Narcissus and Self-Consciousness

[markdzima]

Has Jaynes (or any others dealing with the consciousness-is-based-on-language hypothesis) written about the Narcissus myth? In the Narcissus myth, Narcissus sees a reflection of himself in a pool of water that he is gazing into and thereby becomes self-aware and even falls in love with himself.

There are numerous YouTube videos that one can find showing (non-language-using) animals, such as cats and monkeys, becoming aware of themselves via mirrors, re-enacting Narcissus to some degree.

While I can easily see how language would serve to make any such visually achieved 'analog-I" and "metaphor-me" thoughts more stable, is language really absolutely necessary for such achievement of self-consciousness? Why couldn't visual methods of mirroring oneself be sufficient?

When I first read The Origin Of Consciousness In The Breakdown Of The Bicameral Mind, I was concurrently beginning a meditation practice. I couldn't help but wonder how stopping the internal verbal monologue of the mind in meditation would affect consciousness, if consciousness truly required language. Wouldn't such meditation be expected to undermine consciousness, rather than enhance it?

If, on the other hand, consciousness relates to the enteroceptive information brought together in the Anterior Insular Cortex (AIC) as it creates its subjective representations of what it feels like to be you, might not this suffice for self-reflection necessary and sufficient for consciousness?