from Marketing Memetics, by Michael Taylor
Cogito ergo sum. I think therefore I am. But who is it doing the thinking? An estimated 30-50% of people have an inner monologue, as in regularly hearing your own voice in your head, with the rest mostly thinking in abstract thoughts. Hulburt says having an inner monologue can make it easier for people to create a sequential plan and solve logical problems. However there are other ways of thinking that have benefits too, so why did consciousness arise?
DiCarlo argues that as human consciousness evolved and developed, so too did our ancestors' capacity to consider and attempt to solve environmental problems in more conceptually sophisticated ways. Mithen proposes the emergence of more systematic hunting practices 40,000 years ago were the product of a change in the architecture of the human mind, where anthropomorphism allowed hunters to identify empathetically with hunted animals and better predict their movements.
Surprisingly, introspection may have developed as recently as 3,000 years ago. As Jayne observes, “The characters of the Iliad do not sit down and think out what to do. They have no conscious minds such as we say we have, and certainly no introspections. […] The beginnings of action are not in conscious plans, reasons, and motives; they are in the actions and speeches of gods.” As we developed a more complex civilization, the ‘bicameral’ mind couldn’t keep up, and the gods receded into special people called prophets or oracles. As we achieved deeper stages of consciousness, the voices in our heads became our own. In effect we became our own gods.
| Name | Link | Type |
|---|---|---|
A Bell Curve: The Rise and Decline of Traditional Religion | Book | |
Cogito, ergo sum | Reference | |
DO YOU HAVE AN INNER MONOLOGUE? LET’S FIND OUT | Article | |
Does everyone have an inner monologue? | Article | |
How Problem Solving and Neurotransmission in the Upper Paleolithic led to The Emergence and Maintenance of Memetic Equilibrium in Contemporary World Religions | Paper | |
Human Consciousness: Where Is It From and What Is It for | Paper | |
Not Everyone Conducts Inner Speech | Article | |
The Bicameral Mind and Our Constant Inner Monologue | Blog | |
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind | Book | |
The prehistory of the mind : a search for the origins of art, religion, and science / Steven Mithen. | Paper | |
THE VOICES IN OUR HEADS | Article |