Bicameral Im
- Submitted by: ashbendi50
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- Category: Politics: Philosophy
- Date Submitted: 01/24/2011 02:57 AM
- Pages: 8
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Bicameral Images reveal our two selves.
Okay, I didn't make up the term. The term was coined by psychologist Julian Jaynes, who presented the idea in his 1976 book The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. But it fits so well in describing an extremely interesting phenomenon that many people may not realize -- each of us is really two people. No, I don't mean in the traditional sense of having an alter-ego, or a good and bad side. Nor do I mean that we are all schizoids. I mean we are literally two thinking beings residing in the same body.
Early hominids had one mind. It was what psychologists call a "reactive" mind. It only exhibited what we would consider higher thought processes when it was presented with a problem. It didn't plan for the future or imagine how to improve things like a dwelling, a tool or escaping a predator. It only reacted to situations that happened in the "here and now." But, according to Janes, a sudden improvement happened when the human brain decided to double its efforts in thought processing. Now, although you and I have one brain, each half of it has the ability to act independently at the same time.
Like the infomercials say -- "Wait! There's more!"
Follow along on this adventure. I won't disappoint either of you!
About ten years ago, I saw an interesting exercise in which a college psychology professor had taken photographs of her students, made copies that were flipped left to right, and then had them cut in half vertically. She reassembled the images using the two similar sides of the face.
Which Nixon would you buy a used car from?
Nixon's left + left at the far left.
The center image is the normal, original portrait.
Nixon's right + right is on the right.
[A quick way to do this is to place a small mirror perpendicular to a photograph showing a good front face view. As you look into the mirror you can form a whole face from the reflection of either side.]
The composite pictures were...
Okay, I didn't make up the term. The term was coined by psychologist Julian Jaynes, who presented the idea in his 1976 book The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. But it fits so well in describing an extremely interesting phenomenon that many people may not realize -- each of us is really two people. No, I don't mean in the traditional sense of having an alter-ego, or a good and bad side. Nor do I mean that we are all schizoids. I mean we are literally two thinking beings residing in the same body.
Early hominids had one mind. It was what psychologists call a "reactive" mind. It only exhibited what we would consider higher thought processes when it was presented with a problem. It didn't plan for the future or imagine how to improve things like a dwelling, a tool or escaping a predator. It only reacted to situations that happened in the "here and now." But, according to Janes, a sudden improvement happened when the human brain decided to double its efforts in thought processing. Now, although you and I have one brain, each half of it has the ability to act independently at the same time.
Like the infomercials say -- "Wait! There's more!"
Follow along on this adventure. I won't disappoint either of you!
About ten years ago, I saw an interesting exercise in which a college psychology professor had taken photographs of her students, made copies that were flipped left to right, and then had them cut in half vertically. She reassembled the images using the two similar sides of the face.
Which Nixon would you buy a used car from?
Nixon's left + left at the far left.
The center image is the normal, original portrait.
Nixon's right + right is on the right.
[A quick way to do this is to place a small mirror perpendicular to a photograph showing a good front face view. As you look into the mirror you can form a whole face from the reflection of either side.]
The composite pictures were...