I cannot claim any authorship for most of the ideas in this hyper-essay. The grand conclusions about sequential versus parallel thinking are mine, as is the explanation of narrative's role in re-parallelizing sequential thinking about social issues. But a great deal of reading lies behind all this hot air. Herewith a general bibliography, with editorial comments on the utility of each book:
Ancestor of the West Writing, Reasoning, and Religion in Mesopotamia, Elam, and Greece by Bottero, Herrenschmidt, and Vernant 2000, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-06715-7. A dense explication of a collection of ideas regarding the intellectual development of these civilizations. It didn't answer as many questions as the subtitle suggests. Dances around the problems at great length, but never quite comes to grips with them.
The Ancient Mind edited by Colin Renfrew and Ezra Zubrow 1994 Cambridge University Press ISBN 0-521-43488-2. A collection of papers on cognitive archaeology. Spotty, with a few good papers and some lousy ones.
The Ape that Spoke Language and the Evolution of the Human Mind by John McCrone. 1991 William Morrow ISBN 0-688-10326-X. A good overall treatment of the place language played in the evolution of cognition.
The Ascent of the Mind Ice Age Climates and the Evolution of Intelligence William H. Calvin. 1991 Bantam Books ISBN 0-553-35230-X. A good book about the role of the Ice Ages in the development of the human mind.
Chinese Thought, Society, and Science The Intellectual and Social Background of Science and Technology in Pre-modern China. by Derk Bodde. 1991 University of Hawaii Press ISBN 0-8248-1334-0. Scholarly examination of the question: "Why didn't the Chinese develop science?" Considers social factors, the impact of writing, and the various schools of philosophy in ancient China.
The Evolution of Consciousness. Of Darwin, Freud, and Cranial Fire -- The Origins of the Way We Think by Robert Ornstein 1991 Prentice Hall ISBN 0-13-587569-2. I have mixed reactions to this book. It makes some good points but strains a little too hard to be clever.
Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language by Robin Dunbar 1996 Harvard ISBN 0-674-36334-5 A good work on the interplay of social factors and language during hominid evolution.
A History of the Mind Evolution and the Birth of Consciousness by Nicholas Humphrey 1992 Simon & Schuster ISBN 0-671-68644-5 Although this book is subtitled "Evolution and the birth of consciousness", it is more of a work of philosophy than science. Most of its questions concern the nature of sensation, meaning, etc.
How Monkeys See the World by Dorothy L. Cheney and Robert M. Seyfarth. 1990 University of Chicago Press ISBN 0-226-10246-7
Language and Human Behavior Derek Bickerton 1995 University of Washington Press ISBN 0-295-97457-5. An excellent book on the role language played in the human cognitive development.
Language and Species by Derek Bickerton 1990 University of Chicago Press ISBN 0-226-04610-9. Excellent book on the development of human language. Highly recommended.
The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker 1994 William Morrow and Company, ISBN 0-688-12141-1. An excellent book. If you can only read one book on language, this is the one to read. And if you are going to read a lot of books on language, this is still a good book to read. The author is an expert in the field and a fine writer.
The Moral Animal by Robert Wright. 1994 Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-40773-1. An excellent explanation of evolutionary psychology. Well-written and well-researched. Evolutionary psychology is the study of how evolutionary factors shaped human psychology. Some people think it's heretical because, to them, it suggests that we are not responsible for our actions ("Mother Nature made me do it!")
The Prehistory of the Mind by Steven Mithen 1996 Thames and Hudson ISBN 0-500-05081-3 Excellent presentation of human cognitive history from an archaeologist. Good explanation of mental modules and how they interacted.
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes 1977 Houghton Mifflin. Controversial when it was released 25 years ago, this book is now regarded unsympathetically. I find its four primary hypotheses unconvincing. Dr. Jaynes has definitely pointed out some important parts of the puzzle, but he puts them together all wrong, in my opinion.
Origins of the Modern Mind Three stages in the evolution of culture and cognition. by Merlin Donald. 1991 Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-64483-2
The Origins and Nature of Language by Giorgio Fano. 1992 Indiana University Press ISBN 0-253-32121-2. English translation of an Italian classic first published in 1962. Quite dated, it still presents some of the foundations rather clearly.
The Origins of Writing, edited by Wayne M. Senner, 1989, University of Nebraska Press, ISBN 0-8032-4202-6. Twelve essays on the origins of writing systems such as the Chinese, hieroglyphic, cuneiform, Arabic, and of course the alphabet. Interesting buy only slightly relevant to my hypothesis.
Patterns in Prehistory by Robert J. Wenke 1980 Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-502557-1. Introductory textbook on hominid archaeology. Not much on evolutionary theory; just the bones, ma'am.
Patterns in the Mind, by Ray Jackendoff 1994, Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-05462-5. A discussion of the relationship between language and thinking. I found it rather plodding, but it got good reviews. A good textbook for first-year students of language and mind.
The Pinnace of Life by Dr. Derek Denton 1993 Harper Collins ISBN 0-06-251124-6. A more physiological approach to the problems of consciousness and self-awareness. Oddly unilluminating.
The Prehistory of the Mind The cognitive origins of art, religion, and science. by Steven Mithen. 1996 Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05081-3. I like this book. The author comes at the problem from the point of view of an archaeologist, and he seems to do the best overall job of integrating all the pieces. He has an illuminating approach to mental modules.
Promethian Fire Reflections on the Origin of Mind by Charles J. Lumsden and Edward O. Wilson Harvard University Press 1983 ISBN 0-674-71445-8. Rather old now, it's pleasant reading.
The Runaway Brain The Evolution of Human Uniqueness by Christopher Wills 1993 Basic Books ISBN 0-00-255275-2. Bones and brains.
A Study of Writing by I.J.Gelb 1963, University of Chicago Press, No ISBN. The classic work on the subject, still quite interesting, somewhat dated.
The Symbolic Species - the co-evolution of language and the brain by Terence W. Deacon 1997 Norton ISBN 0-393-03838-6 This book is at heart a neuroanatomical treatment of language and the brain, but the author is able to integrate material from other fields. It's a slog, but if you want to understand this stuff, you've got to plow through the neuroanatomy.
Uniquely Human by Philip Lieberman, 1991 Harvard University Press ISBN 0-674-92182-8. A very good all-round discussion of evolutionary psychology, with an emphasis on language.
Writing Systems by Geoffrey Sampson 1985 Stanford University Press, ISBN 0-8047-1254-9. A very good explanation of the basic components of all writing systems; it will help you understand why writing systems around the world are so different.
http://cogweb.ucla.edu/EP/index.html