X-Message-Number: 15952 Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 12:26:10 -0500 From: "Henry R. Hirsch" <> Subject: Bicameral mind as a source of consciousness I like Jaynes' concept that consciousness arises from communication between the left and right sides of the brain. My perception of consciousness is pseudoauditory. A voice inside my head seems to "talk" to me. (No, I am not schizophrenic. At least I hope not.) However there is experimental evidence against this bicameral theory: The two sides of the brain would function independently if they were not bridged by several commissures. The largest and most important by far is the corpus callosum. Many human patients have had this structure severed surgically as a treatment for Parkinson's disease. One would expect that, if communication between the sides of the brain were important for consciousness, such patients would partially or totally lose consciousness. Jaynes himself and many others have noted that nothing of the sort happens. Very specialized experiments are required to detect any deficit at all resulting from the surgery. We must conclude that the bicameral theory of consciousness is inadequate. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=15952