The Development of 'Theory-of-Mind'...

Scott Alexander: Book Review: Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind https://slatestarcodex.com/: ���Julian Jaynes��� The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind is a brilliant book, with only two minor flaws. First, that it purports to explains the origin of consciousness. And second, that it posits a breakdown of the bicameral mind. I think it���s possible to route around these flaws while keeping the thesis otherwise intact. So I���m going to start by reviewing a slightly different book, the one Jaynes should have written. Then I���ll talk about the more dubious one he actually wrote. My hypothetical Jaynes 2.0 is a book about theory-of-mind.... When in human history did theory-of-mind first arise? It couldn���t have been a single invention���more like a gradual process of refinement. ���The unconscious��� only really entered our theory-of-mind with Freud. Statements like ���my abuse gave me a lot of baggage that I���m still working through��� involves a theory-of-mind that would have been incomprehensible a few centuries ago. It���s like ���I���m clicking on an icon with my mouse������every individual word would have made sense, but the gestalt would be nonsensical. Still, everyone always assumes that the absolute basics���mind as a metaphorical space containing beliefs and emotions, people having thoughts and making decisions ��� must go back so far that their origins are lost in the mists of time, attributable only to nameless ape-men. Julian Jaynes doesn���t think that. He thinks it comes from the Bronze Age Near East, c. 1500���750 BC��� #books #cognition #noted #2020-06-03