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Prometheus Rising Paperback – May 23, 2016

by Robert Anton Wilson (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,040 ratings
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Prometheus Rising describes the landscape of human evolution and offers the reader an opportunity to become a conscious participant. In an astoundingly useful road map infused with humor and startling insight, Robert Anton Wilson presents the Eight Circuits of the Brain model as an essential guide for the effort to break free of imprinted and programmed behavior, Bob writes, "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.”

The Robert Anton Wilson Trust Authorized Hilaritas Press Edition
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  1. Print length
    321 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    May 23, 2016
  4. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.73 x 8.5 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    0692710604
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0692710609
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"We've needed this for a long time " - Henry Miller, author of Tropic of Cancer

"The funniest, most incisive social critic around." - Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and the Blade

"Robert Anton Wilson is one of the leading thinkers of the modern age." - Barbara Marx Hubbard, Foundation for Conscious Evolution

"Erudite, witty and genuinely scary " - Publishers Weekly

"A dazzling barker hawking tickets to the most thrilling tilt-a-whirls and daring loop-o-planes on the midway of higher consciousness." - Tom Robbins, author of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Jitterbug Perfume and other great books

About the Author

Author of some 35 books including Cosmic Trigger, Prometheus Rising, Schrodinger's Cat Trilogy, and co-author of the Illuminatus! Trilogy, Robert Anton Wilson (RAW or Bob) was a futurist, author, lecturer, stand-up comic, guerrilla ontologist, psychedelic magician, outer head of the Illuminati, quantum psychologist, Taoist sage, Discordian Pope, Struthian politician . . . maybe. Bob described his work as an "attempt to break down conditioned associations, to look at the world in a new way, with different perspectives recognized as models or maps, and no one model elevated to the truth". His goal being "to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone but agnosticism about everything." His "Maybe Logic" inspired the creation of the Maybe Logic Academy. Google "Robert Anton Wilson" for mosbunall info.

~~~

The Berkeley mob once called Leary and me "the counter-culture of the counter-culture." I'm some kind of antibody in the New Age movement. My function is to raise the possibility, "Hey, you know, some of this stuff might be bullshit."

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hilaritas Press, LLC. (May 23, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 321 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0692710604
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0692710609
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.1 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.73 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,040 ratings

About the author

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Robert Anton Wilson

Robert Anton Wilson

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Author of some 35 books including Cosmic Trigger, Prometheus Rising, Schrodinger's Cat Trilogy, and co-author of the Illuminatus! Trilogy, Robert Anton Wilson (RAW or Bob) was a futurist, author, lecturer, stand-up comic, guerrilla ontologist, psychedelic magician, outer head of the Illuminati, quantum psychologist, Taoist sage, Discordian Pope, Struthian politician . . . maybe. Bob described his work as an "attempt to break down conditioned associations, to look at the world in a new way, with different perspectives recognized as models or maps, and no one model elevated to the truth". His goal being "to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone but agnosticism about everything." His "Maybe Logic" inspired the creation of the Maybe Logic Academy. Google "Robert Anton Wilson" for mosbunall info.

~~~

The Berkeley mob once called Leary and me “the counter-culture of the counter-culture.” I’m some kind of antibody in the New Age movement. My function is to raise the possibility, “Hey, you know, some of this stuff might be bullshit.”

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
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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!!!
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Top reviews from the United States

C. Richard
5.0 out of 5 stars Strange at Times, but Still a Great Book!
Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2009
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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.
18 people found this helpful
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5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book!!
Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2024
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Love this book! I can’t wait to read more of his works!
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Brandon
5.0 out of 5 stars Wilson being serious-ish
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2018
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I became a fan of Robert Anton Wilson after reading the Illuminatus Trilogy, which is by far the most mind bending bible of literal bull**** I have read in my life. The themes and scenarios depicted in the book were some of the most thought provoking and out there ideas I have ever taken from a novel. That being said it was a novel, and primarily just for ****s and giggles. This book however is more informative and definitely shows more of RAWs idealogies, which I'm sure anyone who has read The Illuminatus and liked it might be curious of. The book essential debriefs on 8 circuits of consciousness humans can, potentially, climb through as they grow and become more aware in life. The model is adopted from Dr. Timothy Leary, as he gives credit to in the book, but he does say and acknowledge that he applies his own thought to its interpretation. The concept of the 8 consciousness circuits definitely gives some strong insight onto the behavior of much of our species, especially describing a mass of the population as stuck on lower circuits, simply living just to eat, poop, work and ultimately meet the goal of giving birth and then falling back onto an eat/poop/work cycle until death. The book is definitely a psychological work, and while I am no psychologist or claim/ aspire to be, Wilson does a really good job putting his ideas into laymans terms, most simply by always bringing out the humorous side of any topic. Again, I'm not a psychologist, and don't want to claim this book as a serious recommendation for anyone seeking to study psychology, but its view points are definitely abstract and will make you question how your own mind is thinking at times.
56 people found this helpful
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Arcadian
5.0 out of 5 stars The best account of the 8-circuit model of consciousness.
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2009
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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!
36 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Dalia Sanchez
5.0 out of 5 stars Libro feo, gran contenido
Reviewed in Mexico on December 11, 2021
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No sé cómo RAW hacía libros tan feos siendo él tan buen editor, supongo es el romanticismo del fanzine, pero el contenido es lo importante y es una maldita joya 😬
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Luca Zacchi
5.0 out of 5 stars Prodotto arrivato difettoso, me lo hanno cambiato con enorme professionalità
Reviewed in Italy on September 17, 2022
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Come ho scritto nel titolo, il prodotto arrivato difettoso, con un graffio notevole non previsto. L'azienda si è fatta in quattro e me lo hanno cambiato con enorme professionalità. Comprerò certamente ancora prodotti da voi
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Sergio Luis
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome
Reviewed in Brazil on July 14, 2020
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One of the most amazing and complete books I’ve ever read!
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Michael
5.0 out of 5 stars Just read it
Reviewed in Germany on July 12, 2019
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Found this book completely at random while sitting in some practical course that consisted mostly of waiting. Reviews suggested it was OK so I clicked to "look inside". Noticed it was well-written too so I bought it. I was bored anyway so who cares?

Ended up with the most eye-opening piece of literature I had ever held in my hands. A biologist myself, I've devoured multitudes of material on (human) sociobiology and evolutionary psychology. I loved the stuff, because I thought it told me why I am the way I am, and whether it's okay to be that way. Kind of like self-help, but with an exploratory touch, no?

Anyway. I found this so easy to read, as it's barely biased at all, and written in a collegial style, with a logical order. It's an older book so you'd expect a lot of faulty assumptions scattered between the lines. Turns out practically all of the material is still (or maybe even more) valid in today's "modern" world.

Sorry for being so vague. Let me make it up to you. In this book you'll learn not only why you think the way you think, and thus, act the way you act. You'll also learn why others do the same. This will enable a radically new understanding of the world you live in, and will change your communication (in word and deed) to be more clear and worthwhile. It will, if taken seriously, dissipate most conflicts that arise out of mis-communication. It will teach you that you didn't know jack s*** about the world and about people. And about yourself. But you'll be happy that it did that, because now you can take your life into your own hands, make new choices, and become who you were always meant to be. Or who you always wanted to be. It doesn't matter. You're free now.
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Francis Murphy
5.0 out of 5 stars Evolution can be fun.
Reviewed in Australia on March 20, 2019
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When you begin the process of waking to a larger reality, having a muse / guide makes the journey more inclusive and less arduous. Thanks Bob
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