By Apuleius Charlton
Special guest blogger
I’m nearing the end of RAW’s theory for this chapter. I imagine I can revisit these last two pages a couple of times over the next couple weeks. But I’ll always be saying the same thing: no one is objective.
Firstly, can I just say how monstrously dumb I found RAW’s aside that “[i]f you think you have a higher 'objectivity quotient' than either of them [Edison/Tesla], why haven’t you been nominated for the Nobel prize?” Not that I have any skin in this race but winning the Nobel seems like a paltry and overblown honor. A prize funded by a demolitions manufacturer to ease his conscience? Each year seems like a meaningless indulgence (in the Papal sense). This is the same committee of Swedes who denied to nominate Joyce and Borges for the prize...their judgment is beyond suspect. Anyways, fuck the Nobels. As Alan Moore said, on the off-chance he was ever nominated he would take great pleasure in turning them down.
While I have a suspicion that most human history has appeared as such during its making, it would seem now is a great time to observe the complete breakdown in subjectivity-awareness. I am easily as guilty as anyone else. I can list off ways that would illustrate the breakdown in communication that we seem to be suffering as nations and planet, and while I would try to use examples from a variety of viewpoints my selection would be flawed. One because I’ll be picking out examples that have simply come into my field of vision or that I have decided are worth my attention. These factors are further biased by what news sources I rely upon which in turn relies upon my personality, mores and understanding of the world which is a mess. And even if I were to present ideas, there are those that I am certain are more egregious than others and that judgment is wholly based on my personal ideology.
It seemed to me that leading up to and after the Inauguration there was a flurry of articles about “whataboutism” or “bothsidesism.” Most of the articles were talking about its pernicious, ill begotten presence in the discourse: in fact, all of the articles were about that. It was simply that some of the authors believed in “whataboutism” and that it is a bad-faith argument to equate two, or more, philosophies based around radically different interpretations of history. (Not to mention the validity of those sides’ motivations.) Others claimed the term was a nonexistent bugaboo meant to dissuade people from differing viewpoints of holding civil conversation and disrupting the vital exchange of ideas. I don’t have high hopes for bridging this gap or correcting the fractious spirit of our times. I don’t know. Reality tunnels galore and the metro stations are indefinitely closed for repairs.
I got into two arguments on the same day the past week -- and not on the Internet, so it was an accomplishment. One was about how fucking stupid, disingenous and laughable a man who talks about how the Ten Commandments are the perfect law system and made a documentary about how’s he a reasonable man who just wants to talk really appears. The second was about how disgustingly entitled, validation hungry and honestly pathetic I find some of the current trends on Twitter. I definitely have a political bias, but I am not comfortable with the world that either side wants to see realized. What troubles me is that it doesn’t feel as if we are reaching compromises as much as waging brushfire culture wars and our ideas don’t check and balance each other so much as grind to a stalemate.
As someone who desperately wants to see a world with weakened nation-states and crippled corporations, a world where there isn’t a structure for petty tyrants to climb or for a nefarious majority, I feel a lot of despair over the state of the world. But I don’t feel despair overwhelmingly; while I find my anxieties more relevant to the question at hand, I try my best to SMI2LE. I don’t expect too much in the course of my lifetime, but I have a lot of hope for glimmers of a shining future. While I might not get to live for hundreds of years, live in an age where demagogues simply don’t come to power or live in a space colony, I hope and believe that somebody will.
I’ll be back next time to kick around at Jehovah...I’m getting real tired of that guy.
Did you notice Brian's sly illustration when he talks about RAW's alleged "garage philosophy"?
At the RAW Semantics blog, Brian Dean writes about Robert Anton Wilson's prose style as a philosopher in a new blog post, "Philosophical Style," and argues that RAW's ability to use vivid, concrete examples rather than relying on generalizations makes RAW's ideas easier to grasp than the ideas of many philosophers.
Brian also has this to say about RAW's prose style:
Elsewhere, Bob said it was his habit to do multiple re-writes, alternatively stoned and unstoned, until he felt happy with the writing from both perspectives. I suspect that process would, if anything, tend to remove “superfluous” elements, particularly on difficult philosophical areas prone to misinterpretation.
Brian also reflects on how to describe RAW as a philosopher, and here is a paragraph that seemed interesting to me:
I’m not sure who coined the term “garage philosophy”, but Erik Davis uses it to refer to the philosophical output of both Robert Anton Wilson and Philip K. Dick. I appreciate the term – it conjures up a rough-hewn DIY approach to styling one’s own concepts (I assume “garage philosopher” is used in a kind of ironic way, like the “lowbrow” pop-surrealism art movement), but I think it probably better describes many of those who appreciate and write about Robert Anton Wilson than it captures RAW himself. Erik has also referred to RAW as a “hands-on occult philosopher”, which contrasts with (and possibly also complements) Tim Leary’s description of Bob W. as “One of the most important scientific philosophers of this century”.
Brian also compares aspects of RAW's thought to the philosopher Richard Rorty. I am much too ignorant of modern philosophy in general and Rorty in particular to be able to comment, but Brian did get me interested enough in Rorty to read the Wikipedia bio. I won't pretend that I understood most of it, but I did like Rorty reflecting, toward the end of his life, about how he wished he had read poetry more often:
"I now wish that I had spent somewhat more of my life with verse. This is not because I fear having missed out on truths that are incapable of statement in prose. There are no such truths; there is nothing about death that Swinburne and Landor knew but Epicurus and Heidegger failed to grasp. Rather, it is because I would have lived more fully if I had been able to rattle off more old chestnuts — just as I would have if I had made more close friends. Cultures with richer vocabularies are more fully human — farther removed from the beasts—than those with poorer ones; individual men and women are more fully human when their memories are amply stocked with verses."
Few new books seem more closely tied to our present moment, or more relevant to fans of Illuminatus!, than Tea Krulos' new book, American Madness: The Story of The Phantom Patriot and How Conspiracy Theories Hijacked American Consciousness.
The real-life subject of Krulos' book, Richard McCaslin, who sought to turn himself into a comic book superhero, may seem like one of the more outre characters in Illuminatus!, but he also resembles not a few of the people who stormed the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., a few days ago.
Here is a description of the book from Krulos:
The mainstream news media struggles to understand the power of social media while conspiracy advocates, malicious political movements, and even foreign governments have long understood how to harness the power of fear and the fear of power into lucrative outlets for outrage and money. But what happens when the harbingers of “inside knowledge” go too far?
Author Tea Krulos tells the story of one man, Richard McCaslin, whose fractured thinking made him the ideal consumer of even the most arcane of conspiracy theories. Acting on the daily rants of Alex Jones and his ilk, McCaslin takes matters into his own hands to stop the unseen powers behind the world’s disasters who congregate at conspiracy world’s Mecca- The Bohemian Grove. It all goes wrong with terrible consequences for the man who styled himself-The Phantom Patriot.
McCaslin is not alone, as conspiracy-driven political action has bubbled its way up from the margins of society to the White House. It’s no longer a lone deranged kook convinced of getting secret messages from a cereal box, now its slick videos and well-funded outrage campaigns ready to peddle the latest innuendos and lies in hopes of harnessing the chaos for political gain. What is the long term effect on people who believe these barely believable stories? Who benefits, and who pays the price? Krulos investigates and explains the power of conspiracy and the resulting shared madness on the American psyche.
Tea Krulos is a Milwaukee writer who does freelance journalism and who has written five nonfiction books; he has a particular interest in the weird, the paranormal and the strange but also writes about the arts, food, drink and other topics. His weekly column, "Tea's Weird Week," appears at his official website. See, for example, his column on the "The Top Ten Frightening Conspiracy Theory Stories of 2020."
John Wisniewski has done other interviews for this blog, see also his interview last year with John Higgs, his interview with UFO author and retired professor of religious studies David Halperin, his 2015 interview with Mr. Higgs, and his interview in 2014 with Adam Gorightly. Mr. Wisniewski is a freelance writer who has written for L.A. Review of Books, Paraphilia magazine, Toronto Review of Books, Urban Graffiti magazine and other publications. He lives in West Babylon NY.
John Wisniewki: Could you tell us about writing American Madness, your latest book, Tea?
Tea Krulos: The path of writing American Madness began about ten years ago. I was contacted by a man named Richard McCaslin who had told me about how he had raided a place called the Bohemian Grove back in 2002. He had adopted his own superhero persona, the Phantom Patriot and was a sort of conspiracy theory commando. I was interesting in hearing more about his life and talking to him led me down a path of researching various conspiracy theories and the people who research, believe, or promote them.
John Wisniewki: What research went into writing it?
Tea Krulos: I interviewed Richard slowly over several years and also filed a Freedom of Information Act request on him with the Secret Service, eventually getting their file on Richard. I also read and researched a lot of different theories, ranging from the JFK assassination to QAnon.
John Wisniewski: Could you tell us what the superhero movement is?
Tea Krulos: The "Real-life Superhero" (or RLSH) subculture or movement consists of people who adopt their own superhero persona and try to complete a mission. Sometimes it's pretty sensible like charity events or improving their community, but some actually try to fight crime. Richard considered himself to be a RLSH because he was a lifelong devotee of superhero comics and had adopted his own Phantom Patriot persona. He was largely rejected from that subculture at first for his conspiracy beliefs, though he did later make a few RLSH friends.
Tea Krulos
John Wisniewski: Please tell us about editing Apocalypse Any Day Now.
Tea Krulos: My book Apocalypse Any Day Now is a book collecting various takes on people believing that "the end of the world as we know it" is on the horizon, so I interviewed preppers and other people preparing for the end times, as well as explored how it is influential in culture.
John Wiskiewski: Tea you organize the Milwaukee Paranormal Conference. Could you tell us about this?And could you tell us about writing Monster Hunters?
Tea Krulos: My second book was Monster Hunters and it was about my adventures hanging out with various paranormal investigators. It was really fun and interesting, and I love hearing about paranormal topics even if I don't particularly believe them. As the book was approaching the release date in 2015 I thought I would celebrate the release by hosting a small paranormal conference, featuring some of the local Midwest investigators talking about their work. We had a day filled with speakers and panels talking about ghosts, UFOs, cryptozoology, and other topics. It was received really well so I decided to do it as an annual event. This year, of course, we had to do it as a virtual event, but hopefully will be back in-person this fall.
Yesterday's blog post about Martin Wagner's excellent Robert Anton Wilson bibliography merits a couple of follow up notes.
I've put up a link to Martin's bibliography under "Robert Anton Wilson Resources" on the right side of the page. If you recall that Martin has done a fine RAW biography and you need to find it, you don't have to search through my blog posts to look for a link -- I have placed a link in what (I hope) is a logical place where you can find it.
One of the things I accomplished with this blog is to obtain PDFs of all of the issues of Robert Shea's fanzine "No Governor" and make them available. There is a link to them under "Robert Shea Resources" on the right side of this page. Martin's bibliography lists three articles from "No Governor" and you can follow the link and read all of them.
Note that in addition to the pieces Martin mentions in the bibliography, Issue No. 8 of "No Governor" has "How to Read/How to Think," a favorite RAW piece of mine reprinted in Coincidance. In addition, Issue No. 10 of "No Governor" has one more piece worth adding to the bibliography -- RAW's letter on freedom of speech, another RAW document I rather like.
Speaking of Robert Shea, I have a link under "Robert Shea Resources" to Patricia Monaghan's excellent (and award winning) essay about Shea, "Physics and Grief." (It's at the "Patricia Monaghan Mourns Robert Shea" link.) I suggest reading it. For background, on the piece, see this.
Martin Wagner has put together a big bibliography of RAW's writings, bigger and better than anything else out there.
Rasa emailed out the link and wrote, "Martin Wagner is a dedicated RAW fan who created an archive in German, but he's working on the English version. Meanwhile, sorta at my request, he published his English version RAW bibliography that rather blows me away. There are no links, but a lot of stuff in the listings is not available anyway. It's just astounding to see what RAW wrote over his career. Martin says, 'sumbunall,' however, I think he's being modest. I'd say 'mosbunall.' The 'nall' doesn't seem obvious because the list is so impressive, but Martin is probably correct to adhere to the logic of maybe."
Much of this of course is available at RAWilsonfans.org, or Martin's own website.
Thanks to Martin for all of his good work. Above is a photo of Martin and his daughter.
On Twitter, Cosmic Trigger the Play posted some favorite RAW quotes.
I did a favorite RAW quotes blog posting in 2013 for RAW Day. Here is the one I chose, which is still like quite well:
"The Western World has been brainwashed by Aristotle for the last 2,500 years. The unconscious, not quite articulate, belief of most Occidentals is that there is one map which adequately represents reality. By sheer good luck, every Occidental thinks he or she has the map that fits. Guerrilla ontology, to me, involves shaking up that certainty. I use what in modern physics is called the "multi-model" approach, which is the idea that there is more than one model to cover a given set of facts. As I've said, novel writing involves learning to think like other people. My novels are written so as to force the reader to see things through different reality grids rather than through a single grid. It's important to abolish the unconscious dogmatism that makes people think their way of looking at reality is the only sane way of viewing the world. My goal is to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone, but agnosticism about everything. If one can only see things according to one's own belief system, one is destined to become virtually deaf, dumb, and blind. It's only possible to see people when one is able to see the world as others see it. That's what guerrilla ontology is — breaking down this one-model view and giving people a multi-model perspective."
By Eric Wagner
Special guest blogger
Bob Wilson died on January 11, 2007. January 18, 2021, marks the 89th anniversary of Robert Anton Wilson’s birth. Deadheads call period between August 1, Jerry Garcia’s birthday, and August 9, the anniversary of his death, “The Days Between” after one of the final songs he wrote with Robert Hunter. I’ve taken to calling the week between January 11 and January 18 “The Days Between” as well. The date 1/11 relates to the number 111 which plays an important role in Finnegans Wake as well as in the Kabbalah of Aleister Crowley. Beethoven’s final piano sonata has the opus number 111 as well.
Chapter 1, exercise 5, says, “With your own ingenuity, invent similar experiments and each time compare the two theories – ‘selective attention’ (coincidence) vs. ‘mind controls everything’ (psychokinesis).” On January 7 I decided to start with the hypothesis that James Joyce’s work has something to offer me right now. I will spend 23 days beginning using a “selective attention” model and then 23 days using a “mind controls everything” model. During the first few days of using the selective attention model I read Joyce’s short story “After the Race” with some commentary, read a chunk of Ulysses and a bit of Finnegans Wake, and finished rereading a book on Joyce by Sheldon Brivic.
My Finnegans Wake Club at the high school started its 23rd year last August, and we began again at the beginning of the book. We finished chapter three on January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany and the date of Joyce’s story “The Dead”, and we started chapter four on January 13. This week I also watched a nice Anthony Burgess video on the Wake on Youtube and started listening to a Bob Wilson interview on Joyce and Joseph Campbell. I didn’t realize Bob had met Joseph Campbell.
Robert Anton Wilson's birthday is Monday. In honor of that, High Times has reprinted its interview with RAW that took place in 1980. While the interview also is available at Robert Anton Wilson fans, it is welcome to see RAW getting some publicity.
A couple of the questions and answers:
High Times: One critic has described Illuminatus as a “psychedelic novel.” What is a psychedelic novel?
Wilson: Illuminatus is a psychedelic novel in the sense that it is a novel of initiation and revelation in which the characters go through various forms of brain-change. Robert Shea and I were generally dismayed and pissed off by the stupidities of American politics in the late ’60s, when we began it. We had this strong drive to write a satire on all political movements, all the way across the spectrum.
High Times: One last question: Dr. Wilson, what is your business?
Wilson: My business is making people see that there’s more than one reality.
The Twitter account for the RAW Trust says, "Circuit Five Rapture: Highly Recommended! It's not just about the rapture!"
A new podcast called Strange Exiles ("a new podcast about ideas, identity and ideology") has posted its second episode, and it featured Ian "Cat" Vincent and was billed as being of interest to Robert Anton Wilson fans.
So I checked it out and I liked it. RAW serves as almost a third person participating in the dialogue between the show's host, Bram Gieben, and Cat, because RAW's ideas are brought up again and again.
Cat for example has a nice discussion of the 23 Enigma early in the podcast. There's also discussion about Cat's ideas on magick, about Hookland, his loathing of Nazis in the subcultures he participates in, how magick can incorporate pop culture heroes, and much more. I like many of Cat's ideas, a few of his notions seem a bit "out there" to me, but it's all interesting and it seemed to me I learned quite a bit.
One of the pleasures of the podcast was finding out little bits of information about Mr. Vincent I didn't know. He's from a village where Pocahontas is buried? He's a Harlan Ellison fan? Also, the community next door from where he's from is where Mick Jagger and Keith Richards is from, which does nothing to help me deal with my delusion that everyone in Britain personally knows a famous pop star. (This is related but separate from my belief that everyone in Britain is only a couple of degrees of separation from Paul McCartney, something each British person keeps secret from Americans to avoid envy).
The podcast is an hour and nine minutes long, but it's broken up into manageable bits with a nice tune from an artist called Asthmatic Astronaut and I did fine listening over two nights.
I'm providing a link to the episode on Spotify, but as with many podcasts, you should be able to find it on your favorite app; I found it on my Android app, Podkicker.
You can follow Cat on Twitter and also follow the Strange Exiles podcast.
The book Cat recommends at the end of the podcast is Six Ways: Approaches & Entries for Practical Magic by Aidan Wachter. More information at his website.
Addendum: I can't resist sharing this Tweet from Cat: 'everyone in Britain knows a pop star' Well, I'm mates with Julian Cope, so...
I know a lot of Robert Anton Wilson fans like William Blake, but just recently I have been appreciating just how influential he is. Lately everything I read seems to reference him.
The last book I finished in 2020 was the novel Plowing the Dark by Richard Powers, which as I wrote recently seems to reference a line in a poem by William Blake. And the first book I finished this year was Death Sweat of the Cluster by Znore, which has a lot about Blake.
One of the points Znore makes is that Blake readers often seem to have sudden visionary experiences from reading him. Yesterday, I read passages from the new book Lost and Found in Alaska by Joel Rudinger, a retired English professor in Huron, Ohio, not far from Sandusky and about an hour west of Cleveland.
Rudinger's book is a memoir about his decision to go and study in Alaska in the early 1960s, when he was a college student, so a connection to William Blake was not obvious to me. But Blake comes up in the first chapter, which describes Rudinger's decision to head north from Ohio. He's just been shown an article in "Time" magazine which describes a skinned moose skin hanging from the window of a dorm on an Alaska college campus, and the professor in his class walks in and teaches a unit on Blake's famous poem, "The Tyger." Here are the first two stanzas:
In Rudinger's telling, the "What the hand, dare seize the fire" line helped fuel his sudden decision to move to Alaska and become a graduate student in English; Rudinger's book relates subsequent adventures, such as having to go behind a tree to escape a moose attack and almost freezing to death on Christmas Eve. All partially inspired by a line in a William Blake poem.
