Quantum Psychology: How Brain Software Programs You and Your World (Paperback)

by Robert Anton Wilson (Author) "A young American named Simon Moon, studying Zen in the Zendo (Zen school) at the New Old Lompoc House in Lompoc, California, made the mistake..." (more)
Key Phrases: Bell's Theorem, Paddy Murphy, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Dazzlingthe most thrilling tilt-a-whirls and daring loop-o-planes on the midway of higher consciousness. -- Tom Robbins

Does for quantum mechanics what Durrell's Alexandria Quartet did for Relativity, but Wilson is funnier. -- John Gribbin, physicist

Erudite, witty and genuinely scary -- Publishers Weekly

The mans either a genius or Jesus. -- Sounds, London

What great physicist hides behind the mask of Wilson? -- New Scientist

Wilson managed to reverse every mental polarity in me, as if I had been pulled through infinity. I was astonished and delighted. -- Philip K. Dick, author of Blade Runner

With his humorous rapier, Wilson pokes and prods our misconceptions, prejudices and ignorance. A quantum banquet. -- Ray Tuckman, Broadcaster, KPFK Radio

Product Description
Throughout human history, thoughts, values and behaviors have been colored by language and the prevailing view of the universe. With the advent of Quantum Mechanics, relativity, non-Euclidean geometries, non-Aristotelian logic and General Semantics, the scientific view of the world has changed dramatically from just a few decades ago. Nonetheless, human thinking is still deeply rooted in the cosmology of the middle ages. Quantum Psychology is the book to change your way of perceiving yourself --- and the universe. Some say it's materialistic, others call it scientific and still others insist it's mystical. It is all of these --- and none. The book for the 21st Century, complete with exercises. Picks up where Prometheus Rising left off. Some say it's materialistic, others call it scientific and still others insist it's mystical. It is all of these --- and none. Second Revised Edition!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: New Falcon Publications; 2nd edition (June 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561840718
• ISBN-13: 978-1561840717
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #54,852 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #33 in	Books > Religion & Spirituality > Occult > Occultism
  #48 in	Books > History > Historical Study > History of Ideas
  #78 in	Books > Nonfiction > Philosophy > Consciousness & Thought

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars And the definition of "is" is?, April 30, 2001

By	P. Church (San Francisco,CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Maybe this is what Clinton was referring to in his infamous linguistic/legal moment before the Star Inquisition. All joking aside, this book is a MUST read for anyone wanting to start getting rid of the semantic spooks in their psyche. This undefinable book of wisdom that weaves a coherent thesis out of such diverse topics as semantics, psychology, physics, model agnosticism and subtle humor makes clear better than anything out there just how much our perceptions and behavior are controlled/influenced by embedded language biases. Just learning to write in e-prime (english without the word "is") makes the book a worthwhile experience. Quantum Psychology opened me to a whole new way of thinking and perceiving, and that is something I can say but very few other books. I truly had no idea the robotizing effect language has on our behavior and perceptions--its not a discovery you can be "told"--you must experience it through the exercises in this book. You owe it to yourself to check this one out.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books to straighten out your curves, and curve your straightness, July 20, 2005

By	Geoffrey Sato "Mr. McNasty" (Honolulu, HI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

wow, this is one hell of a book. If you are familiar with Robert Anton Wilson, and have not read this book yet, you will love it. Robots, I mean humans, are programmed by our language that we use, our beliefs, and models of the universe, thus limiting us in understanding life and each other. We often tend to categorize or file everything, everyone, and every situation into certain prejudices. Aristotelian logic puts everything into yes/no, this or that, good/evil, one or the other. Wilson talks about 'maybe logic', as well as general semantics (Alfred Korzybski), dismantles hard 'science', and links quantum theory with our neurological brain patterns. This book, along with the exercises may help you break free of most conditioning, and expand to your mind to infinite possibilities of interactive perception.

54 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do us All a Favor and Read This Book, July 18, 2004

By	F. Presson "Freeman" (Birmingham, AL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Three important words: "read this book." Three much more important words: "Do the exercises." Some readers may have already encountered the main principles of this work, either in other books by RAW or by studying general-semantics; I still think it a valuable epitome of some very useful ideas. If nothing else, I think it would reduce the number of Internet arguments that start with "As you could plainly see if you had simply READ what I WROTE ..." which would certainly rank as an improvement in MY world.

I approach anything with "Quantum" in the title with a skeptical eye, as I feel the current fashion for explaining everything from ghosts to the impossibility of artificial intelligence by reference to quantum uncertainty, quantum coupling, etc., could use either a strong dose of real physics or just a good long rest. On the other hand, many people still live in the clockwork universe of Newton or even the commonsense world of Aristotle, years after the work of Einstein, Schroedinger, Heisenberg, Goedel, "etc.," revealed the cracks in the foundations of classical and naive physics and mathematics, so anything that raises awareness of these changes in the intellectual climate will have some good effects down the line.

I once referred to general-semantics as "21st Century Zen Epistemology," which might fit _Quantum Psychology_ as well. RAW has laid out a series of observations and a program of exercises that can, quite simply, make your mind work better, unless you are among the one in a scadzillion who has already completed the work.

Please don't fool yourself on this point! Read the book anyway.
Do the work. Do us all a favor, first of all yourself.