Prometheus Rising

I had read a bit of Prometheus Rising on PDF format and was a headache read it that way, so i decide to buy the book and 4 others Well Recommended Books, I bough on February 14th . It supposed to arrive on March 10th but arrived on Feb 20th!!!

Prometheus Rising is primarily a detailed account of Timothy Leary's 8-circuit model of consciousness. First, let me answer the most inevitable question, "What do you mean by 'circuits'?" Leary's model is a functional theory of consciousness, rather than an ontological theory. It does not answer the question, "What IS consciousness?" because, as every cognitive scientist will tell you, that is really not the question we should be asking. The relevant question is, "What does consciousness do?" or "What is the function of consciousness?" The 8-circuit model is simply a metaphor for the 8 functions of our brains.Strangely, Robert Anton Wilson has written a better account of the 8-circuit model than Leary wrote for his own theory. Wilson has made personal revisions to the theory (such as switching the order of the 6th and 7th circuits in Leary's model), so presumably he has adopted it as his own theory as well. This is no problem because he demonstrates a mastery over the subject that no one else has been able to replicate.I particularly enjoyed Wilson's approach to demonstrating each of the 8 functions of the human brain. He gives classic examples of human behavior which are easily explained by the 8-circuit model. For example, the reason why humans have created politics is because of the Second Emotional-Territorial Circuit. This circuit is responsible for social hierarchies, and in wild animals (and "domesticated primates" as Wilson calls humans) it is used to establish positions of Authority and positions of Submission. It is also used to mark territory. As Wilson put it, "Animals mark their territory with excretions. Humans mark their territory with ink excretions on paper." This combination of social science, natural science, and humor I found to be incredibly effective.Other theories presented in the book include the Leary Interpersonal Grid, the imprint theory, and the theory of reality-tunnels. That last one in particular is essential in Wilson's overall philosophy of Subjectivism, or as he calls it, "neurological relativism." The thesis of neurological relativism is that every brain receives and organizes information differently, and it never receives information directly from the external environment. Therefore, every brain creates a different aspect of reality, and no brain has the correct version of reality.There is also a message here, and it is in the title of the book. Wilson explains his position as a futurist, immortalist, and cosmic optimist. The message is that humans are still evolving. Some people, who still operate primarily on the antique circuits (I through IV), are trying to stop our evolution. But these reactionaries cannot hold their grip forever, and they are quickly losing their grip because information is traveling faster with every passing moment. With every new generation, the human species is letting go of its past dogmas and moving closer to our remaining evolutionary stages.The BEST feature of the book is that it contains exercises at the end of every chapter which encourage you to challenge everything in the book. To me, that is the difference between Wilson and every other author or intellectual in the world. Wilson knows that he does not know reality, that he only knows a reality-tunnel, and he wants to get everybody constantly challenging his views from other reality-tunnels rather than merely accepting what he says. To me, this is what makes Wilson superior to most other intellectuals today or from any time period.I will end with a quote from Wilson:"We are all giants, raised by pygmies, who have learned to walk with a perpetual mental crouch."Wilson's message is for us to abandon this learned crouch, stand tall, and tower above our ancestors. Risen from entropy, empowered by information, we will spread our collective wings as Prometheus Rising!

I'll say right upfront that I thought that this book has some strange stuff in it in places, but readers should put that aside long enough to read through the whole thing. Don't let the cover art put you off either, readers; I know that the green guy creeped me out, but he is not really mentioned in the text. This book is well worth reading.I found this book while looking around for something easy to get through on General Semantics. However, it is mostly concerned with the eight neurological circuits (bio-survival, emotional-territorial, semantic, moral, neurosomatic, neurogenetic, metaprogramming and quantum) that Timothy Leary was big on - don't panic, there is no need to do LSD to understand what is going on here. The author also includes discussion on other topics like yoga and quantum mechanics (no math required here) as well as on many interesting subjects that I for one had never heard of before as he goes along. If they are like me, readers will give wikipedia a real workout right after finishing each chapter to learn more on many of these topics. There are very thought provoking exercises as well - I still haven't found any quarters, but I may have not tried hard enough yet. It may take some people a while to get through the book as a result, but it is worth the time to do the outside study as needed and to do the exercises.The author spends a lot of time on the first 4 circuits and less on the others which is understandable I guess as the latter are newer and less understood. The chapters on brainwashing are frightening and probably all too accurate - readers might want to give these some more thought after finishing them. There is much more presented that warrants further thinking by readers as well. For example, one might get some insight into why certain people that they know behave as they do and maybe even gain some insight as to their own behavior as well. As the book winds up, the author presents some ideas about where we might be heading as individuals and as a species; some of his predictions did not come true, at least not yet, but there seems to be a ring of truth at least in much of this.I found the book a little disorganized in many spots, but readers should be able to follow it for the most part anyway. I did find several apparent errors in the book early on, but noticed fewer as it went. Please note that sometimes at least it seems that the author meant melancholic when he wrote choleric - this may save some readers a lot of time trying to figure out Chapter 4.Despite some real strangeness and disorganization here and there, most readers probably will learn a great deal from this book - at least if they are ready. If anyone wonders what I mean by that, they will have to read the book.Highly recommended, but be prepared as there may be some shocks.

An interesting book that benefits from a second read after reading Richard Rasa's clarifying afterword. Wilson repeatedly emphasizes two things: What the thinker thinks, the prover proves; and, the map is not the territory. My interest in this book stems from my conviction that our beliefs dictate our reality and that the mind will seek to validate that reality, and hence the beliefs, at every possible opportunity. Even with this insight, it can be tough to shift a belief, even when you know it is toxic and probably wrong. Yet the reality thus created is just a model or map (Wilson's reality tunnel) and is not the territory. Wilson encourages the reader to 'try on' a range of reality tunnels as a thought experiment by emulating mindsets radically different from their own. This is not to persuade the reader to any particular point of view, it is to demonstrate that there are all these different reality tunnels/models/maps co-existing within human society - and these maps, none of them, are the territory.As Wilson moves on to describe his model of the higher 'circuits' of consciousness (5-8), it becomes more obvious that this book was based on his PhD thesis. It is full of references appropriate to such a thesis but rather obscure to the general reader. The unspoken assumption that runs through his ideas is that all matter is conscious in its own right and that this can be experienced (though not easily!) at the levels of the body, the brain, the DNA and finally quantum particles - an inverse relationship of ever expanding consciousness associated with smaller and smaller phycial entities. If this is a bit of a stretch for some readers, remember Wilson's own caveat: the map is not the territory. This is just another map. Everything from the great or ancient religions to sweeping political movements and science are all just maps and models.My quibble with Wilson, and the reason for the missing star, is that he makes no accommodation for human imagination, fantasy or creativity on any of his circuits. He argues that in the creation of our own individual reality tunnels "we are all greater artists than we realise" but this is no substitute for the deliberate acts of creation so integral to and beloved by the human animal. He makes no mention of love either which makes his map a rather cold one. Of course, if you choose to adopt Wilson's map as your own you can simply add these elements in, for it then becomes yours to do with as you please.

Not a bad piece of work, not too heavy, even if a big jargony in places. In fact, think I read it in four sittings.It largely seems to be a re writing or re interpretation of previous spiritual and occult practices, combined with ideas of previous respected heavy guns in philosophy. In fact, Wilson, says the idea he is expounding "is" what they meant, b ut didn't have the language or scientific knowledge to get to.Some interesting re looks at ideas, dogmatic in place with some pretty poor examples (at times) used to illustrate his points. He is a bit dogmatic at points and we could do with a little bit more on the concept and a little less of his political views. He tends to use people he clearly does not like, as examples of "lower" sorts. A bit of a re edit could help it too.It seems like a lighter re interpretation of other idea and philosophies, for the average person, with enough jargon thrown in to make it seem loftier and more academic and complex, than it actually is. This is compounded by his emperor's new clothes tone and statements that the lower sort won't get his book, that struck me as a bit unnecessary and that the author was better than such cheap and obvious tricks. There is a bit too much sarcasm and sneering, these being tricks to make up for lack of substance, I have found.. as is the use of jargon. To be fair, in such an area some jargon is necessary.I would have liked him to go a bit more in depth and methodically through the circuits. A re look at ancient and older concepts from a more modern perspective is enjoyable and something we interested in the area shoudl do.There is also a lack of self awareness you would imagine a book that was written, then edited, would not contain i.e. the author would see where they exhibited this. The get out of "this is of course my own reality tunnel" does not get him off the hook here.In saying that, I found it a valuable read and I will definitely take something for myself from it, I think I may re read it. It seems funny to see such high praise and some pretty reactionary attacks on the work though. They seem, largely, emotionally driven, rather than scientifically or analytically... and, as mentioned above, he has attached a certain superiority to those who praise and say they get his idea.. ironically, as he talks about this very attitude in the book.Yes, a re read of it is in order.

WIlson's seminal work is a pleasure to read.Combining aspects of psychology, philosophy, quantum physics and entertainment, Wilson provides a series of instructions by which the reader may awaken themselves to a liberation of the self and advance their being towards a state of control over their reality tunnels.Every student of self-advancement, alchemy, left-hand path systems and life on the whole will enjoy and benefit from reading this work.

I believe in the absurdly therapeutic violence of abreaction and the maddening certainty of voltmeters....if you have a scientific mind you will be puzzled, perplexed and finally pissed off by the great geyser of mystical phenomena expounded in this book....and then...perhaps ...you might think " what the smurf was that?....how much time did I waste trying to figure this guy out?"Not all gurus deserve investigation.

Must read!