Natural Law reading group, Week 12, 'In Doubt We Trust'

A marble bust of Pyrrho, the skeptical philosopher (Creative Commons photo, source.)

In this essay, essentially another discussion of maybe logic, RAW explains why uncertainty and doubt should often be considered the default position.

I was interested in his discussion about the real difference between cults and religions, i.e., his contention that there aren't any: "There are two clear-cut and empirical lines between a 'cult' and a 'religion' [a] membership (voters) and [b] bank account, [b] being a function of [a]. If a group has enough members to influence elections, it will also have a large bank account, and these two factors will guarantee that the politicians, the cops and the corporate media will treat it with respect, as a 'religion'."

While I think Wilson is on to something, it seems to me that the passage of time also seems to be a factor; if a cult lasts for generations, it acquires respectability and becomes a religion. But I'm having trouble thinking of any other criticisms of Wilson's suggestion. I was going to argue that cults don't take it well when someone tries to leave, but Islam is a religion that is famously hard on apostates. 

Elsewhere in the piece, Wilson states that a batting average below .333 means that the hitter "missed more than two out of three times they swung." Did RAW really know so little about baseball? (A batting average is the number of hits divided by the number of at-bats; a batter with three hits in ten at bats has a .300 average. The number of times he or she swung and missed is irrelevant). 

"... if  our perceptions are somewhat uncertain, then all of our ideas, which are deductions or inferences from perception, must also remain somewhat uncertain." 

Given RAW's interest in skepticism, I am surprised that I cannot remember any of his writings mention Pyrrho, the Greek philosopher who founded a school of skeptical philosophy, Pyrrhonism.  According to the Wikipedia article, one of the sayings of Pyrrhonism is "Perhaps, it is possible, maybe." Can anyone contradict me and point to a passage where RAW mentions Pyrrho?'

The RAW Semantics blog has a piece about Pyrrhonism which says, "I don’t recall RAW referencing Pyrrho in his writings or talks (although he may well have done). But when searching for such references, I found this nice description (by Erik Davis) of RAW’s philosophical vision as 'a kind of psychedelicized Pyrrhonian skepticism'."

Pyrrho by the way traveled with Alexander the Great's army, which reached India, and supposedly was influenced by Indian philosophers. 

Bonus 'TSOG' episode of Hilaritas podcast features Bobby Campbell

In advance of the regularly scheduled podcast that will likely be released on Feb. 23, Hilaritas Press has released a bonus episode of the Hilaritas podcast to promote the release of the new Hilaritas Press edition of TSOG:  The Thing that Ate the Constitution and other everyday monsters. Mike Gathers interviews Bobby Campbell, who wrote one of the supplemental pieces included in the new edition. The website for the podcast includes the usual show notes, including a link to my blog post about criticism of the title (and see the comments), so the podcast should be interesting.

New Brian Dean book, 'Lazy Person's Guide to Framing'

Brian Dean, who writes the excellent RAW Semantics blog, has a new book out, Lazy Person's Guide to Framing: Decoding the News Media. 

Technically, this is the second edition of an earlier book. However, as Brian explains in this Tweet, the first edition was 68 pages, and this edition is 210 pages, so it's a largely new and heavily updated and expanded book.

Here is the Official Blurb: "From Futura Pocketbooks, a 'Lazy Person’s Guide' to media framing. This updated and extended 2023 edition explains how headlines and news stories can be decoded with the latest know-how from the cognitive sciences. Discover how media narratives and political spin are unravelled and deciphered by frame semantics – an essential part of what has been labelled, 'Cognitive Revolution'." 

The book looks like fun and apparently is written for people like me who don't have time to take a deep dive into the topic. 

I did a "search inside the book" before I bought it, and there were six references to Robert Anton Wilson in the text. Brian is planning to put up a blog post soon to explain why the book would be of interest to RAW fans, and I will point to that when it becomes available.

I bought the Kindle edition, which is $6.18, here is the Amazon page for readers in the U.S.  If you are a British reader, the UK Amazon page is here. 

'Prometheus Rising' audiobook released

Hilaritas Press has announce the release of an audiobook of Prometheus Rising. It is narrated by British actor Oliver Senton, who portrayed RAW in Daisy Campbell's Cosmic Trigger play and who has recorded previous audiobook versions of RAW's books. 

More here, including an audio sample. 

Other Hilaritas audiobooks (e.g., the new one,and the three Cosmic Trigger books.)

Chaos Magick at Maybe Logic Academy

Prop Anon took Pete Carroll's class in Chaos Magick at Maybe Logic Academy in 2005, and he saved his class materials. Prop has been posting them at his Chapel Perilous website. Here is week one.   He also has posted week two. 

Prop writes, "You will recall the 'Crowley 101' course that RAW taught at the MLA and that I posted last week here on this website. Whereas RAW’s ‘Crowley 101’ course was a dipping of the proverbial toe in the pond of the Occult, Mr. Carroll’s class was a cannon ball into the choppy mercurial waters of the Occult. I cannot think of a better way to study Magic(K) than by comparing and contrasting the two methods found in 'Crowley 101' and this class."

The Wikipedia bio for Carroll says, "In 2005, he appeared as a chaos magic instructor at Maybe Logic Academy at the request of Robert Anton Wilson."

Wait, I did what?

Neil Bates, in a comment posted this weekend: "I note that "www.rawillumination.net" has (of course!) 23 characters!"

I like "RAW Illumination" as a name for a blog devoted to Robert Anton Wilson, but I never noticed a 23 before, so thanks for that. It certainly wasn't deliberate.

Neil by the way is on Twitter and has a blog of his own. 

RAW's Yellow Springs arrest made national news

 

My favorite underrated RAW book, Cosmic Trigger 2: Down to Earth,  describes how RAW got himself arrested by participating in a demonstration against a barber shop in Yellow Springs, Ohio, which refused to serve Black people.

The above clipping,which Jesse Walker shared with me, is an AP wire story which Jesse found in an Indiana newspaper. So presumably it was published in other newspapers. "Those arrested were identified as Ken Huber, Dan Beverly, Robert Anton Wilson, Otha Nixon and Roland Smith, all Yellow Springs residents." The other details in the story match what RAW says in the book, at least as far as I can remember. 

The clipping is dated Sunday, July 28, 1963, so the "Saturday" arrests described in the article apparently are the day before. 

Natural Law reading group, Week 11, 'KBOO-FM Interview'

The offices of KBOO in Portland (Creative Commons photo, source).

Once again, I would like to thank Chad Nelson for finding such an interesting interview and including it in this book. 

A few notes:

Cliff Walker was apparently a longtime Portland radio figure until his retirement, but I could not find a useful biography to link to. KBOO is a Portland community radio station.

Total Recall and Jacob's Ladder, page 186. Total Recall was based on a classic Philip K. Dick short story, "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale."  I have not seen Jacob's Ladder; do y'all recommend it? 

"The general attitude of Taoism and Buddhism is that wherever you are in space-time, that's your reality." Page 190. There is a new book The Scythian Empire: Central Eurasia and the Birth of the Classical Age From Persia to China,” by Christopher I. Beckwith which claims that both Buddha and Lao-Tzu were both Scythians, and that in fact they have the same name. From the Jan. 20 review in the Wall Street Journal written by Maxwell Carter:

"Mr. Beckwith transcribes the foreign-born Laotzu’s full name, Lao-tan—“lao” was formerly pronounced like “k’ao”—into the Sanskrit Gautama. For Mr. Beckwith, the simultaneous appearance of these revolutionary figures and ideas was no coincidence. Rejecting the belief that ancient cultures were conceived locally, he proposes that the Scythians were the common denominator that 'produced the great shared cultural flowering known as the Classical Age'.”

"a beautiful lady in Berlin," page 196, Marlis Jermutus perhaps?  Rasa says that is possible, but he thinks it is most likely that passage refers to Suzanne Seiler, a woman RAW met at the Frankfurt book fair. "That's just a guess," Rasa says.

I like RAW's translation of "sex and drugs and rock and roll" to "Venus and Dionysius and Apollo," although for the sake of consistency, he should say "Aphrodite and Dionysius and Apollo." (Page 196.)

Is Jesse Michels the 'new RAW'?

 

If you are kind of old like me, you probably have run across an article speculating on who the "new Dylan" would turn out to be. Here is an article, for example, on the "Top Ten Best New Dylans." At the end, I usually wound up concluding that the old Dylan was more interesting than any of the new ones.

Jim O'Shaughnessy is a Wall Street finance guy who is a huge fan of Robert Anton Wilson and who often references RAW on his Twitter account. He is involved in various interesting ventures, including producing  movie on the benefits of psychedelics, and also has a podcast called Infinite Loops. 

Describing a recent episode, O'Shaughnessy writes, "I think of my guest @AlchemyAmerican as a modern-day Robert Anton Wilson. He's even more of a rabbit hole diver than me, and his  @YouTube Channel is a blast--listen in as we discuss some wild ideas and fun speculations." 

@AlchemyAmerican is Jesse Michels, you can check out his Twitter account  and his YouTube channel. (lots of episodes about UFOs and psychedelic mushrooms.) The Infinite Loops episode that features Michels is here. and a transcript is available if you don't want to sit through the podcast. 

Michels used to work for Google and now works for Peter Thiel. Apparently the "new RAW" isn't familiar with the old one -- O'Shaughnessy brings up RAW early in the podcast and Michels doesn't recognize the name, although he does know some of O'Shaughnessy's other influences.

I have a couple of suggestions for Infinite Loops: O'Shaughnessy should interview Tyler Cowen, and he should do an episode that features somebody interviewing O'Shaughnessy himself. (I could do a good job with the latter, focusing on his RAW interests, although I suspect O'Shaughnessy would have his own candidate in mind if he wanted to do it). 

A few more words on 'RAW Memes'

 

I have finished RAW Memes, the collection of Robert Anton Wilson quotes selected and illustrated by Rasa. Here's part of what I wrote in a note to Rasa after I finished the book: 

"Wanted to drop you a note after finishing RAW Memes. (I have been reading a few pages at a time, which I would argue is as good a way as any to read it.) 

"The essay at the back, "Bob and Rasa," is really good and adds some genuine additional value for people who buy the book. As you point out, RAW really knew quite a bit about Buddhism. (He was more of Mahayana guy and I have been more on the Theravada side when I study it, but I know enough about all variations of Buddhism to know that RAW knew his stuff.) I'm glad I bought the book."

Wilson's books are laced with references to Buddhism; does anyone know of any place where he wrote an entire article about it? 

Interview with Antero Alli

Jason Louv, the Ultraculture guy,  interviews Antero Alli on "The Art of Dying." See my earlier post. 

Louv writes in the YouTube caption for the interview:

"Antero Alli is a paratheatrical director and professional astrologer who has authored books on experimental theatre, astrology and Timothy Leary's 8-circuit model of consciousness. He has long been a pivotal figure in the magick scene, particularly due to his influential books AngelTech: A Modern Shaman's Guide to Reality Selection and All Rites Reversed. He was also recently diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and has since declined treatment. Alli very graciously granted this longform interview with me on the podcast, and we had a truly profound and phenomenal conversation."

Joseph Matheny called my attention to the interview, posted on Monday, in a Twitter posting, writing, "Antero and I share a publisher (Original Falcon), and we've hung out in Berkeley a few times. This is a great interview and possibly his last, and it's great to see he's still as thoughtful and eloquent as ever."

Latest John Higgs news: Bond-Beatles book out next week in the U.S.

The U.S. edition, left, and UK version of the latest John Higgs book. Can you spot the difference? Answer in John's latest newsletter. 

John Higgs' well-reviewed book on James Bond and the Beatles, Love and Let Die,  will be released in the U.S. and in Canada on Feb. 7, my mother's 90th birthday. And John is continuing to hold events in Britain to promote the book. This news and more is in John's latest newsletter. 

John also has thoughts on Britain's colonialist and racist past and in relation to this discusses the German word mahnmal, which he explains means "monument to national shame." He also has some interesting book and podcast recommendations. 

Obviously, it's a coincidence that John's book is coming out on my mother's birthday. But I will note that the last book my Dad read, before he died last year, age 90, was a John Higgs book, Stranger Than We Can Imagine, which I gave to Dad last summer. Dad said he thought the chapter on chaos was particularly interesting. 

Robert Anton Wilson's class on Aleister Crowley

RAW biographer Prop Anon has a new post up. "Robert Anton Wilson's 2005 'Crowley 101' course" is a long post that covers seven weeks of assignments. (Instead of breaking up the assignments into separate blog posts, as in previous similar postings at his Chapel Perilous website, Prop puts them all in one place, making things easier on the reader. " I feel like it’s time to go hyper-drive with RAW related material," he explains.)

Perhaps in some fashion this material could be included in the upcoming Hilaritas book of RAW writing about Crowley?

Here is a bit I liked from Prop's post (from Week Four, "Do What Thou Wilt"):

"RAW opens with a thought about how Crowley basically told people to think for themselves and in return he was decried as a monster and or Satanist while other religious teachers tell people to think like them and they get remembered as saints. RAW asks, 'Do you see something remarkable in this?' "