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{{Infobox book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
| name = The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind
| image =
| caption =
| author = [[Julian Jaynes]]
| country = [[United States]]
| language = [[English language|English]]
| genre = [[Psychology]]
| publisher = [[Houghton Mifflin Company]]
| release_date = 1976
| media_type = Print
| pages = 467
| isbn = 0-395-32932-9
}}⏎
'''''The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind''''' is a 1976 book by [[Julian Jaynes]] which makes the case that a bicameral mentality, a state in which cognitive functions are divided between one part of the brain which appears to be "speaking", and a second part which listens and obeys, was the normal and ubiquitous state of the human [[mind]] only as recently as 3000 years ago.

== Jaynes' case for bicameralism ==
According to Jaynes, ancient people in the bicameral state of mind would have experienced the world in a manner that has some similarities to that of a [[schizophrenia|schizophrenic]]. Rather than making conscious evaluations in novel or unexpected situations, the person would hallucinate a voice or "god" giving admonitory advice or commands and obey without question: one would not be at all conscious of one's own thoug(contracted; show full)t; /> Indirect evidence supporting Jaynes's theory that hallucinations once played an important role in human mentality can be found in the recent book ''Muses, Madmen, and Prophets: Rethinking the History, Science, and Meaning of Auditory Hallucination'' by Daniel Smith.<ref>{{cite book | last=Smith | first=Daniel | title=Muses, Madmen, and Prophets: Rethinking the History, Science, and Meaning of Auditory Hallucination |year= 2007 | isbn=1-59420-110-2 }}</ref>

===
  Breakdown of bicameralism  ===
Jaynes theorized that a shift from bicameralism marked the beginning of [[introspection]] and [[consciousness]] as we know it today. According to Jaynes, this bicameral mentality began malfunctioning or "breaking down" during the second millennium BC. He speculates that primitive ancient societies tended to collapse periodically, (as in Egypt's Intermediate Periods and the periodically vanishing cities of the Mayas) as changes in the environment strained the socio-cultural equilibria sust(contracted; show full) bicameral according to Jaynes, could be killed.<ref>Jaynes, Julian. (1976) ''The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind''. Pg. 221</ref><ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Zechariah%2013:3-4;&version=31; Zechariah, 13: 2-3]</ref> Leftovers of the bicameral mind today, according to Jaynes, include religion, [[hypnosis]], possession, schizophrenia and the general sense of need for external authority in decision-making.

==
  Diffusion  ==

The idea that language is a necessary component of subjective consciousness and more abstract forms of thinking has been gaining acceptance in recent years, with proponents such as [[Andy Clark]], [[Daniel Dennett]], [[William H. Calvin]], [[Merlin Donald]], [[John Limber]], [[Howard Margolis]], [[Peter Carruthers (philosopher)|Peter Carruthers]], and [[José Luis Bermúdez]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Kuijsten |first= Marcel | title= Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness: Julian Jaynes's Bicam(contracted; show full)or Jaynes's theory by Marcel Kuijsten, psychological anthropologist [[Brian J. McVeigh]], psychologists John Limber and Scott Greer, clinical psychologist John Hamilton, philosophers Jan Sleutels and [[David Stove]], and sinologist Michael Carr (see [[Shi (personator)|''shi'' "personator"]]). The book also contains an extensive biography of Julian Jaynes by historian of psychology William Woodward and June Tower, and a Foreword by neuroscientist [[Michael Persinger]].

==
  Critical responses  ==
{{POV-section|date=July 2010}}⏎
Jaynes's [[hypothesis]] remains controversial. The primary scientific criticism has been that the conclusions Jaynes drew had no basis in neuropsychiatric fact at that time.<ref>Asaad G, Shapiro B. What about the bicameral mind? Am J Psychiatry 1987;144:696</ref>

(contracted; show full)successful, and has been reprinted several times. The book was originally published in 1976 (ISBN 0-395-20729-0) and was nominated for the [[National Book Award]] in 1978.  It has since been reissued (ISBN 0-618-05707-2). A new edition, with an afterword that addressed some criticisms and restated the main themes, was published in the US in 1990. This version was published in the UK by Penguin Books in 1993 (ISBN 0-14-017491-5). It has been translated into Italian, Spanish, German, French, and Persian.

==
  See also  ==
{{Portal box|Mind and Brain|Neuroscience|Psychology}}
* [[Behavioral modernity]]
* [[Dual brain theory]]
* [[Exformation]]
* [[Lateralization of brain function]]⏎
* [[FOXP2]], a gene that is implicated in the development of language skills.
* [[Lateralization of brain function]]⏎
* [[Mythopoeic thought]]
* [[Neurotheology]]

==  References  ==
{{Reflist|2}}

==  External links  ==
* [http://www.julianjaynes.org Julian Jaynes Society]
* [http://www.erikweijers.nl/pages/translations/psychology/the-origin-of-consciousness.php ''The Origin of consciousness'': Summary, selected quotes and review]

{{Laterality}}

[[Category:1976 books]]
[[Category:English-language books]]
[[Category:Neuroscience books]]
[[Category:Cognitive science literature]]