A Knowledge Base for Julian Jaynes's Theory https://wiki.julianjaynes.org/ 2026-06-12T22:56:47+00:00 https://wiki.julianjaynes.org/ https://wiki.julianjaynes.org/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=logo.png text/html 2024-05-14T19:08:30+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.julianjaynes.org/doku.php?id=additional-resources&rev=1715713710&do=diff ADDITIONAL RESOURCES More resources for learning about Julian Jaynes and his theories. Blog The Julian Jaynes Society Blog Read articles and get updates about Julian Jaynes's theory. Books Julian Jaynes, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (Mariner Books/Houghton-Mifflin, 1976/2000). One of the most controversial books of the twentieth century, this work argues that ancient civilizations were governed by audiovisual hallucinations that were interpreted as div… text/html 2024-05-14T18:27:41+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.julianjaynes.org/doku.php?id=critiques-and-controversies&rev=1715711261&do=diff CRITIQUES AND CONTROVERSIES Reasons for Misguided Criticisms Critics and commentators often misinterpret Jayneisan psychology because they fail to carefully read how Jaynes himself defined “consciousness,” and confuse it with perception, thinking, rational thought, general cognition, and the undefined, catchall term text/html 2024-04-14T19:00:45+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.julianjaynes.org/doku.php?id=glossary&rev=1713121245&do=diff GLOSSARY OF JAYNESIAN TERMS Aptic Structures Jaynes’s term for instincts. The evolved, innate neurological basis of aptitudes that guide responses in a general way when wedded to the results of environmental, developmental experiences. Such structures make the organism apt to behave in a certain way under certain conditions. text/html 2024-05-08T19:48:08+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.julianjaynes.org/doku.php?id=hypothesis-four&rev=1715197688&do=diff HYPOTHESIS FOUR: THE NEUROLOGICAL MODEL FOR BICAMERAL MENTALITY Theoretical Claim Jaynes contended that the two-chambered mentality lateralized language so that what conscious people call volition took the form of hallucinatory “voices of the gods” (right hemisphere) who commanded the human “listener” (left hemisphere). So far a number of brain imaging studies have confirmed Jaynes’s arguments. text/html 2024-05-14T18:36:18+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.julianjaynes.org/doku.php?id=hypothesis-one&rev=1715711778&do=diff HYPOTHESIS ONE: CONSCIOUSNESS IS BASED ON LANGUAGE Theoretical Claim Consciousness, as Jaynes carefully defined it, is a learned process based on metaphorical language; it is generated and configured (but not determined) by metaphorical, figurative expressions. Word changes lead to concept changes, and concept changes result in behavioral changes. Language is not merely a means of communication, but is an organ of perception. Language alone does not lead to introspective conscious mind. What i… text/html 2024-05-08T19:47:36+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.julianjaynes.org/doku.php?id=hypothesis-three&rev=1715197656&do=diff HYPOTHESIS THREE: DATING THE TRANSITION FROM BICAMERAL MENTALITY TO CONSCIOUSNESS Theoretical Claim Jaynes dated the birth of consciousness to around the end of the second millennium BCE. Due to the timing of settlement patterns, the transition most likely occurred later in the Americas (North, Mesoamerica, South). To appreciate his reasons for making such a controversial claim, it is imperative to carefully examine the psychohistorical record. Only by investigating the beliefs, customs, and l… text/html 2024-05-08T19:49:38+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.julianjaynes.org/doku.php?id=hypothesis-two&rev=1715197778&do=diff HYPOTHESIS TWO: BICAMERAL MENTALITY Theoretical Claim The second hypothesis proposes that preceding the cultural invention of consciousness people possessed a different mentality—bicameral or “two-chambered”—that generated hallucinations; these functioned as a type of social control (the details of this earlier mentality are presented later in text/html 2024-04-10T17:57:27+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.julianjaynes.org/doku.php?id=julian-jaynes&rev=1712771847&do=diff ABOUT JULIAN JAYNES Born in West Newton, Massachusetts in 1927, Julian Jaynes did his undergraduate work at Harvard and McGill Universities and received both his master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology from Yale University. He was an accomplished researcher and made important contributions to ethology, animal behavior, and comparative psychology. He is best known for his ground-breaking text/html 2024-05-21T19:13:34+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.julianjaynes.org/doku.php?id=legacy-and-influence&rev=1716318814&do=diff LEGACY AND INFLUENCE Julian Jaynes's theory has had a profound impact on our understanding of the prevalence of auditory hallucinations in the “normal” population. [MK to expand] Jaynes's theory has also influenced our understanding of the underlying neurology of auditory hallucinations. text/html 2024-04-13T20:05:23+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.julianjaynes.org/doku.php?id=notes&rev=1713038723&do=diff I will figure out how to hide this page later, or find a better way for us to share notes. - MK Suggestions for additional content/potential topics to add: H1 1. The development of consciousness in children (Zelazo, etc.). Invite Bill Rowe? 2. Studies of children raised without language. text/html 2024-04-30T19:47:14+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.julianjaynes.org/doku.php?id=overview-four-hypotheses&rev=1714506434&do=diff INTRODUCTION TO JULIAN JAYNES'S THEORY In 1977 Princeton University psychologist Julian Jaynes (1920–1997) put forth a bold new theory about human psychology in his controversial but critically acclaimed book The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind text/html 2024-05-21T19:14:39+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.julianjaynes.org/doku.php?id=sidebar&rev=1716318879&do=diff About Julian Jaynes Introduction to Julian Jaynes's Theory Hypothesis One: Consciousness Is Based on Language Hypothesis Two: Bicameral Mentality Hypothesis Three: Dating the Transition from Bicameral Mentality to Consciousness Hypothesis Four: The Neurological Model for Bicameral Mentality Modern Relevance Critiques and Controversies Legacy and Influence Glossary of Jaynesian Terms Additional Resources text/html 2024-05-14T18:34:53+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.julianjaynes.org/doku.php?id=start&rev=1715711693&do=diff Welcome to the Julian Jaynes Society Wiki A knowledge base for Julian Jaynes's theory. About Julian Jaynes Introduction to Julian Jaynes's Theory Hypothesis One: Consciousness Is Based on Language * Metaphrands, Metaphiers, Paraphrands, and Paraphiers * Preconscious Hypostases: The Precursors of Mental Language Hypothesis Two: Bicameral Mentality * Hallucinations as a Side Effect of Language Comprehension text/html 2024-04-02T23:38:31+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.julianjaynes.org/doku.php?id=topic-one&rev=1712101111&do=diff Topic One Start topic one. text/html 2024-04-10T17:54:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.julianjaynes.org/doku.php?id=vestiges-of-bicameral-mentality&rev=1712771680&do=diff MODERN RELEVANCE The implications of Jaynes’s ideas are far-ranging. Besides ancient history and the origins of religion, his theories help us understand neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, neuroplasticity, anomalous psychological behavior (e.g., hypnosis and spirit possession), linguistics, metaphor, philosophy (the mind‒body dualism problem), art and aesthetics, the dynamics of modern politics, counseling, psychotherapy, the interface of psychology with technology, and the future of the ev…