Robert Wilson. "Prometheus Rising". Excerpts from the book

Article Editor: Mark Beygelzimer, PhD, systems analyst, head of the Trust but Verify project.

Reference: Robert Anton Wilson (January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American novelist, essayist, philosopher, futurist, anarchist and conspiracy theory researcher. Wilson's work is filled with optimism, humor, and fun facts from history and science that help the reader see the world from an unexpected perspective. The book Prometheus Rising was published in 1983, revised in 1997

What do they say about Robert Anton Wilson?

— A SUPER GENIUS . . . He has written everything I was afraid to write (Dr. John Lilly, a writer, neuroscientist and psychonaut).

— Readers with open minds will enjoy his books (Robin Robertson, a psychologist, writer, editor).

— One of the most profound, important, scientific philosophers of this century—scholarly, witty, hip, and hopeful (Timothy Leary, an American psychologist and author).

— OBSCENE, blasphemous, subversive and very, very interesting (Alan Watts, a British philosopher, writer, translator and popularizer of Eastern philosophy).

— Robert Anton Wilson describes himself as a "guerrila ontologist", designating his intention to attack language and knowledge in the same way that terrorists attack their chosen targets: by suddenly jumping out of the shadows, attacking, and then crawling back and hiding behind pure, healthy laughter (Robert Sheaffer, an American astronomer, journalist, and writer)

Excerpts from the book
(from New Falcon Publications. Tempe, Arizona U.S.A., 2000)

1 ***

William James, father of American psychology, tells of meeting an old lady who told him theEarth rested on the back of a huge turtle.

– But, my dear lady, – Professor James asked, aspolitely as possible, – what holds up the turtle?

– Ah, – she said, – that's easy. He is standingon the back of another turtle.

– Oh, I see, – said Professor James, still being polite. – Butwould you be so good as to tell me what holds up the second turtle?

– It's no use,Professor, – said the old lady, realizing he was trying to lead her into a logical trap. – It'sturtles-turtles-turtles, all the way!

2 ***

… The human mind behaves as if it were divided into two parts, the Thinker and the Prover.

The Thinker can think about virtually anything. History shows that it can think the earth is suspended on the backs of infinite turtles or that the Earth ishollow, or that the Earth is floating in space. Millions of people (including the author of this book) believe this.

As psychiatrists and psychologists have often observed ... the Thinker can think itself sick, and can even think itself well again.

The Prover is a much simpler mechanism. It operates on one law only: Whatever the Thinker thinks, the Prover proves.

If the Thinker thinks that the sun moves around the earth, the Prover will obligingly organize all perceptions to fit that thought; if the Thinker changes its mind and decides the earth moves around the sun, the Prover will reorganize the evidence.

3 ***

Scientists, however, are still believed to be objective. No study of the lives of the great scientists will confirm this. They were as passionate, and hence as prejudiced, as any assembly of great painters or great musicians. It was not just the Church but also the established astronomers of the time who condemned Galileo. The majority of physicists rejected Einstein's Special Relativity Theory in 1905. Einstein himself would not accept anything in quantum theory after 1920 no matter how many experiments supported it. Edison's commitment to direct current (DC) electrical generators led him to insist alternating current (AC) generators were unsafe for years after their safety had been proven to everyone else.

Science achieves, or approximates, objectivity not because the individual scientist is immune from the psychological laws that govern the rest of us, but because scientific method—a group creation—eventually overrides individual prejudices, in the long run.

4 ***

We are all giants, raised by pygmies, who have learned to walk with a perpetual mental crouch. Unleashing our full stature—our total brain power—is what this book is all about.

5 ***

... Most people are not encouraged to be very smart, and are rather heavily programmed to be comparatively stupid. Such programming is what is needed to fit them into most traditional jobs.

6 ***

Human society as a whole is a vast brainwashing machine whose semantic rules and sex roles create a social robot.

7 ***

Sad as it is to say, you never understand anything by merely reading a book about it. That's why every science course includes laboratory experiments...

8 ***

Intelligence is the capacity to receive, decode and transmit information efficiently. Stupidity is blockage of this process at any point. Bigotry, ideologies etc. block the ability to receive; robotic reality­tunnels block the ability to decode or integrate new signals; censorship blocks transmission.

9 ***

Instability is not always bad: in fact, it is absolutely necessary for evolution to occur.

10 ***

… Let us just summarize the matter by saying that stupidity has murdered and imprisoned more geniuses (and more ordinary people), burned more books, slaughtered more populations, and blocked progress more effectively than any other force in history. It may be no exagerration to say that stupidity has killed more people than all the diseases known to medicine and psychiatry.

11 ***

... Even if humanity seems condemned to overall success, you can still mess up your personal life.

12 ***

... When we say someone "has a good mind," we generally mean they have a good mouth.

13 ***

... Any domesticated primate alpha male, however cruel or crooked, can rally the primate tribe behind him by howling that a rival alpha male is about to lead his gang in an attack on this habitat.

Cover image – fragment of the cover of the 2021 edition, “Sofia Media”.

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