The Revenge of The Bicameral Brain!

I bet they wished they hadn't bothered.

      Hitler, like you or me, had a brain that operated in the same basic way as any ; that is to say, on the most basic principle of: Information -------------------> Idea.

For example, presented with the information of the movie poster above, you would probably envisage Nazi scientists gathered around a tank* of fluid, in which is kept alive the titular thinking organ.


You would, however, be wrong:

          

                                                        They saved Hitler's head and shoulders.       
          
           Of course, any movie offering this title would not instill in the prospective movie-goer the necessary sense of horror, dread and creepy interest, and quite possibly would suggest that someone had managed to dig out Der Fuhrer's old shampoo bottle.** Which is not quite the same thing.



       Anyway, as the brain works most basically as info -----------> idea, it turns out that a bicameral  or 2 roomed brain is a very good basic model for how we think (or, indeed, do anything else).
However, the bicameral brain, or bicameralism, has already been connected to the ideas of Julian Jaynes where it describes how, until comparitively recently in our history human beings were not conscious, and the voices in our heads were taken to be the whispering of gods.

It is my view that a better idea of the history of human development might be found by recognising that we do have a bicameral mind, and that it can be described like this:

                                            
  My brain, your brain, Hitler's brain, Julian Jaynes's brain, Ancient man's brain, Lowly Worm's brain.

In one room is the information whilst in the other room is the idea. Note that, unlike standard models, there does not have to be any transfer of information for communication to occur. Very simply, if there is information, there is an idea for one can not exist without the other.#
       Clearly, there is nothing within the material and the non-material realms that is not basically information. Therefore, not only is communication the only thing we ever do, it is also the only thing that ever happens.



In principio erat indicium,

        In the beginning was information



                                            
       Et indicium caro factum est,

                 and the information was made flesh

                                  
            Et habitavit in nobis.
                           and dwelt among us

                                                          -adapted version of the opening of John's Gospel.

   Of course, this model is of communication at its most basic and simplistic. What happens is that it evolves to look more like this (and this is why communication can be difficult):

Thankfully, our brains have developed## to cope with this mass of information --------> idea so that we can sort things out: often, and it's important to understand this, without trying. The brain is constantly sorting out the information and ideas without any conscious input, so that all the basic dog-level survival stuff is happening behind the scenes, as it were. Food ----> good.   New -----> caution. Lightning ------> scary.
Consequently, it appears that a question like "what causes this lightning?" is where god enters the room(s).  Dogs don't have gods, whereas humans do.
   So it might be said that a necessity for gods is human questions, which is why this bicameral brain model suggests that god has always, and will always be with us. Not only is the Devil in the details, but God is too. Moreover, it also suggests that our ideas of god can change.

The bicameral brain then, didn't just provide us with intimations of gods, it is god. God and gods. It is God, gods and dogs. It is your ideas and mine, The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo and The Boys from Brazil.,Socrates and Socrates! The Sea of Tranquility and the Blarney Stone. Murasaki Shikibu and Rusty Brown.

                                                                                          Rusty gets an idea.      

 
          And if we were to acknowledge the dizzying amounts of information and ideas available by zooming out to observe the information -------> idea  process at an even higher scale of resolution, then it might look like this:

        
                                                                               As above, so below.
        

    A galaxy of ideas. And one of them is this: All philosophies, all religions, all ideas are simply branches of the church of communication. Of which I am the Pope.
     But so are you. So is Donald Trump. And so, also and quite marvelously I think, is the Pope. 





    
     So what? You might ask (and thereby kindly illustrating the information ------------------> Idea model.)  Well, on the scale of language teaching, we might at least inform people that this is how it all most basically works so they can do it themselves. Ideally, textbooks would be based on this model so that, again we might give people some idea of how it works. As things stand, it is rarely pointed out to students that the goal of language use is to go from information in English to idea in English. This basic step which is true for all native users of a language. Yet, and I think this is were many troubles start, native speakers have no clear idea of how they do it.  Why make things more difficult than they necessarily have to be? Why not explain the most basic step?

Unless, of course, there is profit to be made from (and systems and jobs and reputations to be protected by) keeping things vague? Or pushing only certain ideas?
    




Vulture, Reed, folded cloth, little.
I am (don't laugh) not a neuroscientist. So I am in no way suggesting that this model is the only useful one for understanding how the brain works. It is however a model for how the brain works, and I would suggest that all the wonderful discoveries of neuroscience can, without much effort, fit into this model. Whether you would actually want to do this, is another question.
As always, there are other ideas.

 The ancient Egyptians described the brain thus:




The glyphs represent sounds that added up to a word that roughly translates to “skull-offal.”  With the information available to them, this was their idea.




It is my idea that the model that has been discussed here might offers many more avenues of exploration and understanding than  skull offal.

Or you may wish to dismiss this idea completely. You're a Pope; you can make your own decisions.


Or not.

Or you may have another idea.
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* "There were two tropical fish in a tank, and one said to the other: 'hey! Do you know how to drive this thing?'"
                   - Ken Dodd.

** Although this scenario does tease the idea of time-travel, as Procter and Gamble didn't start producing Head and Shoulders until 1961.***


*** Although, the accusations that have been made about Procterand Gamble's involvement in forced and child labour+ may prompt the question of: What were they up to in World War 2?****

**** Helping bring down the Nazi swine, it appears. Hooray!


+ Not to mention the accusations of dark occultism....++


++Which brings us back again...+++


+++ Although, with all of this, plus the proper consideration of P and G products: Ivory Soap (white supremacy) Flash (nudity) and Fairy (gay agenda), THEY SAVED HITLER'S HEAD AND SHOULDERS is looking better and better.++++


++++ Might clean up at the box office.

# Absence of information is itself information, and no idea is itself an idea.

## You may wish to add "been" before "developed." It's up to you.

                                                                             Wow!