by Arcmode » Tue Mar 14, 2023 12:49 am
I have a few problems with this theory. First, while I'm not completely familiar with all the ancient texts, I have read some of them, and I've read some of them a lot. And from what I've read, a bicameral mind that can communicate in some kind of supernatural way is never presented as being the general experience of humans at the time. It's always presented as being something that is exceptional. You're either chosen by God to be a prophet, or you're a sorcerer who's in contact with spirits, or you are seeking the help of the gods in some way. There's some kind of reason for it, and it's an exception. That's why there's scriptures written about it when it happens . So I don't think we can really appeal to ancient texts as evidence for a bicameral mind as a general experience of humanity in ancient times.
It also ignores the ongoing experience of supernatural communications that occurred and still occur into modern times after the supposed shift into regular consciousness. In the tradition of the Old Testament texts the Christian religion had many saints and holy people in contact with God - receiving instructions, witnessing apparitions and such things, while the general population goes about quite normally, maybe only occasionally experiencing something similar. The same can be said for many other traditions. In this sense there is no evidence of any change at all.
I am still looking into the book, but I see it as very similar to the chasing of cosmic gnomes. In the same way that those searching for dark matter are resting all their hopes on the unfounded assumption of the gravity only Big Bang universe, looking for an evolutionary process for the origin of consciousness is assuming that humans have evolved from something more primitive or less sophisticated, with a different consciousness, which has never been firmly established. In fact the evidence for it is extremely thin and in many cases observations contradict the model, such as with the fossil record.
I have a few problems with this theory. First, while I'm not completely familiar with all the ancient texts, I have read some of them, and I've read some of them a lot. And from what I've read, a bicameral mind that can communicate in some kind of supernatural way is never presented as being the general experience of humans at the time. It's always presented as being something that is exceptional. You're either chosen by God to be a prophet, or you're a sorcerer who's in contact with spirits, or you are seeking the help of the gods in some way. There's some kind of reason for it, and it's an exception. That's why there's scriptures written about it when it happens . So I don't think we can really appeal to ancient texts as evidence for a bicameral mind as a general experience of humanity in ancient times.
It also ignores the ongoing experience of supernatural communications that occurred and still occur into modern times after the supposed shift into regular consciousness. In the tradition of the Old Testament texts the Christian religion had many saints and holy people in contact with God - receiving instructions, witnessing apparitions and such things, while the general population goes about quite normally, maybe only occasionally experiencing something similar. The same can be said for many other traditions. In this sense there is no evidence of any change at all.
I am still looking into the book, but I see it as very similar to the chasing of cosmic gnomes. In the same way that those searching for dark matter are resting all their hopes on the unfounded assumption of the gravity only Big Bang universe, looking for an evolutionary process for the origin of consciousness is assuming that humans have evolved from something more primitive or less sophisticated, with a different consciousness, which has never been firmly established. In fact the evidence for it is extremely thin and in many cases observations contradict the model, such as with the fossil record.