Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

As one big, falsifiable scientific hypothesis... not well. It wasn't all that strong to begin with, in this sense.

As a collection of fascinating ideas about the development of modern human consciousness... fantastically well. Modern ideas from all over the place: science fiction, human history, philosophy, spiritualism and even computer science have broadly moved closer to Jaynes' way of thinking.

One exception is his definition of consciousness. We still don't really have a single definition, and every "theory" tends to define it different. But overall, Jaynes' doesn't mesh too well with most current definitions. We're much more likely to consider animals conscious today, for example. You might substitute "introspective consciousness."

In particular, modern notions that "consciousness is a simulation/projection" work well with Bicameral Mind.



And taken to the extreme by groups like the Monroe Institute and their experiments with the U.S. D.O.D. on altered states of consciousness they state as a result of their method of synchronizing brainwaves between the two hemispheres akin to various forms of meditation.

For the rabbit-holers:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Monroe

Related: https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00788R0017002...

Also related, recording: https://archive.org/details/monroe-institute-explorer-series...


Well put. The book has pride of place on my ‘wonderful bullshit’ shelf - while not particularly believable, it’s still intellectually compelling.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: