also has far-reaching modern-day implications...." Read more
"...The author provides compelling arguments to support his thesis. In my opinion, this book is worth the read." Read more
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"The most important theorizing since The Origin of Species..."
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2009What an exhilarating experience. This extraordinary book is improbable in a number of ways:
* improbable that a book with such a leaden (but totally descriptive!) title would ever have appealed to the mass market;
* improbable that such a "heavy" subject could be delivered in such light, graceful and playful prose;
* improbable that, seeing as it asserts a novel and revolutionary scientific hypothesis, this book was distributed and published outside the usual academic channels;
* improbable that a single individual, apparently working more or less alone, authored such an imaginative, dazzling and, to be frank, brilliant, multi-discipline synthesis (I counted anthropology, philosophy, psychology, psychiatry, neurology, and classics among the unrelated disciplines Jaynes writes insightfully on); and
* improbable that, without the imprimatur of serious academic support (as I understand it Jaynes never had tenure, though he was friends with W. V. O. Quine, which doubtless stands for something), this book was even taken seriously, let alone proved as resistant to serious academic challenge (philosopher Ned Block had a half-hearted go, and there was a well publicised review by Daniel Dennett ("Julian Jaynes' Software Archaeology" - available online) but its critique was of emphasis rather than substance, and was otherwise largely complimentary. Other than that, Richard Dawkins (whose non-zoological opinions I have little time for) has spent a lazy couple of sides outlining the theory, only to feebly remark that the book "is either complete rubbish or a work of consummate genius ..." and while he suspects the former, can't muster the intellectual energy to decide so is "hedging his bets").
But there's one way it isn't improbable, and that's the most remarkable of all: its credibility. The thesis at first blush seems outlandish, yet in Jaynes capable hands it explains deftly and plausibly a number of cultural artefacts of antiquity, including religion itself, that traditional anthropology has been quite unable to sensibly account for, such as that our religious forebears, on their own account spoke with burning bushes, followed fiery pillars, buried their dead with food, gold and even wives, worshipped idols and thought they had daily interaction with gods. Traditional views tend to shrug shoulders and mark these phenomena down as "just some of the crazy stuff they used to do in the olden days" (exhibit a, by none other than Dick Dawkins: "all religious people are deluded") or worse, contrived some far less plausible explanations for them.
Jaynes takes these behavioural artefacts seriously, which seems only fair seeing as the ancients obviously did (not for the hell of it do you build 500 foot pyramids) and proposes a theory for why. Not just that they were (and are) deluded, but that their cognitive architecture was arranged that they heard voices, more or less exactly as schizophrenics do today. Not as a disease of the mind, but as an evolutionary strategy. On the stronger form of Jaynes' bicameral theory, human beings *were not conscious* before about 500A.D.
That is, to say the least, controversial. Jaynes states it upfront, at which point it seems nothing short of outrageous, then patiently, elegantly and compellingly sets out his case. His exegesis is always a pleasure to read, and truly enlightening at times (his discussion of the difference between "consciousness" and "perception" is fascinating - essentially it makes the point that a lot less of our cognitive experience is conscious than we generally apprehend (when Bertrand Russell exemplified consciousness in the the proposition "I see a table" Jaynes suggests "Russell was not conscious of a table, but of the argument he was writing about" - namely that he saw a table.) Jaynes routes consciousness, in the more prescriptive sense he uses it, in the origin of language, and in particular the metaphor. Again, a controversial view, but by no means inconsistent with the sort of outlook you might find in Wittgenstein, for example.
So is Jaynes right? In my view the wrong question to ask, of Jaynes, or any theory. A better question is whether it is helpful in describing our world, and I certainly think it is (you can never have too many tools in the toolbox).
Jaynes' particular elucidation of the bicameral mind may or may not be right, but dispositionally questions he ask seem to be ones in need of an answer, and the anthropological evidence for a need for clear direction and certainty in an uncertain world which was provided through a actual dialogue with apprehended gods (rather than the weak and decidedly figurative religious experiences humans tend to experience these days) seems well answered by the hallucinatory model, and the explanation of consciousness's origin in the failure of the hallucinatory model to deal with the encroaching size and complexity of civilisation in the millennium before Christ seems oddly plausible. Consciousness, then, emerged like one of Steve Gould's spandrels from an existing cognitive architecture which had developed contemplating something quite different. I dare say Dickie Dawkins wouldn't like that idea too much, either.
And for the essentialists, it gets worse: hard core reductionists will shudder at the thought wherein Jaynes turns his attention to vestiges of the bicameral world in the modern day. Religion, you'll not be surprised to hear, is proposed as just such a vestige - the striving of mankind for certainty in the absence of compelling voices instructing how to act - but so is science. Jaynes is typically eloquent as he closes his book:
"For what is the nature of this blessing of certainty that science so devoutly demands in its very Jacob-like wrestling with nature? Why should we demand that the universe make itself clear to us? Why should we care?
"... Science, then, for all its pomp and factness, is not unlike some of the more easily disparaged outbreaks of pseudoreligions. In this period of transition from its religious basis, science often shares with the celestial maps of astrology, or a hundred other irrationalisms, the same nostalgia for the Final Answer, the One Truth, the Single Cause."
As are almost all the verbal constructions in this 450 page tome, that is beautifully put.
Olly Buxton
- Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2020The title of my review is a quote from author and NPR radio host Don Wooten, and I think he is correct. The psychologist and author James E. Morriss wrote that Jaynes's theory "… could alter our view of consciousness, revise our conception of the history of mankind, and lay bare the human dilemma in all its existential wonder."
Jaynes was far ahead of his time, and his theory remains as relevant and influential today as when it was first published. Many consider Jaynes's book to be one of the most important of the twentieth century.
Since the publisher has only included one editorial review, I will add additional reviews below. But first, a word about some of the negative or critical reviews of Jaynes's book. I encourage you to view these with skepticism, as most reflect a very poor understanding of Jaynes's theory, and can easily be dismissed. Jaynes's book is not difficult to understand, but nonetheless many seem to only skim the book or for other reasons fail to grasp his ideas.
The most common pitfall in understanding Jaynes's theory is misunderstanding how Jaynes defines consciousness. Jaynes defines consciousness in a very precise way (and he explains why this is so important), and confusing his definition for more broad, vague definitions of consciousness will lead to failure to understand the theory as a whole.
The internet, social media, and other factors have ushered in somewhat of an epidemic of lack of humility, where many seem to feel they are qualified to weigh in on nearly everything, regardless of their background or experience with the subject matter. They are quick to offer their opinion on nearly anything, regardless of whether or not they actually know what they are talking about. Amazon also encourages this, by soliciting customer reviews. In the case of the purchase of a garden hose, a set of shelves, other household basics, and many other everyday products, this often makes sense. But for books such as Julian Jaynes's, the average person's opinion may not be all that useful, if not counterproductive.
In 2016, Julian Jaynes's theory was discussed in HBO's hit series "Westworld," potentially exposing nearly a million new people to the theory. While it is wonderful that so many new people were turned on to Jaynes's fascinating ideas, it's safe to say that many of these new readers (along with many others) have little if any background with the subject matter. Just as you wouldn't trust your accountant to repair your plumbing, or your eye doctor to handle your legal affairs, so too you should be highly skeptical of the ability of Amazon reviewers with no background in the subject matter to have a sufficient enough understanding of Jaynes's theory after perhaps skimming it once to properly evaluate and review it.
Jaynes's theory provides a fascinating reexamination of the psychology of our ancient past and also has far-reaching modern-day implications. Read it for yourself, and make up your own mind. Regardless of whether or not they agree with Jaynes on every point, many feel that Jaynes's book is one of the best books they have ever read -- including people like David Bowie, who included it on his list of favorite books.
Since the publication of Jaynes's book, Jaynes's neurological model for the bicameral mind has been confirmed by modern brain imaging studies, his theory inspired the modern interest in hearing voices among normal people (and helped inspire the founding of the worldwide "Hearing Voices Network"), children's imaginary companions have been found to often involve actual hallucinations, his theory helped re-ignite scholarly interest in the role of language in consciousness, vestiges of the bicameral mind have been documented in many pre-literate societies, the transition from bicamerality to consciousness has been documented in other cultures (such as China and Tibet), and much more.
** For more information on Julian Jaynes's theory, including new evidence that supports the theory that's been discovered since it was first published, please visit the Julian Jaynes Society at julianjaynes.org. Also be sure to take a look at our follow up books on Julian Jaynes's theory: "Conversations on Consciousness and the Bicameral Mind," "Gods, Voices, and the Bicameral Mind," "The Julian Jaynes Collection," "Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness," and "The Minds of the Bible." **
The following is a small sampling of comments by reviewers whose background and expertise puts them in a better position to offer an informed opinion on Jaynes's theory:
“[Jaynes’s] basic hypothesis is probably right.” And “The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind is one of those ... books … that readers, on finishing it, find that they think about the world quite differently.” — T.M. Luhrmann, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology, Stanford University
“[Jaynes] has one of the clearest and most perspicuous defenses of the top-down approach [to consciousness] that I have ever come across.” .... "Something like what he proposes has to be right." — Daniel Dennett, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, Tufts University
“The weight of original thought in it is so great that it makes me uneasy for the author’s well-being: the human mind is not built to support such a burden.” — David C. Stove, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, University of Sydney
“Julian Jaynes’s theories for the nature of self-awareness, introspection, and consciousness have replaced the assumption of their almost ethereal uniqueness with explanations that could initiate the next change in paradigm for human thought.” — Michael A. Persinger, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, Laurentian University
“Neuroimaging techniques of today have illuminated and confirmed the importance of Jaynes’ hypothesis.”
— Robert Olin, M.D., Ph.D., Professor Emeritus in Preventive Medicine, Karolinska Institute
“The bold hypothesis of the bicameral mind is an intellectual shock to the reader, but whether or not he ultimately accepts it he is forced to entertain it as a possibility. Even if he marshals arguments against it he has to think about matters he has never thought of before, or, if he has thought of them, he must think about them in contexts and relationships that are strikingly new.” — Ernest R. Hilgard, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Stanford University
“Daring and brilliant … well worth reading by any person interested in theories of human learning and behavior, in theory development, and in seeing a scholarly, fertile and original thinker at work.” — Martin Levit, Ph.D., Professor of Education
“Some of Jaynes’ original ideas may be the most important of our generation . . . And I feel weak as I try to convey some slight impression of Jaynes’ fantastic vision in this short review. Not since Freud and Jung has anyone had the daring and background to pull together such a far reaching theory.” — Ernest Rossi, Ph.D., Professor of Neuroscience
“This book and this man’s ideas may be the most influential, not to say controversial, of the second half of the twentieth century. I cannot recommend the book emphatically enough. I have never reviewed a book for which I had more enthusiasm. . . . It renders whole shelves of books obsolete.” — William Harrington, in The Columbus Dispatch
“… Scientific interest in [Jaynes’s] work has been re-awakened by the consistent findings of right-sided activation patterns in the brain, as retrieved with the aid of neuroimaging studies in individuals with verbal auditory hallucinations.” — Jan Dirk Blom, M.D, Ph.D.
“… [O]ne of the most thought-provoking and debated theories about the origin of the conscious mind.” — Andrea Cavanna, M.D.
“… I sympathize with Julian Jaynes’s claim that something of great import may have happened to the human mind during the relatively brief interval of time between the events narrated in the Iliad and those that make up the Odyssey.” — Antonio Damasio, Ph.D., Professor of Neuroscience, Psychology and Neurology, University of Southern California
“[Jaynes’s] description of this new consciousness is one of the best I have come across.” − Morris Berman, Ph.D.
“He is as startling as Freud was in The Interpretation of Dreams, and Jaynes is equally adept at forcing a new view of known human behavior.” — Raymond Headlee, M.D. in American Journal of Psychiatry
“Julian Jaynes is a scholar in the broad original sense of that term. A man of huge creative vitality, Julian Jaynes is my academic man for all seasons.” — Hubert Dolezal, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology
“Having just finished The Origin of Consciousness, I myself feel something like Keats’ Cortez staring at the Pacific, or at least like the early reviewers of Darwin or Freud. I’m not quite sure what to make of this new territory; but its expanse lies before me and I am startled by its power.” — Edward Profitt, in Commonweal
“… [Jaynes’s] proposal is too interesting to ignore.” — David Eagleman, Ph.D., neuroscientist, Baylor College of Medicine, in Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain
“… Read the book and make up your own mind. I can guarantee that you will be enormously interested if not entirely persuaded, as I am myself.” — Charles Van Doren
“… [The] more I thought about Jaynes’s thesis, the more reasonable it sounded, and the more I read in anthropology, in history, and above all, in poetry, the more evidence I found to support the idea that hallucinated voices still give socially useful commands.” — Judith Weissman, Ph.D., author and Professor of English, Syracuse University
“One’s first inclination is to reject all of it out of hand as science fiction, imaginative speculation with no hard evidence; but, curiously, if one is patient and hears out the story (Jaynes’s style is irresistible) the arguments are not only entertaining but persuasive.” — George Adelman, Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, MIT, in Library Journal
“The most significant book of our time . . .” — D. N. Campbell, in Kappan Magazine
“It seems likely that the concept of the ‘bicameral mind’ advanced by Julian Jaynes will prove to be an insight of considerable significance.” — T. Buchan, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, University of Zimbabwe, in Zambezia
“A wonderfully intriguing and evocative book…” — J. Harold Ellens, Ph.D., in Understanding Relgious Experience
5.0 out of 5 stars "The most important theorizing since The Origin of Species..."The title of my review is a quote from author and NPR radio host Don Wooten, and I think he is correct. The psychologist and author James E. Morriss wrote that Jaynes's theory "… could alter our view of consciousness, revise our conception of the history of mankind, and lay bare the human dilemma in all its existential wonder."
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2020
Jaynes was far ahead of his time, and his theory remains as relevant and influential today as when it was first published. Many consider Jaynes's book to be one of the most important of the twentieth century.
Since the publisher has only included one editorial review, I will add additional reviews below. But first, a word about some of the negative or critical reviews of Jaynes's book. I encourage you to view these with skepticism, as most reflect a very poor understanding of Jaynes's theory, and can easily be dismissed. Jaynes's book is not difficult to understand, but nonetheless many seem to only skim the book or for other reasons fail to grasp his ideas.
The most common pitfall in understanding Jaynes's theory is misunderstanding how Jaynes defines consciousness. Jaynes defines consciousness in a very precise way (and he explains why this is so important), and confusing his definition for more broad, vague definitions of consciousness will lead to failure to understand the theory as a whole.
The internet, social media, and other factors have ushered in somewhat of an epidemic of lack of humility, where many seem to feel they are qualified to weigh in on nearly everything, regardless of their background or experience with the subject matter. They are quick to offer their opinion on nearly anything, regardless of whether or not they actually know what they are talking about. Amazon also encourages this, by soliciting customer reviews. In the case of the purchase of a garden hose, a set of shelves, other household basics, and many other everyday products, this often makes sense. But for books such as Julian Jaynes's, the average person's opinion may not be all that useful, if not counterproductive.
In 2016, Julian Jaynes's theory was discussed in HBO's hit series "Westworld," potentially exposing nearly a million new people to the theory. While it is wonderful that so many new people were turned on to Jaynes's fascinating ideas, it's safe to say that many of these new readers (along with many others) have little if any background with the subject matter. Just as you wouldn't trust your accountant to repair your plumbing, or your eye doctor to handle your legal affairs, so too you should be highly skeptical of the ability of Amazon reviewers with no background in the subject matter to have a sufficient enough understanding of Jaynes's theory after perhaps skimming it once to properly evaluate and review it.
Jaynes's theory provides a fascinating reexamination of the psychology of our ancient past and also has far-reaching modern-day implications. Read it for yourself, and make up your own mind. Regardless of whether or not they agree with Jaynes on every point, many feel that Jaynes's book is one of the best books they have ever read -- including people like David Bowie, who included it on his list of favorite books.
Since the publication of Jaynes's book, Jaynes's neurological model for the bicameral mind has been confirmed by modern brain imaging studies, his theory inspired the modern interest in hearing voices among normal people (and helped inspire the founding of the worldwide "Hearing Voices Network"), children's imaginary companions have been found to often involve actual hallucinations, his theory helped re-ignite scholarly interest in the role of language in consciousness, vestiges of the bicameral mind have been documented in many pre-literate societies, the transition from bicamerality to consciousness has been documented in other cultures (such as China and Tibet), and much more.
** For more information on Julian Jaynes's theory, including new evidence that supports the theory that's been discovered since it was first published, please visit the Julian Jaynes Society at julianjaynes.org. Also be sure to take a look at our follow up books on Julian Jaynes's theory: "Conversations on Consciousness and the Bicameral Mind," "Gods, Voices, and the Bicameral Mind," "The Julian Jaynes Collection," "Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness," and "The Minds of the Bible." **
The following is a small sampling of comments by reviewers whose background and expertise puts them in a better position to offer an informed opinion on Jaynes's theory:
“[Jaynes’s] basic hypothesis is probably right.” And “The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind is one of those ... books … that readers, on finishing it, find that they think about the world quite differently.” — T.M. Luhrmann, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology, Stanford University
“[Jaynes] has one of the clearest and most perspicuous defenses of the top-down approach [to consciousness] that I have ever come across.” .... "Something like what he proposes has to be right." — Daniel Dennett, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, Tufts University
“The weight of original thought in it is so great that it makes me uneasy for the author’s well-being: the human mind is not built to support such a burden.” — David C. Stove, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, University of Sydney
“Julian Jaynes’s theories for the nature of self-awareness, introspection, and consciousness have replaced the assumption of their almost ethereal uniqueness with explanations that could initiate the next change in paradigm for human thought.” — Michael A. Persinger, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, Laurentian University
“Neuroimaging techniques of today have illuminated and confirmed the importance of Jaynes’ hypothesis.”
— Robert Olin, M.D., Ph.D., Professor Emeritus in Preventive Medicine, Karolinska Institute
“The bold hypothesis of the bicameral mind is an intellectual shock to the reader, but whether or not he ultimately accepts it he is forced to entertain it as a possibility. Even if he marshals arguments against it he has to think about matters he has never thought of before, or, if he has thought of them, he must think about them in contexts and relationships that are strikingly new.” — Ernest R. Hilgard, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Stanford University
“Daring and brilliant … well worth reading by any person interested in theories of human learning and behavior, in theory development, and in seeing a scholarly, fertile and original thinker at work.” — Martin Levit, Ph.D., Professor of Education
“Some of Jaynes’ original ideas may be the most important of our generation . . . And I feel weak as I try to convey some slight impression of Jaynes’ fantastic vision in this short review. Not since Freud and Jung has anyone had the daring and background to pull together such a far reaching theory.” — Ernest Rossi, Ph.D., Professor of Neuroscience
“This book and this man’s ideas may be the most influential, not to say controversial, of the second half of the twentieth century. I cannot recommend the book emphatically enough. I have never reviewed a book for which I had more enthusiasm. . . . It renders whole shelves of books obsolete.” — William Harrington, in The Columbus Dispatch
“… Scientific interest in [Jaynes’s] work has been re-awakened by the consistent findings of right-sided activation patterns in the brain, as retrieved with the aid of neuroimaging studies in individuals with verbal auditory hallucinations.” — Jan Dirk Blom, M.D, Ph.D.
“… [O]ne of the most thought-provoking and debated theories about the origin of the conscious mind.” — Andrea Cavanna, M.D.
“… I sympathize with Julian Jaynes’s claim that something of great import may have happened to the human mind during the relatively brief interval of time between the events narrated in the Iliad and those that make up the Odyssey.” — Antonio Damasio, Ph.D., Professor of Neuroscience, Psychology and Neurology, University of Southern California
“[Jaynes’s] description of this new consciousness is one of the best I have come across.” − Morris Berman, Ph.D.
“He is as startling as Freud was in The Interpretation of Dreams, and Jaynes is equally adept at forcing a new view of known human behavior.” — Raymond Headlee, M.D. in American Journal of Psychiatry
“Julian Jaynes is a scholar in the broad original sense of that term. A man of huge creative vitality, Julian Jaynes is my academic man for all seasons.” — Hubert Dolezal, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology
“Having just finished The Origin of Consciousness, I myself feel something like Keats’ Cortez staring at the Pacific, or at least like the early reviewers of Darwin or Freud. I’m not quite sure what to make of this new territory; but its expanse lies before me and I am startled by its power.” — Edward Profitt, in Commonweal
“… [Jaynes’s] proposal is too interesting to ignore.” — David Eagleman, Ph.D., neuroscientist, Baylor College of Medicine, in Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain
“… Read the book and make up your own mind. I can guarantee that you will be enormously interested if not entirely persuaded, as I am myself.” — Charles Van Doren
“… [The] more I thought about Jaynes’s thesis, the more reasonable it sounded, and the more I read in anthropology, in history, and above all, in poetry, the more evidence I found to support the idea that hallucinated voices still give socially useful commands.” — Judith Weissman, Ph.D., author and Professor of English, Syracuse University
“One’s first inclination is to reject all of it out of hand as science fiction, imaginative speculation with no hard evidence; but, curiously, if one is patient and hears out the story (Jaynes’s style is irresistible) the arguments are not only entertaining but persuasive.” — George Adelman, Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, MIT, in Library Journal
“The most significant book of our time . . .” — D. N. Campbell, in Kappan Magazine
“It seems likely that the concept of the ‘bicameral mind’ advanced by Julian Jaynes will prove to be an insight of considerable significance.” — T. Buchan, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, University of Zimbabwe, in Zambezia
“A wonderfully intriguing and evocative book…” — J. Harold Ellens, Ph.D., in Understanding Relgious Experience
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Top reviews from other countries
AnnReviewed in Canada on April 15, 20215.0 out of 5 stars Contented customer.
This book arrived well before the estimated delivery date. The condition was as described and expected. While used, it was still clean and very easing to use. I'll happily do business with this vendor again.
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MateusReviewed in Brazil on September 7, 20205.0 out of 5 stars Vale cada página
Julian Jaynes nos apresenta uma visão evolutiva, biológica e cultural sobre a origem da consciência. Talvez uma das obras mais provocativas e intrigantes que vale a pena se dedicar a entender.
Em resumo, o autor propõe que pensamentos e as decisões no passado se davam por alucinações no hemisfério direito do cérebro. Tais alucinações se tornaram a base das civilizações antigas e, por consequência, o que chamamos hoje de religião. No entanto, Julian Jaynes diz que houve uma ruptura nesse modo de pensamento e as alucinações, visões e possessões se tornaram privilégio de um grupo seleto de pessoas como profetas, oráculos e videntes.
Com a diminuição das alucinações, a sociedade desenvolveu a escrita e os primeiros códigos legais. A narrativa interna se torna a função essencial no lugar de comando vindos dos deuses.
Julian Jaynes preenche o livro com exemplos e uma didática que torna leigos no assunto, assim como eu, em mais conhecedores do tema.
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Don PedronReviewed in Italy on April 3, 20215.0 out of 5 stars Perfetto.
Tempi di spedizione e stato del prodotto all'arrivo, perfetti.
Le recensioni dietro il libro sembrano esagerate, ma più lo si legge e più vi ci si trova d'accordo. Tiene sicuramente la mente occupata con nuove idee.
Vale la pena leggerlo almeno una volta nella vita.
Tempi di spedizione e stato del prodotto all'arrivo, perfetti.5.0 out of 5 stars Perfetto.
Don Pedron
Reviewed in Italy on April 3, 2021
Le recensioni dietro il libro sembrano esagerate, ma più lo si legge e più vi ci si trova d'accordo. Tiene sicuramente la mente occupata con nuove idee.
Vale la pena leggerlo almeno una volta nella vita.
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Stephan SahmReviewed in Germany on April 13, 20195.0 out of 5 stars Mind changing book
It may appear too opinion based here and there, but the ground idea that consciousness can be thought of as language based changed my way of thinking!
If you rather think of consciousness along the lines of Thomas Nagel ~ that there is something it is like to be you ~ then keep in mind that this book is addressing consciousness from a completely different angle, if not speaking about different phenomenons overall.
It is a long book, but I can 100% recommend it. If you want a short version, just read the afterword.
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Julián HernándezReviewed in Spain on February 4, 20195.0 out of 5 stars Todo.
La traducción (publicada por el FCE) es inencontrable, lo que es bastante sospechoso, porque este es un libro muy peligroso para las bases de Occidente, me temo. Y no estoy de coña.






