Customer Reviews

Robert Anton Wilson's Cosmic Trigger, Volume II: Down To Earth

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Building on the revelations that Robert Anton Wilson reveals in his first book of this series, Wilson hits a home run with the second book. The writing becomes clearer and Wilson does an excellent job of intertwining at least 5 story lines at once. One of these lines is an autobiographical tale which may help a slighty confused reader of the first book to truly understand the changes that occurred in RAW from his experimentation.

Along the way, the book dives deep into the Mafia, the CIA, the Vatican, the Masons and a host of other topics. Wilson expertly describes his voyage through uncovering a vast web of a conspiracy that unfolds right in front of him. Wilson is a master of his craft and a leading thinker in the psychological space. This book is by far the best of the series and stands alone quite well. For a reader new to Wilson, this is a good starting point. For a fan, this is definitely a must have.

For anyone new to the genius of Robert Anton Wilson, stand by for something very different! This is more factual and less occult than Cosmic Trigger I, and more easily understood than Cosmic Trigger III. For me, Wilson gets the balance just right in this one.

Cosmic Trigger II is semi-autobiographical, presented mainly in short sections of one or two pages which can mostly be read separately from each other. It is a good book for opening up at random now and again, and pondering on one of these short chapters. You might get some sobering observations on the human condition, or a bit of enlightenment and a really good laugh! There are also however, many interconnecting themes running throughout the book. Along the way, just about every belief system in human experience is called into question. A whole range of political, religious, scientific, and philosophical points of view are embraced and/or seriously challenged, not to mention the mechanical thought patterns of the reader as well. By continually shifting his and your perception, Wilson gets you to WAKE UP!

A brief selection from the table of contents might give newcomers at least some idea of the range of this book: A Sociological Horoscope, Attack of the Killer Spider, Cosmic Economics, The Square Root of Minus One and Other Mysteries. The author suggests that the important lesson of Cosmic Trigger II can be summed up as follows: "1. Never believe totally in anybody else's Belief System. 2. Never believe totally in your own Belief System." Excellent. Read this book and free your mind!

This book of Information Doubling is appropriate in that he backtracks to Cosmic Trigger 1, also leading to new experiences which is a compilation of small stories dealing with the life and times of the author. Continuing forward, R.A. Wilson argues Science and its theories as a contradictory logic, discovers Korzypiski and Non-Aristotilean Logic as a means of not only changing reality, but also seeing reality as it is. A step away from Sirius, and 23's (although minute references are made, this volume focuses on Earthly problems of secret societies, from Roberto Calvi, Vatican Bank, and Joanne Hayes, as well as murders and suicides that are much bigger than at first sight. Wilson covers lots of ground here and doubles the information from the first page to the final page.

This book is a collection of very short essays that (as a whole) does not even come close to approaching the quality and originality of the first book in the series. Vol. 2 is a decent read, but if you are expecting more of Cosmic Trigger Vol. 1, you will be very disappointed. This book is much more biographical than Vol. 1 and less "out there". RAW details growing up in a sheltered neighborhood, living in Ireland, the Mafia connections to the Vatican and the CIA, and many other things. All in all, it was interesting, but after the excellent Vol.1, I was expecting something a little more cosmic in scope.

Can a book rearrange the polarity of your conscious mind, stimulate dosing neurons into excitation, and spur you into understanding "reality." What about put a smile on your face every step of the way.

There has never been anyone like Robert Anton Wilson, cosmic jester/philosopher extraordinaire who has generously expanded more minds through the years than most so-called teachers of higher learning. "Higher Learning" through the RAW method produces a frightening, staggering number of people who end up thinking for themselves and - this part's really scary - actually start enjoying their lives.

How wonderful.

This book overflowed with new ideas that spurred a lot of new thinking. It included some fascinating parts on conspiricies involving the vatican to the massive multiplication of information in the twentieth century to the synergistic theories of R. Buckminister Fuller to the semantic E' theories of Korzbski to James Joyce. In comparison to the first one this was is less drugged out and makes a lot more sense. The first one seemed more fanatastical and less factual in comparison. The style of the book jgreatly contributed to my interest in it. It is pretty much like ten or fifteen different yet semi intertwing ideas/essays that are broken up and spread out throughout the book. This made alot more interesting than reading a typical book on philosohpy or on a specific conspiracy because the change in ideas keeps pushing you along wanting to see what he is going to talk about next.

Wilson has probably been the biggest influence on my thinking, and while Cosmic Trigger is probably his master work, this book did not disappoint. Wilson uses writing to make the reader more conscious of his own assumptions and neurological bias. He is interesting, compassionate, and curious. Highly recommended and a wonderful addition to the Cosmic Trigger canon.

This is a very insightful book, covers a few topics, such as quantum physics, history, philosophy, and just palin, good old common sense. Robert Anton Wilson is a brilliant and humorous writer.

This book is awe inspiring to me - I think we have lost a great mind in RAW's passing - I hope we can all keep ours opened a bit more in reading his observations and insights and truths! Read them all!

Wilson has done it again. from james joyce to leary. just when icke was starting to wake up to some of these things...

Hail eris. all hail discordia... and knowledge...