"The central assertion of this view, I repeat, is that each new stage of words literally created new perceptions and attentions, and such new perceptions and attentions resulted in important cultural changes which are reflected in the archaeological record."

Julian Jaynes Psychology See all quotes by Julian Jaynes →

React to this quote

More by Julian Jaynes

“Such trade was not, however, a true market. There were no prices under the pressures of supply and demand, no buying and selling, and no money. It was trade in the sense of equivalences established by divine decree. There is a complete lack of reference to business profits or loss in any of the cuneiform tablets that have been so far translated.”

“Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness: Julian Jaynes's Bicameral Mind Theory Revisited”

“Indeed, it is sometimes almost as if the problem had to be forgotten to be solved.”

“It is by metaphor that language grows.”

“We can only know in the nervous system what we have known in behavior first.”

“There is no such thing as a complete consciousness.”

Resonant Thoughts

"In fact, a very similar phrase was invented to account for the sudden transition of wood, metal, plastic and concrete into an explosive condition, which was "nonlinear, catastrophic structural exasper…"

— Douglas Adams

Literature1853–1920

#philosophy

"Every major industry was once a growth industry. But some that are now riding a wave of growth enthusiasm are very much in the shadow of decline. Others, which are thought of as seasoned growth indust…"

— Theodore Levitt

Economics1925–2006

#philosophy

"People have begun to engage in mutual aid and support for their neighbours. Even if people didn't have much, they were still looking out for each other. Through this, we began to see the ways in which…"

— Opal Tometi

Entertainment

#philosophy

"There is a big logical jump between acknowledging the destructive nature of hyperinflation and arguing that the lower the rate of inflation, the better."

— Ha-Joon Chang

Economics1990–2021

#philosophy