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Re:The science of Westworld by toupeira on Saturday January 07, 2017 @08:51AM (#13344113)
Read more closely, the hypothesis is that bicameralism was an evolutionary stage in human consciousness that broke down at some point in antiquity. So it would entirely be expected that you don't experience it anymore :)
Re:The science of Westworld by nitrogen on Saturday January 07, 2017 @06:04PM (#13347203)
Bicameralism, if it was ever real, might still occur under some religious settings. When I was much younger, still religious, and hadn't heard of the bicameral mind, I noticed that in a certain spiritual frame of mind my internal monologue became more of an internal dialogue, where I could pose questions and perceive a subvocalized answer within my thought stream as coming from "elsewhere". I'm not sure how to reproduce the effect, but it wasn't necessarily useful as I couldn't get any information I didn't already know.
Re:The science of Westworld by benevol on Saturday January 07, 2017 @07:02PM (#13347428)
> I noticed that in a certain spiritual frame of mind my internal monologue became more of an internal dialogue, where I could pose questions and perceive a subvocalized answer within my thought stream as coming from "elsewhere".

That was almost certainly one of your spiritual guides talking to you. Don't give that treasure up, you don't need to be "religious" to continue it. You just need to accept your spiritual dimension (that we all have), which is usually much easier for us when we're kids. Once we grow up, we develop our ego further, which acts like a barrier between ourselves and our spiritual dimension (i.e our guides). Btw, a substance like LSD or psilocybin can break down the ego temporarily and thus open you up further to experience your (natural) "link" to the "other side". And this is the reason why a lot of people report experiences of spiritual nature when they consume such substances (in the correct set and settings). Daily meditation practice is also a very good idea to keep it going.

Re:The science of Westworld by ColanR on Saturday January 07, 2017 @09:48PM (#13347966)
> it wasn't necessarily useful as I couldn't get any information I didn't already know

Don't forget to read to the end...this isn't a 'spiritual' thing.

Re:The science of Westworld by lobster_johnson on Saturday January 07, 2017 @06:04PM (#13347201)
That would imply that everybody on earth "evolved" away from bicameralism at the same time.
Re:The science of Westworld by azakai on Saturday January 07, 2017 @06:57PM (#13347411)
Indeed, and that's one reason why the theory is considered discredited.

Still, it lives on. Not many incorrect ideas do. Perhaps it's because it is a more concise and elegant answer to several unresolved questions (why did self-awareness arise? why did religions change at that particular time?) in ways we don't have any other good answers for.

It's a brilliant idea, that sadly happens to be wrong.

Re:The science of Westworld by ColanR on Saturday January 07, 2017 @09:50PM (#13347972)
> why did religions change at that particular time?

Wait, what? Sounds cool and I'd love a source on that.

Re:The science of Westworld by azakai on Saturday January 07, 2017 @11:51PM (#13348342)
The Wikipedia article summarizes it,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicameralism_(psychology)#The_...

Basically, before 3,000 years or so, it was common for people to hear the gods talk. Somehow, that changed and it became far more rare, with only a few (prophets and such) claiming to actually hear the gods' voices.

The bicameral theory is that there are still such people today, schizophrenics, and it is one half of their brain talking to the other - but they perceive it as an external agency. And that somehow this was the common state of humanity in the past, but changed. We became self-aware - we recognized the internal voice as part of ourselves.

This does actually fit many historical facts well. Still, it is likely wrong for other reasons.

Re:The science of Westworld by ColanR on Sunday January 08, 2017 @10:02AM (#13349911)
Thanks. That's fascinating.
Re:The science of Westworld by nitrogen on Saturday January 07, 2017 @06:06PM (#13347212)
Not necessarily. It's conceivable that a cultural or linguistic change swept quickly through the population, but it wouldn't have to happen instantaneously, and might even continue in some way (see my other comment).
Re:The science of Westworld by azakai on Saturday January 07, 2017 @06:59PM (#13347420)
Perhaps, but it wouldn't explain isolated human populations, of which we have several in the relevant time frames.