"Norman Einstein": The Dis-Integration of Ken Wilber [Hardcover]

Geoffrey D. Falk (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 3, 2009

Ken Wilber is the "long-sought Einstein of consciousness research," having been generously regarded as such since the late 1970s.

Ken Wilber is "a genius of our times."

Ken Wilber is "the world's most intriguing and foremost philosopher."

Ken Wilber's ideas have influenced Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Jeb Bush, Deepak Chopra, Tony Robbins, and a host of other luminaries, spiritual and otherwise. Writer Michael Crichton, leadership guru Warren Bennis, playwright Eve Ensler (The Vagina Monologues), alternative medicine's Larry Dossey, the Wachowski Brothers (directors of The Matrix), and a handful of rock stars have all lent their voices in support of the "integral" community.

Yet Ken Wilber, his celebrated theories of consciousness, and the increasingly unquestioning population of "second-tier" spiritual aspirants surrounding him and participating in his Integral Institute (I-I) and Integral University, are not what they appear to be.

"Norman Einstein": The Dis-Integration of Ken Wilber will show you why the community around Wilber is being increasingly called a "cult," even by former founding members of I-I who have seen it first-hand.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Geoffrey D. Falk is author of The Science of the Soul: On Consciousness and the Structure of Reality, Stripping the Gurus: Sex, Violence, Abuse and Enlightenment, and Hip Like Me: Years in the Life of a "Person of Hair." He studied electrical engineering and physics at the University of Manitoba. Following that, he worked as a best-in-class computer programmer. He currently divides his time between writing, software development, and music composition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Million Monkeys Press (April 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097362034X
• ISBN-13: 978-0973620344
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.6 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,420,055 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Shut up, Norman August 28, 2011

By Ashtar Command

Geoffrey D. Falk is a former admirer of Ken Wilber turned critic and sceptic. Judging by both this book and his blog, Falk is somehow associated with CSICOP alias CSI. Thus, his criticism of Wilber is written from an atheist and materialist perspective.

Unfortunately, "Norman Einstein" is poorly edited, badly written and contains too long quotations from works by other authors. The main source for Falk's criticisms is Frank Visser's website Integral World. Essentially, "Norman Einstein" is an attempted summary of the critical articles on Wilber found on that site.

The entire book feels extremely in-house, more in-house in fact than Integral World. The causal reader may want to know why it's so important to criticize this Ken Wilber character in the first place? Falk's friend James Randi apparently never heard of Wilber until Falk approached him on the matter (Wilber claims to have paranormal abilities, something Falk wanted Randi to test and debunk).

Apart from the chapter on Adi Da and the appendix on David Bohm, "Norman Einstein" just isn't good enough, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the concrete criticisms made. Jeff Meyerhoff's "Bald ambition" is somewhat better, but the best critiques of Wilber can be found on Integral World.

Incidentally, Falk's book is available free on-line, so you don't even have to buy it, unless you collect Wilberiana or anti-Wilberiana, for no good reason at all...

I'm afraid I can only give this work two stars. :-(

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars From what comes the anger? October 16, 2011

By Randy Mack

I agree with the author in places, e.g. Ken Wilber's comments on evolution are too simplistic. For example when I hear him say that there are no first occurrences and use rabbits as an example, I cringe. Surely there were proto-rabbits. Whether the "no first occurrences" statement is true of prokaryotic cells I have no idea. However what makes the text almost unreadable for me is the author's consistent immature insulting language. It is like watching Fox News where the commentators take refuge in juvenile 'aren't we so smart and they're so dumb' kind of attitude. I really do wonder what is driving the author's anger. A more reasoned version of his criticisms would be welcome.

3 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth the read for those interested in important figures of psychology July 7, 2009

By Midwest Book Review

There are people who lead the way in their fields, and Ken Wilber is one of those people. "Norman Einstein: The Dis-Integration of Ken Wilber" is a biography of Ken Wilber, a well known psychologist whose ideas have influenced thousands of those with an interest in the field of psychology. Focusing on consciousness, Wilber's ideas are still in debate to this day, among scientists and psychologists striving to figure out what exactly consciousness is. "Norman Einstein" is well worth the read for those interested in important figures of psychology.