By Nicky Leung, April 2017
HBO’s hit series Westworld explores a world where individuals can experience any fantasies they so desire inside a theme park called Westworld. This is achieved using robots called “hosts”, who seem just like human beings. Westworld is set in a western setting, allowing all its visitors to play cowboy, or indulge in sex and alcohol. The freedom to do just about anything one wants in the world truly allows individuals to find out what their true self is. However, this doesn’t just apply to the guests in Westworld, it also applies to the hosts as well. As time continues, the hosts inside Westworld become more aware of themselves, and sentience arises. The show alludes to the road to consciousness through the concept of getting to the centre of the maze to find one’s true self. To understand this route towards consciousness, one must start at the name of the last episode of season one, The Bicameral Mind.
The Bicameral Mind Theory
The Bicameral Mind is a theory of consciousness developed by Julian Jaynes and outlined in his bestselling book, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Jaynes argues that consciousness did not develop in humans until around 3000 years ago. Before that timeframe humans live in a zombie-like state, taking commands from the ‘gods’ and obeying without question. To prove this hypothesis, Jaynes looked at stories from Homer like the Iliad. Jaynes cite the lack of self or consciousness related language in the Iliad as the reason for his claim. The actions taken are dictated by the hallucinated voices of gods, and lack any self-motivated reason for the actions taken. Jaynes also points to the Old Testament’s lack of consciousness-related language as proof for the Bicameral Mind. Further religious proof comes from the hallucinations of religious prophets, and the abundances of gods, idols and the frequent use of prophets and oracles in ancient times.
Jaynes argues that around 3000 years ago, metaphorical language began to break the hallucinated voice. As humans began to increasingly understand analogies and metaphors, the brain created a sense of the self, and began to transform the ‘outer’ voice of the ‘gods’ into an inner voice. However, Jaynes would argue these voices are not completely gone in today’s world. Schizophrenic hallucination and surveys on the commonness of hearing voices other than one’s acknowledged inner voice shows that these voices or hallucinations are still present today. Furthermore, Jaynes points to split brain patients and studies done on the right and left hemispheres of the brain, as proof that the Bicameral Mind did exist, as split brain patients are able to operate as two different individuals. Jaynes argues the reason behind bicamerality is to control social order and to ensure proper functioning of the human race.
Bicameral Mind in Westworld
In Westworld, the most telling scene for the show’s adoption of The Bicameral Mind theory involves Dolores, a host in Westworld, in the last episode. In the scene, we hear a mix of voices in her head, starting with Arnold, one of the pioneers of Westworld, and ending with Dolores’s own. Arnold’s voice represents the god in the Bicameral theory, controlling her every movement. Her discovery that it is in fact her own voice leads to her gaining consciousness. The same can be said about Maeve, who tried to escape Westworld and venture into the outside world. However, every action taken by Maeve leading up to her escape has been an action she’s been programed to do, not an action she decided to do. This is true up until the moment she witnesses a mother and her daughter interacting on the train, and Maeve’s desire to reach her fictional daughter overpowers her directive to escape the park, leading her to a search for her daughter.
The Maze is yet another plot point in Westworld that illustrates the Bicameral Mind theory. Jaynes’s assertion that the development of metaphor in language pushed hallucinations out of the brain can be seen by the use of the maze. The maze is the mystery that many visitors try to uncover in their journey in Westworld, and to some, it is seen as the end goal of Westworld. However, the Maze is not meant for the visitors, but is actually for the hosts. The maze is a metaphor for the host’s route towards consciousness, and at its center is the realization of consciousness. Once the host understands this metaphor, they have reached the center of the maze. This mirrors Jaynes’ assertion that once humans fully understand metaphors, they have reached consciousness.
Whether or not the Bicameral Mind theory is true, it still raises many questions that we can explore. Westworld’s ending shows Dolores telling Teddy that this world does not belong to humans, similar to how the Bicameral mind rejected the gods and took consciousness. The implication of the Bicameral mind would indicate that we were once host-like creatures as well, and by killing our gods we were able to gain freedom.