h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Jordan, I called it the stupid theory because that's what it says people were, i.e. they had no subjective thoughts.

As to the theory itself, it was widely discussed for a short time but continued work has not provided additional support for the idea.
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The first writing in human history in a language of which we have enough certainty of translation to consider it in connection with my hypothesis is the Iliad, regarded to have happened about 1230 BC, and written down about 850 BC.

No words for Conscious Awareness or mental acts. Words that later on come to mean mental acts have more concrete meanings in the Iliad.

In India things were a little different -

Excavated walls of a Harappan urban city, one of the most mysterious cultures of the ancient Indian world more than 3,000 years ago. The people were literate and used the Dravidian Sanskrit language, only part of which has been deciphered today. The artifacts from Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro in the Indus Valley of Pakistan are extraordinary in beauty and detail.
Source:North Park University, Chicago, Illinois.

There is an ancient Sanskrit manuscript that tells of a lake that existed in the valley of Kashmir. Now, according to modern geological reporting, about 40,000 years ago there was indeed a lake in the valley of Kashmir in northern India. The valley was covered by a huge lake and it was blocked on the southern end by a little range of mountains. But at a certain point, something happened and it broke open and the lake drained out. That happened about 40,000 to 50,000 years ago.

According to India's ancient texts, around 3000 BCE sage Kapil founded both cosmology and psychology. He shed light on the Soul, the subtle elements of matter and creation. His main idea was that essential nature (prakrti) comes from the eternal (purusha) to develop all of creation. No deeper a view of the cosmos has ever been developed. Further, his philosophy of Sankhya philosophy also covered the secret levels of the psyche, including mind, intellect and ego, and how they relate to the Soul or Atma.

Around 2700 years ago, as early as 700 BCE there existed a giant University at Takshashila, located in the northwest region of India.
Not only Indians but also students from as far as Babylonia, Greece, Syria, Arabia and China came to study.
68 different streams of knowledge were on the syllabus.
Experienced masters taught a wide range of subjects.
Vedas, Language, Grammar, Philosophy, Medicine, Surgery, Archery, Politics, Warfare, Astronomy, Accounts, commerce, Futurology, Documentation, Occult, Music, Dance, The art of discovering hidden treasures, etc.
The minimum entrance age was 16 and there were 10,500 students.


There may have been certain people in Greece who heard the voices of the gods but they wouldn't be venerated if everyone heard the voices.


Alji the Magus

I don't think it calls people stupid. In the first chapter (apart from the preface) it points out that we can think, work, reason, invent and learn - all without the necessity for consciousness.

Now, I do find the reasoning dubious to an extent and not always convincing, but I don't dispute that it's quite possible that amazing achievements can be made by a people who are not fully conscious. Why ever shouldn't it be? And why can't they build a University and study and learn? Besides, it's not that the person is incapable of intelligent thought - just that sie is bicameral, most of hir thinking is done by another part of their brain.

I recall two studies which seem to back up this theory. One showed that the IQ of the left brain was identical to that of the whole brain tested before surgery - begging the question, what does the right brain do? - and the second was one in which a split-brain patient had the rare condition of having both areas of the brain able to speak. The right side wanted to be a racing-car driver, as I recall. Kind of makes you think, doesn't it? I can get references if you'd like.

- Jordan

Jordan, check your Hemispheric Dominance @

http://www.mtsu.edu/~devstud/advisor/hemispheric_dominance.html

I'm 16 right to 3 left dominant.

Alji the Magus

Hm, I appear to be 15-4 right.

Another fun quiz!

I'm left-dominant, 8-11. I'll have a look for a cool test I found to determine your learning style - I found it for my psychology class...

- Jordan

I once did one that shows you what kind of person you are...I can't remember what they are, but I was an idealist: I'll see if I can find the email!