Re: Julian Jaynes- The Origins of Consciousness

• Messages sorted by: [ date ][ thread ][ subject ][ author ]
• Next message: Ed Conrad: "WORTH REPEATING! (Man as Old as Coal?) 1881 news item"
• Previous message: Laura Finsten: "Re: What Are the Race Deniers Denying?"

Okay, it's been a long time since I read the whole book, and as soon as I
finish my master's thesis in the next few weeks, I promise (!) I will sit
down and re-read the entire book.
My point about Jaynes is that he put forth an amazing idea....that our
consciousness has evolved and changed far quicker that our bodies.
I personally think he hit upon a revolutionary idea here....that a major
change occurred when man began to use abstract symbols, to
conceptualize symbolically...but whether this was as far back as cave
paintings or as recently as written language (as Jaynes suggests) I don't
know. Perhaps there were only a few people who could conceptualize
symbolically at first...the priests, or shamans.
There are things in his book which make me go, huh?, but also ideas that
are wonderful....
Julie

• Next message: Ed Conrad: "WORTH REPEATING! (Man as Old as Coal?) 1881 news item"
• Previous message: Laura Finsten: "Re: What Are the Race Deniers Denying?"