"Voices, Visions, and Dreams: Recent Advances in Jaynesian Theories
of Anomalous Neurological Phenomena"

Brian J. McVeigh, Marcel Kuijsten

Session 1 Monday, April 12 (9:00a-1:00p)

We elaborate on Julian Jaynes's theory of the origin of consciousness, with discussions of geographical areas not discussed by Jaynes: Mesoamerica, India, China, South and North America. We demonstrate that all ancient societies followed the same bicameral/consciousness transition as theorized by Jaynes. We also comment on the Moai or 'talking and walking statues') of Easter Island as a 'test case' for Jaynesian psychology (its isolation, small population, and documented changes make Easter Island an 'experiment in history'). We also survey recent advances in our understanding of the dual brain/Jaynes's neurological model, including new evidence from brain imaging studies. By exploring anomalous neurological experiences and the evolutionary aspects of what is called 'consciousness,' the distinction between conscious and unconscious mental processing becomes clear. Jaynes offered explanations for the psychology of spirit possession, hypnosis, auditory hallucinations, and glossolalia. However, other anomalous experiences, generically called auto-vision phenomena (e.g., auto-visions proper and doubled auto-visions), must be taken into account. We examine the most recent research on these puzzling phenomena and argue that they qualify as vestigial bicamerality. Finally, we contrast the dreams from ancient civilizations, pre-literate tribes, and children on the one hand with those of modern literate adults on the other.

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Brian J. McVeigh received his Ph.D. from Princeton University and was a student of Julian Jaynes. He worked in Asia for 17 years and authored seven books on spirit possession, religion, education, politics, nationalism, and popular culture. He teaches in the East Asian Studies Department at the University of Arizona.

Marcel Kuijsten is editor of the book Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness: Julian Jaynes's Bicameral Mind Theory Revisited, co-editor (with Brian J. McVeigh) of The Jaynesian (the newsletter of the Julian Jaynes Society), and Founder and Executive Director of the Julian Jaynes Society.