The little manipulator...

[elfs]

Kouryou-chan is seriously learning how to push buttons. She's hit 3½ and she's doing everything she can with the mind she's been given. Her latest tacks include, "Mommy let me do it," when I tell her she's not allowed to do something, "But I really love you" when she's trying to defuse a battle of wills she knows she's likely to lose, and, of course, "I don't know" to the question, "Who did this?" She's even tried, "Yamaarshi gave it to me!" when Yamaarashi-chan isn't home.

Julian Jaynes once said that the planning and execution of long-term deception was one of the hallmarks of consciousness. Kouryou-chan is showing all the signs.

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[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Julian Jaynes once said that the planning and execution of long-term deception was one of the hallmarks of consciousness.

Hmmm. Sounds like something I should read. Where is it?

Kouryou-chan is showing all the signs.

I'd already said you were now in the race to keep up... looks like this is going to be a challenge even for you. Best of luck, my friend; the results could change the world... Lady willing, even save it.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Julian Jaynes is the writer of the somewhat infamous The Origins of Consciousness In The Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, one of the stranger books of that flavor ever to be written. It is a big, sprawling survey of human prehistory that attempts to support a single thesis: that we have two minds, one of which is familiar with real-world consequences, the other of which produces desires. It is the breakdown in the wall separating these two minds, and the subtle interplay that results, that leads to consciousness.

You can usually find it in used bookstores. It's erudite, but after a while Jayne's use of selective evidence becomes apparent.

And, to plug into my earlier X-Men post, I've wanted to read it ever since I saw Hank McCoy reading a copy in X-Men #127 with the comment, "Great book; can't wait to see the movie."

Jaynes' theory in fiction

[(Anonymous)]

Neal Stephenson is big on Jaynes, he uses this theory as part of the plot of both "Snow Crash" and "The Big U". IMHO, "The Big U" has the best depiction of this theory taken to its logical extreme (and is a very funny book, besides).

-Malthus