# The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes

8 Hacker News commenters recommended The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes and 10 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a bold, thought-provoking theory of consciousness's origins that raises good questions about mental imagery. Its main caveat: critics find the evidence weak and the central thesis probably wrong.

## Why people recommend it

- Fascinating idea worth engaging with (3 comments): "Probably the most fascinating idea there is right now in the field. It might be right. My intuition is that it's not right" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49338527)) "this was the most interesting book I've read that is probably wrong" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48602120)) "there's a fascinating section in Julian Jaynes's" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47568067))

## What people warn about

- Central thesis seems unsupported or wrong (7 comments): "Probably the most fascinating idea there is right now in the field. It might be right. My intuition is that it's not right" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49338527)) "this was the most interesting book I've read that is probably wrong" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48602120)) "The content of the Ea-Nasir letter and the personal reflections and issues presented there really destroy the central thesis of the book." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49338509))
- Relies on dubious or invalidated research (3 comments): "has the same sort of furtive/animistic fallacies are put forth to justify a questionable conclusion" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46580428)) "Jaynes relies on some earlier work that's been invalidated" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49338383)) "that study is extremely dubious/barring on fan-fiction" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49759887))
- Reads as theory more than science (2 comments): "work is entirely hypothetical and is thought if as just an interesting idea rather than actually having any semblance of truth to it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49712058)) "literary theory posing as neuroscience" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45902247))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cuckoo-s-egg.md): 40 recommend
- [Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amusing-ourselves-to-death.md): 36 recommend
- [The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/anxious-generation.md): 24 recommend
- [Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bullshit-jobs.md): 20 recommend
- [Enshittification by Cory Doctorow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/enshittification.md): 19 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140223053?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780140223057) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes", https://hackerapproved.com/p/origin-of-consciousness-in-the-breakdown-of-the-bicameral-mind/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).