An Interesting Theory

[brother vinny]

I'm currently reading American Gods, by Neil Gaiman (will be reviewed upon finishing). Anyway, a character in the novel puts forth the idea that about 5,000 years ago, the left and right lobes of the human brain started to fuse together, and people living before this fusion attributed messages being sent by the right brain as contact from the gods.

Has anyone else heard of this theory? Do you buy it? Where can I read more about it?

[dizzle]

Drat!! I still thought part of my brain was receiving messages from the gods.

[Lizard]

03-04-2003 @ 10:32 AM
Dee Dee Warren:

Drat!! I still thought part of my brain was receiving messages from the gods.

Shhhh!

:bonk: That's supposed to be a secret. Only us assimilated preterist hear these messages. :doh:

[Solly]

Yes. Can't remember the author, but the title was something to do with the Bicameral Brain. Search under that.

[Solly]

03-04-2003 @ 03:46 PM
Faramir:
:bonk: That's supposed to be a secret. Only us assimilated preterist hear these messages. :doh:

Resistance is futile.

[brother vinny]

03-04-2003 @ 10:03 AM
Solly:

Yes. Can't remember the author, but the title was something to do with the Bicameral Brain. Search under that.

Thanks, Solly!

[Patroclus]

It is true, and the only way to stop it is by doing this :bonk: --CONSTANTLY!

[dizzle]

Assimilated?? Who says I am assimilated???

[Lizard]

03-06-2003 @ 04:56 AM
Dee Dee Warren:

Assimilated?? Who says I am assimilated???

No one said you were assimilated. You are the assimilator. :tongue:

j/k

[Solly]

Mexican wave for DD the Assimilator.

(Hmm, sounds like a great name for a comic book heroine)

[studyhound]

03-04-2003 @ 07:46 AM
Faramir:



Shhhh!

:bonk: That's supposed to be a secret. Only us assimilated preterist hear these messages. :doh:

We are preterist. Resistance is futile.
:fight:

[Ryokan]

Resistance is futile! Resistance is Futile! Resistance is Futile!!!!

:eek: wow, that assimilation stuff is pretty strong, all I had to do is read a single thread!

[HerodionRomulus]

03-03-2003 @ 01:08 PM
Brother Vinny:

I'm currently reading American Gods, by Neil Gaiman (will be reviewed upon finishing). Anyway, a character in the novel puts forth the idea that about 5,000 years ago, the left and right lobes of the human brain started to fuse together, and people living before this fusion attributed messages being sent by the right brain as contact from the gods.

Has anyone else heard of this theory? Do you buy it? Where can I read more about it?


Never hear of it, don't buy it.
People have been 'hearing from God' for a looooong time.

Five thousand years ago is 3000bce and not only were there sophisticated civilizations (Egypt, Indus, China and Andes to name a few.) but also complex religions.

Çatalhöyük in Turkey was a dense urban area of over 2 sq miles dating to 7000bce. Numerous shrines and cultic articles could be found.
Ancient city, ancient religion (http://catal.arch.cam.ac.uk/catal/catal.html)

:idea: But wait!
That's 9000 yrs ago and the world was only created 6000 yrs ago. :huh:
:ahem:

[bar Jonah]

03-03-2003 @ 12:08 PM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=26791#post26791)
Brother Vinny:

I'm currently reading American Gods, by Neil Gaiman (will be reviewed upon finishing). Anyway, a character in the novel puts forth the idea that about 5,000 years ago, the left and right lobes of the human brain started to fuse together, and people living before this fusion attributed messages being sent by the right brain as contact from the gods.

Has anyone else heard of this theory? Do you buy it? Where can I read more about it?
So this is the theory of some guy who writes FICTION ... and you want to know what we think of it? :rofl:

[brother vinny]

03-26-2003 @ 01:40 AM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=45197#post45197)
RightIdea:


So this is the theory of some guy who writes FICTION ... and you want to know what we think of it? :rofl:

Actually, it's someone else's theory that the author happened to include.

Do I take it from your post that the opinions of those who write fiction are automatically held in derision?

[brother vinny]

03-14-2003 @ 06:52 PM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=35603#post35603)
HerodionRomulus:




Never hear of it, don't buy it.
People have been 'hearing from God' for a looooong time.

Five thousand years ago is 3000bce and not only were there sophisticated civilizations (Egypt, Indus, China and Andes to name a few.) but also complex religions.

Çatalhöyük in Turkey was a dense urban area of over 2 sq miles dating to 7000bce. Numerous shrines and cultic articles could be found.
Ancient city, ancient religion (http://catal.arch.cam.ac.uk/catal/catal.html)

:idea: But wait!
That's 9000 yrs ago and the world was only created 6000 yrs ago. :huh:
:ahem:

I think the gist of the theory is that this fusion between left-brain and right-brain happened 5,000 years ago, and that's when people began to stop "hearing" from God/the gods. People who heard from deity after this point (according to this theory) in time were then evolutionary throwbacks to this earlier brain model.

I don't buy it, either, but it's interesting to consider.

[bar Jonah]

Today @ 10:33 AM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=47058#post47058)
Brother Vinny:
Actually, it's someone else's theory that the author happened to include.

Do I take it from your post that the opinions of those who write fiction are automatically held in derision?
No, but it is given its proper place. I don't put much stock in Sally Field's views on politics. I give limited value to Jesse Jackson's views on the martial arts. I think Robert Duvall is an outstanding actor and a great human being, but as a comic book collector, I don't much care for what he has to say about the current plot lines in the X-Men titles.

[brother vinny]

Today @ 11:56 AM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=47082#post47082)
RightIdea:


No, but it is given its proper place. I don't put much stock in Sally Field's views on politics. I give limited value to Jesse Jackson's views on the martial arts. I think Robert Duvall is an outstanding actor and a great human being, but as a comic book collector, I don't much care for what he has to say about the current plot lines in the X-Men titles.

I think science fiction/fantasy is the proper place for this sort of questioning. (Or, at least, one of the proper places.) This isn't about expertise, as you've posited above. Gaiman obviously did his research on this, because the theory of the bicameral brain exists quite apart from his book. He just used his book as a device to (briefly) examine the theory. (It so happens that the protagonist of the story has had [at this point] multiple encounters with gods such as Odin, Bast, and Shiva, so he dismisses the bicameral brain theory out-of-hand. "I think people just hear from the gods from time to time," he says.)

One can fall into a trap if one relies too heavily on expertise to inform one's opinion-- this places one at the mercy of the experts, and displaces the burden of thinking for one's own self. I'm no expert of politics; this does not immediately discredit all political views I may hold. Gaiman's expertise-- judging from American Gods and his incomparable Sandman graphic novels-- is myths and storytelling, but he seems to have informed opinions on subjects outside his realm of expertise.

[Yog^sothoth]

I know this thread is old but was it not Phillip K. Dick who theorized that all sci-fi/fantasy authors are precognitives? Also, although fiction, authors are allowed to explore and interpret theories as they see fit and mayhap stumble onto something completely genuine. Charles Pellegrino, a fiction and non-fiction writer published a theory (which..wouldn't that be consdiered fiction until otherwise proven fact?) in omni magazine about possible Dinosaur cloning from ancient mosquitos trapped in amber....which eventually became the basis of the FICTION story Jurrasic Park.

Is it fact? Is it fiction? It is unfair to write theories off as "oh he's just a fiction writer" when in fact it may just be regurgitation of a theory explored by another person.

that's my money on it.
:yipee:

[bar Jonah]

Today @ 01:32 PM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=58183#post58183)
Yog^sothoth:

I know this thread is old but was it not Phillip K. Dick who theorized that all sci-fi/fantasy authors are precognitives? Also, although fiction, authors are allowed to explore and interpret theories as they see fit and mayhap stumble onto something completely genuine. Charles Pellegrino, a fiction and non-fiction writer published a theory (which..wouldn't that be consdiered fiction until otherwise proven fact?) in omni magazine about possible Dinosaur cloning from ancient mosquitos trapped in amber....which eventually became the basis of the FICTION story Jurrasic Park.

Is it fact? Is it fiction? It is unfair to write theories off as "oh he's just a fiction writer" when in fact it may just be regurgitation of a theory explored by another person.

that's my money on it.
:yipee:
That's all well and good; I don't disagree at all.

But I don't want to hear it from a sci-fi writer. I want to hear it from the scientist. That's the point. The sci-fi writer may indeed be right. But he's someone who makes up stuff for a living. A scientist is (at least theoretically, no pun intended) someone whose life is spent in the pursuit of truth and/or facts. It's not a matter of statistical probability of accuracy. It's a matter of credibility.

[Yog^sothoth]

The writer I refered to is indeed a fiction author as well.

Charles Pellegrino

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author=Pellegrino%2C%20Charles%20R./103-1340060-9938245

often times we'll see a great fiction author being both at the same time. Cyberpunk author, William Gibson, has no credentials in reference to the speculation he makes on the state and future of technology yet a lot of what he postulates is nearer the mark than professional tech advisors can make. Indeed, Gibson types most of his works on a typewriter and is somewhat a technophobe for most things.

Nick:whip:

[Walt]

03-03-2003 @ 07:08 PM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=26791#post26791)
Brother Vinny:

I'm currently reading American Gods, by Neil Gaiman (will be reviewed upon finishing). Anyway, a character in the novel puts forth the idea that about 5,000 years ago, the left and right lobes of the human brain started to fuse together, and people living before this fusion attributed messages being sent by the right brain as contact from the gods.

Has anyone else heard of this theory? Do you buy it? Where can I read more about it?

Well, I read all the replies in this thread to see if anyone was able to supply the info you requested, didn't see it, so here it is:

The Origin of Conciousness in the Breakdown of them Bicameral Mind, by Julian Jaynes:read:

[brother vinny]

04-17-2003 @ 12:19 PM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=70963#post70963)
Walt:



Well, I read all the replies in this thread to see if anyone was able to supply the info you requested, didn't see it, so here it is:

The Origin of Conciousness in the Breakdown of them Bicameral Mind, by Julian Jaynes:read:

Thanks, Walt!