--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The American psychologist Julian Jaynes…" description: "\"The American psychologist Julian Jaynes, in a controversial study on the origin of consciousness, argued that the bicameral mind - in which one of the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec8/alberto-manguel-2467_consciousness_the-american-psychologist-julian-jaynes_2724279.jpg" --- # The American psychologist Julian Jaynes, in a… ![“The American psychologist Julian Jaynes, in a controversial study on the origin of consciousness, argued that the bicameral mind - in which one of the hemispheres becomes specialized in silent reading - is a late development in humankind's evolution, and that the process by which this function…” quote by Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec8/alberto-manguel-2467_consciousness_the-american-psychologist-julian-jaynes_2724279.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec8/alberto-manguel-2467_consciousness_the-american-psychologist-julian-jaynes_2724279.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec8/alberto-manguel-2467_consciousness_the-american-psychologist-julian-jaynes_2724279.jpg) > “The American psychologist Julian Jaynes, in a controversial study on the origin of consciousness, argued that the bicameral mind - in which one of the hemispheres becomes specialized in silent reading - is a late development in humankind's evolution, and that the process by which this function develops is still changing.” [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Jaynes proposes that the brain once operated with two separate consciousnesses, a “bicameral” mind, and that modern consciousness evolved later. **In simple terms:** The brain once had two minds, now we have one. Key Takeaway Recognize the evolution of thought. Themes psychology consciousness evolution Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical theoretical When to use this quote - historical analysis - philosophical debate - neuroscience research Key Concepts bicameral mind cognitive development Questions to Reflect On - How does this view change our understanding of self? - What evidence could support or refute it? A Different Perspective The theory is controversial and lacks definitive evidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) [Controversial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/controversial/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Hemisphere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hemisphere/) [Humankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humankind/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Psychologist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychologist/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) ## Related quotes > [“the origin of consciousness is the initiation of the sign-user into the world of signs by a sign-giver.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/the-origin-of-consciousness-is-the-initiation-of-the-sign-user-into/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [Poetry begins as the divine speech of the bicameral mind. Then, as the bicameral mind breaks down, there remain prophets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-jaynes/poetry-begins-as-the-divine-speech-of-the-bicameral-mind-then-as-the/) [Julian Jaynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-jaynes/) > [The vestiges of the bicameral mind do not exist in any empty psychological space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-jaynes/the-vestiges-of-the-bicameral-mind-do-not-exist-in-any-empty/) [Julian Jaynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-jaynes/) > [The bicameral mind with its controlling gods was evolved as a final stage of the evolution of language. And in this development lies the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-jaynes/the-bicameral-mind-with-its-controlling-gods-was-evolved-as-a-final/) [Julian Jaynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-jaynes/) > [“I think man will never renounce real suffering, that is destruction and chaos. Why, suffering is the sole origin of consciousness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/i-think-man-will-never-renounce-real-suffering-that-is-destruction/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [If we would understand the Scientific Revolution correctly, we should always remember that its most powerful impetus was the unremitting search for hidden divinity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-jaynes/if-we-would-understand-the-scientific-revolution-correctly-we-should/) [Julian Jaynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-jaynes/) > [“We must reject entirely the frequently encountered assertion that consciousness is a "primal fact," that one ought not speak of an "origin" of consciousness.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-scheler/we-must-reject-entirely-the-frequently-encountered-assertion-that/) [Max Scheler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-scheler/) > [Suffering is the sole origin of consciousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/suffering-is-the-sole-origin-of-consciousness/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [The idea that excites me the most concerns the two greatest puzzles in science: the origin of the universe, and the origin of consciousness.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kaku/the-idea-that-excites-me-the-most-concerns-the-two-greatest-puzzles/) [Michio Kaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michio-kaku/) > [Every god is a jealous god after the breakdown of the bicameral mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-jaynes/every-god-is-a-jealous-god-after-the-breakdown-of-the-bicameral-mind/) [Julian Jaynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-jaynes/) > [It is time for the world, the hemisphere and the region to make sure that relevant institutions of civil society and relevant laws are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baldwin-spencer/it-is-time-for-the-world-the-hemisphere-and-the-region-to-make-sure/) [Baldwin Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baldwin-spencer/) > [The visual power of the phonetic alphabet is the translate other languages into itself is part of its power to invade right hemisphere (oral)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/the-visual-power-of-the-phonetic-alphabet-is-the-translate-other/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [From the world wars of Europe to the jungles of the Far East, from the deserts of the Middle East to the African continent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hoeven/from-the-world-wars-of-europe-to-the-jungles-of-the-far-east-from-the/) [John Hoeven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hoeven/) > [I consider the differences between man and animals in propensities, feelings, and intellectual faculties, to be the result of the same cause as that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-william-lawrence-1st-baronet/i-consider-the-differences-between-man-and-animals-in-propensities/) Sir William Lawrence, 1st Baronet > [No physiologist who calmly considers the question in connection with the general truths of his science, can long resist the conviction that different parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-physiologist-who-calmly-considers-the-question-in-connection-with/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) ## More by Alberto Manguel > [Most readers, then and now, have at some time experienced the humiliation of being told that their occupation is reprehensible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/most-readers-then-and-now-have-at-some-time-experienced-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Libraries, whether my own or shared with a greater reading public, have always seemed to me pleasantly mad places, and for as long as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/libraries-whether-my-own-or-shared-with-a-greater-reading-public-have/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [At different times and in different places I have come to expect certain books to look a certain way, and, as in all fashions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/at-different-times-and-in-different-places-i-have-come-to-expect/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [I have no feelings of guilt regarding the books I have not read and perhaps will never read; 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New books try to seduce us daily with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/old-books-that-we-have-known-but-not-possessed-cross-our-path-and/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Ordered by subject, by importance, ordered according to whether the book was penned by God or by one of God's creatures, ordered alphabetically or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/ordered-by-subject-by-importance-ordered-according-to-whether-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [The starting point is a question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/the-starting-point-is-a-question/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“Ljubav je imbecilna izvesnost pomoću koje naša fantazija stvara verodostojnu utvaru.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/ljubav-je-imbecilna-izvesnost-pomo-u-koje-na-a-fantazija-stvara/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [I know that something dies when i give up my books, and that my memory keeps going back to them with mournful nostalgia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/i-know-that-something-dies-when-i-give-up-my-books-and-that-my-memory/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Something about the possession of a book - an object that can contain infinite fables, words of wisdom, chronicles of times gone by, humorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/something-about-the-possession-of-a-book-an-object-that-can-contain/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Maybe this is why we read, and why in moments of darkness we return to books: to find words for what we already know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/maybe-this-is-why-we-read-and-why-in-moments-of-darkness-we-return-to/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [As centuries of dictators have known, an illiterate crowd is the easiest to rule; since the craft of reading cannot be untaught once it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/as-centuries-of-dictators-have-known-an-illiterate-crowd-is-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) [Explore all 159 Alberto Manguel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) ## More Consciousness quotes > [“You're never alone if you're with your soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-armond-powell/you-re-never-alone-if-you-re-with-your-soul/) [Gerard Armond Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-armond-powell/) > [“I now argue that entry into Upper Palaeolithic caves was probably seen as virtually indistinguishable from entry into the mental vortex that leads to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-david-lewis-williams/i-now-argue-that-entry-into-upper-palaeolithic-caves-was-probably/) [James David Lewis-Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-david-lewis-williams/) > [How wonderful it would be to scatter words as they rise to consciousness, to let them lie where they fall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-scott/how-wonderful-it-would-be-to-scatter-words-as-they-rise-to/) [Joanna Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-scott/) > [“People and situations always show us what we need to see and learn about ourselves, and when we take responsibility for our own feelings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliza-mada-dalian/people-and-situations-always-show-us-what-we-need-to-see-and-learn/) [Eliza Mada Dalian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliza-mada-dalian/) > [With the realization of God comes all power. 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