When Did We Stop Thinking Like Our Ancestors? | Brian McVeigh

💬 Would you believe there was a time before humans had consciousness? It’s almost impossible to imagine, but the theory makes more sense than you might imagine...

⚡ Brian McVeigh is a theorist of cultural psychology and historical changes in human mentality, and in this episode explores the psychology of our ancient ancestors and the theory of the bicameral mind, first proposed by Julian Jaynes.

⚡ Today we speak to ourselves inside our own heads - and we understand that voice is ours. But for our ancestors, their minds were instead filled with the voices of Gods, the ancestors and hallucinations. We unpack exactly what it means for humans to live without consciousness and why we eventually developed the minds and inner thoughts that we know today.

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🎧 Stay tuned to learn about:
➡ What was going on in the minds of our ancestors, before self reflection
➡ Why religion may have been so common in pre-modern societies
➡ The importance of language and writing in the emergence of consciousness
➡ The downsides of modern consciousness, like anxiety and depression
➡ How technology may be changing consciousness
➡ How humans may one day develop artificial consciousness

About the podcast:
What We Did Before is a podcast where we chart the history of modern inventions, from how we kept food fresh before fridges, to how we survived without shoes and what came before AI.

About your host:
Ollie Guillou is an award-winning podcast producer and broadcaster. He's co-founder of OG Podcasts, working with the likes of New Scientist, Dr Karan and Lessons From Our Mothers.

Connect with Ollie:
Website: www.ogpodcasts.co.uk
LinkedIn:   / ollie-guillou  
Email: hello@ogpodcasts.co.uk