7.1 Post summary / Table of contents

This is the 7th of a series of 8 blog posts, which I’m serializing weekly. (Or email or DM me if you want to read the whole thing right now.)

The main thrust of this post is an opinionated discussion of the book The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes (1976) in §7.4, and then some discussion of how hallucinations and delusions arise from schizophrenia and mania (§7.5), and from psychotic depression and BPD (§7.6).

But first—what exactly do hallucinations have to do with intuitive self-models? A whole lot, it turns out!

We’ve seen throughout this series that different states of consciousness can have overlapping mechanisms. Deep trance states (Post 4) mechanistically have a lot in common with Dissociative Identity Disorder (Post 5). Lucid trance states (Post 4) mechanistically have a lot in common with [...]

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Outline:

(00:07) 7.1 Post summary / Table of contents

(03:40) 7.2 Against an axiomatic bright-line distinction between “hallucinations” and normal inner speech and imagination

(05:45) 7.3 Culture and psychology can both influence intuitive self-models

(07:24) 7.4 Hallucinations via culture

(07:29) 7.4.1 Hearing voices as a cultural norm

(08:55) 7.4.2 Sorry Julian Jaynes, but hearing the voice of a god does not make you an “automaton” under “hallucinatory control”

(11:00) 7.4.2.1 The counterargument from common sense

(11:44) 7.4.2.2 The counterargument from archaeological and historical evidence

(13:07) 7.4.2.3 The counterargument from psychology

(16:33) 7.4.3 “Hallucinogenic aids”

(19:57) 7.4.3.1 Desensitization to hallucinogenic aids as a possible explanation of shifts in culture and iconography around 1000 BC

(23:33) 7.5 Hallucinations and delusions via disjointed cognition (schizophrenia and mania)

(28:05) 7.6 Hallucinations and delusions via strong emotions (BPD and psychotic depression)

(30:22) Conclusion

The original text contained 7 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

The original text contained 2 images which were described by AI.

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First published:
October 29th, 2024

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/k8uMmw45k3qp8LPNc/intuitive-self-models-7-hearing-voices-and-other

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

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“[Intuitive self-models] 7. Hearing Voices, and Other Hallucinations” by Steven Byrnes

LessWrong (30+ Karma)