The Odyssey doesn’t depict the bronze age accurately so it’s not surprising that the Odyssey doesn’t depict the bronze age accurately.
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Guy makes an interesting hypothesis but without much weight behind it
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Westworld uses it as a piece of fictional worldbuilding
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Annoying edgelords and “let me explain” guys latch onto it unironically
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Who’s that guy?
That’s Julian Jaynes
He wrote a book about the concept of bicameral mentality, here is the entry part of the linked wikipedia article:
Bicameral mentality is a psychological hypothesis proposed by American psychologist Julian Jaynes. It suggests that early modern humans experienced thoughts and emotions not as originating within themselves but as commands from external “gods”. According to the theory, the human mind once functioned with a division in which one part generated verbal instructions while a second part obeyed, forming a “bicameral mind”. The eventual collapse of this mental structure is proposed to have led to the development of self-reflective consciousness in humans.
The term was coined by Jaynes, who presented the idea in his 1976 book The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind,[1] wherein he makes the case that a bicameral mentality was the “normal and ubiquitous state” of the human mind as recently as 3,000 years ago, at the end of the Bronze Age.
So he argued that peoples mind and brains were different then today and that explains why we have no myths anymore. It doesnt explain a lot of things and makes no sense in my opinion, but that wasn’t the question here.
Thank you for explaining the theory. ‘We don’t have myths anymore’ made me laugh, though.
Modern myths aren’t sexy. 😝
You don’t think skunk apes or little grey men shovin stuff inside you is sexy?
Depends on the mood, really.
Autisms origin story is a big one off the top of my head.
as recently as 3,000 years ago, at the end of the Bronze Age
Oops, guys, I’m full-blooded Navajo and apparently I should have a bicameral mind since my ancestors crossed the Bering Strait land bridge 20,000 years ago into the Americas, becoming a generically isolated population around around 12,000 years ago. Unfortunately, I am an atheist, have a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Stanford University, and do not hear voices of deities instructing me what to do. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Yea, the idea that a trait could be present everywhere in humans as recently as 3000 years ago and be non-existent now was the first gaping hole I saw in this hypothesis.
Ah see I’m half Australian aboriginal and half European and I only get to hear a 1/4 of what the gods have to say to me.
It’s mostly instructions on what to eat next, or maybe I’m just always hungry
Havent you heard? Everybody besides ancient Mediterranean people are not important and don’t count.
You just have to look at how people react to climate change, or covid, or basic immunology to understand how lack of knowledge or understanding creates mythological structures of pure horseshit
Yes, that part is a bit too strongly worded in my comment. Hearsay and not wanting to face certain truths because of egoistical opportunities are big parts of why people want to believe certain things.
Fuuuuuckk I was not expecting to see the Bicameral Mind bullshit here.
I’m in this meme and I don’t like it
So I’m in the middle of reading OoCatBotBM and 100% this is absolutely top tier crackpot tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy. Buuuuuut it’s so compelling and completely my new head cannon. It explains so much, this is my new hypothesis until a better one comes along
What does that acronym mean?
I had to look it up too, but it’s the book that suggested the “bicameral mind” hypothesis. *The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind
Then shouldn’t it be TOoCitBotBM?
It explains a lot when you account for everyone getting whacked on lead, mercury, volcano fumes, fava beans, botulism, ergot and resin
