Two Books That Tickle My Fancy

Two books that I have frequented for the past 20 years include: “An Introduction to the Philosophy of Induction and Probability,” by Laurence Jonathan Cohen”; and, “The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind,” by Julian Jaynes. Both books were introduced to me while an undergraduate student; respectively in a statistics course and in an economic history course. I peruse them often. Thank you, Dr. Rafiq Hijazi; and thank you, Dr. Jon Wisman. I have yet to fully digest Cohen’s work because Jaynes predominates my thinking.

Cohen discusses whether statistical models can be used to make decisions. Jaynes states that the mind once functioned in a state in which functions were divided between one part of the brain which appears to be speaking, and a second part which listens and obeys: a bicameral mind; and, that the evolutionary breakdown of this division gave rise to consciousness in humans. Jaynes’ theories fascinate me, and they especially attract my attention because they tend to appear in popular culture.