Why are the Iluminati in rap lyrics?

Beyonce, who says she's not a member of the Illuminati. “Y’all haters corny with that Illuminati mess.”

One reason that Illuminatus! remains relevant, in spite of the fact that it's also a product of a particular time, is that interest in the Illuminati has not faded. 

"Why Is Rap So Obsessed With the Illuminati?" by Steven J. Horowitz traces the first mention of the Illuminati in rap to a 1995 song, a 1995 remix of LL Cool J's "I Shot Ya." 

"It was the beginning of an entirely new school of thought in hip-hop, one as intelligent and informed as it was suspicious and paranoid," Horowitz avers.

Informed? Maybe. I like the bit about Jay-Z wearing the "Do What Thou Wilt" sweatshirt. 

Nick Herbert on 'How to Contact Aliens'

Nick Herbert. Photo from his blog.

Posting at 4:23 p.m. about a week ago, Nick Herbert pens a charming poem, "How to Contact Aliens," which also reads like advice in the wake of the Cosmic Trigger reading group wrapping up. "We each attract the aliens we deserve," Herbert advises.

And if you haven't already, read "Nick Meets the Galactic Telepaths."

Happy Thanksgiving

Couldn't find the pictures I've taken of wild turkeys near my home, so here are Thanksgiving camels from The Wilds, near Columbus, Ohio. 

I'm grateful for all the people I've met through the blog. If you can believe what the experts say, gratitude is a major component of happiness. Happy Thanksgiving!

Link: What Supergee is grateful for.   Also, gratitude from Tyler Cowen.

Bruce Sterling, in full hipster snark mode

Bruce Sterling. Photo by Pablo Balbontin Arenas, published under a GNU Free Documentation License.

Bruce Sterling is an excellent science fiction writer (I particularly like the novel Islands in the Net, which I'll always think should have won a Hugo), and also a gifted essayist. Apparently his talents don't extend to literary criticism, at least when he's in hipster snark mode.

Check out Sterling, back in 1992, weighing in on the merits of Illuminatus! and The Illuminati by Larry Burkett, a novel put out by a religious publisher which without a trace of irony warns about the diabolical alliance between liberal Democrats and the dread secret society of the book's title. Sterling does a comparison and contrast piece. Guess which work Sterling prefers:

I recommend this novel highly.  Larry Burkett's ILLUMINATI has already sold some 100,000 copies through Christian bookstores, and it seems to me to have tremendous crossover potential for hundreds of chuckling cyberpunk cynics.   To my eye it's a lot more mind-blowing than any of Wilson's books.

And to MY eye, Sterling seems to value too highly whether the late Mr. Burkett's tome gives Sterling something to snigger about.

Here is a quote from the first review listed in the "Top Customer Reviews" section of Amazon's page for Burkett's novel. "It is clearly obvious that many of those who have posted a review of this book do not understand how the Illuminati operates or they want to keep people from buying this book to keep them in the dark. I encourage you to first do some research on the Illuminati (particularly in relation to 9/11)and then read this book. The book is mind blowing and highly suspensefully from beginning to end. Keep in mind it is a novel and does not clearly lay out information about the Illuminati it simply use brilliant characters to depict how the Illuminati operates. You must read this book if you want to know the truth and as you read it think about the world we live in and what is going on today."

No doubt to Sterling's mind, people such as the reviewer, who think that Burkett's novel reveals deep truths "about the world we live in and what is going on today," are only part of the fun. It's part of the joy of being a "chuckling cyberpunk cynic."

I'll note that Illuminatus! clearly shows compassion for people trying to make sense of a complex world; the characters are doing their best, but some of them fall short. The message, over and over again, is that everyone is trying to figure out what is going on, and it's no easy task. 

Thanks to Jesse Walker, for helping me find Sterling's piece.




 

Adam Gorightly on two sources for Illuminatus!

Illuminati Project: Memo #5 and Memo #7 from "Pat" to "J.M." (i.e. Joe Malik) in the Illuminatus trilogy has two particularly unusual citations: An article on "The Conspiracy" from Teenset magazine, and an article from the RogerSPARK, a small left wing magazine in Chicago.

Adam Gorightly has a new posting up which reveals that both of the cited pieces were written by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea, "so in essence they were quoting themselves in Illuminatus!" 

Adam even has a PDF so you can download the entire issue of RogerSPARK.

If Illuminatus! ever enters the literary canon, future literary critics will have to acknowledge that Adam did much of the work of illuminating the novel's sources.

 

Wilson, Leary and William Gibson

William Gibson. Creative Commons photo by Gonzo Bonzo. 

Robert Anton Wilson and Timothy Leary were fans of science fiction writer William Gibson's Neuromancer and other books. But it seems that Gibson's isn't particularly a fan of either of them.

Over the weekend, I noticed Oz Fritz's post on "Neuromancer, Leary's S.M.I L.E. and the 23 Enigma."

Oz wrote, "Gibson seems so tuned in and turned on to Leary's vision that I attempted to find out what kind of influence Leary had on him before he wrote the book.  I couldn't find any evidence that he'd ever read Leary or Wilson, but also didn't have much time to research it. Leary and Gibson certainly bonded after Neuromancer published.  Leary developed the video game Neuromancer based on the book.  He also included the two obvious life extension methods Gibson put in the novel in a 1991 essay for Magical Blend magazine: 22 Alternatives to Involuntary Death.  This got expanded and is currently available as the book Alternatives To Involuntary Death."

I knew that William Gibson is on Twitter, so I thought I'd try to get Oz's question answer. So Sunday I posted a question and got an answer.

@jacksontom No. Nor after! Utterly unimportant to me, the both of them.

— William Gibson (@GreatDismal) November 20, 2016

Oh, well! Kudos, by the way, to William Gibson for answering the question. He has about 202,000 followers on Twitter.

There is one connection between RAW and the "cyberpunk" movement.  Although I liked Gibson's Neuromancer and Mona Lisa Overdrive, I haven't really kept up with him. My favorite "cyberpunk" author was Bruce Sterling, and I've read many of Sterling's books. I don't know if Sterling ever read any RAW. But another fine writer, Lewis Shiner, was part of a group of Austin, Texas, writers who associated with Sterling, and Shiner, a big Illuminatus! fan, did one of my favorite interviews of Robert Anton Wilson. Shiner kindly assisted me in making the interview available online. 

British girl, 14, gets wish to be cryogenically frozen

Cryonics Institute building near Detroit, Michigan. By Cryonics Institute (Cryonics Institute) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Today's posting is a kind of footnote to our recent discussion of Cosmic Trigger: A British girl, 14, won a court case to be cryogenically frozen after her death from cancer, in hopes that she someday may be revived.

The Telegraph had a long story about this. You can also read about the Cryonics Institute, where the girl's body wound up, in Michigan, near Detroit.  It's not terribly far from where I live, a drive of about two hours and 45 minutes, according to Google Maps.

Sean Gabb, director of the Libertarian Alliance, discussed the case in a BBC interview (about 12 minutes).

For an American, one startling aspect of the case is the way the judge was able to issue dictatorial pronouncements about news coverage. From the Telegraph: "The case can only now be reported because Mr Justice Jackson ruled that nothing could be published until one month after JS’s death. He also ruled that her parents’ names and other specific details should remain secret."

Mitch Horowitz' modern esoterica classics

Mitch Horowitz

Mitch Horowitz has posted a new article, "An Incomplete List of Must-Read Modern Esoterica." 

He lists 14 books, including The Rosicrucian Enlightenment and The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age by Frances A. Yates, a book often cited by Robert Anton Wilson.

None of Wilson's own books are cited, but I think we have to cut Horowitz some slack. He jokes on Twitter that the list "Comes with a coupon: 'What!! You didn't list____________?? Are you CRAZY?' "

Moreover, he's the guy publishing the new Robert Anton Wilson biography that's in the works.

A RAW meme on democracy

Thought I'd share a meme I found on Twitter. Hat tip, Angela. 

The quotation is from Chapter Eight of Prometheus Rising.

Scott Sumner, however, argued a few weeks ago that while democracy often produces bad outcomes, it remains the best available system. 

Replying to Bryan Caplan, he writes,

"I wonder if Bryan is too sensitive to the 10% of the glass that is still empty, because of the stupidity and corruption of politicians, and not sensitive enough to the miracle of our modern rich and free society, which is a product of the 90% of decisions that they get right and that we never even think about because they are not hot button political issues. Decisions like, 'Americans can own their homes.' Or 'Americans can read pretty much any book they choose.' Or 'Americans can buy cars from Japan.' Etc., etc.

"Perhaps a North Korean peasant farmer would have an easier time appreciating the 90% of things we get right."

Thursday links

Former Oberlin professor Joy Karega

I argue that Oberlin College shouldn't have fired that left wing professor. 

The connection between trolling and Nazism? Related: R.U. Sirius on racism. 

Crytography haiku. 

States with a Democratic governor and Democratic state legislature.

Tyler Cowen defends Facebook.  Jesse Walker makes similar points here and here.

Ted Hand calls out the trolls

Ted Hand (with Erik Davis). Facebook photo.

The Robert Anton Wilson Fans group on Facebook has many sincere RAW fans, but as in other corners of the Internet, it also seems to attract some trolls. Ted Hand posted Tuesday that he's had enough:

Cruelty has no place here. Old Bob was about compassion and empathy, and looking at every problem from multiple angles. Please don't post hate literature, including memes. I spoke at RAW's funeral and have been participating in the fan culture since the Usenet days, but I'm not going to hang around if this group becomes a cesspool of white supremacist and homophobic sloganry. Thanks to those who have already spoken out.

There's been a lot of commenting about Ted's posting, much of it favorable.

Emperor Norton isn't forgotten

Emperor Norton 

The Emperor's Bridge Campaign supports a variety of projects to support the legacy of Emperor Norton.

Follow on Twitter.

And also on Facebook. 

"Everybody understands Mickey Mouse. Few understand Herman Hesse. Hardly anyone understands Albert Einstein. And nobody understands Emperor Norton."

— From Illuminatus! Page 276

Basic income news update

Charles Murray. Creative Commons photo by Gage Skidmore. 

The province of Ontario in Canada is going to try a basic income program.  Hat tip, Charles Davis on Twitter. 

While we're waiting for it in the U.S., why not make the U.S. welfare system more like a UBI? (Niskanen Center posting by Samuel Hammond.)

Charles Murray defends the UBI. (Eight minute, 26 second podcast from Cato Institute, available as MP3 download.) Murray this year published an updated version of his book on the subject, In Our Hands.