Julian Jaynes

Julian Jaynes (February 27, 1920 - November 21, 1997) was an American psychologist, best known for his book The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (1976), in which he argues that ancient peoples were not conscious as we consider the term today, and that the change of human thinking occurred over a period of centuries about three thousand years ago. Image File history File links Julianjaynes. ... February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1920 (MCMXX) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... November 21 is the 325th day of the year (326th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (1976) is a controversial work of popular psychology by Julian Jaynes in which he proposes that consciousness emerged relatively recently in human history. ... Consciousness is a quality of the mind generally regarded to comprise qualities such as subjectivity, self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and ones environment. ...

Jaynes was born in West Newton, Massachusetts and attended Harvard University. He was an undergraduate at McGill University and afterwards received master's and doctorate degrees from Yale University. Jaynes lectured as a professor of psychology at Princeton University from 1966 to 1990, and was said to be a popular teacher, occasionally invited to lecture at other universities. Newton, Massachusetts is a suburb west of Boston. ... Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and a member of the Ivy League. ... McGill University (Université McGill), is a publicly funded, research-intensive, non-denominational, co-educational university located in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ... Yale University is a private university in New Haven, Connecticut. ... Princeton University, located in Princeton, New Jersey, is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. ...

Jaynes' theories on consciousness proved highly controversial, to say the least. At the time of publication of The Origin of Consciousness, he was heavily criticized for pandering to pedestrian readers and not submitting the work to a proper peer review. It was, however, a successful work of popular science, and was a nominee for the National Book Award in 1978. Peer review (known as refereeing in some academic fields) is a scholarly process used in the publication of manuscripts and in the awarding of funding for research. ... The National Book Awards is the most important literary prize in the United States, presented annually for the best books by living U.S. citizens published in the U.S. The awards have been presented since 1950 in at least one category, and is presently awarded in each of four...

The polemics created by the book tended to overshadow his other achievements, which were numerous, mostly in the fields of animal behavior and ethology. Other prominent writers and scientists whose works were influenced or affected by Jaynes' theories include Daniel Dennett and Steven Pinker. Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour considered as a branch of zoology. ... Daniel Dennett Daniel Clement Dennett (born March 28, 1942) is a prominent American philosopher. ... Steven Pinker Steven Pinker (born September 18, 1954, in Montreal, Canada) is one of the most prominent cognitive scientists today. ...

External links

• Julian Jaynes Revisited, an appreciation of Jaynes and the subsequent history of his bicameral mind thesis, published after his death by Anthony Campbell
• Julian Jaynes Society
• A Review of The Origin Of Consciousness In The Breakdown Of The Bicameral Mind
• The legacy of Julian Jaynes