Thoughts On Prometheus Rising A Book Review
Usually, I do not post book reviews, but recently I read Prometheus Rising by R.A. Wilson and feel that i need to write down some thoughts on it, so I do not have to read the book again in the future, but can still refer to the ideas. This is not a summary of Prometheus Rising, but rather a retelling and an interpretation by me. If you are interested in the book, go buy the book.
First of all, books have always been very influential in shaping my thinking and my view of the world. Books lead me to appreciate engineering as a child (“The way things work” by David Macaulay), study math (Martin Gardner and Ian Stewart), learn coin magic (Bobo), and start meditation (Brad Warner). However, it has been some time that i have read a book that truly changes the way i think about the world. And then i encountered Prometheus Rising by R.A. Wilson.
Background
In my view of the world there is a single objective reality, and all individuals perceive this single reality through their individual sensation-filters. This is similar to Kant’s theory of mind (Verstand), but I do not know enough Kant to be certain. As an example, while the concrete sensations when perceiving the color red can differ between various individuals, there is still an objective color red, defined as some part of the visible spectrum of light (see also the debate around qualia).
After reading Prometheus Rising I am not so sure anymore. This book showed me that individual realities differ far more than i have expected.
Thinker and Prover
According to Wilson, the human brain can be conceptually divided into two parts: the thinker and the prover. The purpose of the thinker is to think of something. The purpose of the prover is then to rationalize this thought to fit in the worldview of the subject.
Whatever the thinker thinks the prover proves.
As an example, a person may think that immigrants are criminal. Then the prover will find evidence for this thought and will discard evidence that does not support this belief (see also confirmation bias).
So how does generation of knowledge by science work? First, it seems that it does not work at all under such a model, but Wilson offers a solution: As science is a collective endeavor, the individual biases are averaged and what emerges is consensus-reality. This neatly explains why individual scientists sometimes hold very irrational beliefs. Alfred Wegener was mocked for his continental drift theory, which is now widely accepted by mainstream geology. Isaac Newton held some beliefs about god that would currently be considered very irrational. In Prometheus Rising it is explained that Einstein rejected the emerging quantum physics (“God does not play dice”). This is an oversimplification and probably a misrepresentation. But still, it does not invalidate the main argument.
Reality Tunnels
This dynamic of Thinker and Prover leads to individuals developing and living in vastly different realities which Wilson calls reality tunnels: The communist, the Jehova’s witness, the catholic, etc. But there is also consensus-reality.
As an example, let us talk about UFOs. There have been many reports about UFO sightings or even alien abductions. To the ufologist, these are real events that have really happened. To the psychologist these events have also happened, but not in an external reality, but as a subjective experience, as part of the collective unconscious. The psychologist’s prover says that a recurring theme of alien abduction are forced medical examinations, often involving reproductive systems. These similarities point to unsolved thoughts revolving around sexual shame. Further, alien abductions often involve the same or at least very similar steps. This is further proof for the subjective experience of alien abductions. To the rationalist, UFOs and alien abductions are a symptom of mental illness such as schizophrenia.
In consensus-reality UFOs and alien abductions do not exist. If governments would release evidence for the existence of UFOs and aliens, this would destabilize the reign of religion. This is similar to the Copernican Revolution, i.e., the paradigm shift from a reality with the earth in the middle of the solar system to a heliocentric system, in which the planets revolve around the sun at their center. Here also, the influence of religion was endangered and society was destabilized.
What the thinker thinks, the prover proves.
Consensus-reality needs to be enforced in order to protect the stability of the society. This is also the cause of the taboo against homosexuality or children born outside marriage.
Architects
If we compare our consensus-reality to the apparently more extreme realities of the ufologist or of someone in the cult of Jim Jones, then we have to admit that our reality tunnels are not anymore plausible.
We are bigger architects than we think.
Each of us is constantly constructing our own reality. Everything that we think/live/experience has been constructed by us. We think our reality and we prove our reality.
And this is one of the parts, where Prometheus Rising has opened my eyes. Previously I thought that there is sensory perception untainted by thought and hence by the individual reality tunnel. The Buddha was sitting under the Bodhi tree until all his imprints fell away, and at that moment, he became enlightened. At that moment, he disembarked his reality tunnel and saw thoughts as thoughts. In my understanding after reading Prometheus Rising, even the perception is tainted by the individual reality tunnel. If you are poor, you will not perceive shrimp canapes or other luxurious food. If you are living in a large city, you will not perceive nature, as you will simply not encounter it that much. And you will rationalize that reality to yourself. If you are reading this, look around you. What decisions did you make that lead to this reality that you are now perceiving?
Changing Reality Tunnels
A part of Prometheus Rising is about changing reality tunnels. Wilson calls it metaprogramming, but i would rather prefer the term “testing the limits of reality”. In the book the example of Patty Hearst is given, which was the daughter of a publishing magnate. She was living in her capitalist reality tunnel, where people are driving too large cars and smoking too big cigars. Then she was kidnapped by the militant left Symbionese Liberation Army and subsequently entered their reality tunnel. She even participated in a bank robbery.
Similar to Patty, we can also change our reality tunnels, though we could start less drastically. We could try to adopt the belief “every day is just a little bit better than the last” or “everybody likes me”. We are constantly constructing our own reality. I am not sure if we are in the territory of pseudoscience here. Wilson does not say exactly that it works, but rather that we should try for ourselves what happens.
Conclusion
I guess this time there is no conclusion. I do not really know how to end this blog post. I have left you with some half-baked ideas, but that is how i experienced that book. Usually I am the one choosing a book and asking questions and expecting answers and knowledge. This time, as with all good books, it was the other way around. The book left me with a lot of questions.
What distinguishes me and my processes of insight from, say a disciple of Jim Jones? These people could have been considered normal, before slowly abandoning consensus reality.
Which Copernican Revolution is the next one? I.e., which parts of knowledge that are currently widespread and influential will turn out to be wrong 500 years from now on?
And finally, since there are no Bodhi trees here in Blue Rock city where i live, where would the Buddha sit, if he was in my reality tunnel?