timothy-leary-chaos-cyber-culture

I?mt.'''It-1 1 .'\.*^fe,.^J5I/A,tv-' .^3 /)C^*/^%.ii^i^=*!^j^^,^/;\ rv' ^O-?,\)f^.*\Z^EDITOIt@-MICHAEL NOIOWITZASSOCIATE EDITOI@~VICKI MAISHAUz*ff M* ^.>iRONIN PUBLISHING, INC.BOX 103$, BERKELEY. CALIFORNIA 9^701i

I TESTIMONY OF AFFECTION OR RESPECT =:)DEDICATIONSDEAREST FRIENDS!DEFINITIONS: "DEDICATE"AT 1 . To set apart and consecrate to a deity or to a sacred purpose.S" 2. To devote wholly and earnestly, as to sonfie person or purpose.S~ 3. To inscribe (a book, piece of music, etc.) to a person, cause or the like.Barbara LearyRosemary WoodruffDenis BerryAileen GettyAngela JanklowSebastian OrfaliCarolyn FerrisMike HorowitzVicki MarshallBrummbaerVic KellerAndy FrithHoward HallisGinger AshworthJudy JulyDESIGN TEAMiSusan MartinoJack LearyZach ChaseDieadra MartinoAshley MartinoBrett LearyAnnie LearySarah BrownDavina SuzanneSunyata PalmerJubal PalmerNoni HorowitzUri Horowitz: THE CHILDREN!Siobhan CyrMomoko ItoJoi ItoMimi ItoDonna WilsonBarbara FouchCamella GraceBetsy BergJanice GardnerLouise SchwartzSusan SarandonDiana WalstromJoey CavalloVince de FrancoDon, Holly & KennyGreater TalentNetworkMarianne LearyAnita HoffmandementiaJack ArmstrongJerry HarringtonJ. R BarlowAl JourgensonTony ScottJohn RoseboroChris GravesScott FisherJoel FredericksEric GardnerAlan SchwartzTim RobbinsGeorge MilmanJas MorganMondo 2000Dave & AndyRon LawrenceMichael Shields

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSI. PHOTO CREDITSPeter Booth LeeII.PHOTOS USED TO RENDERPAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS.Cindy HorowitzMichael ShieldsJeremy BigwoodHi LeitzDana GlucksteinHerb RittsMorgan Russell: William GibsonAllen Ginsberg: William S. BurroughsYvette Roman: David ByrneIII.ILLUSTRATIONS.Carolyn FerrisVic KellerAndy FrithBrummbaerRobert WilliamsIV.COMPUTER ART ANDCOLLECTION ARCHIVES.Keith HaringMatt GouigHoward HallisMichael WitteMichael HorowitzRonin Publishing,Inc.Paul KaganVicki MarshallMike SaenzMark FranklynRick GriffinV. SPECIAL THANKS. Special thanks for their help to the following:KayRon LawrenceKenn ThomasJoe RannoFlash Photo (San Anselmo, California)The author has made every effort to trace the ownership of all copyright and quotedmaterial presented. In the event of any question arising as to the use of a selection, heoffers his apologies for any errors and omissions and will make the necessary correctionsin future printings.

We aie mutatinginto another species-liom Aquaiiato the Teriaiium, and now we'ie movinginto Cybeiia.We aie cieatuies crawlingto the centei of the cyberneticwoild. But cyberneticsare the stuff of which theworld is made. Matter is simply frozen information. ... The critics of the information a^e see everythingin the negative,as if the quantityof information can lead to a loss of meaning. Theysaid the same thin^about Gutenberg.. . . Never before has the individual been so empowered.But in the information a^e youdo have to ^etthe signalsout. Popularizationmeans makingit available to the people. Todaythe role ofthe philosopheris to personalize, popularize,and humanize computerideas so that peoplecan feelcomfortable with them. ... The fact is that a few of us saw what was happeningand we wrestled thepower of LSD away from the CIA, and now the powerof computers awayfrom IBM, justas we rescuedpsycholo^ away from the doctors and analysts. In every generation I've been part of a ^roup of peoplewho. like Prometheus, have wrestled with the powerin order to hand it back to the individual."-TIMOTHY LEARY. PATAPHYSICS MAGAZINE (1990)

'Give me Timothy Leary'shumourous, humane, entertainingchallenge to oursluggish perspectives anyIday. This book is a rompthrough history fromAquaria to Cyberia.Ifeelmy neurons perkingup and snapping toattention as the fog ofmass-media disinformationturns to high-definitionclarity.He makes the chaosof our everyday lives sexy.Susan SarandonO6

EDITOR'S NOTE^their earliest fonns, most of the texts in this book firstappeared in!

TAIIE OF CONTENTS.^CHAOS CYBER CULTUREV. E3^'; .:. ^ 1231 . Hormone Holocaust 1 252. In Search of the True Aphrodisiac1 273. Operation Sex Change 1354.Digital Activation of the Erotic Brain 1 47VI. GUERILLA ART 1551 . Pranks: An Interview 1 572. Keith Haring: Future Primeval 1663. Robert Williams: Power to the Pupil 1 694. On William S. Burroughs's /nterzone 1725. William Gibson: Quark of the Decade 1746. How to Publish inHeresy Mainline Publications 1777.Reproduced Authent/c The Wizardry of David Byrne 1798. Conversation with David Byrne 181VII.DElOM/RE-ANIMATIOM 1851 . Common-Sense Alternatives to Involuntary Death(co-written with Eric Gullichsen) 1872. Hybernating Andy 204VIII. MILLENNIUM MADNESS 2IISRA'KSlJ^vAn^1 Backward Christian Soldiers: A Brief History of the Warrior Castein America 2132. God Runs for President on the Republican Ticket 2243. Who Owns the Jesus Property? 2304. High-Tech Paganism (co-written with Eric Gullichsen) 232IX. EPILOGUE 237QHBrittigin Cyberiand by Wim Coleman and Pat Perrin 239X. RESOURCES 2$iW1 . Checklist of Primary Works by Timothy Leary 2532. Bibliographic Data 2543. List of Illustrations 2574. Cybertising 260

BRUMMBAERxil TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS ( CYIEI CUITUIE

PtEFACE THE ETERNAL rHIlOSOPHY OF CHAOSPREFACEThEternalPhilosophyof Chaosseveral thousand yearsit has seemed obvious that the basic nature of the universeTHIS BOOK IS ABOUTfor operating the brain called yoga. The Buddhists produced one of the great hands-on do-it-is extreme complexity, inexpUcable disorder that mysterious, tangled magnificencepopularly known as Chaos.DESIGNING CHAOSThe poetic Hindus believed the universe wasFordreamy dance of illusion(maya). The paradoxical, psycho-logical Buddhists spoke of a void loo complexAND FASHIONINGmaybe a trillion times too complex to be grasped by the human A-B-C-1-2-3 word-processingsystem (mind).YOUR PERSONAL DISORDERSChinese poet-philosopher Lao-tzu sardonically reminded us that the tao is foreverchanging complexities at Ught speed, elusive and inaccessible to our fingers and thumbsSr ON SCREENSlaboriously tapping letters on our alphanumeric keyboards and mind-operating systems.Socrates, that proud, self-reliant Athenian democrat, indiscreetly blurted out theBJ WITH CYBERNETIC TOOLSdangerous secret when he said, "The aim ofhuman life is to know thy selves. " This is surelythe most subversive T-shirt flaunted over the centuries by humanists, the most confrontationalf& FROM COUNTERCULTURALbumper sticker on their neuro-auto-mobiles.IndividuaUstic thinking is the original sin of the Judaeo-Christian-Islamic Bibles. Itsabotages attempts by the authorities to order Chaos.The first rule of every law-and-order system is to triviaUze-deemonize the dangerousPERSPECTIVES% WITH INFORMATIONALconcepts of Self, Individual Aims, and Personal Knowledge. Thinking for Your Selves isheretical, treasonous, blasphemous. Only devils and satans do it. Creative thinking, committedout loud, becomes a capital crime. It was "Three Strikes and You're Out" for several hundredthousand Protestant dissenters during the Inquisitions of the Roman papacy not to forgetburnings performed by the Protestants when they took charge of the Chaoscontroldepartment.It was all very simple to the law-and-order controllers. There are the hnmortal GodsCHEMICALS (CHAOS DRUGS)% WHILE DELIGHTING IN CYBEROTICS% AS GUERRILLA ARTISTS% WHO EXPLORE DE-ANIMATIONand Goddesses up there in that Gated Community on Olympus Drive. And then there areus meaningless mortals, slaving around dovra here in the low-rent flatlands.The concept of individuals with choice and identity seemed total folly, the ultimateALTERNATIVESnightmare not just of authoritarian bureaucrats, but of common-sense hberals. Chaos mustf&t WHILE SURFING THE WAVES OFbe controlled!The standard way to tame and domesticate the impossible complexity that surroundsMILLENNIUM MADNESSus is to invent a few "tooth-fairy" Gods, the more infantile the better, and to lay downa few childish rules: Honour your father and your mother, etc. The rules are simple and logical.TO GLIMPSE THE GLORIOUS WILDYou passively obey. You pray. You sacrifice. You work. You believe.And then, Praise the Bored, let there be no terrorizing notions about individualsIMPOSSIBILITIES ANDhanging around this meaningless, disordered universe trying to figure how to design themselvessome individual selves.IMPROBABILITIES OF THECENTURY TO COME.CHAOS ENGINEERINGENIOY IT!The fu^t Chaos engineers may have been the Hindu sages who designed a methodIT'S OURS TO BE PLAYED WITH!

yourself manuals for operating the brain;The Tibetan Book of the Dying. Chinese Taoistsdeveloped the teaching of going with theflownot clinging to idea-structures, but changingand evolving.The message was: Be cool,Don't panic. Chaos is good. Chaos creates infinitepossibilities.The wacko Socratic idea of Do It Yourself (D.I.Y.),which created modem democracy,was a practical, common-sense, sassy Athenian version of the Hindu-Buddhist-TaoistThe standard wayto tame and domesticate theyogas. And remember where this foolishnessgot India, Tibet, and China? Know-where!The most dangerous idea is thisimpossible complexitythat surrounds us is tocrazed, megalomaniac Socratic notion ofKNOW!invent a few "tooth-fairy" Gods, the more infantilethe better, and to laydown a few childish rules:Honour yourfather and your mother, etc. The rulesare simpleand logical.You passively obey.You pray.You sacrifice. You work. You believe.which defines the serf-human beingas a thinker. Outrageous impudence! Theslave isencouraged to become a philosopher!The serf strives to be a psychologist! Apotential yogic sage!This heresy predicts whylater atheistevolutionists like Linnaeus and Darwindefined our super-chimp species as Femina(Homo) sapiens sapiens.THE CHAOS WITHOUTFor centuries there existed a fanatic taboo against scientific understanding. Why?Because of the fear of Chaos. The facts about our (apparenfly) insignificant place in thegalactic dance are so insulting to the conh-ol freaks who try (so manfully and diligently andseriously) to manage Chaos that they forbade any intelligent attempts to look out there anddig the glorious complexity.At one point consciousness-altering devices like the microscope and telescope werecriminaUzed for exactly the same reasons that psychedelic plants were banned in latertimes. They allow us to peer into bits and zones of Chaos.Galileo got busted and Bruno got the Vatican microwave for showing that the Sundid not circle the Earth. Religious and political Chaos-phobes naturally want the nice, tidy,comfy universe to cuddle around them.In the last century science has developed technical extensions of the human sensoriumthat specify the truly spooky nature of the complexities we inhabit.Stellar astronomy describes a universe of fantastic multiplicify: a hundred bilUontiny star systems in our tiny galaxy, a hundred billion galaxiesm our teeny universe.THE CHAOS WITHINIn the last decades of the 20th Century, scientists began to study the complexifywithin the human brain.Talk about Chaos!It turns out that the brain is a galactic network of a hundred billion neurons. Eachneuron is an information system as complex as a mainframe computer. Each neuron is conxivTIMOTHY LEAIY CHAOS i CYIEI CUtTUIE

nected to ten thousand other neurons. Each of us isequipped with a universe of neurocomplexitythat is inscrutable to our alphanumeric minds.This brain power is at once the most humiliating fact about our current ignorance,and the most thrilling prospect of our potential divinityonce we startleammg how to operateour brains.HUMANISM: THE NAVIGATIONAL CAME PLANChaos theory allows us to appreciate our assignment: the understandmg, enjoyment,and celebration of the delightful nature of the whole universemad paradoxes within our brains.including the totallyActivating the so-called right brain eliminates one of the last taboos against understandingChaos and provides a hands-on scientific basis for the philosophy of humanismencouragingus to team up with others to design our own personal versions of Chaos.Galileo jotbusted andBruno jotthe Vaticanmicrowave for showingthat the Sun did not circlethe Earth. ReligiousandThis book, as you will discover, covers a decade of recent writing. Looking over thisverbal disorder so elegantly arranged by Michael, Vicki, Carolp, Sebastian, Aldan, Ginger,and Judy, Iget that special, pleasurable, dizzying head-hit so prized by us Chaos addicts.For the last few months I have been obsessed by the extreme complexity of everything.We don't know who, why, where, what, when we are. What a frightmare! Ignorant,alienated agents sent on a mission with no instructions.My thrilling bewilderment about the Great Disorder (Chaos)is due, of course, to thethree symptoms of senility which I have diligently earned.political Chaos-phobesnaturally want the nice,tidy, comfyuniverse tocuddle around them.1 . Short-term memory loss means you forget exactly what's happening and why youare here.2. Long-term memory gain gives you the ambiguous perspective of what our cultureshave come up with in the way of weird solutions to the Mystery.3. This book is about redesigning Chaos and fashioning our personal disorders . . .On screensWith cybernetic toolsFrom countercultural perspectivesWith informational chemicals (Chaos drugs)While delighting in cyberoticsAs guerrilla artistsWho explore de-animation alternativesWhile surfing the waves of millennium madnessto glimpse the glorious wild impossibilities and improbabilitiesof the century to come.Enjoy iti It's ours to be played with!Signed with I^ve,PIEFACE THE ETERNAL PHILOSOPHY OF CHAOS xv

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i.i. How I Became an AmphibianIn1980 Ronald Reagan, a screen person, became the president ofthe United States. At the same time, the screen image of anIranian mullah, the leader of a notoriously irritable fundamentalistsect, became the rallying point of the Islamic world. In thesame year, surveys showed that the average American spentmore than four hours a day neuronarcotized by the artificial realitiesand fake news-dramas on television screensmore time than isspent on any other waking activity in the flesh-material reality.FROM AQUARIA TO TERRARIUM TO CYBERIAIn our eariy marine forms, we lived underwater.TVapped in Aquaria we could peer up through thesea ceiling and sense a wide worid up there.In the Devonian period (400 million years ago) we starteddeveloping the technology needed to migrate to the shoreline. am 1talking state-of-the-art terrawear: skin-tight dry suits to maneuveraround in the land worid. Thus we became amphibians, able to UveIt was about then that I too found myself mutating gradually,imperceptibly, into an amphibious form. (The word "amphibian"comes from the Greek amphi [double] and bios [life].)1began spending around four hours a day producing andscripting and du-ecting the images on my personal screen. Some ofthese digitized words and images were my ovra. Some were encodedon disks. Others were phonedto me byfriends and colleagues at almost the speedoflighLIn thisway 1 learned how to file,During the Roaring 20thboth in Aquaria and in Terrarium.During the THassic period we evolved to the mammalianstage and lost our ability to inhabit Aquaria. For the last 225 millionyears, we mammals crawled and ran around the Earth's surface,nervously improving our Terrarium survival technologies.Then, during the last million or soyears, human beings developed enormousbrains that we did not know how to operate.Our hairiess primate ancestors, banded inprocess, organize, clarify, store, retrieve,and fransmit my digitized thoughts in theform of words and icons.These exercises in translatingthoughts to digital codes and screen imageshave helped me understand how my brainworks, how the universe evolves in terms ofInformation algorithms. And, in the mostpractical mode, to understand:1. How we can avoid televisiondictatorships, and2. How we can democratize thecyberscreen politics of the future.My experiences, far from beingoriginal or unique, seem to be part of anenormous cultural metamorphosis. Likemillions of others,1have come to feel asCentury, the equationsof quantum physics ledto the developmentofquantum appliances thatallowed humans toreceive, process,andtransmit electronicimages.social groups, living in caves, fashioningclubs to fight tigers, were equipped with thesame brain model that we are just nowlearning how to manage.And for thousands of years, themore poetic or neuroiogically advancedamong us have gazed upward on starrynights, beginning to realize that anotheruniverse exists in space and that we arefrapped in the Terrarium of Earth's surface.Or what's a heaven for?Around 1900, physicists (Einstein,Heisenberg, etc.) demonstrated that the elementsof allenergy matter in the universe,out there or down here, consist of quanta ofinformation. LighLDuring the Roaring 20th Century,the equations of quantum physics led to thecomfortable over there in Cyberia, 1\ibeland, on the other side ofmy elecfronic-reality window, as I do operating in the closed-inTerrarium of the material worid. My brain, Uke yours, needs to beclothed in cyberwear and to swim, float, navigate through theoceans of electronic data.Surely we can be forgiven if we are confused byall this.Organisms in the process of metamorphosis are forced to use themetaphors of past stages in order to anticipate future stagesobviously risky business. "They'U never get me up in one of those,"says the caterpillar to the butterfly.So, let me venture some shaky allegories.andevelopment of quantum appliances that allowed humans toreceive, process, and fransmit elecfronic images. Telephone, cinema,radio, television, computers, compact discs, fax machines; suddenlyhumans were creating digital realities that were accessed onliving-room screens.This universe of electronic signals,in which we now spendso much time, has been called Cyberia.Just as the fish brain had to don dry-skin terra-suits toinhabit the Terrarium, so do our primate brains have to donCanaveral space suits in order to migrate into outer space. And usedigital appliances in order to inhabit cyberspace.SECTION I. SCREENS HOW IBECAMEAN AMPHIIIAN

THE BRAIN AS A DIGITALTRANSMITTEIEAs our brain evolves, it developsnew vehicles and information-processingdevices inorder to feed its insatiable hunger forstimulation. Like any adolescent oi^an,ttie human brain requires an enormous,continual supply of chemicaland electix)nic data to keep growingtoward matiirity.In the last eight years, Uie dendriticmetabolism of my informationorgan (brain) seems to have undergonea dramatic change. My eyes havebecome two hungry moutiis pressedagainst flie Terrarium vdndow fliroughvMch electix)nic pulses reach diereceptive areas of my brain. My brainseems to require a daily input of severalbiUion bytes of digital (light-speed)information. In this 1 am no different tiian Uie average, televoidAmerican sluggishly reclining on tiie bottom of the Terrarium. Mybrain also requires regular diets of chemical foods. But my VeryPersonal Computer has ti-ansformed my brain into an output organemitting, discharging digital Information tiirough tfie Terrariumwindow into ScreenLand.Just as tiie heart isprogrammed to pump blood, my sinewybrain is now programmed to fire, launch, ti-ansmit, beam tiioughtstim)ugh flie electix)nic window into Cyberia. The screen is dierevolving glass door tiirough which my brain botii receives andemits her signals.As a result of personal computers and video arcades, mil-Uons of us are no longer satisfied to peer like passive infantsflirough tiie Terrarium wall into tiie ScreenLand filled witii cyberstarslike Bill and Hillary and Boris and Saddam and Madonna andBeavis and Butt-Head. We are learning how to enter and locomotein Cyberia. Our brains are learning how to exhale as well as inhalein tiie datasphere.Of course, not all humans will make this move. Many of ourfinny ancestors preferred to remain marine forms. "You'll never getme up In one of Uiose," said tiie tadpole to tiie irog.Many humans will be ti-apped by gene-pool geography orcompelled by repressive societies or seduced by material rewardsand tiius reside in tiie material-fiesh worid of mammalian bipeds.Oh, yeah. To escape from tiie boredom and to rest after tiieir onerous,mech-fiesh labors, tiieywill torpidly ingest electronic realitiesoozing from tiieir screens. But Uiey will not don cybersuits andzoom into ScreenLand.We til-brains who learn toconstiTict and inhabit auto-realitiesspend some time in tiiecyberworidand some in tiie material-organicworid. We zoom tiuDugh Uie datmospherelike Donkey Rongs andPac Women, scooping up info-bitsand spraying out electixmic-realilyforms. And flien we cheerftillyreturn to tiie slow, lascivious, fleshlymaterial worid to indulge ourbodies with sensory stimulationand to exercise our muscles bypushing around mechanical realitiesin sport or recreation.On tiie skin-tissue plane,our left brains are limited tomechanical-material forms. But inScreenLand our right brains arefree to imagineer digital dreams,visions, fictions, concoctions, hallucinatoryadventures. All tiiese screen scenes are as real as a kick-inthe-pantsas far as our brains are concerned. Our brains have nosense organs and no muscles. Our brains command our bodies andsend spaceships to flie Moon by sending signals in only one hnguistic:fliequantum language of zeros and ones.NO MORE MIND-BODY PARADOX FORTRI-BRAIN ORGANISMSniH We til-brain creatures seem to be resolving tiiat most^; j ancient philosophic problem. Forget tiie quaint, mam-^fe^H malian dualism of mind versus body The interplay oflife now involves digital brain body matter digital screen.Everyfliinganimal, vegetable, mineral, tangible, invisible,electiic-is converted to digital food for flie info-starved brain. Andnow, using flie new digital appliances, everything fliat fliebrain-mind can conceive can be realized in elechxmic patterns.To be registered in consciousness, to be "realized," everysensory stimulation must be deconshiicted, minimalized, digitalized.The brain converts every pressure signal from our skins, ticklesfrom our genitals, delectables from our tongues, photons fromour eyes, sound waves from our ears, and, best of all, electi^nicbuzzlness from our screens into quantum realities, into dfrectoriesand files of 0/1 signals.We til-brain amphibians are learning how to use cyberwear(computer suits) to navigate around our ScreenLands flie way weuse flie hardware of our bodies to navigate around flie materialmechanicalworid, and the way we use spaceships and space suitsto navigate around flie outer space.TIMOTHV LEAIY CHAOS I (VIEI CULTUtE.

There are some amusing and alluring philosophic by-products.Quantum psychology allows us to define, operationally, otherterms of classical metaphysics.for pleasure. The only mechanical vehicles we will actually climbinto and operate by hand will be sports cars. TVains, planes, boatswill be used only for pleasure cruising, and will transport our bodiesfor aesthetic, artistic, recreational purposes only. Our bodily posturesA DEFINITION OF "SPIRITUAL" COULD BE "DIGITAL"Recite to yourself some of the traditional attributes of theword "spiritual": mythic, magical, ethereal, incorporeal, intangible,nonmaterial, disembodied, ideal, platonic Is that not a definition ofvvill thus be graceful and proud, our body movements delightful,slow, sensual, lush, erotic, fleshly, carnal vacations from the accelerated,jazzy cyberreaUties of cyberspace, where the brain work isdone.the electronic-digital?PERSONAL APPEARANCE IN THE PRECIOUS FLESHCAN WE ENGINEER OUR SOULS?Can we engineer our souls? Can we pilot our souls?The closest you are probably ever going to get to navigatingyour soul is when you are piloting your mind through your brain orFace-to-face interactions will be reserved for special, intimate,precious, sacramentalized events. Flesh encounters will berare and thrilUng. In thefuture each of us will beits external simulation on cybernetic screens. Think of the screen asthe cloud chamber on which you can track the vapor trail of yourplatonic, immaterial movements. If your digital footprints and spiritualfingerprints look less than soulful on the screen, well, justchange them. Learning how to operate a soul figures to take time.The quantum-electronic universe of information definesthe new spiritualstate. These "spiritual" realms, over centuriesimagined, may, perhaps, now be reaUzed! The more philosophicamong us find this philosophically intoxicating.AMPHIBIANS WILL NOT NEGLECT THE BODYImked in thrilling cyberexchangeswith many otherswhom we may never meetin person and who do notspeak our phonetic-literallanguage. Most of ourimportant creations \v\[\take place in ScreenLand.Taking off our cyberwear toconfront another withnaked eyeballs will be aprecious personal appearance.And the quality of ourLeainin; howto operateasoul figuresto take time.Those of us who choose the amphibian option will"personal appearances" will be raised to a level of mythic drama.spend some of our waking hours suited up and movingaround in the cybemetic-psybemetic ScreenLand. Butplease don't fret about our neglecting the wonderful body.COMMON-SENSE QUANTUM PSYCHOLOGYThe first point to register is this: We tri-brains should notuse our precious fieshware to work. Is it not a sacrilegious desecrationto waste our precious sensory equipment on toil, chore,drudgery? We are not pack animals, or serfs, or executive robotsgarbed in uniforms rushing around lugging briefcases to offices.Why should we use our priceless, irreplaceable bodies to do workthat can be done better by assembly-line machines?But who will plough the fields and harvest the grapes? Thelanguorous midwestem farmer will don her qbersuit and recline inher hammock in Acapulco operating the automated plough on herNebraska farm. The Mexican migrant will recline in his hammockin Acapulco using his cybergear to direct the grape-harvestmachines.When we finish our work, we will take off our cybersuits,our brain clothing, and don body clothes. When we platonicmigrants sweat, it will be in athletic or sensual pleasure. When weexert elbow grease,it will be in some form of painterly flourish ormusical riff. When we operate oil-gulping machines, we will joyrideUntil 1983, when Iacquired a personal computer, the principlesof quantum physics always seemed, to my immature materialmind, to be incomprehensible, bizarre, absfract, and totally impractical.Now that my digital brain lobes have been activated, quantumphysics seems to make common sense and to define a practical psychologyof everyday Ufe in the tri-brain mode.Einstein's theories of relativity, for example, suggest thatrealities depend on points of view. Instead of the static absolutes ofspace-time defined by material reality, quantum-brain realities arechanging fields defined by quick feedback interchanges with otherinformation sources. Our computer brainware allows us to performEinsteinian-spiritual fransformations on our laptops.Werner Heisenberg's principle states that tfiere is a limit toobjective determinacy. If everyone has a singular viewpoint, constantlychanging, then everyone creates his or her own version ofreality. This gives the responsibility for reality construction not to abad-natured biblical God, or to an impersonal, mechanical processSECTIOI SCREENS HOW IlECAMEAN AMPHIIIAN5

BRUMMBAEof entropic devolution, or to an omniscient Marxist state, but to individualbrains. Subjective detemiinacy operates in Screenljand. Ourbrains create our ovra spiritual worlds, as they say along theGanges. We get the realities we deserve. Or preserve. Or constructAnd now our interactivated brains can project wonderlandrealities onto our screens and hurl them around the globe at lightspeed. Notice the political impUcations. Quantum psychology stressingsingularity of viewpoint is the ultimate democratic perspective.The screen is the window to the new world. Who controls ourscreens programs the realities we inhabit Therefore it behooves usto control our own reahty screens.These two notions, of relativityand self-determination, arestreet-smart common sense. But Einstein and Heisenberg and MaxPlanck and Niels Bohr lost the crowd when they said that the basicelements of the universe were bits of ofl/on (yin/yang) information.And that soUd matter istemporary clusters of frozen information.And that when material structures are fissioned, they release ener-E = mc^.gy:These brilliant physicists were explaining electronic ideasby usmg thefr hands to write with paleolithic chalk on a slab ofblack slate!During the next twenty to eighty years, quantum appUancesbecame household items. The application of quantum physics toengineering produced vacuum tubes, transistors, integrated circuits.6 TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS ( (VIER (UtTUIE.

lasers, radio, television, computers. These gadgets are not intendedto move "matter-energy" around. Instead, they move information.Data-buzzes. Electronic means "informational." Sticks and stonesmay break your bones, but information can never hurt you.Although it can, alas, totally control your mind.So it becomes clear that the basic "particles" that make upmatter are bits of "information." Matter is frozen information.Energy is just the dumb smoke and sweat that matter releases in itslumbering transformations. The famous formula changes to;I=mc^, where "I" = information.At the quantumlevel the Newtonian "laws" turn out to belocal ordinances. It turns out that the smaller the linguistic element,the greater the l.Q. (Information Quotient). The larger isalways thelumbering vehicle for the miniaturized, platonic info-units it carriesaround. The universe is an intelligence system, and the elements ofintelligence are quanta. And suddenly we understand that the brainis an organ designed to metabolize digital information.THE POPULARIZATION AND PERSONALIZATION OF9UANTUM PSYCHOLOGY IN THE ROARING 20TH CENTURYExcept to those who had studied the brilliantly intuitivemetaphors of oriental philosophy, these principles of quantum psychologysounded implausible and weird when they were firstannounced around A.D. 1900. But looking back we can see thatevery decade of the Roaring 20th Century has produced events thathave confirmed and applied quantum principles.The philosophy of our century, since Peirce and Saussure, islinguistic, semiotic, semantic. So is the psychology, and the politics.Modem art, modem writing, modern music made us feel comfortablein the quantum atmosphere. The great artists dissolved representationalstructure, freed elements to create new forms, word pattems,sounds, and accepted the responsibility of subjecUve realityformation.As Walt Disney demonstrated, the brain loves to be electronized.And now we have interpersonal computers, Nintendopower gloves, Sega CD-ROMS, electronic bulletin boards. All ofthese relatively inexpensive gadgets place the power to create platonic,electronic realities in the hands of interacting individuals.THE DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION OF THE BRAINThe advent of psychedelic (mind-opening) dmgs (1960-80)produced a widespread fascination with consciousness alteration,mind exploration, inner searching, brain-stimulation gadgets, orientalyogaall based on quantum principles. The advent of personaland interpersonal computers, digital editors, and audio-video gear(I97&-90) turned the average American home into an electronicinformationcenter. At the same time, neurologists were publishingtheir discoveries about how neurotransmitter chemicals and electricalnets move information around the brain.The convergence of these waves of information, the innerpsychedelic and the ScreenLand cybemetic, made it possible for thefirst time for human beings to understand how the brain operates.The human brain is, by auto-definition, the most powerfulcontrol communication unit in the known universe. A constellationof a hundred bilhon cells floating in an ocean of info-gel.The brainhas no muscles and no sense organs.It is a shimmering sea swarmingwith microchip molecules packaged in enormous hardwareneurons, all linked by chemical-electrical signals.We could notunderstand how the bram operates until our electrical engineershad built computers. And now we are leaming how to beam ourbrain waves into the Cyberia of electronic reality, to think and playand work and communicate and create at this basic (0/1)level.Our hundred-billion-neuron computers are designed toprocess digital signals at the rate of a hundred fifty million per second.Each neuron can unfold as many as ten thousand dendritereceptors to pick up information from its neighbors. Talk aboutlocal-area networks! Talk about Central Intelligence Activity! Moreinformation is probably exchanged per second at the site of onesynapse than in the CIA headquarters in a day If any.This is the realityfield that Plato described in the 4thCentury B.C., that quantum mechanics intuited in 1900, and that wetri-brains have begun to inhabit at the end of this Roaring 20thCentury.QUANTUMBinPOLITICS: POWER TO THE SINGULARITIESthe 1980s we saw how the fabrication of quantumrealities empowered the monopoUstic organizations thatmanage the careers of screen actors like Ronald Reaganand the Pope and Ayatollah Khomeini and Mikhail GorbachevIn 1989 the nature of the quantum poUtics of thought processingand the human-computer interaction was dramaticallychanged by the introduction and marketing of digital home apphances.We can now create electronic realiUes on the other side ofthe screen not just vrith a keyboard or a joystick or a mouse. Wewear the interface. We don cybergloves, cybergoggles, cybercaps,cybervests. Cybershorts! Our bodily movements create the imageson our screens. We walk, talk, dance, swim, float around in digitalworlds, and we interact on screens with others who are linked inour nets.Cyberwear is a mutational technology that allows individual'sbrains to experience O.O.B. (out-of-body) experiences just aslandware like legs and lungs permitted the fish to escape the water(O.O.W. experiences). Cyberwear will make it possible for individualAmericans to cross the Merlin Wall and to meet and interact incyberspace.SECTION 1.1 SCREENS HOW IBECAME AN AMPHIBIAN

THE PIONEERS OF CYBERSPACEThe basic notion of O.O.B. artificial-reality appliances wasintroduced by Myron Kreuger and Ted Nelson in the 1970s. Thenitly-gritty realities of creating and inhabiting digital universes weredescribed in 1985 by William Gibson in his brilliant, epic trilogyNeuromancer, Count Zero, and Mom Lisa Overdrive. Gibsondescribed the "matrix," the dataworlds created by human digitalcommunication. By 1989 cybemauts Uke Jaron Lanier, EricGuUichsen, Joi Ito, Brenda Laurel, and Rebecca Allen were developingcyberspace realities built for two. Or more.REALITIES BUILT FOR TWOMany people are understandably disturbed by the idea thatui the future human beings will be spending more time inPlatoLand than in Flesh Play; piloting their brain-selves inside electronicrealities, interacting with other electronic humans.Like adolescents whose hormones suddenly awaken theprocess and emit electronic signals. The main function of a computeris interpersonal communication.Within ten years many of us will be spending almost all ourscreen time actively zooming around digital oceans interacting andre-creating with other tri-brains.Some industrial-age cynics say that humans are too lazy.They would rather sit back as sedentary couch slugs than be active.But we've been through these tech-jumps before in history.Before Henry Ford, only big-shot engineers and captainsemployed by corporations drove mass-media vehicles such as trainsand steamboats. Now we recognize (and often deplore) this geneticcompulsion to grab the steering wheel, smoke rubber, and freelyauto-mobilize that sweeps over every member of our species atpuberty.In ten years most of our daily operations occupational,educational, recreational will transpire in ScreenLands. Commonsense suggests that we are more likely to fmd compatible brainmatesif we are not restricted to local geography.unused sexual circuits of their brains, we tri-brains are just now discoveringthat the brain is an info-organ wired, fired, and inspired toI TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS i CVIEI (UlTUIE.

Forthousands of years, since thedawn of tribal societies, mosthuman beings have lived in drabcaves, huts, shacks, igloos, houses,or apartments furnished and suppliedwith minimum information equipmentoral-bodylanguage. Stone tools.In these shut-m, introverted,mward-looking, data-starved abodesoccurred the practical maintenance functionsthat people had to perform to keep thegene pool gomg. For most people theplumbing was crude, the clothing hardlyseductive. Cosmetics and perfumes wereminimalto say the mosthi the tribal culture there were nobooks, radios, or daily newspapers. NoVogue magazine loaded with five hundredslick pages of silk fashion, voluptuous modelspouting with desire, straining to arouse,flashing wide-open, inviting legs in highheeledshoes, and curving, suck-me tits.No, the survival information needed tomaintain the tribal home was packaged inrote, monkey-like signals expressed by thebody: oral grunts, gestures, bodily movements,crude artifacts.THE MARKETING MESSAGEFROM THE PRODUCERS OFTHE TRIBAL-CULTURE SHOWSlfwe wanted to experience a bitof glamour, if we yearned to flirtaround, looking for a sexual partner,or to check on what was happening,ifwe needed a battery recharge to keep usgoing as a loyal gene-pool serf-servant, wehad to exit the home and amble up to thevillage square. There we could get theevening tribal news, pick up the local gossip,and make deals for skins or fur coatsfor our wives in exchange for a stone knife.On designated occasions, ourentire tribe would swarm together for ceremoniesof celebration: Planting. Harvesting.Full moons. Solstice flings. Weddings.Funeral orgies, hi agricultural societies theingestion of psychotropic vegetables hasalways provided the sacramental energy forthe gene-pool gatherings. Wines, fermentedgrains, brain-change vines, roots, leaves,flowers containmg the precious neurotransmittersprepared and administered byalchemical shamans produced the "high,"the venerable, sacred, precious transcendentalstate of chaotics, ecstasy, possession,revelation, trancethe mythic-geneticright-brain vision. The Holy Confusion.You know what I'm talking about.What orgasmis to the body, this shudderingpsychedelic experienceis to the brain.At these treasured high moments,we tribe members could escape the draband activate our individual myths, our specialinner talents, and we could communicateit to others who were navigating theuownpersonal neuroreaUties. These intensecommunications, brain exchanges whichCathoUcs call "Holy Communion," we callthe Holy Confusion.At these ceremonies we tribemembers could express our visions in communaltheatre. This one becomes a jokester.Another sings. Another dances.Suddenly tricksters, artists, mimes take thecenter stage to act out the emotions and theidentifying themes that held the tribetogether.time?The sponsors of the tribal showThe clique that ran the tribe. Thepriests and the chieftains. The lovable greybeards, the stem, traditional Old Ones. Thestudio heads. Those responsible for holdingthe tribe together for their own fame andprofitThe task of luring the populace tohsten to the sponsors' messages m the feudal-industrialages was delegated to a specialcaste called: The talent The painters.The directors. The shaman. The architects.The entertainers. The minstrels. The storytellers.Their function and duty in the tribaleconomy was to cahn the fears of Chaoswith dehghtful comforting fantasies, titillatingceremonies, and romantic dramas.We could let our swollen, tumescenteyeballs pop wide open and our turgid,droolmg peasant tongues dangle as wewatched the belly dancers and musculardudes wiggle, writhe, sUther, jiggle,andquiver until our loins ached. When wewere back in the dark cave/hut in fireplaceflicker, our plain, glamourless, loyal matessuddenly turned into the Whores ofBabylon! Rrishnas with glowing hard-ons!Talk about pornography inciting desire!The perennial problem with thedirectors and the talent is this. To attractand dazzle villagers to Usten to the commercials,they had to allow the public tovicariously experience this steamy, smoking-hot,exciting, naughty stuff that wasabsolutely taboo for the people, but whichcould be acted out in morality plays, racyfestival performances, sculptures of nakedbodies. And here's where we talents comein.lb keep the folks tuning in, thesponsors needed us performers. The sexymusicians, well-endowed dancers, clowns,raunchy comedians telling risque storiesabout adulteries and risky new sexualadventures, poets, X-rated storytellers,comics, mimes. It was the talent who per-SECTION 1.2 SCREENS CUSTOM-SIZED SCIEEN lEAllTIES9

formed the safety-valve function, who gavethe populace a fantasy taste of the rich andforbidden fruits.TEdents were selected for beauty,erotic charm, powerfid emotion. We wereexpected to go too far, to push the envelopeof taboo, to test the limits of good taste.Show our tits and asses. Act out wild copulatorysex dances. Scandalize. And we wererequired to suffer the consequences. Wewere banned. Blacklisted. Sold down theriver. Forced into harlotry. Fired fromHarvard. Forever shamed and exposed inthe local version of the perennial NationalpulpitsEnquirer. Denounced as devils from theof the orthodox preachers, anddenounced as C.I.A. agents by Marxists.The sponsors of the tribal show, thepriests and the chiefs, were kept busy notonly producing the event, but also watchingand censoring and punishing to make surethat nothing got too far out of hand, orupset the sponsors.And, of course, the gene-pool commercialswere ever-present We couldnever forget who owned the drums and therattles and the spears and the shamanic talent,and the temples: The pafrons who paidfor the tribal show.THANK GOD FOR FEUDALISMMarshall McLuhan spoke wisely."Change the media and you change the culture."Literacy upgraded the esthetic leveland the efficiency of the entertainmentpackaging. The growth of cities and nationsby the 1st Century B.C. provided big budgetsand big crews to distribute continualmessages from the gene-pool sponsors.The people, the average folk, the sixpack-Joefamilies, were now called plebesor serfs or peasants.Their role in the feudalbiformationeconomy was not that differentfrom that of their tribal ancestors. The poorpeople are always seen as primitive becausethey are forced to live in tribal neighbourhoods,ghettos, inhuts, shacks, windowlessrooms, slum pads, shabby urban caveswhere the signal rate was limited to immediatebiological data exchangesbreath to death.from firstThe cultural and political messages fromthe sponsors of the feudal age were popularizedand disseminated in spectacular publicbroadcasts. The church in the centralplaza was large, ornate, decorative, loadedwKh statues and paintings of truly inspiredaesthetic genius. The medieval crime-timeshow, both Christian and Islamic, was performedby miraculously gifted talent. Thetiled mysteries of the Alhambra and the ceilingsof the Vatican Chapel still inspire thebreathless reflex reaction, "Wowl Praise theLord for sponsoring this great show!"Every day the commercial logos andmottos of the feudal culture were repeated.The muezzin's call, the church bell'ssonorous clang, the chanting of the monks,the colourful garb of the priests and mullahs.Stained glass!No wonder these feudal religionsfundamentalist,fanatic, furious, passionate,paranoid swept the Hooper ratings! Thefellaheen could leave their scruffy hovelsand walk through cathedrals with goldenceilings stretching to the sky, while candlesflickered on the statues of the Prophet. Apanoramic mosque-church scene throbbingwith colour, pomp, grandeur, wealth, andmelodrama pouring into virginal eyeballs.The palaces of the secular rulers, thekings and dukes, were equally stunning, andmuch more sexy. The priests may havepreached sexual abstinence, but the noblesfucked anyone they wanted to and celebratedsexual beauty in the paintings they commissioned.The walls of the palaces glowedwith flamboyant celebrations of naked wantonness.Greek goddesses with pink,swollen thighs and acres of soft, silky fleshsprawled on clouds of filmy desire, enticingtheir male counterparts to enjoy theirfavors.You could stand humbly with cap in handand cheer the swells dressed up in opulentlace and leather riding by in gold-decoratedcarriages. You loved the changing of theGuard, probably not realizing that thetroops were there to protect the sponsorsof the show from you, the people.The shack you live in may be dreary, butankle downtown to catch the big, spectacularGod-King show.PLEASE THANKGUTENBERG-NEWTON FORTHE INDUSTRIAL AGEThe same McLuhan trends continuedin the industrial age. Asusual, the populace was housedin small, dark rooms, but now that big isbetter, the rooms were stacked in enormousslum buildings.The factory culture created thehighest form of lifeintelligent on thisplanet, up until now: the mass-marketconsumer.The sponsors of the factory economydidn't really plan to create an insatiableconsumer class that would eventually overwhehnit with acquisitive desire. Quite theconfrary. The sponsors of the industrial culturewere those who belonged to the oneclass that easily survived the fall of feudalism:the engineer-managers. They weresometimes called Masons. They werewhite, anti-papist. Northern Europeanmechanics, efficient and rational, with ascary hive mentality totally loyal to TheOrder. Stem puritans. They worked sohard, postponed so much pleasure, and gotobsessed with engineering so efficientlythat they ended up flooding the world withan unstoppable cascade of highly appealingproducts. Labor-saving devices. Bettermedicines to save lives. Better guns to snufflives. Books. Radios. Televisions.This comucopian assembly line ofeverything that a tribal hunter or a feudalserf or a Holy Roman Emperor could possiblyhave lusted for required endless rotatingarmies of indefatigably industrious consumersveiling to lift items from shelves,haul grocery carts, unpack bags, store inrefrigerators, kick tires, read manuals ofinstruction, turn keys, drive away, and thenreligiously repair, until death, the appliancesthat rolled Uke an endless river ofmetal-rubber-plastic dovm Interstate 101 tothe shopping malls and into our factorymadehomes.How can the sponsors keep the10 TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS i CYBEI ClltTUtE

people motivated to perform the oneroustasks of producing and consuming at afeverish pace? The same old waybyputting on a show and promising them aglimpse of the high life. But this time, in themercantile culture, they can sell 'emtickets.The cultural celebrations that gotpeople out of the house in the industrialsociety were no longer religious-politicalceremonies. They occurred in commercialvenues. Public invited. Tickets at box officeor street comer. Every community boasteda theatre, concert hall, art gallery, operahouse, burlesque palace, vaudeville show,sports stadium, bullring. Et cetera. Theseentertainment factories were built toresemble the royal structures of the feudalage. Theatres were called the "Palace" andthe "Majestic" and the "Royal."In these plastic-fantastic whorehousetemples, workers could escape theroutine, drab signalry of the workday andlose themselves in lascivious, wet-dream,hypnotic states of erotic pleasure, tantalizing,carnal carnivals designed and producedby us, the shamanic profession, thecounterculture entertainers.The psycho-economics were clearcut.The consumers wanted the show tolast as long as possible, anything to get outof the hovel. More was better. The show-biztrick was to stretch out the scenes of theopera, stage play, concert as long as possible.Give 'em their money's worth.FILMS PRESENT ELECTRICREALITIESr-^^ By the mid-20th Century, at the'. '11 peak of the mechanical age, theOrelentless engineering searchfor labor-saving devices and mass distributionnaturally extended to the entertainmentindustry. The new McLuhan mediawas electricity. Stage plays could be fdmed,the rdms duplicated and sent to hundredsof theatres.No wonder thesefeudal relijionstundamentalist,fanatic, furious,passionate, paranoidsweptthe HooperThe fellaheenratings!could leave theirhovels andscruffywalk throughcathedrals with joldenceilings stretching tothe sky,while candlesflickered on thestatues of the Prophet.A panoramic mosquechurchscenethrobbin5[ with colour,pomp, grandeur,wealth, andmelodrama pourinjfinto virjiinal eyeballs.The effect was astounding. FarmerBrown could sit in the village theatre andthere in front of him, thirty-feet high, wasthe face of Clara Bow, her bulging red lipsglistening with moisture, her eyes beamingnymphomaniac invitation! Farmer Brownhad never in his wildest fantasies dreamedof this sultry thang! Meanwhile, Mrs.Brown is breathing hard and leaking herprecious bodily juices watching RudolfValentino licking his full lips with his sensualtongue!THE INDUSTRIAL MIND WANTS BIGSERVINGS OF MECHANICALLYPRODUCED STIMULATIONMovies swept the worid. The filmindustry naturally followed the commandmentof the mechanical agebig is better.Cloned quantity is better. Feature filmswere made in two convenient sizes. Theepic was very long. But the industry wasrun by clothing merchants from New Yorkwho knew how to sell, cut-rate, two pantsto a suit. So most films were manufacturedin the half-size "double-bill." If and whenthe people left their homes and traveleddowntown to the theatre, they expected agood three or four hours of escape.Over the last twenty-five thousandyears, until yesterday, the sponsors hadcome and gone, and the technologies hadimproved from oral-gestural to hand-toolto mechanical-electric. But the goals, principles,and venues of human motivationand human communication hadn't reallychanged much, and the economics hadn'tchanged. Big was always better.The talent in tribal, feudal, andindustrial cultures had two "charm" tasks.The first, and most important, was toentice, beg, grovel, seduce, use our sexualwiles, go down on our knees to the sponsorsto get the deal. The second job was toplease the customers. This was easier,because the customers basically were beggingto get titillated, turned on, aroused.They had paid money to adore the talent.The sponsors, of course, got theirSECTION 1.2 SCREENS (USTOM-SIZED SCREEN REALITIES

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onment he or she chooses to fabricate.As George Gilder says, "The culturallimitations of television, tolerable whenthere was no alternative, are unendurablein the face of the new computer technologiesnow on the horizon technologieswhich the U.S. leads the world."inThe home in the year 2000, thusequipped with inexpensive digital CD-Iappliances, becomes our private televisionfilm-soundstudio that programs the digitaluniverse we choose to inhabit, for as longas we want to inhabit it.But is there not a danger of overload?The ability to scan and fish-net miniaturized,abridged, slippery bursts ofomnipotent director.Before 1976, the bigger the moviethe better. The long, leisurely, time-consumingfilm was the great epic. A directorwho came into the screening room withanything less than 2 hours (120 minutes or7200 seconds) was considered a breezylightweight.Way back in 1966, before cabletelevision, people loved long, slow films.They provided folks with a welcome escapefrom their info-impoverished homes. Youwent to the theatre to enter a world of technicolouredglamour and excitement thatcould not be experienced at convenience ingers can punch buttons.We are no longer sensation-starvedserfs pining in dark garrets, lusting, longing,craving, starved for the technicolourfiash of soft curving fiesh. On late-nighttelevision we can bathe in sexual innuendo.We can rent X-rated films of every eroticversion and perversion ever dreamed.There is no longer that desperate appetite,that starved hunger, that yearning itch, thatraw hankering for optical stimulation.For this reason the long, slow, symphony-scoredfeature film has become aplodding line of 150 elephants trapped inthe melodramatic swamp. Movies today areessence-aesthetic informafion from the saltyoceans of signals flooding the homebecomes a basic survival skill in the 21stCentury. Our bored brains love "overload."They can process more than a hundredmillion signals a second.Of course, this acceleration andcompression of information has alreadybecome state of the art in television. Theaim of crime-time network television is toget people to watch commercials. A 30-secondslot during the Super Bowl broadcastcosts close to half a million dollars.The advertising agencies were theThis appetitefori\^M data, more and faster, can nowbe reco5[nizedas a speciesneed. The brain needselectrons and psychoactivechemicals like the bodyneeds oxy5[en. lust as bodynutritionists list our dailyrequirements for vitamins, so will our brainpsyberneticianssoon be listinji our daily requirementsfor various classes of information. di5[ital#first to pick up the handy knack of digitalminiaturization.They spurt dozens of erotic,shocking, eye-catching images into ahalf-minute info-slot convincing us that"the night belongs to Michelob." For thatmatter, we select our presidents and rulingbureaucrats on the basis of 30-secondimage clips, carefully edited by advertisingexperts.BICCER IS NO LONGER BETTER(EVEN IN MOVIES)Slowly, reluctantly, the factorybasedfilm industry is being forced to condense,speed up. Veteran, old-school moviedirectors don't want to do it.They aretrapped in the antiquated industrial-agemodels of the opera and the "legitimate"prima-donnastage play and the epic movie. And thethe living room. In the theatre you could beQueen for a Night. The director, naturallyenough, tried to stretch out the show aslong as possible to postpone the customer'sreturn to the home dimlylitby three blackand-whitetelevision networks.MINIATURIZATIONBy 1988, however, most Americanresidences were equipped with cableinputs and VCRs and remote controls.SitUng like sultans in botanical torpor, webrowse, graze, nibble as many multitone,farflashing screen-flix as our warm little fin-too long. The information-age cyberpersonsimply will not sit for 150 minutestrapped in Cimino's wonderfully operaticmind or Coppolla's epic intensifies. Formany of us, the best stufi'we see on a moviescreen are the trailers. A new art form isemerging the production of 3-minuteteasers about coming attractions.Electronic haikus! Most movies fail to liveup to the trailers that hype them. The "highlights" of a smash-grab action flick can befascinating for 3 minutes, but iethally boringfor 2 hours. Indeed, most of the newbreed of movie directors like Tony Scott,SECTION 1.2 SCREENS CUSTOM-SIZED SCREEN REALITIES 15

Ridley Scott, Nelson Lyon, and David Lynchhave learned their craft by making commercialsor MTV clips, from which havecome the new communication rhythms.Filmmakers are learning the lessonof quantum physics and digital neurology:much more data in much smallerItpackages. turns out that the brain Ukes tohave digital signals jamming the synapses.CUSTOM-SIZED MOVIESIn response to this obvious fact,some innovative filmmakers are beginningto experiment with customized movies,sized for length. The idea is this. Ifyou goto a good restaurant, you don't want to sittrapped at a table for 150 minutes eatingthe same Italian dish. No matter how delicious.No matter how many Oscars the chefhas won, most younger film buff's are notgonna sit still during a 2V2-hour spaghettifilm by moody, self-absorbed auteur-directorsfrom the operatic traditions.But if long, slow flicks are what youwant, if you really prefer to absorb electronicinformation like a python ingests apig, if you want to stuff yourself and slowlyno problem!You arrive at the cineplex and youmake your menu selection when you buyyour ticket If you want the super-giant 150-minute version of Last Temptation of Christyou pay $15, visit the rest room, pack alunch, cancel a few meetings, walk to thelong-distance room, settle in, and letScorcese leisurely paddle you down hiscerebral canals. As a television person,your attention appetite at the visual banquettable probably gets satiated after anhour. So you'll tend to select the regularsizeepic: Christ, $5 for 50 minutes.But cyberpilots and brain jocks,with an eternity of digitized info-worlds atfingertip, tend to go for the nouvelle cuisine,gourmet bufl'et. You pay $5 and watchfive 10-minute "best-of," haiku compressionsof five films. Rve "high lights"essence-teasers. Tastes great! Less filling!If you are really taken by one ofthese specialite de maison and want more,you either go to the box ofllce for a ticket oryou stick your credit card in the dispensercabinet, dial your choice, and out pops acustom-sized rental video to take home andscan at your convenience.digest a 150-minute film why,.DO-lT-YOURSELF CYBERWEAR OFFERS PERSONAL ELECTRONIC REALITIESSo far you have been a busy consumerwith many passive selective options.But, suppose you want to move intothe active mode? Cliange the film? Scriptand direct your own version? Put your personalspin on the great director's viewpoint?Heresy!Suppose, for example, that you're a 14-year-old African or Asian girland you dislikethe movie Rambo, which cost $40 million,minimum, to make. You rent the videofor S1 and scan it. Then you select themost offensive section. Maybe the onewhere Sly Stallone comes crashing throughthe jungle into the natwe village, naked tothe waist, brandishing a machine gun withwhich he kills several hundred Asian men,women, and children.To present your version, you digitizethis 30-second scene, copyit into your$100 Nin-Sega-Mac computer, and use theDirector software program to re-edit. Youdigitize the torso of a stupid-looking gorilla,you scan a wilted celery stalk or thelimp penis of an elephant, you loop in thevoice of Minnie Mouse in the helium modescreaming the Stallone line: "You gonna letus win this time?"You paste your version into the rentedtape, pop h:back in the box, and retairn Kto the video store. The next person rentingRambo will be in for a laugh and a halflWithin weeks this sort of viral contagion ofindividual choice could sweep your town.In the cybernetic age now dawning,"Digital Power to the People" provideseveryone the inexpensive option to cast,script, direct, produce, and distribute hisor her own movie. Custom-made, tailorized,in the convenient sizes mammoth,giant, regular, and byte-sized mini.i6 TIMOTHY lEARY CHAOS l CyBER CUITUHE

IMAGINEERINGf Does this sound too Star TVekky to be for real? Well, it'sI.}.already happening. Way back at Christmas 1990 six hundred thousandAmerican kids equipped with Nintendo power gloves wereI am viewing a videotape filmed by cyberspace researchers sticking their hands through the Alice Window moving ninja warriorsaround.at Autodesk, a Sausalito computer-software company.The imphcations of thisOn the screen, a woman electronic technology for work andwearing tennis shorts leans aheadleisure and interpersonal intimacy are staggering.expecting a serve. On her head she wears a cap woven withFor example, within ten years many of us will not have tothin wires. Her eyes are covered by opaque goggles. In her"go" to work. We will get up in the morning, shower, dress in ourcyberwear suits, and "beam" our brains to work. No more will wehand she holds a metal tennis racquet with no strings.have to fight tralTic in our air-polluting 300-horsepower cars, huntShe dashes to her left and swings furiously at the empty air. for parking spaces, take the elevator to our offices. No more flying,"Oh no!" she groans in disappointment. "Too low!"strapped in our seats ui a monstrous toxic-waste-producing air-pollutingjet-propelled sky-dinosaur,She crouches again in readiness then runs forward, jammedleaps with sneezing, coughingup,slams a vicious volley at the empty air and shouts sardines, fighting jet lag to attend conferences and meetings.in triumph.Tomorrow our brains will soar on the wings of electronsThe videotape then changes point of view. Now I am seeing into the offices of friends in Tokyo, then beam at light speed to awhat the player sees. I am in the court. The ball hits the wallrestaurant in Paris for a Hirtatious lunch, pay a quick, ten-minutevisit to our folks in Seattle all vrithoutand bounces physicallyback to my left. My racquet smashes leaving our livingthe ball in arooms. In three hours of electronic, global house calls we canlow-angle winning shot.accomplish what would have taken three days or three weeks ofThis woman is playing virtual racquet ball. Her goggles are lugging our brain-carrying bodies like slabs of inert fiesh.two small computer screens showing the digitized three-dimensionalpicture of a racquet-ball court. She is in the court. As sheThis is the information age, and the generator-producers ofinformation are our deUghtful, surprise-packed brains. Just as theenormously powerful machines of the Industrial age moved ourmoves her head-left, right, up-orientation-direction sensors in bodies around, so, tomorrow, will our cybemeUc appliances zoomher cap show her the left wall, the right wall, the ceiling. The our brains around the worid at light speed.We won't travel tomovement play.We press two buttons and we areof the ball is calculated to reflect "real-life" gravitystanduig on the tee of the fu-st hole at Pebble Beach. There to join usand spin.is sister Anita (who is actually standing on the lawn of her house inam ANDY FRITHexperiencing the current big trend in electronics. It iscalled artificial reality or virtual reality or electronic reality.ISome literary computer folks call it platonic reality, inhonor of the Socratic philosopher who described a universeof idealized or imagined forms more than two thousandyears ago. Cynics call it virtual banality.We no longer need to press our addicted optical nostrilsto the television screen like grateful amoebas. Now, wecan don cybersuits, clip on cybergoggles, and move around inthe electronic reality on the other side of the screen. Working,playing, creating, exploring with basic particles of reahtyelectrons.This technology was first developed by NASA. Theidea was that technicians in Houston could use their gloves todirect robots on the moon. Architects and engineers areexperimenting with an Autodesk device to walk around in theelectronic projections of the buildings they are designing.Doctors can travel down arteries and veins, observing andmanipulating instruments.SECTION I.) SCREENS IMACINEtRINC I?

ANDY FRITHAtlanta) and our dearest, funniest, wonderful friend Joi, whom wehave never met in the flesh (and who is actually standing in hisbackyard m Osaka). Each of us in turn "hits" the platonic golf balland we watch them soar down the fairway. After finishing the firsthole, we can dial-beam to Anita's patio to admire her garden, zapover to the tee of the second hole at SL Andrew's, then zoom to theLouvre to look at that Cezanne painting Joi was talking about.Within ten years, most of us Americans will be spendinghalf our waking hours zapping around in electronic environmentswith our friends. Any spot in the world we can thmk of can be dialedup on our screens with our friends. Any landscape, surrounding,setting, habitat we can think of or imagine can be quickly fabricatedon our screens with our friends.Some thoughtful critics are concerned by the prospect ofhuman beings spending so much time frapped like zombies in theinorganic, plastic-fantastic electronic world. They fear that this willlead to a depersonalization, a dehumanization, a robotization ofhuman nature, a race of screen-addicted nerds. This understandableapprehension is grounded in the horrid fact that today the averageAmerican spends around six hours each day passively recliningin front of the boob tube, and three hours a day peering docilely intoBig Brother's computer screens.The optimistic, human scenario for the future involvesthree common-sense steps:1. Cure the current apathetic, torpid television addiction,il TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS I CriEl CUlTUItE.

nCTIOH 1,3 SCUEHS IMACINEEKINC2. End the monopoly of top-dovra, spud-farm, mass-mediacentralized television, and3.Empower individuals to actively communicate, perform,create electronic realities.once wrote, "Complete physical union between two people is therarest sensation which hfe can provide and yet not quite real, for itstops when the telephone rings."Connolly's comment is useful because he distinguishesHow? By means of inexpensive computer clothing.between "physical" communication, bodies rubbing, and neurologicalsignalsAnother example? A married couple, Tom and Jane, arewalking down the Malibu beach. In material form, you understand.Real foot-massaging sand. Real skin-tannuig sunshine blue sky Onloving impulse, they decide to spend a funny, lovmg mmute or twowith then- daughter, Annie, who is in Boulder. They flipdown theirlens-goggles that look like sunglasses. Jane punches a few numberson her styUsh, designer wristwatch. Tom turns on the one-poundWalkman receiver-transmitter. In Boulder, Annie accepts their"visit" and dials them to a prefabricated pix-scene of her patio. Shewords and thoughts transmitted electrically The solutionto his problem is simple. Electronic appliances are beautifullycooperative. (Hey Cyril, if you don't want to be disturbed, just turnthe gadget off when you head for the sack, and then turn it back onwhen you wish to.)But let us examine a more profound unphcation. Connollyrefers to "complete physical union" as "the rarest sensation whichhfe can provide." Is he thereby denigratmg the "union of minds andbrains"? The interplay of empathy wit, fantasy dream, whimsy,imaguiation? Is he scorning "platonic love"? Is he unplying that sexis smiling in welcome. She is actually m her living room, but electronicallyshe is in her electronic patio. They see exactly what theywould see if they were there. When they turn their heads, they seeAnnie's husband Joe walking out waving. He points out the rosesthat have just bloomed in the garden. Remember, at the same timeIntense chaotics waitingto beTom and Jane are "really" walkmg down the Malibu beach. Theycan look over the goggles and watch two kids in bathing suits chasinga dog.re-cieated . . . with our friends.The four people sharing the "patio" reality decide they wantto be joined by sister Sue, in Toronto. They dial her and she beamsover to the "patio" in Colorado. Sue wants to show them her newReality desiyninj is a team sport.dress; so the gang beams up to Sue's living room.It is logical for you, at this point, to wonder about the cost ofthis h-anscontinental home movie-making. Is this not anotherexpensive toy for affluent yuppies playing while the rest of the worldstarves?Happily, the answer is "no." The equipment used by thisfamily costs less than a standard 1990 television set, that patheticjunk-food spud-box with no power to store or process elech-onicinformation. Designing and digitizing and communicatuig the electronicrealities costs less than a phone call. In ten years fiber-opticwires will receive-transmit more information than all the clumsyair-wave broadcasting networks. A thumbnail-size brain-chip holdinga bilUon transistors will allow us to store and process millions ofthree-dimensional signals per minute. Intense chaotics waiting tobe re-created.What will we possibly do with these inexpensive extensionsof our brains? The answer is so down-to-earth human. We shall usethese wizard powers to communicate with each other at unimaginablelevels of clarity, richness, and intimacy. Reality designingis ateam sport.To help us imagine one dimension of the communicationpossibilities, let us consider the erotic interaction. Cyril Connollyshould be mindless genital acrobatics? A grim, single-minded couplingthat can be disturbed by the platonic rapture of metaphysicalsex? Or a phone call?Here is a typical episode of erotic play that could happenthe day after tomorrow. The two lovers, Terry and Jerry, are performingbodily intercourse beautifully with elegance and sensualskill, etc. They are also wearing platonic lenses. At one point Jerrytouches her/his watch, and suddenly they are bodysurfmg twelvefootrainbow waves that are timed to their physical erotic moves.Sounds of liquid magnificence flood their ears. Terry giggles andtouches her/his watch, and the waves spiral into a Umnel vortexdown which they spin and tumble. They intercreate reality dances.Terry is a seething volcano over whom Jerry soars as a fearlesseagle, while birds sing and the Earth softly breathes.Plato, it turns out, was magnificently on beam. He said thatthe material, physical expressions are pale, crude distortions of theidea forms that are fabricated by die mind, the brain, die "soul." Weare talking about learning how to operate our minds, our brains,our souls. And learning die rudiments of mind-fucking, silky bodyjuicy fuckmg, and . . . brain-soul fucking.hi fact, most physical sex, even die most "complete unions,"

PETER BOOTH LEEWe are talkingabout learninghowis no more than graceful motions unless enriched by brain-fuckingimagination. And here is the charmmg enigma, the paradoxicaltruth that dares not show its face. Usually, even in the deepestto operateourminds, our brains,our souls. Andfusions, neither partner really knows what is flashing through thatdelightful, adorable mind of the other.In the future the wearing of cyberclothing will be as conventionalas the wearing of body-covering clothing. To appear withoutyour platonic gear would be like showing up in public starknaked. A new global language of virtual-signals, icons, 3-D pixelswill be the lingua franca of our species. Instead of using words, weshall communicate in self-edited movie clips selected from thechaotic jungles of images stored on our wrists.learning therudiments ofmind-fuckinj,The local vocal dialects will remain, of course, for intimatecommunication. Nothing fix)m our rich, glorious past will be eliminated.When we extend our minds and empower our brains, weshall not abandon our bodies, nor our machines, nor our tender,secret love whispers.We vrill drive cars, as we now ride horses, for pleasure. Wewill develop exquisite bodily expressions, not to work like efficientrobots, but to perform acts of grace.The main function of the human being in the 21st Centuryis"imagineering" and electronic-reality fabrication; to learn how tosilky body juicyexpress, communicate, and share the wonders of our brains withothers.fucking, and . . .brain-soul fuckinjf.20 TIMOTHY LEAKY CHAOS ( CYIEII (UlTIIItt

^IjFOOCO'T /^i W" ^^i? S)! =

TL That's a powerful scene! And youimothy Leary. If you could putUke that coming up to me on the street . . . much more daemonic and more human.Neuromancer into one sentence, howwould you describe it?William Gibson: What's most important tome is that it's about the present. It's notdescribe the girls as like hoofed animalswearing high heels.WG: Yeah. The office girls of the Sprawl.TL Yeah, and they're wearing vagmas,really about an unagined future. It's a wayof trying to come to terms with the awe andand Oh, God! That's a powerful scene.terror inspired in me by the world in whichwe live. I'm anxious to know what they'llWG: 1 like the idea of that subway. That'sthe state-of-the-art subway It goes frommake of it in Japan. Oh, God I'm starting Atlanta to Boston, real fast.to feel Uke Edgar Rice Burroughs or something.TL You've created a world.1 mean, how did Edgar RiceBurroughs finallycome to feel aboutWG: What you're getting when you readTarzan in his own heart, you know? He got that book the impression is very complicated,real tired of IL Wound up Uving m Tarzana,California.TL You'll end up living in a space colonycalled Neuromancer.WG: That would be okay 1 don't thinkwe're going to have this kind of future. 1think this book is so much wtcer than whatseems to be happening.1 mean, this wouldbut it's all actually one moleculethick. Some of it is still pretty much of amystery to me. You know, the United Statesis never mentioned in the book. And there'ssome question as to whether the UnitedStates exists as a poUtlcal entity or if, in fact,it's been Balkanized m some weud wayThat's kmd of a favorite idea of mme, thatthe worid should be chopped up mtobe a cool place to visit. 1 wouldn't mindsmaller . . .going there.TL: Where?WG: To the Sprawl, to that future.TL Me too, boy.WG: West-coast separatism and stuff. InCount Zero,1 mention what's happening mCalifornia a httle bit. One of the charactersTL: Going up the well?WG: Yeah. Go up the well and all of that Ahas a gjrlfriend who hves in a pontoon citythat's tethered off Redondo. Kind of like alot of people think that Neuromancer is a hallucinated . . . it's the Sprawl goesbleak book, but 1 think it's optimistic.SausaUto the Sprawl but mellower.At the end of Neuromancer, theTL: I do, too.WG: I think the future is actually gonna bemore boring.I thuik some kind ofFalwellian future would probably be myidea of the worst thing that could happen.entire Mahix is sentient It has, m someways, one will. And, as it tells Case, kind ofit's matter-of-factly, found another of itskmd on Alpha Centuri or somewhere; so it'sgot something to talk to. Count Zero startsseven years later, and Uke Yeats's poemTL Yeah. That was a wonderful sceneabout how the center wouldn't hold, thiswhere you have those Christians whosort of God-consciousness is now fragmented.were gonna mug those girls in theIt hasn't been able to keep it together.subway.WG: It's not clear whether they're going tomug them or just try to force some horriblepamphkt on them or something.Personally, I have a real phobia about guysSo the voodoo cultists m the Sprawl, whobeUeve that they have contacted the voodoopantheon through the Matrix, are in factdeaUng with these fragmented elements ofthis God tiring.And the fragments areTCase could be oneof Burroujhs'swild boys. . .in a I'm way.deeply influencedby Burroughs. . . .he found 'fiftiesscience fictionand used it like arusty can openeron society'sju5[ular.SECTION II. I (VIEKNETICStONVEISATION WITH WIlllAM CJISON 23

eflecting cultural expectations.Anyway, I've got to do a diiferentkind of book now, because I'm already gettingsome reviews saying, "Well, this isgood, but it's more of the same stuff." I'mdesperate to avoid thatTL Frank Herbert, who was a lovely guy,wrote a book that's entirely differentfrom Dune. It's about humans whobecame insects up in Portland. Did youever read it? It's a nice change. In someIways, like that book as much as Dune.He got into an entirely different situation.WG: Well, he was trapped! That's somethingI'm very worried about 1 get flashesoff don't want to be Frank Herbert"Because even as wealthy and as nice a guyas he was,1 don't think he was happy withwhat had happenedto hun creatively.Hedid get trapped.It's different for somebodylike Douglas Adams, where I think that thewhole thing started off as such a goof forhim that it was just a stroke of good luckthat he built on. But Herbert was very serious,at a certain point And then, gradually,he wound up having to do more of the same,because, I mean, how can you turn peopledown when something like that getsenough momentum?TL Douglas Adams told me that the threebooks were one book, and the publishersaid to split them up into three. He madea million dollars on each one of them.And they're nice. It's a nice tour.WG: Yeah. They're funny.TU These big books...WG: I can't go for thatTL Tm glad about that NormanSpinrad ... by the wayI love Norman.But I have a terrible problem with him.He makes them too big. Did you readChild ofFortune?WG: It was too big for me.TL Yeah, ff he had divided it down thecenter, ff he could only cut it ui haff.WG: He wrote a book called 77k IronDream. It's a science-fiction novel by AdolfHitler, in an alternate worid where Hitlerbecame a science-fiction writer. It's a critiqueof the innately fascist element in a lotof traditional science fiction. Very funny.For me, given the data in the books, thekeys to Case's personality are the estrangementfrom his body, the meat, which itseems to me, he does overcome. Peoplehave criticized Neuromancer for not bringingCase to some kind of transcendentexperience. But in fact I think he doeshave it He has it within the construct of thebeach, and he has it when he has hisorgasm. There's a long paragraph therewhere he accepts the meat as being thisinfinite and complex thing, hi some ways,he's more human after thatTL In some ways he reminds me of someof Burroughs's characters.WG: (Equivocally) Yeah. Case could be oneof Burroughs's wild boys ... in a way I'mdeeply influenced by Burroughs. 1 alwaystelleverybody that there's a very stronginfluence there. 1 didn't think I'd be able toput that over on the American science-fictionpeople, because they either don't knowwho Burroughsis or they're immediatelyhostile ... he found 'fifties science fictionand used it like a rusty can opener on society'sjugular. They never understood. But Iwas like 15 when I read The Naked Lunchand it sorta splattered my head all over thewalls. And I have my megalomaniac fantasyof some little kid in Indiana picking upNeuromancer and pow!TL Well, that happens, dude. Don'tworry. There's five hundred thousandcopies already.WG: 1had to teach myself not to write toomuch like Burroughs. He was that kind ofinfluence. 1 had to weed some of thatBurroughsian stuff out of it hi an interviewin London, in one of my rare lucidmoments, 1told this guy that the differencebetween what Burroughs did and what Idid is that Burroughs would just glue thestuff down on the page but 1 airbrushedit all.TL Burroughs and I are close friends.We've been through a lot together. I wentto Tangier m 1961. 1 was m a hotel barand Burroughs walks in with these twobeautfful English boys. I started tellmghun about these new drugs and, ofcourse, he knew much more about drugsthan anyone in the worid! I was just thischildish Harvard professor domg my bigresearch project on drugs. AndBurroughs is saying, "Oh, shit. Here theycome. Boy Scouts. And they're gonnasave the world with drugs. Yeah, sure."We brought him back to Harvard. Hecame to the prison project and all. Igotto know him very well. He couldn't standus. We were much too goody-goody. It's

the shit out of everybody.TL Molly says, "You Uke to jack m. IVegotta tussle." That's a beautiful two-liner.WG: 1 was originally gonna call this bookJacked In. The people at Ace said it soundedtoo much like "jacked off," but that wasmy first thought for a title. Molly's tougherthan Case because Case is the vievipointcharacter, and 1 wanted an enigmatic character,so she's more shut off from me. It'sthe symbolism of the sunglasses. He nevereven fmds out what colour her eyes are.TL And making love, she says. . .WG: "No fmgerprints." Yeah, she's a toughone for me to do, because that's some kindof image from . . .my She's a bushido figure.When she says she's street samurai,she means itquite literally. She has thiscode. And itmay grow out of a sort ofpathological personahty, but it still is hercode.TL What was that segment where shewas like in hypnosis; so she didnt knowwhat was going on?BRUMMBAERWG: Oh, they use a sort of sensory cut-out,implied that the crowd that Case hungout with is a drug crowd.WG: Yeah. This seems to be a world whereeveryix)dy is pretty much stoned most ofthe time.TL: That first chapter . . . whew!WG: Ihad to go over and over that I musthave rewritten it a hundred and fifty times.TL Fll bet. It's like a symphony or afugue. This is the fifth fine m the book:"It's Uke my body developed this massivedrug deficiency. It was a Sprawl voiceand a Sprawl joke." (Laughs) Of course,his life was jacking in.WG: Oh yeah. He just lives for . . .TL Cyberspace.WG: Yeah. For cyberspace.TL Would you describe cyberspace as thematrix of all the hallucmations?WG: Yeah, it's a consensual hallucinationthat these people have created. It's like,with this equipment, you can agree to sharethe same hallucinations. In effect, they'recreating a world. It's not really a place, it'snot really space. It's notional space.TL See, we Uve m that space. We that arehooked up to Neuromancer are living uithat consensual hallucmation.WG: 1 didn't think women would go for theMolly character very much. I've really beensurprised at the number of women whohave come up to me and said, "Molly'sgreaL 1 really got off on her." 1 thinkbeatsAmerica is ready for a female lead whoso that she isn't conscious when this stuff ishappening, but her motor system was beingrun by a program. So, in effect, she becamekind of a living sex-shop doll.Programmed.The people who write the program are inBerlin. She says, "They have some nastyshit there."Actually, this starts in BurningChrome. That's where it comes from. Oneof the key things in that story is when thisguy realizes that his girlfriend is working inone of these places in order to buy herselfan improved pair of artificial eyes. 1described it a little more clearly in thatstory. The prostitutes aren't conscious.They don't remember. In Burning Chrome,the guy says the orgasms are like little silverfiares right out at the edge of space, andthat's the . . .TL That's the guy's orgasm, not hers.She's not even feeUngit.SECTION II. CYIERKETICS CONVERSATION WITH WIILIAM CIISON 25

WG: Well, she can feel a little bit, maybe . . .TL What would you say about Riviera?WG: Riviera is like some kind of terminalbag-person. He grows up in a radioactivepit, with cannibalism pretty much the onlyway to get along. It's like Suddenly LastSummer. Ever see that? Where the guy'sripped apart by the little Mexican children?Well, Riviera is like that, a feral child. He'sWG:smart, incredibly perverse. But all the stuffYeah? Really? WeU, 1 just try to reflectthe world around me.TL: I know. You're a mirror. Yes. Howabout Lucas Yonderboy?WG: Lucas Yonderboy was my reaction tothe spookier and more interesting side ofpunk. Kind of young and enigmatic. Cool tothe point of inexphcability. And he's a memberof the Panther Modems. They're sortalike Marshall McLuhan's Revenge. MediaAnd I decided I didnt want to do it. Fvesaid this to many people, so I should sayit to you. Your book had the same effecton me as Gravity's Rainbow.The way I read Gravity's Rainbowis pretty interesting. At one point,the American government was trying toget me to talk.They were putting incrediblepressure on me. This FBI guy said If Ididnt talk . . . Veil put your name out atthe federal prison with the jacket of a121 think America is readyfor a femalethat he doesthe little projected hallucina-monsters. It's as though the worst streetsnitch." So 1 ended up in a prison calledtions and thingsare relatively low tech.gang you ever ran into were, at the sameSandstone. As soon as 1got m there,He's just projecting holograms.There's this amazing German surrealistsculptor named Hans Behner whomade a piece called "The Doll." He made adoll that was more his fetish object than awork of art, this totally idealized girlchildthat could be taken apart and rearranged inan infinite number of ways. So 1 haveRiviera call his piece "The Doll." Belmer'sdoll. Riviera also represents the fragmentationof the body. People see things like that,sometimes, out of the comers of their eyes.TL: What about Armitage?WG: He's a synthetic personality, a characterutterly lacking character. As Molly says,"This guy doesn't do anything when he'salone." It's some kind of post-Vietnam state.TL: 1 can see certain Gordon Liddy qualitiesin Armitage.WG: Yeah,I saw a video of his Miami Viceperformance without realizing it was Liddy.When I saw that, Ithought of Armitage.This book's fraught with psychotics.TL (Laughing) You see, there are a fewof us who think it's a very positive bookin spite of thattime, intense conceptual artists. You neverknow what they're going to do.TL: What recent book have you mostenjoyed?WG: Bmce Sterling is my favorite sciencefictionvmter. Schismatrix is the mostvisionary science-fiction novel of the lasttwenty years or so. Humanity evolves,mutates through different forms veryquickly, using genetic engineering and bio-It's chemistry. a real mindfucker. When hefirst got it out and was getting the reviewsback, he told me, "There are so many movingparts, people are scared to stick theirheads in it."People will be mining that, rippingoff ideas for the next thirty years.TL: Like Gravity's Rainbow.WG: Yeah. That's one of my personalfavorites. Have you ever met Pynchon?TL Ohhhh ... 1 had Mm tracked downand 1 could've. It was a deal where therewas a People magazine reporter with anexpense-paid thing. We were going torent a car and pick up Ken Kesey.Pynchon was living up near Redding,Pennsylvania. We had him tracked there.there was a change of clothes and theysaid, "The warden wants to see you." Sothe warden said, "To protect you, we'regoing to put you here under a falsename." And I said, "Are you crazy? Areyou gonna put me on the main line witha fake name?" And he said "Yeah." 1 said,"What name are you going to give me?"He said, "Thrush." And you know what athrush is? A songbfrd. So 1 said, "Uh-uh.In a prison filled with dopers, everybody'sgoing to know that my name isntThrush. 1 refuse to do it." He says, "Okay.We'll have to put you m the hole." And 1said "Do what you gotta dobut 1 wantto be out there in my own name. 1 canhandle any situation. 1 can deal with itPve been in the worst fucking prisonsand handled it so far. So 1 can handle itand you know it. So fucking put me outthere!" And he said, "Sorry." He was veryembarrassed because he knew.He was a prison warden. His jobwasnt to get people to talk or anythinglike that. He knew it was a federal-governmentthing. The reason they weretrying to get me to talk was to protect thetop FBI guys that had committed blackbagburglaries against the Weather

Underground; so they wanted me to testifyin their defense. They actually wentto trial, ifyou remember, and got convicted,and were pardoned by Carter.Well, they put me in the worstlockup that rve ever been in, and Tdbeen in solitary confinement for over ayear and a half. This was just a clean boxwith nothing but a mattress. The onlycontact I had with human bemgs was,five tunes a day,I could hear somebodywith Gravity's Rainbow.WG: It's got eight billion times more stuff init than Neuromancer does. It's an encyclopedicnovel.TL But there's a tremendous relationship,as you well know, between Neuromancerand Pynchon. Because Pynchonis mto psychology. The shit he knowsabout! It's all about psychology. Butyou've taken the next step, becauseBruce said (in laconic Southern drawl),It's"beta-phenethylamine." in the book.Beta-P. Actually, some people have calledme on how 1spelled this in the book. 1never checked iL So Imay have misspelledthe name of the real brain chemical. Abouta month aJler I fmished the book, there wasan article in Esquire.I think it was called,"The Chemistry of Desire." And they talkedabout beta-phenethylamine, which is struchirallysimilar to amphetamine.And it'slead who beats the shit out oi everybody.coming down the hall to open the "swinetrough" and pass me my food. And Tdsay, "Hey, can I have something to read?"And they'd say, "No." One of the guardswas this black guy and, this one night, hecame back. I could hear him walkingjmgle, jmgle, jinglewalkmg down themetal hall. He opens up the trough andsays, "Here, man," and throws m a book.A new pocketbook. And it's dark, so Iwaited til dawn and pickeditup. And itwas Gravity's Rainbow.WG: Perfect! Of all the books you could get,that'll last you a while.TL' You should only read that book underthose chcumstances. It is not a book youcould . . .WG: Itstopped mylife cold for threemonths. My university career went to pot, Ijust sort of laid around and read this thing.TL What I didfirst of all, I just read it. Iread it allday until dark when theyturned the Ughts ouL I woke up the nextmorning and read it. For three days, I didnothing but read that book. Then I wentback and I started it. Iannotatmg did thesame thing to yours. Yours is the onlybook Fve done that with since. The fihnindustry's never been able to do anythingyou've done that whole thmg to computers.You don't have any new drugs inNeuromancer.WG: I've got the beta-phenethylamine.When that hits the street, watch out!TL That's the one that makes your teethrattle the nerves.WG: Yeah. That's actually a brain chemical.We all have a little bit, as we sit around thetable. But you'd have to get it out of fortymillion people. Sort of Uke the HunterThompson story about adrenochrome. Ifyou could eat somebody's pineal gland, orsomething . . .TL That's a very powerful drug experiencethat you describe, where he can feelit in his teeth.WG: Yeah. I had a lot of fun writing that.(Laughs)TL I know you did. Iappreciate the disclpUnedwork that went into that!WG: Beta-phenethylamineis the chemicalthat the brain manufactures; when youfallin love the level rises. I didn't know thiswhen I wrote the book. 1 called BruceSterUng in Texas, and Isaid, "This guy'sbeen modified; so he can't do traditionalstimulants. So, what can he get off on?" Andalso present in chocolate. So there's somepossibility . . .TL Ohhh! I'm a chocolate addict. Noticelast night, how the waiter automaticallybrought me an extra plate duringdessert? They know my weakness.Double-dose Tim.WG: Japanese kids get high on big candybars that are just sucrose and caffeine.They eat five or six of these things and go toconcerts on this massive sucrose-and-caffeinehigh.TL One of the things that's wonderfulabout Neuromancer is that there is thisglorious comradeship between Molly andCase. And he smgs to her whUe she rubsher nipple and she's talking to him andteUing him.WG: How they gonna do that in the movie?There's no Neuromancer Part II.TL Case and Molly have children?WG: Son of Neuromancer. People have childrenin Count Zero, which was a realbreakthroughfor me. was 1trying to up theante. I like Count Zero better. Neuromancer,for me, is like my adolescent book. It's myteenage book the one I couldn't have writtenwhen I was a teenager.SECTION II. CYlEtNETICS CONVERSATION WITH WIlllAM CIISON 27

HESSE: PROPHET OF THE COMPUTER ACEInthe 1960s, Hermann Hesse was revered bycollegestudents and art rowdies as the voice of thedecade. He was a megasage, bigger than Tolkienor Salinger,McLuhan or Bucky Fuller.But our patronizing pity for the washed-up Swiss sage maybe premature. In the avant-garde frontiers of the computer culture,around Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, around Palo Alto, inthe Carnegie-Mellon A.I. labs, in the back rooms of the computergraphicslabs in Southern California, a Hesse comeback seems to beHesse's mystical,Utopian novels were read by millions.The popular, electrically amplified rock bandIIJ.ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCESteppenwolf named themselves after Hesse's psyberdelichero, Harry Hailer, who smoked those "long, thin yellow . . .immeasurably enlivening and delightful" cigarettes, thenzoomed around the Theatre of the Mind, ostensibly goingwhere no fictional heroes had been before.The movie Steppenwolf was financed by PeterSprague, at that time the Egg King of Iran. I lost the malelead to Max Van Sydow. Rosemary's part was played byhappening. This revival, however, is not connected with Hermann'smystical, eastern writmgs. It's based on his last, and least-understoodwork, Magister Ludi, or The Glass Bead Game.This book, which earned Hesse the expense-paid brain rideto Stockholm, is positioned a few centuries in the future, whenhuman intelligence is enhanced and human culture elevated by adevice for thought-processing called the glass-bead game.Up here m the Elech-onic Nineties we can appreciate whatHesse did at the very pinnacle (193M2) of the smoke-stackmechanical age. He forecast with astonishing accuracy a certainpostindushial device for converting thoughts to digital elements andprocessing them. No doubt about it, the sage of the hippies wasanticipatmg an electronic mind-appliance that would not appear onthe consumer market until 1976.Dominique Sanda. But that storyis filed in another dataI refer, of course, to that Fruit from the Tree of Knowledgecalled the Apple computer.base.Hesse's picaresque adventure. The Journey to theEast, was a biggie too. It inspired armies of pilgrims (yourstruly included) to hip-hike somewhere East of Suez, alongthe Hashish Trail to India. The goal of this ChildlikeCrusade? Enlightenment 101, an elective course.THE ALDOUS HUXLEY-HERMANN HESSE FUGUE%Ifall of 1960,ir^Huxley was Carnegie Visiting Professor at" MIT. His assignment: to give a series of seven lectures onfirst heard of Hermann Hesse from Aldous Huxley In thethe subject, "What a Piece ofWork Is Man." A couple thousand peopleattended each lecture. Aldous spent most of his off-duty hourshanging around the Harvard Psychedelic Drug Research projectYes, was it that season for trendy Sufi mysticism,coaching us beginners in the history of mysticism and the ceremonialcare and handling of LSD, which he sometimes called "gratuitousgrace."Huxley was reading Hesse that fall and talked a lot aboutHermann's theory of the three stages of human developmentinner Hindu voyaging, breathless Buddhist searches for ultimatemeaning. Poor Hesse, he seems out of place up here1. The tribal sense of tropical-blissftil unity,in the high-tech, cybercool, Sharp catalogue, M.B.A.,HERMANNupwardly mobile 1990s.2. The horrid polarities of the feudal-mdustrial societies,good-evil, male-female, Christian-Moslem, etc., and3. The revelatory rediscovery of The Oneness of It All.

No question about it, Hegel's three authoritarianthumbprints (thesis-antithesis-synthesis) were smudgedall overthe construct, but Hesse and Huxley didn't seem to worry about it;so why should we untutored Harvard psychologists?We all dutifully set to work reading Hesse.Huxley claimed that his own spiritual-intellectual develop-ofment in England followed the developmental lifeline of Hesse inCalw, Germany, the son of Protestant missionaries. His homebackground and education, like Huxley's, were intellectual, classical,idealistic. His hfe exemplified change and metamorphosis. Ifweaccept Theodore Ziolkowski's academic perception, "Hesse's literarycareer parallels the development of modem literature from a finde sieck aestheticism through expressionism to a contemporarysense of human conunitment."Hesse's Prophetic G[ASSB[aoGameGermany. Aldous delighted in weaving together themes from his hfethat paralleled Hesse's.PARODIES OF PARADISEHuxley's last book. Island, presents an atypical, fropicalUtopia in which meditation, gestalt therapy, and psychedelic ceremoniescreate a society of Buddhist serenity.Ispent the afternoon of November 20, 1963, at Huxley'sbedside, hstening carefully as the dying philosopher spoke in a softvoice about many things. He fashioned a pleasant little Uteraryftigue as he talked about three books he called "parodies of paradise":his own Island, Orwell's 1984, and Hesse's Glass Bead Game.Aldous told me with a gentle chuckle that Big Brother, thebeloved dictator of Orwell's nightmare society, was based onWinston Churchill. "Remember Big Brother's spell-binding rhetoricabout the blood, sweat, and fears requisitioned from everyone todefeat Eurasia? The hate sessions? Priceless satire. And the hero'sname is Winston Smith."Aldous was, at that moment in time, fascinated by theTibetan Book of the Dying, which I had just translated from VictorianEngUsh into American. The manuscript, which was later publishedas The Psychedelic Experience, was used by Laura Huxley to guideher husband's psychedelic passing.Huxley spoke wryly of the dismal conclusions of Island, TheGlass Bead Game, and Orwell's classic. His own ideahstic islandsociety was crushed by industrial powers seeking oil. Hesse's UtopianCastalia was doomed because it was out of touch with humanrealities. Then the crushing of love by the power structure in 1984.Unhappy endings. I timidly asked him if he was passing on a warningor an exhortation to me. He smiled enigmatically.TVo days later Aldous Huxley died. His passing went almostunnoticed, because John F.Kennedy also died on November 22,1965. It was a bad day for Utopians and fiiturists all over.THE ONTOIOCICAL EVOLUTION OF HERMANN HESSEHermann Hesse was bom in 1877 in the Uttle Swabian townVOICE OF ROMANTIC ESCAPISM, DISILLUSIONEDBOHEMIAN, WARRESISTERHesse's first successful novel, Peter Camenmd (1904),reflected the frivolous sentimentality of the Gay Nineties, which,like the Roaring Twenties, offered a last fun froUc to a class societyabout to collapse."From aestheticism he shifted to melancholy realismHesse's novels fictionalize the admonitions of an outsider who urgesus to question accepted values, to rebel against the system, to challengeconventional 'reahty' in the light of higher ideals"(Ziolkowski).In 1911 Hesse made the obUgatory mystical pilgrimage toIndia, and there, along the Ganges, picked up the microorganismsthat were later to appear in a full-blown Allen Ginsbergsonian mysticism.In 1914 Europe convulsed with nationalism and militaryfrenzy. Hesse, Uke Dr. Benjamin Spock in another time warp,became an outspoken pacifist and war resister. TVo months afterthe "outbreak of hostilities," he published an essay titled "0Freunde, nicht dieser Tone" ["Oh FViends, Not These Tones"),ft wasan appeal to the youth of Germany, deploring the stampede to disaster.His dissenting brought him official censure and newspaperattacks. From this time on, Hesse was apparently immune to theravages of patriotism, nationalism, and respect for authority.PROTO-BEATNIK? PROTOHIPPY?FATHER OF NEW-ACE PSYCHOLOGY?hi 1922 Hesse wrote Siddhartha, his story of aKerouac-Snyder manhood spent "on the road to Benares" performingfeats of detached, amused, sexy one-upmanship.In the June 1986 issue of Playboy, the Islamic yogic masterand basketball superstar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ("noble and powerfiilservant of Allah") summarized with his legendary cool the lifestages he had experienced, using bead-game fugue techniques toweave together the strands of his biography: basketball, racism, reUgion,drags, sex, jazz, poUtics. "In my senior year in high school,"SECTION 11.2 CYBEKNETICS AKTIFICIAl INTELIICENCE 29

TIMATUV IIIIV ruiAt ( rvKi riiiTiixsays Abdul- Jabbar, "I started reading everything I could get my Norman Mailer longings, are dissolved in a whirling kaleidoscope ofhands on Hindu texts, Upanishads, Zen, Hermann Hesse youquick-flashing neurorealities. "1 knew," gasps H. H., "that all thename it"hundred pieces of life'sgame were in my pocket One day . . . IPlayboy: "What most impressed you?"would be a better hand at the game."AMul-Jabbar: "Hesse's Siddhartha. I was then goingthrough the same things that Siddhartha went through in his adoles THE GLASS-BEAD CAME CONVERTS THOUGHTS TO ELEMENTScence, and 1 identified with his rebellion against established preceptsof love and life. Siddhartha becomes an aesthetic man, aboulder-like thoughts of your mechanical culture to elements? IfWhat do you do after you've reduced the heavy, massivewealthy man, a sensuous man heyou're a student of physics or chemistryyou rearrange the fissioned bitsexplores all these different worldsand doesn't find enUghtenment inand pieces into new combinations.any of them. That was the book'sHesse, of couise, was not the first toSynthetic chemistry of the mind.great message to me; so 1 started toHesse was hanging out in Basel,develop my own value system as tohome ofanticipate digital thought-processing.Paracelsus. Alchemy 101.what was good and what wasn't."Solve et coagule. Recompose them inSteppenwolf (1927),Around 600 B.C. the Greeknew combinations. You become aPythagorasobserves Ziolkowski, was greeted asmaster of the bead game. Let thea "psychedelic orgy of sex, drugs, (music of the spheres)and the Chinese Laorandom-number generator shuffleand jazz." Other observers with ayour thought-deck and deal out somemore historic perspective (present(yin-yanj) Tse were thatnew hands!allspeculatin^fcompany included) have seenUnderstandably, HesseSteppenwolfas a final send up of thereality and neverknowledgecould and should begives a detailed description ofsolemn polarities of the industrialthis pre-electronic data-processingage. Hesse mocks the Freudian conflicts,Nietzschean torments, thehe does explain its function. Playersexpressed in the play of binary numbers.appliance called the bead game. ButJungian polarities, the Hegelianlearned. . . We reencounter here thehow to convert decimala^e-lon^machineries of European civihzation.numbers, musical notes, words,dream of thoughts, images into elements, glassphilosophers, visionary poets,Harry HaDer enters "Thebeads that could be strung in endlessMagic Theatre. Price of Admission:abacus combinations andand of a linguists universitas. arhythmicfuguesequences to create a higherYour Mind." First he engages in a"Great Automobile Hunt," a not toosynthesis of all knowledge,the ultimatelevel language of clarity, purity, andsubtle rejection of the sacred symbolof the industrial age. Behind theultimate complexity.data base of ideas, a global lan^ua^eofdoor marked "Guidance in theA GLOBAL LANGUAGE BASED ONBuilding-Up of the Personality.DIGITAL UNITSmathematical precision.Success Guaranteed!" H. H. learnsHesse described the game asto play a post-Freudian video gamein which the pixels are part of thepersonality. "We can demonstrate to anyone whose soul has fallen topieces that he can rearrange these pieces of a previous self in whatorder he pleases and so attain to an endless multipUcity of moves inthe game of life."This last sentence precisely states the basis for the manypostindustrial religions of self-actuahzation. You learn how to puttogether the elements of your self in what order pleases you! Thenpress the advance key to continue.The mid-life crisis of the Steppenwolf, his overheatedSalinger inner conflicts, his Woody Allen despairs, his unsatisfied"a serial arrangement, an ordering,grouping, and interfacing of concentratedconcepts from many fields of thought and aesthetics."In time, wrote Hesse, "the Game of games had developedinto a kind of universal language through which the players couldexpress values and set these in relation to one another."In the beginning the game was designed, constructed, andcontinually updated by a guild of mathematicians called Castalia.Later generations of hackers used the game for educational, intellectual,and aesthetic purposes. Eventually the game became a globalscience of mind, an indispensable method for clariiying thoughtsand communicating them precisely.

SECTION 11.2 CYIERNETICS AITIFICIAL INTIIUCENCE JiTHE EVOLUTION OF THE COMPUTERHesse, of course, was not the first toanticipate digital tliouglit-processing.Around 600 B.C. tiie Greeii Pytiiagoras(music of the spheres) and the Chinese Lao (yin-yang) -tzu werespeculating that all reality and knowledge could and should beexpressed in the play of binary numbers. In 1832 a youngEnglishman, George Boole, developed an algebra of symbolic logic.In the next decade Charles Babbage and Ada Countess Lovelaceworked on the analytic thought-engine. A century later, exactlywhen Hesse was constructing his "game" in Switzerland, the brilliantEnglish logician Alan "Riring was writing about machines thatIn this last sentence, Hesse describes the theory of digitalcomputmg. The wizard programmer can convert any idea, thought,or number into binary-number chains that can be sorted into allkinds of combinations. We reencounter here the age-long dream ofphilosophers, visionary poets, and linguists of a imiversUas, a synthesisof all knowledge, the ultimate data base of ideas, a global languageof mathematical precision.Hesse understood that a language based on mathematicalelements need not be cold, impersonal, rote. Reading The GlassBead Game we share the enthusiasm of today's hacker-visionarieswho know that painting, composing, writing, designing, innovatingcould simulate human thinking. A.I.artificial intelligence.with clusters of electrons (beads?) offers much more creative freedomthan expressions limited to print on paper, chemical paintsHesse's unique contribution, however, was not technical,but social. Forty-five years before Toffier and Naisbitt, Hesse predictedthe emergence of an information culture. In The Glass BeadGame Hesse presents a sociology of computing. With the rich detailof a World-Cup novelist (he won the Nobel Prize for Literature withthis book) he describes the emergence of a Utopian subculture centeredaround the use of digital mind-appliances.Hesse then employs his favorite appliance, parody (psyberfarce),to raise the disturbing question of the class division betweenthe computer hip and the computerilliterate. The electronic eliteversus the rag-and-glue proles with their hand-operated Coronas.The dangers of a two-tier society of the information rich and theinformation have-nots.smeared on canvas, or acoustic (i.e., mechanical-unchangeable)sounds.HESSE'S GOLDEN AGE OF MINDIn the Golden Age of Chemistry scholar-scientists learnedhow to dissolve molecules and to recombine the freed elements intoendless new structures. Indeed, only by precise manipulation of theplay of interacting elements could chemists fabricate the marvelsthat have so changed our worid.In the Golden Age of Physics, physicists, both theoreticaland experimental, learned how to fission atoms and to recombmethe freed particles into new elemental structures. In The Glass BeadGLORIFICATION OF THE CASTALIAN HACKER CULTUREThe Glass Bead Game is the story of Joseph Knecht, whomwe meet as a brilliant grammar-school student about to be acceptedinto the Castalian brotherhood and educated in the intricacies of theauthorized thought-processing system. The descriptions of Castaliaare charmingly pedantic. The reverent reader is awed by the sublimebeauty of the system and the monk-like dedication of theadepts.The scholarly narrator explains:This Game of games ... has developed into a kind ofuniversal speech, through the medium of which the playersare able to express values in lucid symbols and toplace them in relation to each other ... A game canoriginate, for example, from a given astronomical configuration,a theme from a Bach fugue, a phrase of Leibnitzor from the Upanishads, and the fundamental idea awakenedcan be built up and enriched through assonancesto relative concepts. While a moderate beginner can,through these symbols, formulate parallels between apiece of classical music and the formula of a natural law,the adept and Master of the Game can lead the openingtheme into the freedom of boundless combinations.Game Hesse portrays a Golden Age of Mind. The knowledge-informationprogrammers of Castalia, like chemists and physicists, dissolvethought molecules into elements (beads) and weave them intonew patterns.In his poem, "The Last Glass Bead Game," Hesse's heroJoseph Knecht writes, "We draw upon the iconography . . . that singslike crystal constellations."TECHNOLOGY INVENTS IDEOLOGYHesse apparently anticipated McLuhan's First Law ofCommunication: The medium is the message. The technology youuse to package, store, communicate your thoughts defines the limitsof your thmking. Your choice of thought tool determmes the limitationsof your thinking. If your thought technologyis words-carvedinto-marble,let's face it, you're not going to be a Ught-hearted flexiblethinker. An oU pamting or a wrinkled papyrus in a Damascuslibrary cannot communicate the meaning of a moving-picture fihn.New thought technology creates new ideas. The printing press creatednational languages, the national state, literacy, the industrialage. Television, like it or not, has produced a global thought-processingvery different from oral and Uterate cultures.Understanding the power of technology, Hesse tells us tiiatthe new mind culture of Castalia was based on a tangible mentaldevice, a thought machine, "a frame modeled on a child's abacus, a

T I U A T I I EA W ruinr t runrn riiiTiiitrframe with several dozen wires on which could be strung glassbeads of various sizes, shapes, and colours."Please do not be faked out by the toy-like simpUcity of thisdevice. Hesse has changed the units of meaning, the vocabulary ofthought This is serious stuff. Once you have defined the units ofcreated a "hacker culture," an elite sect of knowledge processorswho lived within the constructions of their own minds, disdainingthe outside society.Then Hesse, with uncanny insight, describes theemergence of a phenomenon that has now become the fad in theinformation sciences.vthought in terms of mathematical elements you've introduced amajor mutation in the intelligence of your culture.THE ARTIFICIAL-INTELLIGENCE CULTBy 1984 billions of dollars were being spent in Japan (theTHE EVOLUTION OF THE CAMEso-called Fifth Generation projects), in America, and in Europe todevelop artificial-intelligence programs. Those nations that afreadysuffer fix)m a serious inteUigence deficitSoviet Eurasia and theThe glass-bead appliance was first used by musicians:"The wires corresponded to the lines of the musical staff,third-world nationsseem to be left out of this significant development.the beads to the time values of the notes."A bare two or three decades later the game was taken overby mathematicians. For a long while indeed, a characteristic featureof the game's history was that it was constantly preferred, used, andfurther elaborated by whatever branch of learning happened to beexperiencing a period of high development or a renaissance.At various times the game was taken up and imitated byThe aim of A.I. projects is to develop enormously compUcatedsmart machines that can reason, deduce, and make decisionsmore efficiently than "human beings."The megabuck funding comes from large bureaucracies,federal, corporate, the military, banks, insurance firms, oilcompanies,space agencies, medical-hospital networks. The mental tasksperformed by the A.I. machineries include:nearly all the scientific and scholarly disciplines. The analytic studyof musical values had led to the reduction of musical events to physicaland mathematical formulae. Soon afterward, philology borrowedthis method and began to measure linguistic configurationsas physics measures processes in nature. The visual arts soon followedsuit Each disciphne that seized upon the game created itsown language of formulae, abbreviations, and possible combinations.It would lead us too far afield to attempt to describe in detailExpert systems that provide processed information andsuggest decisions based on correlating enormousamounts of data. Here the computers perform, at almostthe speed of light, the work of armies of clerks andtechnicians.Voice-recognition programs; the computer recognizesmstructions given m spoken languages.Robotry.how the world of mind, after its purification, won a place for itself inthe state. Supervision of the things of the mind among the peopleand in government came to be consigned more and more to theintellectuals. This was especially the case with the educational system.A.I. has become the buzzword among investors in the computerindustry. There seems little doubt that reasoning programsand robots will play increasingly important roles in Western society,and, of course, Japan.INTIMATIONS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ANDALIENATED HACKERS"The mathematicians brought the game to a high degree offlexibiUty and capacity for sublimation, so that itbegan to acquiresomething ofa consciousness of itselfand its possibilities" (emphasismine).In this last phrase, Hesse premonitors Arthur C. Clarke andJust as the bead game became the target of outside criticism,so has there been much grumbling about the A.I. movementSome have asserted that the very term "artificial intelligence" is anoxymoron; a contradiction in terms, like "miUtary intelligence."Other critics point out that A.I. programs have little to dowith individual human beings. These megamillion-doUar machinescannot be applied to solve personal problems, to help Ashley get adate on Friday night, to help Dieadra's problem with self-esteem.Stanley Kubrick's nightmare about neurotic artificial intelligence:A.I. systems are designed to think like super-committees of experts.Remember the decision that it was cheaper to pay oft" a few large"Open the pod doors, HAL.""Sorry about that, Dave. This mission is too importantto be threatened by human error."injury/death claims than to change the position of the gas tank onthe Ford? Recall those Pentagon figures about "tolerable loss of civilianlives in a nuclear war"? That's why many feel that these toys oftop management are more artificial than intelligent.Hesse tells us that the first generations of computer adeptsAs it turns out, our HAL paranoias are exaggerated.

Computers will not replace real people. They will replace middleandlow-level bureaucrats. They will replace you only to the extentthat you use artificial (rather than natural) intelligence in your lifeand work. Ifyou think like a bureaucrat, a functionary, a manager,an unquestioning member of a large organization, or a chess player,beware: You may soon be out-thought!NATURAL INTELLIGENCEHumanists in the computer culture claim that there is onlyone form of inteUigence natural intelligence, brain power whichresides in the skulls of individual human beings. This wetware isgenetically wired and experientially programmed to manage thepersonal affairs of one person, the owner, and to exchange thoughtsHesse seems to be sendingwarning signalsthat are relevantto the situation in 1986. %First, he sujjeststhat humanwith others.All thought-processing toolshand-operated pencils, print-beinjstend to center theired books, electronic computerscan be used as extensions of naturalintelligence. They are appliances for packaging, storing, communicatingideas: mirrors that reflect back what the user hasthought As Douglas Hofstadter put it in Godel, Escher, Back "Theself comes into being at the moment it has the powerto reflectitself And that power, Hesse and McLuhan, is determined by thereligions on the thoughtprocessinguses. ...device their culture% Second, controlthought tool used by the culture.Individual human beings can be controlled, managed byof the thoujht-processinjthinking machines computers or bead games only to the extentmachinerymeans control oithat they voluntarily choose to censor their ovm independent thinking.society. The underlyingMACISTER LUDI BEGINS TO QUESTION AUTHORITYantiestablishment tone oiIn the last chapters of The Glass Bead Game the hero,Joseph Knechl, has risen to the highest post in theCastalian order. He is "Magister Ludi, Master of the GlassBead Game."The Glass Bead G^surely have caughtthe attentionof George Orwell, anotherThe game, by this time, has become a global artificial-intelligencesystem that runs the educational system, the military, science,engineering, mathematics, physics, linguistics, and above all,prophetoi the informationaesthetics. The great cultural ceremonies are public thought gameswatched with fascination by the populace.society. ...% Third, HesseAt this moment of triumph the Mind Master begins to havedoubts. He worries about the two-tier society in which the CastaUan"computer" elite run the mind games of society, far removed fromthe realities of human life. The Castalians, we recall, have dedicatedsuj^ests that the emergence ofnew intellipce machines willthemselves totally to the life of the mind, renouncing power, money,family, individuality. A CastaUan is the perfect "organization man," acreate new relijfions.monk of the new religion of artificial intelligence. Rnecht is alsoconcerned about the obedience, the loss of individual choice.Hesse seems to be sending warning signals that are relevantto the situation in 1986. First, he suggests that human beingsSECTION 11.2 CYBEKNETICS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE n

Computers will not replace real people. They will replacemiddle- and low-levelbureaucrats. Theywill replace you onlyto the extent that youuse artificial(rather than natural) intelligencein yourlife and work. If youthink like abureaucrat, a functionary,a manager,an unquestioningmember of a lar^eorganization, or a chess player, beware: You may soon be out-thought!tend to center their religions on the thought-processing device theirculture uses. The word of God has to come though normal channelsor it won't be understood, from the stone tablet of Moses to themass-produced industrial product that is the "Good Book" of fundamentalistChristians and Moslems.Second, control of the thought-processing machinerymeans control of society.The underlying antiestabUshment tone ofThe Glass Bead Game must surely have caught the attention ofGeorge Orwell, another prophet of the information society. LikeJoseph Knecht, Winston Smith, the hero of 1984, works in theMinistry of TVuth, reprogramming the master data base of history.Smith is enslaved by the information tyranny from which Hesse'shero tries to escape.Third, Hesse suggests that the emergence of new intelligencemachines will create new religions. The CastaUan order isreminiscent of the mediaeval monastic cults, communities of hackerswith security clearances, who knew the machine language,Latin, and who created and guarded the big mainframe illuminatedmanuscripts located in the palaces of bishops and dukes.Most important, Hesse mdicated the appropriate responseof the individual who cannot accept the obedience and self-renunciationdemanded by the artificial-intelligence priesthood.TO ACT AS MY HEART AND REASON COMMANDAfter some hundred pages of weighty introspection andconfessional conversation, Joseph Knecht resigns his post as thehigh priest of artificial intelligence and heads for a new life as anindividual in the "real world."He explains his "awakening" in a letter to the Order. Afterthirty years of major-league thought-processing, Knecht has cometo the conclusion that organizations maintain themselves byexperience Knecht suddenly sees that the Castalian A.Lcommunity "had been infected by the characteristic disease of elitehoodhubris, conceit, class arrogance, self-righteousness,exploitiveness . . . "!And, irony of all irony, the member of such a thought-processingbureaucracy "often suffers from a severe lack of insight intohis place in the structure of the nation, his place in the world andworld history." Before we in the sophisticated 1980s rush to smile atsuch platitudes about bureaucratic myopia and greed, we shouldremember that Hesse wrote this book during the decade whenHitler, Stalin, and MussoUni were terrorizing Europe with totalitarianism.The cliche Athenian-democratic maxim "think for yourself;question authority" was decidedly out of fashion, even in civilizedcountries like Switzerland.Gentle consideration for the touchiness of the times was,we assume, the reason why Hesse, the master of parody, leads histimid readers with such a slow, formal tempoto the fmal confrontationbetween Alexander, the president of the Order, and the dissidentgame master. In his most courteous manner Knecht explains toAlexander that he will not accept obediendy the "decision fix)mabove."The president gasps in disbelief. And we can imagine mostof the thought-processing elite of Europe, the professors, the intellectuals,the linguists, the literary critics, and news editors joiningAlexander when he sputters, "not prepared to accept obediently . . .an unalterable decision from above? Have heard 1you aright,Magister?"now?"KnechtLater, Alexander asks in a low voice, "And how do you act"As my heart and reason command," replies Josephmysticalrewarding obedience with privilege! With the blinding force of a

SECTION II.) CYlEtNETICS out IIAIN 3SII.2.Our Brain#When you think of it,the ultimate wicked oxymoron is organized religion.hnagine a group of control-freak men getting together and saying, "We're goingto impose our order on the fifteen-billion-year evolutionary chaotic process that'shappening on this planet, and all over the galaxy. We're going to chisel out the rules of abureaucracy to keep us in power."the most complex, infinitely and imaginatively complex knowledgesystemThe human brainhas a hundred billion neurons, and each neuron has the knowledge-processingcapacity of a powerful computer. The human brain has more connections than there areatoms in the universe. It has taken us thousands of years to even realize that we don't understandthe chaotics of this complexity. The human brain can process more than a hundredmillion signals a second and counting.The best way to understand the evolution of the human race is in terms of how wellwe have learned to operate our brain. If you think about we're it, basically brains. Our bodiesare here to move our brains around. Our bodies are equipped with all these sensoryinputs and output ports to bring information into the neurocomputer. In just the last tenyears, our species has multiplied the ability to use our brains by a thousandfold.The way to understand how efficiendy you're using your brain is to clock it in rpmrealities per minute. Just on the basis of input/output, my brain is now operatmg at a hundredtimes more rpm than in 1960.When we were back in the caves a million or so years ago, we were just learning tochip stones to begin making tools. We Uved on a planet where everything was natural. Therewas almost nothing artificial or even handmadebut we had the same brains. Each of ourancient ancestors carried around an enormously complex brain that eventually fissioned theatom, sent human beings to the Moon, and created rock video. Long ago we had the samebrains, but we weren't using the abiUties. If the brain is Uke a computer, then the trick is toknow how to format your brainto set up operating systems to run your brain.Ifyou have a computer, you have choice. You can have word processing or not Ifyou have word processing, you have WordStar or WordPerfect, all these choices. Once you'vei There is the abilitytto boot upor add!Knew diiectoiies.To activate thebiain is called yovicWor psychedelic.formatted your brain, trained your brain with that method, you have to go through that programto use it The process of formatting your brain is called imprinting.Imprinting is a multimedia input of data. For a baby, it's the warmth of the mother,the softness, the sound, the taste of the breast That's called booting up or formatting. Nowbaby's brain is hooked to Mama and then of course from Mama to Daddy, food, etc., but it'sthe Mama file that's the first imprintThere is the abilityto boot up or add new directories. To activate the brain is calledyogic or psychedelic. To transmit what's in the brain is cybernetic. The brain, we are told byneurologists, has between seventy and a hundred buttons known as receptor sites that canimprint different circuits. Certain biochemical (usually botanical) products activate thoseparticular parts of the brain.In tribal times, before written language, communication was effected through thehuman voice, small groups, and body motion. Most pagan tribes had rituals that occurred atharvest time, in the springtime, or at the full Moon. The tribe came together and activated acollective boot-up system. They hooked all their computers to the same tribal language. Thisoften involved the use of psychedehc plants or vegetables.In terms of modem computers and electronic devices, this would be a multimediaimprinting ceremony. The fire was the center of lightand heat There were symboUc

objects, such as feathers or bones. Thisexperience booted up the brains of all presentso they could share the basic tribal system.But each person could have his ownvision quest He could howl like a wolf, hootlike an owl, roll around like a snake. Eachtribal member was learning how to activate,operate, boot up, and accept theuniqueness of his/her own bram.A human being is basically a tribalperson, most comfortable being together insmall groups facilitating acceptance andunderstanding of each other as individuals.Later forms of civiUzation have discreditedindividuaUsm. The history of the evolutionof the human spirit has to do with newmethods of media, communication, or language.About five thousand years ago, afterthe species got pretty good with tools andbuilding, somewhere in the Middle East(possibly also in China) people began makingmarks on shells and on pieces ofpapyrus. This allowed for long-distancecommunication.Handwriting, which linked uphundreds of thousands of people,gave total power to the peoplewho knew how to control the writing.Marshall McLuhan reminded us thatthroughout human history,whoever controlsthe media controls the people. This isFrench semiotics. Literacy is used to controlthe poor. The educated use literacy to controlthe uneducated.A typical feudal oi^anization, suchas the Catholic Church, restricted thepower to send a message like this to a veryspecial class of computer hacker-nerdscalled monks. Only theyv/ere authorized totouch the mainframethe illuminatedmanuscripts up in the castle of the duke orcardinal. But to the others no matter howimportant a person in the village or thecitythe word came down from the HigherUps.Once people start organizing inlarge groups of thousands, or hundreds ofthousands, the tribal situation could nolonger be controlled. If a hundred thousand

SECTION II.) CYBERNETICS OUI IRAIN upeople are all hooked up, like a hive or termite colony, there has to be some central organizationthat keeps it going.Wth thousands of people carrying rocks to build a pyramid, or thousands of peoplebuilding the churches of the pope, a feudal society can't function if the workers are accessingtheir singular-brain programs. To illustrate the totahtarian power control of the feudalsituation, consider the basic metaphor of the "shepherd" and the "sheep." "The Lord is myshepherd; I shall not want He maketh me to lie down in green pastures." Now, if the Lord isyour shepherd, who the fuck are you? Bah! Even today, when the popeflies around to thirdworldcountries, they speak of "the pope and his flock."Another example of brain control preventing the individual from accessing his orher own computeris the first chapter of the Bible. The opening text of Genesis lays it rightout God says,"I made the skies, 1 made theplanets, 1 made the earth, I made the water,I made the land, I made the creepy-crawlythings, and 1 made you, Adam, to be in myAnd a new philosophy emei^ed called quantum physics, which su^^estslikeness, and 1put you in the ultimate desti- .i i il i- j p i i- i i il t i .. nthatnation .^sort, which is the Ganienthe individual s function IS to inloimof Eden.and be inlormed. You reallyBoy, you can do anything you want I'm .goingtopuiioutaribandgiveyouaheip-, i i i- 1 1 i i i . i^^ist Only when youle m a field sharingand exchan^in5[information.mate like a little kitchen slave, named Eve. , , l lxYo "^ate the lealities you inhabit.Youcandowhateveryouwanudam.Thisis paradise."However, there are two Food and Drug regulations. See that tree over there? That'sthe Tree of Immortality. It offers cryonics and cloning. You shall not eat of the fruit of that lestyou become a God like me and hve forever. You see that tree over there? That's even moredangerous. You shall not eat of the fruit of that because that is the TVee of Knowledge. Itoffers expansions of consciousness."Genesis makes it clear that the whole universe is owned, operated, controlled, andfabricated by one God andhe's a big, bad-tempered male. That's why we have a war onmind drugs. The one thing that no mass society can stand is individuals and small groupsthat go oif to start learning how to program, reprogram, boot up, activate, and format theirown brains.There's a good reason for these taboos. The feudal and industrial stages of evolutionare similar to the stages in the evolution of individuals. Young children are glad to haveDaddy be shepherd, but after a while the child has to take responsibility.Feudal societies imprinted millions to totally devote their lives to being herd-flockanimals. Imagine living on a farm fifty miles from Chartres during the 15th Century. OnSundays you walked five miles to get to a little village. There the priest told you, "Listen, sixmonths from now we're all going to Chartres. There's going to be a big ceremony becausethe archbishop will be there."You spent a week to hike there. You walked into the central square of Chartres. Youlooked up and saw a cathedral taller than any trees, ahnost like a mountain, with its stainedglasswindows and statues, and there were all those people the priest told you about. They'reseven or ten feet taU. You walked in, looked up at the towering Gothic arches, the rose windows,heard the organ music and chanting, smelled the incense.Talk about multisensory, multimedia imprinting! Ifyou think that the Grateful Deadlight show is something, for almost two thousand years the wizards of the Catholic Churchhave orchestrated one hell of a show. The smell of perftmie, the candles, the chanting gettinglouder and louder, until suddenly the bishop appeared, bejeweled, carried in on a big

golden throne. You'd never seen anything like that back on the farm.*AII right,down on your knees. Say after me: Thine is the kingdom and power and glory.'Now I want youall to go to the Middle East and kill heathens for Christ""Sure, anything you say." x.An earlier multimedia imprinting event took place near Athens before the birth ofChrist. The Eleusinian mystery rite was an annual religious event that reoccurred for over athousand years. The wisest people as well as ordinary folk came to the temple of Eleusis toparticipate in the secret ceremony. An LSD-type drink made from ergot of barley was drunkby all the initiates. An extravagant Ught show and a powerful dramatic reenactment was performed,resulting in a group experience of chaos and rebirth for the audience.It's no accident that the Greek philosophers, dramatists, and poets left an incrediblerecord of creative self-expression and polytheism. When Socrates said, "The function ofhuman Ufe is to know yourself; inteUigence is virtue," he was invoking the Greek notion ofhumanism that was to later influence the Renaissance and the romantic periods.Far more than by weapons, society is controlled by multimedia, neurologicalimprinting. Marshall McLuhan reminded us that the medium is the message.When Gutenberg invented moveable type, itempowered dukes and cardinals toprint and distribute thousands of Bibles and histories of the Crown. Within a few decades,many Europeans were learning how to do what only the monks could do. Gutenberg createdthe one device that was basic to the future industrial-factory civihzationfor consumers.mass productionhi the industrial age, the virtuous person was good, prompt, reUable, dependable,efficient, directed, and, of course, replaceable. There was not much need for the individual tooperate his or her ovra brain in a factory civilization. The bosses can't have people on anassembly line becoming too creative, as m the Cheech and Chong movie where cars arecoming down the Ime.'Hey, Qieech, I'm gonna go eat now."Why not?""You can't, not yet""You can't eat until the bell rings.""Okay, lefs paint the next car rainbow."You cannot operate indushial society with too much individuaUty and access to themultimedia capacities of the brain.Around 1900 Einstein came up with the idea that space and time only exist in aninteractive field, and Max Planck devised a theory that the basic elements of the universe areparticles of information. Then came Heisenberg's proof that you create your own reality.Anda new philosophy emerged called quantum physics, which suggests that the individual'sfunction is to inform and be informed. You really exist only when you're in a field sharingand exchanging information. You create the realities you inhabitWhat's the brain for?Why do we have this incredible mstrument? Our brains want tobe hooked up with other brams. My brain is only in operation when she's slamming back andforth bytes and bits of information. Multimedia intercommunication.The original basic dream of humanity is that the individual has divinity within.There is this enormous power within our bio-computer brains. We are going to have to learnhow to use this power, how to boot itup.

SECTION II. 1 CYIEIINETICS NOW TO lOOT Ur YOUl IIO-COMPUTEI HII.4.How TO BOOT Up Your bio-ComputerThehuman brain, we are told, is agalaxy of over a hundred billionneurons, any two of which can organizeand communicate as muchcomplex information as a mainframe computer.Many cognitive psychologists now seethe brain as a universe of informationprocessors. Our minds, according to thismetaphor, serve as the software that programsthe neural hardware (or wetware).Most of the classic psychological termscan now be redefined in terms of computerconcepts. Cognitive functions likememory, forgetting, learning, creativity,and logical thinking are now studied asmethods by which the mind forms "databases" and stores,and retrieves information.processes, shuffles,Noncognitive functions such as emotions,moods, sensory perceptions, hallucinations,obsessions, phobias, alteredstates,possession-trance experiences,glossolalias, intoxications, visionaryimages, and psychedelic perspectives cannow be viewed in terms of ROM brain circuitsor autonomous-sympathetic-midbrainsectors that are usually not accessedby left-brainor forebrain conscious decision.These nonlinear,unconscious areascan, as we well know, be activated intentionallyor involuntarily by various means.The pop term "turn on" carries the fascinatingcybernetic implication that one canselectively dial up or access brain sectorsthat process specific channels of informationsignals normally unavailable.These concepts could emerge only inan electronic culture. The mystics andaltered-state philosophers of the past,like the Buddha or St. John of the Crossor William James or Aldous Huxley, couldnot describe their visions and illuminationsand ecstasies and enlightenments interms of "turning on" electronic appliances.There is no naTve assumption here thatthe brain is a computer. However, byusing cybernetic terminology to describemind and brain functions, we can add toour knowledge about the varieties ofthought-processing experiences.This use of a manufacturedartifact like the computer tohelpus understand internalbiological processes seemsthe heart as pumpto be a normal stage in thegrowth of human knowledge.Harvey's notions aboutand the circulationof the blood obviouslystemmed from hydraulic engineeringOurunderstanding of metabolism and nutritioninside the body had to await the scienceof thermodynamics and energymachines.Two hundred years ago, before electricalappliances were commonplace, thebrain was vaguely defined as an organthat secreted "thoughts" the way theheart processed blood and the lungsprocessed air. Forty-five years ago myPsychology 1-A professors described thebrain in terms of the most advanced informationsystem availablean enormoustelephone exchange. This metaphor obviouslydid not lead to profitable experimentation;so the brain was generallyignored by psychology. The psychoanalytictheories of Freud were more usefuland comprehensible, because theywere based on familiar thermodynamicprinciples: Neurosis was caused by theblocking or repression of surging, steamy,over-heated dynamic instincts thatexploded or leaked out in various symptomaticbehavior.During the early 1960s our HarvardPsychedelic Drug Research project studiedthe reactions of thousands of subjectsduring psilocybin and LSD sessions. Wewere able to recognize and classify thestandard range of psychedelic-hallucinogenicexperiences, and to distinguishthem from the effects of other drugs likeuppers, downers, booze, opiates, tran-Those young, bright babyboomAmericans, who hadbeen dialingand tuningtelevision screens sinceinfancy, and who had learnedhow to activate and turn ontheir brains using chaoticdrugs in serious introspectiveexperiments, were uniquelyprepared to engineer theinterface between thecomputer and the cyberneticorgan known as the humanbrain.

quilizers. But we were able to categorizethem only in terms of subjective reactions.There was simply no scientific language tocommunicate or model the wide rangeand "strange" effects of these chaoticphenomena. Psychiatrists, policemen,moralists, and people who did not usedrugs accepted the notion of "psychotomimeticstates." There was one normalway to see the world. Chaotic drugscaused all users to lose their grasp on theone-and-only authorized reality, thusmimicking insanity.MIKE SAENZTo talk and think about drug-inducedexperiences, the Harvard drug experimentersand other researchers wereforced to fall back on the ancient literatureof Christian mysticism and those orientalyogic disciplines that had studiedvisionary experiences for centuries. Thescholars of mysticism and spiritual transcendencesnobbishly tended to view"normal reality"induced illusions.as a web of sociallyThey tended to define,as the philosophic-religious goal of life,the attainment of altered states.Needless to say,enormous confusionwas thus created. Most sensible, practicalAmericans were puzzled andirritated by this mad attempton the part of the mystical millionsto enthusiastically embracechemical insanity and selfinducedchaotics. Epistemologicaldebates about the definition ofreality soon degenerated into hystericalsocial extremism on the partof almost all concerned, presentcompany included. Arguments aboutthe nature of reality are alwaysheavy, often bitter and emotional.Cultural, moral, political, racial, andabove all, generational issues wereinvolved in the Drug Wars of the late 20thCentury.But the basic problem was semiotic.Debate collapsed into emotionalbabble because there was no languageor conceptual model of whathappened when you got "high,""stoned," "fucked up,""loaded," "wasted," "blissed,""spaced out," "illuminated,""satorized," "god-intoxicated,"etc.Here again, external technologycan provide us with an updatedmodel and language tounderstand inner neuro-function.Television became popularized in the1950s. Many psychedelic trippers of thenext decades tended toreact like televisionviewers passively watchingthe pictures flashingon their mind-screens.The semantic levelofthe acid experimenterswas defined by the word"Wow!" The researchgroups Iworked with atHarvard, Millbrook, and Berkeley fell backon a gaseous, oriental, Ganges-enlightenmentterminology for which Ihumblyapologize.Then, in 1976, the Apple computerwas introduced. At the same time videogames provided young people with ahandsonexperience of movingflashy electronic, digital informationaround on screens. It was no accident thatmany of the early designers and marketersof these electronic appliances livedinthe San Francisco area and tended tobe intelligent adeptsin the use of psychedelicdrugs.Those young, bright baby-boomAmericans, who had been dialing and tuningtelevision screens since infancy,andwho had learned how to activate and turnon their brains using chaotic drugs in seriousintrospective experiments, wereuniquely prepared to engineer the interfacebetween the computer and thecybernetic organ known as the humanbrain. They could handle acceleratedthought-processing, multilevel realities,instantaneous chains of digital logic muchmore comfortably than their less-playful,"If thou write stoned,edit straight.If thou write straight,edit stoned."MBArivals at IBM.Much of Stevebuttoned-up, conservative,Jobs's astoundingsuccess in developingthe Appleand the Mac wasexplicitly motivatedby his crusadeagainst IBM, seen as the archenemy of the1960s counterculture.By 1980 millions of young Americanshad become facile in digital thought-processingusing inexpensive home computers.Most of them intuitively understoodthat the best model for understanding

SECTION II. s (VIEINETICS PCISONAl COMPUTEIS, PEISONAL FIEEDOMPersonal Computers,and operating the mind came from themix of the psychedelic and cybernetic cultures.Hundreds of New-Age pop psychologists,like Werner Erhard and ShirleyMacLaine, taught folks how to re-programtheir minds, write the scripts oftheir lives, upgrade thought-processing.At the same time the new theoriesof imprinting, i.e., sudden programmingof the brain, were popularized by ethologistsand hip psychologists like ConradLorenz, Niko Tinbergen, and John Lilly.Once again, external engineered toolshelped us understand inner function. Ifthe brain is viewed as bio-hardware, andpsychedelic drugs become "neurotransmitters,"and ifyou can reprogram yourmind, for better or for worse, by "turningon," then new concepts and techniquesof instantaneous psychological changebecome possible.Another relevant question arises. Canthe computer screen create alteredstates? Is there a digitally induced"high"? Can psyberdelic electrons bepackagedlike chemicals to strike terrorinto the heart of the Reagan WhiteHouse? Do we need a DigitalEnforcement Agency (DBA) to teach kidsto say "No," or more politely, "No, thankyou" to RAM pushers?My opinion is in the negative. Butwhat do I no? I am currently enjoying amild digital dependence, but it seemsmanageable and socially useful. I followthe ancient Sufi-Pythagorean maximregarding creative writing: "If thou writestoned, edit straight. If thou writestraight, edit stoned."And always with a team.Personal Freedomnee upon a time. . . knowledgeinformationwas stored in extremelyexpensive mainframe systems calledilluminated volumes, usually Bibles, carefullyguarded in the palace of the duke or bishop, andaccessible only to security-cleared, sociaUy alienatedhackers called monks. Then in 1456 Johannes Gutenberginvented a most important piece of hardware: the moveable-typeprinting press. This knowledge-information processing system couldmass-produce inexpensive, portable software readily available for home use:the Personal Book.Until recently, computers were in much the same sociopolitical situation as the pre-Gutenberg systems. The mainframe knowledge-processors that ran society were the monopolyof governments and large corporations. They were carefuDy guarded by priestly technicianswith security clearances. The average person, suddenly thrust into electronic illiteracyand digital helplessness, was understandably threatened.THE MAINFRAME MONOPOLYMy first contact with computers came in 1950, when 1 was director of a RaiserFoundation psychological research project that developed mathematical profiles for theinteipersonal assessment of personality. In line with the principles of humanistic psychology,the aim of this research was to free persons from dependency on doctors, professionals,institutions, and diagnostic-thematic interpretations. To this end, we elicited clusters ofyes-no responses from subjects and fed back knowledge in the form of profiles and indicesto the patients themselves.

SECTION II. ( CVIEINETICS PEISONAl COMPUTEKS. PEKSONAL FIEEDOM Ubecome passively addicted to electronic signals, e.g.,from television.The human body, as we have noted, also requires symbioticpartnerships with certain unicellular organisms. At this point inhuman evolution, more and more people are developing mutuallydependent, interactive relationships with their microsystems. Whenthis happens, there comes a moment when the individual is"hooked" and cannot imagine Uving without the continual interchangeof electronic signals between the personal brain and thepersonal computer. There are interesting political impUcations. Inthe near future, more than twenty milhon Americans will use computersto estabUsh intense interactive partnerships with otherinhabitants of cyberspace. These individuals will operate at a levelindividual access to knowledge-information-processingsoftware.New associations of individuals hnked by computers willsurely emerge. Information nets will encourage a swift, free interchangeamong individuals. Feedback peripherals will dramaticallyexpand the mode of exchange from keyboard punching to neurophysiologicalinteraction. The key word is, of course, "interaction."The intoxicating power of interactive software is tiiat it eliminatesdependence on the enormous bureaucracy of knowledge professionalstiiat flourished in the industiial age. In Uie factory culture,guilds and unions and associations of knowledge-workers jealouslyof intelligence that is quahtatively different from those who use staticforms of knowledge-information processmg. In America, this differenceis afready producing a generation gap, i.e., a species gap.monopolized tiie flow of information. Educators, teachers, professors,consultants, psychotherapists, librarians, managers, journalists,editors, writers, labor unions, medical groupsare now threatened.all such rolesAfter Gutenberg, Personal Books created a new level of individualthinking that revolutionized society.An even more dramatic mutationin human intelligence will occur as the new digital-Ught apphanceswill permit individuals to communicate with individuals inother lands.CHILDHOOD'S END?It seems clear that we are facmg one of those genetic crossroadsthat have occurred so frequently in the history of primates.The members of the human gene pool who form symbiotic linkswith soUd-state computers will be characterized by extremely highIt is not an exaggeration to speculate about tiie developmentof very different postindushial societies. SoUd-state literacywill be aknost universal m America and tiie oUier Western democracies.The rest of tiie worid, especially tiie totalitarian counhies,will be kept electix)nically ilhterate bytiieir rulers. At least half tiieUnited Nations's members now prohibit or limit personal possession.And, as tiie impUcations of home computers become moreclearly understood, restiictive laws will become more apparent Ifwe are to stay free, we must see to it ttiat flie right to own digitaldata processors becomes as inalienable as tiie constitutional guaranteesof free speech and a free press.encourageindividual intelligence and will settle in geographic niches that... to teach individuals how to self-administer psychoactive drujsinorder to free their psycheswithout reliance doctors oruponinstitutions. ...M Psychedelic drujs exposeone to the rawexperience of chaotic brain function, with the protectionsof the mindtemporarily suspended. We are talkinghere about the tremendousacceleration of images,the crumblingof analogic perceptionsintovapor trails of neuron off-on flashes, the multiplicationof disorderlymind programs slippingin and out of awareness like floppydisks.

II.6.Quantum Jumps,Your Macintosh, ano YouChalk: A soft, white, grey, or buff limestone composed chiefly of the shells offoraminifers.Quantum: The quantity or amount of something; an indivisible unit of energy; theparticle mediating a specific type of elemental interaction.Quantum jump: Any abrupt change or step, especiallyinknowledge or information.Chaos: The basic state of the universe and the human brain.Personal computer: A philosophic digital appliancethat allows the individual tooperate and communicate in the quantum-information age.A UNIVERSE OF USER-FRIENDLY BITS AND BYTES^^ The great philosophic achievement of the 20th Century was the discovery, madeK jj J by nuclear and quantum physicists around 1900, that the visible-tangible reality isfc^ written in BASIC. We seem to inhabit a universe made up of a small number ofelements-particles-bits that swirl in chaotic clouds, occasionally clustering together in geometricallylogical temporary configurations.The solid Newtonian universe involving such immutable concepts as mass, force,momentum, and inertia, all bound into a Manichaean drama involving equal reactions ofgood versus evil, gravity versus levity, and entropy versus evolution, produced such piousBank-of-England notions as conservation of energy. This General Motors's universe, whichwas dependable, dull, and predictable, became transformed in the hands of Einstein/Planckinto digitized, shimmering quantum screens of electronic probabiUties.In 1989 we navigate in a reality of which Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg couldonly dream, and which Marshall McLuhan predicted. It turns out that the universe describedin their psychedeUc equations is best understood as a super mainframe consteUation of informationprocessor with subprograms and temporary ROM states, macros called galaxies,stars; minis called planets; micros called organisms; metamicros known as molecules,atoms, particles; and, last, but not least, micros called Macintosh.It seems to follow that the great technological challenge of the 20th Century was toproduce an inexpensive appliance that would make the chaotic universe "user friendly,"which would allow the individual human to digitize, store, process, and reflect the subprogramsthat make up his/her own personal realities.Murmur the word "Einstein," put your hand reverently on your mouse, and give itANDY FRITHan admiring paL Your modest, faithful, devoted Mac is an evolutionary celebrity!Itmay be an

SECTION II. i CYBERNETICS QUANTUM JUMPS, YOUR MACINTOSH, AND YOU ;;advance as important as the opposable thumb, face-to-face lovemaking, the Model-T Ford,the printing press! Owning it defines you as member of a new breed postindustrial,poslbiological,post-humanbecause your humble VM (Vollis-Mac) permits you to think and actin terms of clusters of electrons. It allows you to cruise around in the chaotic post-Newtonianinformation ocean, to think and communicate in the lingua franca of the universe, the binarydialect of galaxies and atoms. LightA PHILOSOPHIC APPLIANCE CONCEIVED BY QUANTUM PHYSICISTSEThe chain of events that elevated us to this new genetic status, Homo sapiens electronicus,began around the turn of the century.out the nature ofPhysicists are traditionally assigned the task of sortingreality. So was it Einstem, Planck, Heisenberg, Bohr, et al., who figured out that the units ofenergy/matter were subatomic particles that zoom around in clouds of ever-changing,off-on, 0-1, yin-yang probabilities.Emstein and the quantum physicists digitized our universe, reduced our solid realitiesinto clusters of pixels,into recursivestairways of Godel-Escher-Bach paradox. Noone understood, at first, what they were talkingabout They expressed their unsettlingIs it not true that freedom in any countryislTb^^^ch2TeTephT^^^cists thought and communicated vrith a - -iLL,neolithic tool: chalk marks on the blackboardof the cave. The paradox was this: Einsteinflieasured perfectly bythe percentajfeof PersonalComputersand his brilliant colleagues could not experienceor operate or communicate at a quantum-electronic level. In a sense they were idiotsavants, able to produce equations about chaos and relativity without being able to maintaininterpersonal cyberrelationships with others.Imagine if Max Planck, paddling around in his chalkboard skin-canoe, had access toa video-arcade game! He'd see right away that the blips on Centipede and the zaps of Spacehivaders could represent the movement of the particles that he tried to describe in chalkdustsymbols on his blackboard.Reflect on the head-aching adjustment required here. The universe described byEinstein and the nuclear physicists is alien and terrifying. Chaotic. Quantum physics is quiteUterally a wild acid trip! It postulates an hallucinatory Alice-in-Wonderiand universe inwhich everything is changing. As Heisenberg and Jimi Hendrix said, "Nothingis certainexcept uncertainty." Matter is energy. Energyis matter at various forms of acceleration.Particles dissolve into waves. There is no up or down in a four-dimensional movie. It alldepends on your attiUide, i.e., your angle of approach to the real worlds of chaotics.In 1910, the appliance we call the universe was not user friendly and there was nohands-on manual of operations. No wonder people felt helpless and superstitious. People livingin the solid, mechanical worid of 1910 could no more understand or experience anJ 1*J**J Itm tlie hanos ot inoivKluals?Einsteinian universe than Queen Victoria could levitate or fish could read and write English.Einstein was denounced as evil and immoral by Catholic bishops and sober theologians whosensed how unsettling and revolutionary these new ideas could be.^In retrospect we see that the first sevenfy-five years of the 20th Century were devotedto preparing, training, and initiating human beings to communicate in quantum-speak,

ANDY FRITHi.e., to think and act at an entirely different level interms of digital clusters.The task of preparing human culture for new realities has traditionally been performedby tribal communicators called artists, entertainers, performers. When Greekphilosophers came up with notions of humanism, individuality, and liberty,it was thepainters and sculptors of Athens who produced the commercial logos, the naked statues ofcurvy Venus and sleek Mercury and the other randy Olympian Gods.When the feudal, anti-human monotheisms (Christian-Islamic) took over,it was the"nerdy" monks and painters who produced the commercial artwork of the Middle Ages. Godas a bearded king swathed in robes. Madonna and Bleeding Saints and crucified Jesus, wallto-wallanguished martyrs. These advertising logos were necessary, of course, to convincethe serfs to submit to the All-Powerful Lord. You certainly can't run a kingdom or empirewith bishops, popes, cardinals, abbots, and chancellors of the exchequer joyously runningaround bare-assed like Athenian pantheists.The Renaissance was a humanist revival preparing Europeans for the industrial age.When Gutenberg invented the cheap, portable, rag-and-glue home computer known as theprinting press, individuals had to be encouraged to read and vmte and "do it yourself!" Offcame the clothes! Michelangelo erected a statue of David, naked as a jay bird, in the mainsquare of Florence. Why David? He was the young, punk kid who stood up against Goliath,the hired Rambo hit man of the Philistine empire.With this historical perspective we can see that the 20th Century (1900-1994) producedan avalanche of artistic, Uterary, musical, and entertainment movements, all of whichshared the same goal: to strip off the robes and uniforms; to dissolve our bUnd faith in staticstructure; to loosen up the rigidities of the industrial culture; to prepare us to deal with para-

dox, with altered states of perception, with multidimensional definitions of nature; to makequantum reality comfortable, manageable, homey, livable; to get you to feel at home whilebouncing electrons around your computer screen. Radio. Telegraph. Television. Computers.DfCITAL ART! D.I.Y.(DO IT YOURSELF!)In modem art we saw the emergence of schools that dissolved reality representationinto a variety of subjective, relativistic attitudes. Impressionistsused random spots of color and brush strokes, converting matter to reflectedlight waves. Seurat and the Pointillists actually painted in pixels.Expressionism offered a quantum reality that was almost totally spontaneous. Do ityourself! Cubism sought to portray common objects in planes and volumes reflecting theunderlying geometric structure of matter, thus directly illustrating the new physics. TheDada and collage movements broke up material reality into diverse bits and bytes.Surrealism produced a slick, smooth-plastic fake-reality that was later perfected bySony. In Tokyo 1 have listened to electronic anthropologists argue that Dali's graphic "ThePersistence of Memory" (featuring melting watches) created modem Japanese culture,which no one can deny is eminently surreal.These avant-garde aesthetic D.I.Y. experiments were quickly incorporated into popart, advertising, and industrial design. Society was learning to Uve with the shifting-screenperspectives and pixillated representations of the universe that had been predicted by theequations of the quantum physicists. When the Coca-Cola company uses the digitized face ofMax Headroom as its current logo, then America is comfortably living in a quantum universe.Imagine what lamesloycecould have donewith MS Word or aCD-ROM graphic systemor a modern data base!Well, we don't have toHACKING AWAY AT THE WORD LINEElThese same aesthetic trends appeared in English Uterature. Next time you boot upyour Mac, breathe a word of gratitude to Emerson, Stein, Yeats, Pound, Huxley,Beckett, Orwell, Burroughs, Gysin all of whom succeeded in loosening social,political, religious linearities, and encouraging subjectivity and innovative reprogrammingImajine-he actuallymanaged to do it usinjfhis own brainware.of chaotic realities.The most influential literarywork of this period was produced by James Joyce. InUlysses and Finnegans Wake, Joyce fissioned and sUced the grammatical structure of languageinto thought-bytes. Joyce was not only a writer, but also a word processor, a protohacker,reducing ideas to elemental units and endlessly recombining them at will. Joyceprogrammed reahty using his own basic language, a quantum Unguistic that allowed him toassemble and reassemble thoughts into fugal, repetitious, contrapuntal pattems. (It alsohelped that he was semi-blind and dyslexic.)Imagine what James Joyce could have done with MS Word or a CD-ROM graphicsystem or a modem data base! Well, we don't have to imagineusing his own brainware.he actually managedto do itlAZZmThe most effective pre-computer rendition of quantum-digital art was to befound in a certain low-life high-tech style of spontaneous, cool, subjective,improvisational sound waves produced by a small group of black audio engineers.Jazz suddenly popped up at the height of the industrial age, erodingits linear valuesand noninteractive styles.A factory society demands regularity, dependability, replicability,predictability, conformity. There is no room for improvisation or syncopated individuality ona Newtonian assembly line; so it was left to the African-Americans, who never really boughtSECTION 11.6 CYIEINETKS 9UANTUM lUMrS, YOUl MACINTOSH, AND YOU U

the factory culture, to get us boogying into the postindustrial quantum age. Needless to say,the moralists instinctively denounced jazz as chaotic, low-life, and vaguely sinful.RADIOThe most important factor in preparing a society of assembly-line workers andfactory managers for the quantum-information age was the invention of a userfriendlyelectronic appUance called radio.Radio is the communication of audibleWesignals, such as words or music, encoded inseem to inhabit aelectromagnetic waves. Radio allows us to package and transmit ideas in digital patterns.The first use of Vireless" was by government, military, and business, but within one generationthe home micro-radio allowed the individual to turn on and tune in a range of reahties.universe made upoi aWhen Farmer Jones learned how to selectsmall number stations by moving the dial, he had takenoithe first hands-on step toward the information age. By 1936 the comforting sounds of Amos'n'Andy and swing music had prepared human beings for the magic of quantum-electronicelements-particlesbitsthat swirl incommunication, as well as the brainwashing powers of political leaders.THE MOVIES PROIECTED REALITIES ONTO SCREENSaThe next stepchaotic in creating an electronic-computer culture was a big one. Lightclouds,waves passed through celluloid frames projected life-like images on screens,producing new levels of reality that transformed human thought and communication.occasionallyclustering together inof those old green-white Gutenberg printouts. The silent movies made this innovation possible.It is, perhaps, no accident that in the 1980s IBM used the lovable, irresistible icon of thegeometrically logicalLittle TVamp in its commercials.The next time you direct your hypnotized eyeballs toward your lit-up terminal,temporaryremember that it was cheerful Charlie ChapUn who first accustomed our species to acceptthe implausible quantum reality of electrical impulses flashing on a flat screen.configurations. . . .It was a big step when computer designers decided to output data on screens msteadTELEVISION BROUGHT THE LANGUAGE OF ELECTRONS INTO OUR HOMESEWorldcodes.War 11 was the first high-tech war. It was fought on electronic screens:radar, sonar. The Allied victory was enormously aided by Alan Tbring, the fatherof artificial inteUigence, who used primitive computers to crack the GermanAs soon as the war was over, these new technologies became available for civilianuse. There issimply no way that a culture of television addicts can comprehend or appreciatethe changes in human psychology brought about by the boob tube.The average American spends more time per week watching television than in anyother social activity. Pixels dancing on a screen are the central reality. People spend moretime gazing at electrons than they do gazing into the eyes of their loved ones, looking intobooks, scanning other aspects of material reality. Talk about appUed metaphysics! Electronicreality is more real than the physical world! This is a Itprofound evolutionary leap. can becompared to the jump from ocean to shoreline, when land and air suddenly become morereal to the ex-fish than water!TELEVISION PASSIVITYHThefirst generations of television watching produced a nation of "vidiots": passiveamoeboids sprawled in front of the feeding-screen sucking up digitalinformation.Giant networks controlled the airwaves, hawking commercial products

SECTION M.6 CYIERNETICS 9UANTUM lUMrS, YOUK MACINTOSH, AND YOU 19and packaged politicslike carnival snake-oil salesmen.Perceptive observers realized that Orwell's nightmare of a Big-Brother society wastoo optimistic. In 1984 the authoritarian state used television to spy on citizens. The actualityis much worse: citizens docilely, voluntarily lining themselves up in front of the authoritybox, enjoying the lethal, neurological fast food dished out in technicolour by Newspeak.Visionary prophets Uke Marshall McLuhan understood what was happening. Hesaid, "The medium is the message." Never mmd about the junk on the screen. That willchange and improve. The point is that people are receiving signals on the screen. McLuhanknew that the new electronic technology would create the new global language when theIt seems to follow that thetime was ripe, i.e.,when society had been prepared to take thisquantum leap.COMPUTER PASSIVITYTThe first generations of computer users similarly did not understand thenature of the quantum revolution. Top management saw computers asInvaluable Business MachinesTi'. Computers simply produced higherefficiency by replacmg muscular-factory-clerical labor.And the rest of usrecognizing in the 1960s that computers in the hands of themanagers would increase their power to manipulate and control us developedloathing of computers.a fear andSome sociologists with paranoid-survival tendencies have speculated that this phobicrevulsion against electronic communication shared by millions of college-educated, liberalbook readers was dehberately created by Counter Intelligence Authorities'''i' whose controlwould be eroded by widespread electronic Uteracy.The plot further thickened when countercultural code-cowgirls and code-cowboys,combining the insights and liberated attitudes of beats, hippies, acidheads, rock 'n' rollers,hackers, cyberpunks, and electronic visionaries, rode into Silicon Valley and foiled the greatbrain robbery by developing the great equalizer: the Personal Computer.The birth of the information age occurred in 1976, not in a smoky industrial townlike Bethlehem, PA, but in a humble manger (garage) in sunny, postindustrial SiUcon Valley.The Personal Computer was invented by two bearded, long-haired guys, SL Stephen theGreater and SL Steven the Lesser And to complete the biblical metaphor, the infant prodigywas named after the Fruit of the TVee of Knowledge: the Apple! The controlled substancewith which Eve committed the first original sin: Thinking for Herself!The Personal Computer triggered a new round of confrontation in the age-oldsocial-political competition: control by the state and individual freedom of thought.Remember how the Athenian PCs, goaded by code-cowboys like Socrates and Plato, hurledjreat technologicalof thechallenge20thCentury was to produce aninexpensive appliancethat would make thechaotic universe "userwhichfriendly,"wouldallow the individualhuman to digitize, store,process,and reflect thesubprograms that make uphis/her own personalrealities.back the mainframes of the Spartans and the Persians? Remember how the moveable-typepress in private hands printed out the hard copy that overthrew theocratic control of thepapacy and later disseminated the Declaration of Independence? Is it not true that freedomin any country is measured perfectly by the percentage of Personal Computers in the handsof individuals?THE ROLE OF THE FREE AGENT IN THE COMPUTER CULTUREBThose who like to think for themselves (let'scall them free agents) tend to see computersas thought-appliances. "Appliance" defines a device that individuals use inthe home for their own comfort, entertainment, or education.What are the applications of a thought-appliance? Self-improvement? Self-educa-

liligaBlillliiiQaii.3l!IBSII15l9iilSSIIiBii;ffiiailllfwtwSon? Home entertainment? Mind interplay with friends? Thought games? Mental fitness?Significant pm^uits?Free agents use their minds not to perform authorized duties for the soviet state orthe International Bureaucracy Machine^'' but for anything that damn well suits their fanciesas Americans, hi the old industrial civilization you called yourself a worker, but in the informationage you're a free agent As you develop your agency, you develop your skills in communication.Personal Computer owners are discovering that the brain is:the ultimate organ for pleasure and awareness;an array of a hundred billion microcomputers waiting to be booted up,activated, stimulated, and programmed;waiting impatiently for software, headware, thoughtware that pays respect toits awesome potential and makes possible electronic internet linkage with other>brains.$t TIMOTNY lEAlY (HAOS ( (VtEl CUlTllltE

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iii.i.The Woodstock Generationt was twenty years agothis summer that moreThe Woodstock festival was an all-star revival of the oldest- - and most basic religious ritual: a pagan celebration of life and rawthan four hundred thousand young Americansspent three days and nights carousing spectacu-nature, a classic group "possession ceremony" in which worshippers"go out oftheir minds" to recklessly confront the chaoticHigher Sources, protected by the power of group support.-- Check the anthropology texts. Read Campbell, read Frazer,lariy at the Woodstock rode festival. It was simplyand you'll see that these rituals date way back before the upstart,aggressive, pushy, puritanical monotheistic (One Male God) relithebiggest and wildest and most influential party in- - -all of history!If not, please prove me wrong, so thatgions. Pagan rites always celebrate the same natural, instinctive,guileless, eternal Utopian values: Peace. Pure ecstatic sexuahty.Equality in the eyes of the Higher Powers. Joy. Endemic rapture.- Mirth. Tolerance. Affirmation oflife,ofthe human spirit The honestwe can learn how to improve.naked human body Irreverence. And merry laughter.It was twenty years ajo today...For one weekend this farm field became the Such festivals reawaken the oldest and most Utopian aspira-- - - tionsofthe human brain.third largest cityin New York state. Almost half a However, be warned, ifyou stand up as an individual anddeclaim these goals, you are sure to be derided by themillion spoiled, affluent, educated young Americans- -important adult authorities in your sector) as a hopeless, naive idecrowded,jammed, squashed into a small cowalistpasture In upstate New York.--There was minimum sanitation. Minimum food(which was, of course, k>vingly shared). Wall-to-wall- -mud. ThafS the down side.Rambo-Uddy-Ollie North steroid gang (and probably by most of the"The world is a tough, mean neighborhood," you will be toldby the conventional-wisdom experts.But when four hundred thousand energetic, educatedyoung people assembled, in August 1969, to proclaim these venera-'''^pagmn values in action, the effect was contagious. A fearless confidenceflared up in young adults. You've seen the fihns of the 1960s.Sunny, impertinent smiles were infectious. A sense of undeniabletogetherness. No secrecy. No shame for experiencing paganmoments. Psychedelic herbs proudly and openly exchanged. Canyou imagine anyone sneaking off at Woodstock to shoot heroinenced the greatest pagan, Dionysian rock 'n'rollmusical event ever performed, with plenty of joyousOn the up side these concert-goers experibehinda bush? Or surreptitiously tooting cocaine? Or sneakUydroppingsteroidsi^^^d?while Ustening to Jimi Hendrix and the GratefulThis "Woodstock experience" became the role model for*c counterculture of that time. The Summer of Love kids went on- - to permanently change American culture with principles that thenudity, and wall-to-wall psychedelic sacraments.Soviets in 1989 called glasnost and perestroika.Hippies started the ecology movement They combatedAnd click on this: not one act of recorded racism. They liberated sexual stereotypes, encouraged change, indl--- vidual pride, and self-confidence. They questioned robot materialvblence!ism. in four years they managed to stop the Vietnam War. They gotSECTION III.I tOUNIEKUlTyiES THE WOODSTOCK CENEIATION jj

marijuana decriminalized in fourteen states during the Carteradministration. Etc.There was another by-product of the 'sixties generation soobvious that it is rarely considered. When more than four hundredthousand virile, nubile, homy young men and women assembled inthe atmosphere of life aiTirmation there was, inevitably "a wholelotta shaking goin' on." It's possible that ten thousand babies wereconceived that magical weekend in 1969.Where are these "kids of the 'sixties kids" today? And whoare they?The babes of the Woodstock season are now, in 1989, twentyyears old. In the next twelve years their younger cohort memberswill be swamping the college campuses.Will these college kids of the 1990s, the grandchildren of Dr.Spock, be different from the conservative college kids of the 1980s?The War on Drujs made mellowmarijuana prohibitivelyexpensive.The DA made surethat the peaceable, visionaryelixirs like 'shrooms, mescaline,LSD. and MDMA becameinaccessible. So jood-byetoIf your Mom was running around bare-ass at Woodstock . . .ifyour Dad helped Abbie Hoflman levitate the Pentagon and helpedend the Vietnam War . . . ifyour parents smoked dope during theirformative years while hstening to Dylan, the Rolling Stones, and theBeatles if . . .they weptat the fascist-assassination deaths of theKennedys, Martin Luther King, Jr., and John Lennon . . . ifyourfolks turned on, tuned in, dropped out ... are you going to major inBusiness Administration and stampede to Wall Sfreet to sell illegaljunk bonds?The poor, conservative, fearful, conforming college studentsof the Reagan years were stuck with Moms and Dads whogrew up in the bland Eisenhower 1950s. The ghosts of thatdecadeSenator (Red-Scare) McCarthy and General Douglas("nuke the slant-eyes") MacArthur and John Wayne and FatherKnows Best came back to haunt the colleges in the 1980s.turn on, tune in, drop out . . .and hello to the motto of theTHE REAGAN GENERATION1980s: Hanj on. Hanj in.Hanj over.^^^T^ The Woodstock revolution started in 1966, peaked in9L^^ 1976, and hit the wall with a thud! in 1980 with the"^ ^ election of Nancy Reagan.During the 1980s the gentle tolerance of Woodstock wasreplaced by a hard-Une Marine Corps attitude. The pacifism of"Give Peace a Chance" gave way to a swaggering militarism. Theconquest of Grenada. The glorious bombing of Qaddafi's tent. Thecovert war against Nicaragua. Star TVek gave way to Star Wars.The War on Drugs made mellow marijuana prohibitivelyexpensive. The DEA made sure that the peaceable, visionary elixirslike 'shrooms, mescaUne, LSD, and MDMA became inaccessible. Sogood-bye to turn on, tune in, drop out . . . and hello to the motto ofthe 1980s: Hang on. Hang in. Hang over.And what did the War on Drugs produce? A booze epidemic.Alcoholthe drug of choice of the NRA, the Bubba huntingS4 TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS ( (YIEI (UlIUItE

crowd, the American Legionthe saddle.Thrn down! Time out!Throw up!is back inAnd cocaine. An epidemic oftoot, snort, snow, blow, base, crack hasthe inner cities wired and fired.Cocaine, the drug that fueled Hitler's SSand the Nazi Blitzkrieg suddenly is turningthe inner cities of Reagan-BushAmerica into battlegrounds! Guns, rifles,automatic weapons conveniently suppliedby the NBA and your govemment-Ucensed gun dealer. Just walk up andname your weapon. Bucko. No questionsasked.The 1980s have us a5[ivensequel to McCarthyism. TheCivil War onM^% hasunleashed federal a5[entsand hard-line police 5[oons(led, believe it or not, by a"czar") to harassibertarians, intelligentwatchful eyes of the security guards, butthe lyrics are not high m sociallyredeeming value, while the anger ofyoungactivist musicians is Umited totiie denigrated punk-club scene.Conservative poUticians andfundamentahst preachers were delightedbytiie new conformity. College professorswho were proud veterans of Uie'sixties counterculture vainly expectedthe new students to carry on tiie individual-freedomh"adition. The moretiioughtiul students sensed that tiieywere somehow missing sometiiing. Thesad nostalgia of tie-dye T-shirts couldn'trevive die spiritTUrn out! Shoot up!Drop dead!And here's a pharmaceuticalplus for the post-Woodstock America;what unique new Rambo drug did thestand-tall, muscle-bound Reagan-Bushregime give our youth to replace thewimpy Carter years?Steroids!Tlirn off! Tune out!Pump up!(Thanks a lot, Nancy.)What about the college kids?Remember, the 'sixties counterculture was centered on the campuses.Berkeley. Rent State. Columbia. Madison. Austin. Boulder.ledonists, and thirtymillion marijuanafans whodon't want the jfovernmenttellin5[them what to dowith their minds.THE SUMMER OF LOVEHow did the Summer of Loveturn into die Winter of Irangate anddrive-by shootings?How long will this conservatismlast? Will tiie 1960s renew? The answeris easily found in tiie demographics.These conformist kids whowere 20 years old in 1980 were raisedby parents whose teenage social idealsemerged in the button-down 1950s. The replay is uncannily precise.Back tiien we had a lovable old doddering president namedSeattle, hi the 1980s, however, the colleges, the source of our future,have "seethed with rest" While brave students in South Korea,China, the Soviet Union were exhibiting the ideaUsm they dutifullylearned from Woodstock, back in America students have becomeconservative, materialistic, career-oriented, like Uie Japanese universities,and like the Russian colleges under Brezhnev.In the last ten years there has been httie campus concernfor social issues. The Dan Quayle fraternity-sorority system flourishedagaui. The ultimate college clowns, ROTC students, grownmen and women dressed like Boy Scouts sporting Ollie North crewcuts,became, if not popular, at least acceptable.The audible symbol of this change from the 1960s to the1980s is the music. If you want to find the soul of a culture, hsten tothe lyrics that direct tiie sounds, the beats, the rhythms.In the 1960s Dylan sang: "We ain'tgonna work on Maggie'sfarm no more." Lennon sang: "Give Peace a Chance." In tiie somnambulant1980s Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, GeorgeMichael kept us moving in tiie big auditorium-arenas under theIke whose politicaltactics were a reassuring grin. There was a bigEvil Empire Crusade tiiat led to die pointiess slaughter of tiieKorean War. And ifyour parents could tolerate TVickyDick Nixon as vice president in 1959, Uien you are moreable to swallow Dan Quayle as our second-in-commandin 1989!In tiie 1950s, tiie domestic cancer tiietiiat was tiireatening our nation from witiiinnumber-one perilwas subversive communism.Welcome to a tiirillingCivil War tiiat unleashed FBI agentsand hard-lme police goons to crack down and harass pinkos, communistsympatiiizers, ti"aitorous peaceniks, and liberals who supportedun-American plots to bring about racial and sexual equality.The 1980s have given us a sequel to McCarthyism. TheCivil War on Drugs has unleashed federal agents and hard-linepolice goons (led, beUeve it or not, by a "czar")to harass libertarians,inteUigent hedonists, and tiiirtymilUon marijuana fans whodon't want tiiegovernment telling tiiem what to do witii tiieirminds.SECTION III. COUNTEICUITHES THE WOODSTOCK CENEKATION SS

The 'eighties witchhuntuivolves, not loyaltytests by the FBI, but mandatoryurine tests by the DEA.The same inquisitionalfanaticism is at work.Careerism andunquestioning acceptanceof authority were valued inthe 1980s as then, in the1950s. There was not awhimper in the 1950s whenmiUions of youth weredrafted and sent six thousandmiles away to invadeKorea. The most visiblerowdy culture hero, ElvisPresley, reported dutifully tohis local draft board,dressed up hke a cute soldierboy, saluted smartly forthe cameras, and coachedby his father figure. Colonel Parker, proclaimed, "I'm looking forwardto serving in the Army. I think it will be a great experience forme." (Sometime after his military service in Germany, Elvis wobbledinto the office of J.Edgar Hoover while loaded on prescriptiondrugs and volunteered to be a drug informant for the FBI. He boastedthat his contacts with musicians would make him an ideal doubleagent No John Lennon he.)For an 'eighties college student whose parents' wildestmoments of cultural individuality and social passion involved pantyraids and fraternity-house telephone-booth pranks, is it surprisingfor them to appear apathetically cheerful in the Reagan-Bush period?Right-wingers and fundamentalists have exulted in the apathyand conformity of 'eighties campuses. "America," they exult, "hascome to its senses. Father knows besU"defend us against ourdeadly foes abroad and theenemies in our urbanslums and ghettos.By 1989, however,this right-wing fantasy wasbeginning to erode in thelight of the new explosionsof youthftil idealism.TVventy years afterWoodstock, the nationalnews once again is featuringhundreds of thousandsof young people behind theIron Curtain, their facesglowing with patriotic idealism,peaceably demonsfratingto overthrow anaging federal bureaucracy.It'spowerful dejd vu to witnesslong-haired Germankids wearing headbands,flashing the universal peace sign, and putting their bodies andcareers on the Une for democracy and individual rights. Once againthe confrontations with students peacefully defying the NationalGuard. Once again the daring yet playfiil tactics of television agitproptheatre substituted for violence. Thousands of protesters ridingbicycles to the revolution! (!)What would Karl Marx make of thatmaneuver?Where did those Chinese students learn these clever methodsof grabbing the news screens to express their ideals? Where didthey learn the techniques of media savvy to counter the armedforces of the state? From the newsreel films of the American campusprotests of the late 1960s, whose ideals are not dead. They weremore powerful than ever in China's Tien An Men Square, as well asin the USSR, where glasnost and perestroika define ft^edom for theThe ideals of the 1960sof individuaUty, personal freedom,individual.kick-out free expressionThe youth in China, Russia, Czechoslovakia, South Koreaare the kids of the 'sixties kids. Keep your eyes open, and you'll see awere written off as adolescent delinquency.American kids, thank God, have assumed the sober responsibilitiesof historytowage the Cold War, to go to church and voterevival of this freedom movement coming soon to a college campusRepublican (or Democratic, since it doesn't really matter), to dressand behave with decorum, to support the military and police whonear you.a TIMOTIV lEAiy CHAOS i (YiEl (milllE

III.2.From Yippies to YuppiesSincemy deportation from HarvardUniversity many years ago, I havebeen, among other things, a freelancecollege professor paid by studentsfor one-night-stand lectures abouttopics too hot for salaried professors.Back in the 1960s when I flew infor a lecture, the student committeeshowed up at the airport wearing long hair,sandals, blue jeans, and cheerful, impudentgrins. The radio would be blasting out MickJagger and Jimi Hendrix as we drove to thecampus. The students eageriy asked meabout "high" technologiesmethods ofconsciousness expansion, new brands ofwonder drugs, new forms of dissidentprotest, up-to-date developments in theever-changing metaphysical philosophiesof rock stars: Yoko Ono's theory of astrology;Peter Townsend's devotion to Baba RamDass. Ikept abreast of these subjects andtried to give responsive answers.it'sToday different The lecturecommittee arrives at the airport wearingThis much we know:The yuppiesaie a newbleed. They'rethefirst members of theelectronic society.They're the first cropof bewildered mutantsclimbingout of themuck of the industrial(late neolithicsmokestack) a^e.h. . . These postwarkidswere the first membersof a new species,Homo sapienselectronicus.SECTION III. 2 COUNTEICUIIUIES FIOM YIPPIES TO YUPPIES JJ

IThe phrase "younjurban proiessionals"doesn't tell us much.juess the implicationis that theyare not ORAs(old rural amateurs).But who are they?three-piece suits, briefcases, clipboardswith schedules. No music. No questionsabout Michael Jackson's theory of reincarnationor Sheena Easton's concept of sugarwalls. The impudent grins are gone. Theyoung people are cool, realistic, and corporate-minded.They question me about computerstocks, electronic books, andprospects for careers in software.ANATOMY OF A YUPPIEThe phrase "^oung urban professionals"doesn't tell us much. Iguess theimplication is that they are not ORAs (oldamateurs). But who are they?The moralists of both left and rightcan fro\h with righteous indignation aboutthis army of selfish, career-oriented, entrepreneurialapparentlyvalue money and their own interests morethan the lofty causes of yesteryear. Butbehind the trendy hype, we sense that thetwitchy media may be reflecting someauthentic change in the public consciousness.The yuppie myth expresses a vaguesense that something different, somethingnot yet understood but possibly meaningful,happening in the day-to-day Uves anddreams of young people growing up in thisvery unsettlmg worid.Surely it's important to understandgoing on with this most mfluentialgroup of human beings on the planet the76 million materialistic, educated or streetwise,performance-driven Americansbetween the ages of 22 and 40.This much we know: The yuppiesare a new breed. They're the first membersof the electronic society. They're the firstcrop of bewildered mutants cUmbing out ofthe muck of the industrial (late neoUthicsmokestack) age. They showed up on thescene in 1946, a watershed year, markingthe end of World War 11 the war thatinduced the birth of electronic technology:radar, sonar, atomic fission, computers. In1946, this incredible high-tech gear was beginning to be available for civilian consumption.Something else important happenedin 1946. The birthrate in Americaunexpectedly doubled. Between 1946 and1964, 76 million babies were bom. That's40 million more than demographers predicted.These postwar kids were the firstmembers of a new species. Homo sapienselectronicus. From the time they could peerout of the crib, they were exposed to a constantshower of information beaming fix)mscreens.They were, right from the start,treated Uke no other generation in humanhistory. Their parents raised them accordingBenjamm Spock's totally revolutionarytheory of child care. "TVeat yourkids as individuals," said Spock. "Tell themthey are special!Tell them to think forthemselves. Feed them, not according tosome factory schedule. Feed them ongourmet demand, i.e., let 'em eat what theywant when they are hungry."This generation is the most intelligentgroup of human bemgs ever to inhabitplanet The best educated. The mostwidely traveled. The most sophisticated.They have grovm up adapting to an acceleratedrate of change that is ahnost incomprehensible.They became highly selectiveconsumers, expecting to be rewardedbecause they are the best.Let's hasten to clear up one misconceptionpostwar generationSpockies was not docilely manipulatedby greedy admen or the cynical media. Norwas it the so-called imagemakers, the rockstars and television programmers andmoviemakers, teUing the kids what to do.Quite to the contrary. The Spockies themselvesdictate to the imageers and marketeersabout what they wantBABY-BOOMERS GROW UPThe rapidly changing styleandtone of American culture in the last fourSS TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS i CYBER CUtlUIE

decades has reflected the elitist expectationsof this Speck generation as it passedthrough the normal stages of maturation.During the 1950s, kids were cleancutand easygoing. The tumultuous 1960smarked the stormy adolescence of thisastonishing generation and bore the hippies,bands of cheerlxil, muddUng sensualistsand self-proclaimed dropouts. By the1970s, Spockies were busy stopping theVietoam War, peaceably overthrowing theNixon administration, and mamly trying tofigure out what to do with their lives. The1980s brought us a new breed of individualiststurned professional.The 1950s are fondly rememberedas the child-centered, home-based decade.Popular music, being most free fromparental control, provided the clearestThe 1960s were unflurried, unworried,more erotic than neurotic. We're not gonnabe wage slaves or fight the old men's wars.We're allgonna live in a yellow submarine!It wasn't just middle-class whitemales calling for changes. The blacks wereready. They had been waiting four hundredyears. The race riots and the civil-rightsprotests and the freedom marches were anunexpected fallout of Spockian philosophy,ft is hard to overestimate the effect of theblack culture on the Spockie generation.There was the music, of course. The style,the grace, the coobiess, the cynical zendetachment from the system came from theblacks. No white professor had to tell theblacks to turn on, tune in, and drop out ofconformity.Then there was the women's liber-Any about thepredictionsfutuie that the yuppiesaiecuriently creatingmust bebased on the fact that theyaiethe fiist members of theinfoimation-communicationexpression of youthful mood. The first stirringsof adolescence changed the beatation movement, perhaps the most significantchange impulse of the century. Thisculture. . . .Intelli5[ence isSpockies wanted to wiggle their hips tentatively;so the hula-hoop craze swept theland. The music picked up the beat withrhythm 'n' blues, rockabilly, rock 'n' roll,the Surfer and the Motovra sound. Just ascute, fuzzy caterpillars suddenly metamorphoseinto gaudy butterflies, so did thesweet, cuddly Mouseketeers moult intowas the smartest, best-educated group ofwomen in history, and they expected to betreated as individuals. And the gay-prideconcept was stirring. Apparently their parentshad read Spock, too. Not since thedemocratic, human-rights movements ofthe 18th Century had there been so muchfeverish hope for a fair and free socialtheir ethos and their model.Theyunderstand that the smarttothin^do is to construct apeaceful, fair, just,high-llying, highly visible, highly vuhierablehippies.order.But by the end of the decade itsocial order.compassionateThe Spockies emerging intoteenage pubescence in the 1960s changedour traditional notions about sex, duty,became apparent that Utopia wasn't goingto happen that easily, for three obvious reasons:work, conformity, and sacrifice. The postwarkids never really accepted the values ofthe industrial society or the aesthetics of theDepression era. They never bought theProtestant work ethic. After watching televisionsix hours a day for fifteen years, wouldthey settle docilely for a hard-hat job on theassembly line?1 . There were powerful forces dead-set against any changeinAmerican culture.2. There were no practical blueprints or role models for harnessing avague philosophy of individualism into a functioningsocial order.3. Basically,we were not quite ready: The Spockies were still kidsoutnumbered demographically and unprepared psychologically tocreate the postindustrial phase of human culture.Bob Dylan set the tone for the adolescentrebellion: "Don't follow leaders/watch your parking meters." The BeachBoys offered a California style of personalfreedom. The Beatles picked up the themeof bouncy irreverence. It seemed so naturalAll you need is love. Do your own thing.The opposition to change hadmade itself very apparent in the cold-bloodedassassinations of Jack Kennedy, brotherBobby, Malcohn X, and Martin Luther King,Jr.Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, andthe new cowboy governor of California, oneSECTION III. 2 COUNHICUITIIIIES FIOM YIPPIES TO YUPPIES S9

R. Reagan, made it perfectly clear that theyTHE NEXT PHASEwould happily use force to protect their system.By 1968, many young people hadlost confidence in the old establishments.Back in the 1960s when Iflew in foi a lecture, thestudent committee showedup at the aiipoit wearinglon^ hail, sandals, bluejeans, and cheerful,impudentThe radio^rins.would be . . .blasting^The social philosophy of the hippieswas romantically impractical. Sure,they weren't gonna work on Maggie's farmno more, but what were they gonna doafter balling all night long? Some retreatedto gurus, others went back to a new form ofantitechnological chic Amishness. Urbanpolitical activists parroted slogans ofEuropean or third-world socialism andmade pop stars of totahtarian leaders UkeChe Guevara and Ho Chi Minh. The debacleat Altamont and the conjunction ofoverdose deaths of rock stars JopUn,Hendrix, and Morrison symbolized the endof the 1960s.The phrase "Don't trust anyone over 30"reflected a disillusioned realism; you couldn'tfmd answers in the grand ol' party ofNixon or the Democratic party of HubertHumphrey. Big business and big labor wereboth unresponsive to the obvious need forchange; the high ideals of socialismseemed to translate into just another wordfor police-state bureaucracy. By the end ofthe decade, it was also clear to any sensibleyoung person that individuaUsm and doingyour own thing had a certain drawback. Ifyou weren't gonna work for Maggie's pa nomore, how were you gonna make out?The obvious answer You wereTodayit's different. TheTHE YUPPIES AS Free Agentslecture committee arrives atthe airport wearingthreepiecesuits, briefcases,with schedules.clipboardsNo music.Before 1946, youngsters absorbed andjoined their culture by means of personalobservation of significant grown-ups. Youwatched the neighborhood doctor andthe local carpenter and the nurse or themaiden aunt, and you drifted into a job.Books, sermons, magazine articles aboutheroic or antisocial figures also helpeddefine the nature of the social game.Television changed allthat. The averageAmerican household watches televisionmore than seven hours a day. Thisstatisticmeans that yuppies learnedabout culture, absorbed the roles,rules,rituals, styles, and jargon of the game,not from personal observation but fromtelevision images. The cartoons, soapoperas, prime-time dramas, and gameshows tend to be escapist. The newsbroadcasts tend to feature victims andrighteous whiners rather than successfulrole models. Politicians reciting rehearsedlies are not seen as credible heroes.The only aspect of television that pre-sents real people engagedin actions thatare existentially true, credible, and scientificallyobjective are the sportscasts. Thismay explain the enormous media attentiongiven to organized athletics. Theaverage kid watches Fernando Valenzuelaor Joe Montana or Kareem Abdul-Jabbarperform and is then exposed to endlessinterviews with and stories about thesesuccessful, self-made professionals. Theiropinions, moods, physical ailments,philosophies, and lifestyles are presentedin microscopic detail. People know moreabout LarryBird as a "real person" thanthey do about Walter Mondale or GeorgeBush or Dan Rather.Itcan be argued that professional athleteswere the firstgroup to work out thetactics for surviving and excelling in apostindustrial world and have thus providedrole models for the yuppies. Beforethe 1960s, professional athletic heroeswere serfs indentured to baronial industrialistswho literallyowned them. The ownioTIMOTHY LEAIV CHAOS I CYIEI (ULTUIE

gonna believe in yourself. That's what the1970s were all about More than 76 millionSpockies reached the venerable age of 24and faced a very practical chaDenge: Growup!The focus became self-improvement,EST, assertiveness training, personalexcellence, career planning. Tom Wolfe,always the shrewd social critic, coined theterm "the me-generation."Then the recession hit. Arab-oilblackmail pushed up inflation rates. Adultsociety had no expansion-growth plans toharness the energies of 40 million extrapeople. Indeed, growing automation wasreducing the work force. The h"an hostagecrisis lowered morale. In the malaise of1980, the voters chose the smiling RonaldReagan over a frustrated Carter. Actually,the Spockies boycotted the election; so thecountry went to an aging man who proceededto heat up the threat of nuclear warand run up an enormous national deficit, adebt to be paid by Mure generations.Most young Americans today don'twant to be forced to work at jobs that canbe done better by machines. They don'twant to stand on assembly lines repeatingmindless tasks. Robots work. Citizens insociahst workers' countries work. Grizzledveterans in the steel towns of Pennsylvaniawork. Third-world people have to work tosurvive.What do self-respecting, intelligent,ambitious young Americans do? Theyperform. They master a craft. They learn toexcel in a personal skill.They becomeentrepreneurs, i.e., people who organize,operate, and assume risks. They employthemselves, they train themselves, theypromote themselves, they transfer themselves,they reward themselves.They perform exactly those functionsthat can't be done by CAD-CAMmachines, however precisely programmed.They gravitate naturally to postindustrialfieldselectronics, communication, education,merchandising, marketing, entertainment,skilled personal service, health andgrowth enterprises, leisure-time professions.They are poUtically and psychologicallyindependent They do not identifywith company or union or partisan party.They do not depend on organizationaltenure. They are notoriously nonloyal toinstitutions.W^ers could trade them, fire them, pay them that, through the magic of television, hefigures to prove his worth. He understood lot of sense to the kids. There was no wayat whim. The rare athlete who "held out" and his colleagues were providingwas considered a troublemaker.The first wave of athletes from theSpock generation hit the big leagues inthe mid-1960s, and they immediatelyAmerica with a new, personal style thatwas making fortunes for the owners andthe networks.A basic concept here was attitude. Thechanged the rules of the game. In contrastpost-Chamberlain players realized longto the older athletes, they were bet-ter educated, politically sophisticated, culturallyhip individualists. In a curious way,young athletes accomplished the evolutionbefore the yuppies that free agents havedepend on themselves. The playerseven had to violate management regulationsto conduct their own programs ofin American society that the hippies physical fitness. The grizzled, potbelliedwere dreaming about. For starters, they coaches were convinced that weight-trainingeliminated their legal status as serfs. Theyand personal-exercise programsbecame free agents, and hired their ownlawyers and managers.would hinder performance.The blacks started it, and then theIt was no accident that black athletes women caught on. Billie Jean King andled this evolution. Wilt Chamberlain is Chris Evert and Martina Navratilovacredited as being the first super-pro tomake gourmet demands on owners: firstclassaccommodations, hotel-room bedsthat fit his individual dimensions! Wilt wasnot a worker; he was a performer. He haddemanded to be treated as individuals.And to add to the singularity, they madethe public accept the fact that they ranpersonal and sex lives according totheir own gourmet styles.All this made aa 12-year-old could imitate RonaldReagan, but every day in the playground,classroom, and video arcade, he couldemulate the young professionals whom hesaw performing on the screen.The emergence of the electronic ministryand the television flock is pure1980s. Preachers, like other professionals,are judged by their ratings.Any predictions about the future thatthe yuppies are currently creating must bebased on the fact that they are the firstmembers of the information-communicationculture. It is inevitable that they willbecome more realistic,more professional,more skilled. Intelligence is their ethosand their model. They understand thatthe smart thing to do is to construct apeaceful, fair, just, compassionate socialorder.SECTION III. 2 COUNTEICULTUIES flOM YIPriES TO YUPriES 61

III.3.the cyberpunk:The Individual as Reality PilotYour true pilotcares nothing about anything on Earth but the river,and his pridein his occupation surpassesthe prideof Icings.Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi"Cyber" means "pilot."A "cyberperson"is one who pilotshis/her own life.By definition, the cyberpersonisfascinated by navigational informationespecially maps, charts, labels, guides,manuals that help pilotone throughlife. The cyberperson continually searches fortheories, models, paradigms, metaphors, images, icons that helpchart and definethe realities that we inhabit."Cybertech" refers to the tools, appliances, and methodologies of knowing andcommunicating. Linguistics. Philosophy.Semantics. Semiotics. Practicalepistemologies. The ontologies of daily life. Words, icons, pencils, printing presses,screens, keyboards, computers, disks."Cyberpolitics" introduces the Foucault notions of the use of language and linguistic-techby the ruling classes in feudal and industrial societies to control children, theuneducated, and the under classes. The words "governor" or "steersman" or"G-man" are used to describe those who manipulate words and communicationdevices in order to control, to bolster authorityfeudal, management,governmentand to discourage innovative thought and free exchange.WHO IS THE CYBERPUNK?Cyberpunks use aU available data-input to thinii for themselves.You know who they are.Every stage of history has produced names and heroic legends for the strong,stubborn, creative individuals who explore some future frontier, coUect and bring back newinformation, and offer to guide the human gene pool to the next stage. Typically, these timemavericks combine bravery, and high curiosity, with super self-esteem. These three characizTIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS I CYlEt (UlTUIE

teristics are considered necessary for those engaged in the profession of genetic guide, akacounterculture philosopher.The classical Olde Westworld model for the cyberpunk is Prometheus, a technologicalgenius who "stole" fire from the Gods and gave it to humanity. Prometheus also taughthis gene pool many useful arts and sciences. According to the official version of the legend,he/she was exiled from the gene pool and sentenced to the ultimate torture for these unauthorizedtransmissions of classified information. In another version of the myth (unauthorized),Prometheus (aka the Pied Piper) uses his/her skills to escape the sinking kinship,taking with him/her the cream of the gene pool.The Newe World version of this ancient myth is Quetzalcoatl, God of civilization,high-tech wizard who introduced maize, the calendar, erotic sculpture, flute-playing, theThe classical Oldearts, and the sciences. He was driven into exile by the G-man in power, who was calledTezcatlipoca.Westworld model forSelf-assured singularities of the cyberbreed have been called mavericks, ronin, freelancers,independents, self-starters, nonconformists, oddballs, froublemakers, kooks, visionaries,iconoclasts, insurgents, blue-sky thinkers, loners, smart alecks. Before Gorbachev, theSoviets scornfully called them hooligans. ReUgious organizations have always called themheretics. Bureaucrats call them disloyal dissidents, traitors, or worse. In the old days, evensensible people called them mad.They have been variously labeled clever, creative, entrepreneurial, imaginative,enterprising, fertile, ingenious, inventive, resourceful, talented, eccentric.the cyberpunkisPrometheus, atechnological geniuswho "stole" fire fromDuring the tribal, feudal, and industrial-literate phases of human evolution, the logicalsurvival fraits were conformity and dependabiUty. The "good serf or "vassal" was obedientThe "good worker" or "manager" was reliable. Maverick thinkers were tolerated only atthe Gods and javeitto humanity. T^moments when innovation and change were necessary, usually to deal with the local competition.In the information-communication civilization of the 21st Century, creativity andPrometheus alsomental excellence will become the ethical norm. The worid will be too dynamic, complex,taujht his jene pooland diversified, too cross-Unked by the global immediacies of modem (quantum) communication,for stability of thought or dependability of behaviour to be successful. The "good persons"in the cybernetic society are the inteUigent ones who can think for themselves. The"problem person" in the cybernetic society of the 21st Century is the one who automaticallymanyuseful artsand sciences.obeys, who never questions authority, who acts to protect his/her official status, who placatesand politics rather than thinks independently.Thoughtful Japanese are worried about the need for ronin thinkmg in their obedientculture, the postwar generation now taking over.THE CYIEIPUNK COUNTERCULTURE IN THE SOVIET UNIONThe new postwar generation of Soviets caught on that new role models are necessaryto compete in the information age. Under Gorbachev, bureaucratic control is being softened,made elastic to encourage some modicum of innovative, dissident thought!Aleksandr N. Yakovlev, Politburo member and key sfrategist of the glasnost policy,describes that reform: "Fundamentally, we are talking about self-government We are movingtoward a time when people will be able to govern themselves and confrol the activities ofpeople that have been placed in the position of learning and governing them."It is not accidental that we are talking about 5e(/^govemment, or se(/^sufficiency andse^T-profitability of an enterprise, self-tius and self-\hal It all concerns the decentralization ofpower."SECTION III. 3 COUNTEtCUlTUIES THE CYlEirUNK: THE INtlVIDUAL AS lEALITY riLOT 63

The cyberpunk person, the pilot who thinks clearly and creatively, using quantumelectronicappliances and brain know-how, is the newest, updated, top-of-the-Une model ofthe 21st Century: Homo sapiens sc^iem qybemetkus.THE GREEK WORD FOR "PILOT"A great pilotcan sail even when his canvas is rentLucius Annaeus SenecaThe term "cybernetics" comes from the Greek word kubemetes, "pilot"The Hellenic origin of this word isimportant in that it reflects the Socratic-Platonictraditions of independence and mdividual self-reliance which, we are told, derived fromgeography. The proud little Greek city-states were perched on peninsular fingers wigglingdown into the fertile Mediterranean Sea, protected by mountams from the land-massarmies of Asia.Mariners of those ancient days had to be bold and resourceful. Sailing the sevenseas without maps or navigational equipment, they were forced to develop independence ofthought. The self-reliance that theseHellenic pilots developed in their voyagesprobably carried over to theIn the intoimation-coininunication civilization of the zist Century,and mental excellence will become the ethical norm. The workcreativitywill be too dynamic, complex,and diversified, too cross-linked bythedemocratic, inquiring, questioningnature of thefr land Ufe.The Athenian cyberpunks, thepilots, made thefr own navigationaldecisions.global immediacies of modern (quantum) communication, for stabilityThese psychogeographical factorsmay have contributed to thehumanism of the Hellenic reUgions thatof thoughtor dependabilityof behaviour to be successfu .emphasized freedom, pagan joy, celebrationof life, and speculative thoughtThe humanist and polytheistic religionsof ancient Greece are often compared with the austere morality of monotheistic Judaism,the fierce, dogmatic polarities of Persian-Arab dogma, and the imperial authority of Roman(Christian) culture.THE ROMAN CONCEPT OF DIRECTOR. GOVERNOR, STEERSMANThe Greek word kubemetes, when franslated to Latin, comes out as gubemetes.This basic verb gubemare means to confrol the actions or behavior, to direct, to exercisesovereign authority, to regulate, to keep under, to restrain, to steer. This Roman concept isobviously very different from the Hellenic notion of "pilot"It may be relevant that the Latin term "to steer" comes from the word stare, whichmeans "to stand," with derivative meanings "place or thing which is standmg." The pastparticiple of the Latin word produces "status," "state," "institute," "statue," "static," "statistics,""prostitute," "restitute," "constitute."ii, TIMOTHY LEARY CHAOS I (riElt (UlTURE

CYBERPUNK PILOTS REPLACE COVERNETICS-CONTROLLERSSociety everywhere is in conspiracy against the self-hood of every one ofits members. The virtue in most request is conformity. SeH-reliance is itsaversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs.Ralph Waldo Emerson, NatureWho so would be a man must be a nonconformist.Emerson, op. at.The word "ofbemetics" was coined in 1948 by Norbert Weiner, who wrote, 'We havedecided to call the entire field of control and communication theory, whether in the machineor in the animal, by the name of Cybernetics, which we form from the Greek for steersman.[sicfThe word "cyber" has been redefined (inthe American Heritage DiOionary) as "thetheoretical study of control processes in electronic, mechanical, and biological systems, especiallythe flow of information in such systems." The derivative word "cybemate" means "tocontrol automatically by computer or to be so controlled."An even more ominous interpretation defines cybernetics as "the study of humancontrol mechanisms and their replacement by mechanical or electronic systems."Note how Weiner and the Romanesque engineers have corrupted the meaning of"cyber." The Greek word "pilot" becomes "governor" or "director"; the term "to steer"becomes "to control."Now we are liberating the term, teasing it free from serfdom to represent theautopoetic, self-directed principle of organization that arises in the universe in many systemsof widely varying sizes, in people, societies, and atoms.OUR OPPRESSIVE BIRTHRIGHT: THE POLITICS OF LITERACYThe etymological distinctions between Greek and Roman terms are quite relevant tothe pragmatics of the culture surrounding their usage. French philosophy, for example, hasrecently stressed the importance of language and semiotics in determining human behaviourand social structures. Michel Foucault's classic studies of Unguistic politics and mindcontrol led him to beUeve thathuman consciousness as expressed in speech and images, in self-definition and mutual designation . . .is the authentic locale of the determinant politics of beingWhat men and women are bom into isonly superficially this or that sodal, legislative, and executive system. Their ambiguous, oppressivebirthright is the language, the conceptual categories, the conventions of identification and perceptionwhich have evoh/ed and, very largely, atrophied up to the time of their personal and sodal existence. It isthe established but customarily subconsdous, unargued constraints of awareness that enslave.Orwell and Wittgenstein and McLuhan agree. To remove the means of expressingdissent is to remove the possibility of dissent "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof must oneSECTION III.) COUKTEICUtllllES THE CYIEIPUNK: THE INDIVIDUAL AS lEALITY PILOT a

emain silent" In this light the difference between the Greek word '^ilot" and the Romantranslation "governor" becomes a most significant semantic manipulation, and the flexibilitygranted to symbol systems of all kinds by their representation in digital computers becomesdramatically liberating.Do we pride ourselves for becoming ingenious "pilots" or dutiful "controllers"?WHO. WHAT. AND WHY ISCOVERNETICSDamn the torpedoes,fullspeed ahead.Captain David Glasgow Farragut's order to his steersmanat the Battle of Mobile Bay, August 5, 1 864Aye, aye, sir.Unknown enlisted steersmanat the Battle of Mobile Bay, August 5, 1864self or others.The word "govemetics" refers to an attitude of obedience-control in relationship toPilots, those who navigate on the seven seas or in the sky, have to devise and executecourse changes continually in response to the changing environment. They respondcontinually to feedback, information aboutthe environment. Dynamic. Alert Alive.Cyber: The Greek word kubernetes, when translated to latin, comes outas 5[uberiietes.This basic verb ^iibernaremeans to control the actions orThe Latinate "steersman," by contrast,is in the situation of foUowing orders.behavior, to direct, to exercise sovereign authority,to regulate,to keepThe Romans, we recall, were great organizers,road-builders, administrators. The galleys,the chariots must be controlled. Thelegions of soldiers must be directed.under, to restrain, to steer. This Roman concept is obviously verydifferent from the Hellenic notion of "pilot" [makingtheir ownThe Hellenic concept of the individualnavigating his/her own course was anisland of humanism in a raging sea of totalitarianempires. To the East (the past) werenavigational decisions!. ... the meanin^i of "cyber" has been corrupted.The Greek word "pilot"becomes "governor"or "director"; the term "tothe centralized, authoritarian kingdoms. Thegovernors of Iran, from Cyrus, the Persianemperor, to the recent shah and ayatoUah,have exemplified the highest traditions ofsteer" becomes "to control." ... The terms "cybernetic person"orstate control.The Greeks were flanked on the"cybernaut" return us to the original meaning of "pilot" and puts theother side, which we shall designate as theWest (or future), by a certain heavy conceptself-reliant personback in the loop.called Rome. The caesars and popes of theHoly Roman Empire represented the nextgrand phase of institutional control. The governinghand on the wheel stands for stability, durability, continuity, permanence. Staying thecourse. Individual creativity, exploration, and change are usually not encouraged.ii TIMOTIY lEAlY CHAOS i CYIEI (UlTVIE

CYBERPUNKS: PILOTS OF THE SPECIES"The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.'Edward GibbonThe terms "cybernetic person" or "cybemaut" return us to the original meaning of"pilot" and puts the self-reUant person back in the loop. These words (and the more popterm "cyberpunk") refer to the personaUiation (and thus the popularization)of knowledge-information technology, to innovativethinking on the part of the individual.According to McLuhan and Foucault, if you change thelanguage, you change the society. Following their lead, we suggestthat the terms "cybernetic person, cybemaut" may describe anew species model of human being and a new social order."Cyberpunk" is, admittedly, a risky term. Like all Unguistic innovations,it must be used with a tolerant sense of high-tech humor.;rckdoIISONPAY, JOLY 4JHI25It's a stopgap, transitional meaning-grenade \brovm over the languagebarricades to describe the resourceflil, skillM individualwho accesses and steers knowledge-communication technologytoward his/her own private goals, for personal pleasure, profit,principle, or growtii.Cybeipunks are flie inventors, innovative writers, technofrontierartists, risk-taking fikn directors, icon-shifting composers,stand-up comedians, expressionist artists, free-agent scientists,technocreatives, computer visionaries, elegant hackers,bit-blitting Prolog adepts, special-effectives, cognitive dissidents,video wizards, neurological test pilots, media explorersall oftiiose viho boldly package and steer ideas out fliere where nothoughts have gone before.Counterculhu^s are sometimes tolerated by the governors.They can, witii sweet cynicism and patient humor, interfacefliefr singularity wifli institutions. They often work witiiin tiie"governing systems" on a temporary basis.As often as not, tiiey are unautiiorized.THE LEGEND OF THE RONINThe ronin ...has broken wfth the tradition of career feudalism.Guided by a personally defined code of adaptability, autonomyand excellence, ronin are employing career strategiesgrounded in a premise of rapid d)ange.BeveHy Potter, The Way of^e RoninRonin is used as a metaphor based on a Japanese word for lordless samurai. Asearly as the 8th Centiiry, ronin was translated literally as "wave people" and used in Japan toSECTION III. 3 (OIIITdCllTIIES TIE CTIEIPtNII: THE INIIVIiaAl AS lEAllTY PHOT 67

describe those who had left their allotted, caste-predetermined stations in life: samurai wholeft the service of their feudal lords to become masterless.Ronin playeda key role in Japan's abrupttransition from a feudal societyto industrialism. Under feudal rule, warriors were not allowed to thinkfreely, or act according to their will. On the other hand, having beenforced by circumstances to develop independence, [ronin] took morereadily to new ideas and technology and became inaeasingly influentialin the independentschools.Potter, op. cjt.The West has many historical parallels to the ronin archetype. The term "^e lance"has its origin in the period after the Crusades, when a large number of knights were separatedfrom their lords. Many hved by the code of chivafry and became "lances for hire."The American frontier was fertile ground for the ronin archetype. "Maverick,"derived from the Texan word for unbranded steer, was used to describe a free and selfdirectedindividual.Akhough many of the ronin's roots ...are in the male culture, mostcareer women are well acquainted with the way of the ronin. Careerwomen left their traditional stations and battled theirwayinto therecesses of the male-dominated workplaces. . . Uke the ronin who hadno clan, professional women often feel excluded from the corporatecliques' inside tracks, without ally or mentor.Potter, op. at.SOME EXAMPLES OF CYBERPUNKSChristopher Cdumbus (1451-1506) was bom in Genoa. At age 25 he showed up inLisbon and learned the craft of map-making. This was the golden era of Portuguese exploration.Many pilots and navigators were convinced that the Earth was round, and that theIndies and other unknown lands could be found by crossing the western seas. What wasspecial about Columbus was his persistence and eloquence in support of the dream of discovery.For more than ten years he traveled the courts of Europe attempting to make "thedeal"; to find backing for his "enterprise of the Indies."According to the Columbia Eruydopedia, "Historians have disputed for centuries hisskill as a navigator, but it has been recently proved that with only dead reckoning Columbuswas unsurpassed in charting and finding his way about unknown seas."Columbus was a most unsuccessful governor of the colonies he had discovered. Hedied in disgrace, his cyberskills almost forgotten. (At least that's what they tell us in theauthorized history books.)In 1992 the PoUtical Correction Department dismissed Columbus as a racist coloniaUstMark Twain. He purchased the Remington typewriter when it appeared in 1874 for$125. In 1875 he became the first author in history to submit a typewritten manuscript to apublisher. It was The Adventures ofTom Sawyer."This newfangled writing machme," TWain wrote, "has several virtues. It piles anit TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS i CYIEI (UlTHIE

awful stack of words on one page.It don't muss things or scatter ink blots around. Of courseit saves paper."Mathias (Rusty) Rust, a 19-year-old loner fix)m Hamburg, Germany, attained all-starstatus as a cyberpunk when, on May 28, 1987, he flew a one-engine Cessna through theImpenetrable" Soviet air defenses and landed in Moscow's Red Square. There were nogubemal or organizational motives. The technological adventure was a personal mission.Rusty just wanted to talk to some Russians. German newspapers celebrated the event, calling'^e it stuff of dreams," and comparing the youth to the Red Baron Manfred vonRichthofen and Charles Augustus Lindbergh. 4The "jfood persons"inTHE CYBERPUNK CODE: TFYQAthe cybernetic societyfVar Games is an electronic quantum signal, a movie about high-tech computersand human evolution that illustrates and condemns the use of quantum-electronic knowledgetechnology by governors to control. The fihn celebrates the independence and skill ofcyberpunks who think for themselves and innovate from within the static system. TheCaptain and his wife use high-tech agriculture methods to enhance the potency of unauthorizedbotanical neuroactivators. The Captain makes an unauthorized decision to abort WorldWar in. In both instances the Captain follows the cyberpunk code: Think foryourself; questionauthority (TFYQA).The cyberkid Matthew Broderick is equally courageous, outrageous, creative, andbright When the audience is introduced to the hero of War Games, he is in a video arcadeplaying a space-adventure game vrith poise and proficiency. An electron jock.Late for school, he's pulled into the classic confrontation: the authoritarian teacherhumiliates and punishes the Tom Sawyer kid, sends him to the principal's office. There heobtains the code for the school's computer system. Back home, he uses his PC to access theschool records. He changes an unfair grade to a passing level. He thinks for himself andquestions authority.At the crucial moment he rushes to the library and researches the life of a physicist,are the intelligentones who can thinkfor themselves. The"problem person" inthe cybernetic societyof the 2ist isCenturythe one whoautomatically obeys,who never questionsscans scientific journals, scopes microfilm files nothis own personal grail.to please the system, but in pursuit ofauthority,who acts toNote that there is a new dimension of electronic ethics and quantum legahty here.The Captain and Matthew perform no act of physical violence, no theft of material goods.The Captain processes some computer data and decides for himself Matthew rearrangesclusters of electrons stored on a chip. They seek independence, not control over others.protect his/herofficial status, whoTHE CYBERPUNK AS ROLE MODEL FOR THE 2iST CENTURYfThetradition of the "individual who thinks for him/herself extends to the beginningsof recorded human history. Indeed, the very label of our species. Homo sapiens, definesus as the animals who think.If our genetic function iscomputare ("to think"), then it follows that the ages andplacates and politicsrather than thinksindependently.stages of human history, so far, have been larval or preparatory. After the insectoid phases ofsubmission to gene pools, the mature stage of the human life cycle is the individual whothinks for him/herself. Now, at the beginnings of the information age, are we ready toassume our genetic function?SECTION III.] (OIINTEICUITUIES THE CYIEKPUNK: THE INDIVIDUAL AS lEAllTY rilOT 69

111.4- The New BreedMemes: Self-replicatingideas that sweep across human populations, bringing about cultural mutations.Neoteny: (1) attainment of improved functional maturity during the larval stage; (2) retention ofsurvivally optimal larval or immature characters as adults, i.e.,refusal to stop growing, extensionof the developmental period.November 9, 1989. None of us will forget those picturesof that menacing meme-icon, the Berlin Wall, aumblingin minds all over the world. We saw the faces of those young,upwardly mobile people in blue jeans and white running shoeswho, for the first time in their lives, were experiencing self-navigation,free to choose their life options outside the control ofthe authorities.Ithad finally happened; the inevitable and long-awaited cUmax ofthe youth revolutions. "They aren't going to work on Brezhnev'sfarm no more." The Dr. Spock-memesswept the world in less than three decades.of self-direction hadThis is not a political revolution; it's more hke a culturalevolution. A tsunami of electronic information. The emergence of anew breed. Young people all over the world are mutated, asMarshall McLuhan predicted, by highly communicable memes:documentary footage, rock 'n' roll music, MTV, pirate broadcasts, allcoming to them through American-Japanese television screens.This new breed is centered on selfdirection and individual choice,a genetic revulsion for partisan politics, a species horror of centralizedgovernments.November 24, 1989. The demonstrations inPragueThis global youth movement cannot be discussed in theterms of politics or sociology or psychology. We are dealing with aled to a nationwide strike. Grizzled, hard-hat workers marchedout of the factories shouting, "Longlive the students!" Thenext day the Czech hard-line regime resigned.new, post-Darwinian, genetic science.This emergence of youth power has been called sociogenetics,cybernetic evolution, cultural genetics, memetics. It has to dowith die communication and h-ansmission of new ideas and attitudes.Dawkins has suggested the word "memes" to describe theseDecember 28, 1989. The repressive regime of NikolaeCeausescu has fallen."It was a children's revolution," said an elderly womanto a reporter."Yes, the students," a young woman said.self-replicating ideas Uiat sweep across human populations, bringingabout cultural mutations.In the last thirty years, we have witiiessed a new breedemerging during the juvenile stage of industrial-age society. (Thekey word here is juvenile, as opposed to adulL Adult is flie past participleof the verb "to grow.") This new breed appeared when enormousnumbers of individuals in tiie juvenile stage began intercommunicatingsome new memes, mutating togeUier at the same time.The Japanese brand of this youth movement call themselves Ho RoTen, "the new society.""No, no, not students," a woman said."The children.Biological evolution works through flie competitive spreadof genes. Logically, the mechanism of cultural change involves communication.Individuals are activated to change when they pick upOur children saved us. They did this for us." (Los AngelesTimes, 12/29/89).new meme-signals from others of their cohort. The mode of communicationdetermines not just the speed of the change, but thenature of tiie change.SECTION III. 4 COUNTEICUllUtES THE NEW HEED Ji

THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGEOF CULTURAL EVOLUTIONThe Ten Commandments, chiseled on stone tablets, createda fundamentalist culture that discouraged change and democraticparticipation. There is one God, the author-creator, and his wordsare eternally true. This stone-tablet meme-carrier spawns a cultureruled by the inerrant "good book" and a priesthood of those whopreserve, interpret, and enforce the commandments.The printing press mass-disseminates memes that create afactory culture run by managers.As soon as cybernetic communication appliances emerged,political power was seized by those who control the airwaves. We'veseen this since the rise of fascism and totalitarianism. Americanelections of 1980, 1984, 1988 produced an ominous demonstrationof tele-democracy in a centraUzed country.Less than 50 percent of the eligible voters bothered to registeror vote in these three presidential elections. More than half ofadult Americans were so disillusioned, apathetic, bored that theymade the intelligent decision to vote, in absentia, for "none of theabove." According to exit polls, more than half of voting Americansglumly admitted that they were choosing "the lesser of two evils."The electronic, McLuhanesquememe-signals that produced Woodstocknation and the Berlin Wall deconstructionare more a matter of attitude and style.The television news has trainedus to recognize "the robe-memes" thefeudal pope (or the Iranian mullah) andhis solemn piety-reeking priests. We recognize"the suits," the adult politicians ofthe industrial age, with their no-nonsensesobriety. We observe "the uniforms,"armed, booted, hehneted.And since 1966, we have observedthis new breed, "the students" who tend towear blue jeans and running shoes. TheirGorbachev was dismayedto find that many Sovietyouth, jiven freedomthe press,were moreinterested in UFOs, punkrock, astrolo5[y,andlashish than in politicaReagan and Bush were elected byaround 25 percent of the citizenry. Theonly ones who really cared about theseelections were those who stood to benefitfinancially from the results. The "apparatchiks"and govemment-payroUed"nomenclatura" of the two contending"parties" choose the "leaders" who wouldpreside over division of the spoils.History will note that the 1980sregimes of Reagan-Bush exquisitely mirroredthe Brezhnevian anomie in theSoviet Union. It is now shockingly clearthat the Republican party in this countryplays the role of the Communist party inthe pre-Gorbachev USSR: an entrenched,dress and gestural signals are as importantas the idendlying markings andscents of different species of mammals.Just like any new breed of mammals,these kids recognize each other across national boundaries. Thefaces of the Chinese youth shine with that same glow as the facesphotographically captured in Berlin and Prague andpreviouslyin Woodstock.issues.IN A CYBERNETIC CULTURE, DEMOCRACYBECOMES PRIME-TIME AUTHORITARIANISMtwenty yearsIt is important to note that these students are not demonstratingfor "socialist democracy" or "capitalist democracy." Theyare for "individual freedom." In the cybernetic age, "democracy"becomes majority-mob rule and the enemy of individual freedom.Democracy works just fine in a preindustrial, oral society inwhich the men walk or ride horses to the village center and talkthings over. Industrial societies produce a factory system of politicsrun by managers. Representative government involves full-timeconservative, mihtaristic, unashamedlycorrupt, secretive, belligerently nationalisticbureaucracy. It gave the country twelveyears of stagnation, spiritless boredom, and cynical greed.Meanwhile, the all-star huckster of freedom and decentralization,Mikhail Gorbachev, in five remarkable years persuaded anentire subcontinent to "drop out" of Stalinism.In this climate it is obvious that the party apparatus with thebiggest budget for television advertising and the marketing ability tofocus on the most telegenic, shallow, flamboyantly lurid issues(abortion, drugs, pledge of allegiance, school prayer, no taxes, andjingoistic, bellicose nationalism) would sweepto a landslide win onthe votes of the 25 percent majority.It is ironic that in the oldest democracy, the U.S., partisanpohtics seems to have lost its touch with reality. In the elections ofthe 1980s, millions were expended on political advertising.Elections were won by paid-time commercials involving moralisticimages, emotional theatrics, and malicious fabrications. Old-fashionedrehgious daemonology and fake patriotism, skillfully splashedacross the television screens, replaced rational discussion of issues.professional politicians and partisan parties. The dismal results arepredictable.U TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS i (YIEI (UlTUIE

THE END OF MAIORITARIAN DEMOCRACYIn the feudal and industrial ages, majoritarian democracywas usually a powerful libertarian counterculture force defendingthe individual against regal tyranny and class slavery. In the early'^years of the electronic-information stage (1950-1990), the ability ofthe religious-industrial-military rulers to manipulate television convertedtown-hall democracy into majoritarian, prime-time, sit-comtotalitarianism.Cybernetic media in the hands of politicians with shockinglylarge advertising budgets plays to the dread LCD (lowest commondenominator). The new fragile democracies in eastern EuropeThe postpoliticalinfoimation society,which weaie now developing,does not operateon thewill probably have to pass through this phase of marketeer, televoidelections manipulated by "spin doctors" and dishonest advertising.basis of obedience and confoimity to do^ma.So much for the dovra side. The good news is that cyberneticmedia cannot be controlled. Electronic signals flashing aroundIt is based on individual thinking,scientificthe atmosphere cannot be kept out by stone walls or border policedogs. Japanese tape-decks, ghetto-blasters, digital appliances in thehands of the individual empowers the HCD (highest commondenominator).know-how, quick exchangeof facts aioundfeedback networks, hi^h-tech ingenuity,andTHE SOCIOLOGY OF QUANTUM PHYSICSpractical, front-line creativity. The ofsocietytheThe philosophy that predicted this movement is not capitalismor socialism. It is not industrial democracy (the tyranny of thefuture no longer ^rud^in^lytolerates a few25 percent majority). Psychedelic concepts like glasnost and perestroikaare based on the common-sense principles of quantumphysics relativity, flexibility, singularity.Werner Heisenberg's equations described the fabrication ofsingular, personal reahties based on free, open communication.Objective indeterminacy, that bane of the mechanical mind, meansindividual determinism and self-reliance the mottoes of the newbreed.open-iinded innovators. The cybernetic societyis totally dependenton a lar^e poolof suchpeople, communicating at li^ht speedwith eachother across state lines and national boundaries.DR. SPOCK PERSONALIZES 9UANTUM PSYCHOLOGYIn 1946, quantum physics was translated into commonsense,hands-on psychology by a pediatrician. The youth movementwas generated by a genial child psychologist who taught two generationsof postwar parents to feed their children on demand. "TVeatyour kids as individuals, as singularities." Here was the most radical,subversive social doctrine ever proposed, and it was directed tothe only groups that can bring about enduring change: parents,pediatricians, teachers.This postwar generation of indulged, "self-centered" individualsstarted to appear exactly when the new psychedelic-cyberneticbrain-change technologies became available to individuals.MARSHALL McLUHAN EMPOWERS QUANTUM PSYCHOLOGYThe baby-boomers were the first television species, the firsthuman beings who used electronic digital appliances to turn on andtune in realities; the first to use neurotransmitting chemicals toSECTION III.; (OUNTEKUITUIES THE NEW IKEED 73

change their own brains; the first members of this "global village"made possible by television.The fall of the Berlin Wall was accomplished by youth seekingindividual freedom. This student counterculture started inAmerica in the 1960s, and it was spread via electronic media."Hongk is all the rage in the Mongolian People's Republic.It's a key part of the Shineshiel (perestroika) that has been sweepingthe remote communist nation for weeks now .. .Hongkis the nameof the rock 'n' roll band that has been playing its powerful, dissidentsongs to packed audiences in the state-owned auditoriums ofMongolia's capitol of Ulan Bator for months now. Its music hasbecome the unchallenged anthem of the city's fledgUng protestmovement" {LosAngeks Times, 1/24/90).new breed the notion of "poUtical power" is hateful, evil, ghastly.The idea that any group should want to grab domination, confrol,authority, supremacy, or jurisdiction over others is a primitive perversityasloathsome and outdated as slavery or cannibalism.It was not the Berlin WaU of concrete and guard houses thatprotected the "evil empire"; it was the electronic wall that was easilybreached by MTV. McLuhan and Foucault have demonstrated thatfreedom depends upon who controls the technologies that reachyour brainscreen.telephones, the editing facility, the neurochemicals, theMASS INDIVIDUALISM IS NEWThis sudden emergence of humanism and open-mindednesson a mass scale is new.THE FUNCTION OF POSTDEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT>^||^ The primary function of a free society in the postdemo-HH^ cratic age is the protection of individual freedom from^lpohticians who attempt to limit personal freedom.This individual-freedom movement is new to human history,because it is not based on geography, politics, class, or religion. Ithas to do with changes, not in the power structure, not in who controlsthe pohce, but in the individual's mind. It is a "head" revolution:a consciousness-raising affair. It involves "thinking for yourself."This cultural meme involves intelligence, personal access toinformation, an anti-ideological reUance on common sense, mentalproficiency, consciousness raising, street smarts, intelligent consumerism-hedonism,personal-communicationskills. The memeideais not new. Countercultures go back at least as far as HermesTHsmegistus, and include Socrates, Paracelsus, the Renaissance,Voltaire, Emerson, Thoreau, Dada, Gurdjieff, and Crowley.But the rapid spread of this mutational meme from 1960 to1990 was due to the sudden, mass availability of neurochemical andelectronic technology. Demand feeding. Chemicals and screensspraying electronic information into eyedrums and earballs, activatingbrains. Suddenly, youth all over the world are wearing jeans andlistening to John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance." The individuaUtymeme that swept American youth during the 1960s has infected theworld.In the 1970s, the Spock-McLuhan epidemic spread aroundwestern Europe. The signs of this awakening are always the same.Young minds exposed to the free spray of electronic informationsuddenly blossom Uke flowers in the spring. The June 1989 demonstrationsin Tien An Men square were a classic replay of Chicago1968 and Rent State 1970.Power, Mao said, comes from the barrel of a gun. That mayhave been true in the industrial past, but in cybernetic 1990, thethevery notion of political "power" seems anachronistic, kinky, sick. ForIn tribal societies the role of the individual is to be a submissive,obedient child. The tribal elders do the thinking. Survival pressuresdo not afford them the luxury of freedom.In feudal societies the individual is a serf or vassal, peasant,chattel, peon, slave. The nobles and priests do the thinking. Theyare trained by tradition to abhor and anathematize open-mindednessand thinking for yourself.After the tribal (familial) and feudal (childhke) stages ofhuman evolution came the industrial (insectoid) society, where theindividual is a worker or manager, in later stages, a worker-consumer.hi all these static, primitive societies, the thinking is done bythe organizations who control the guns. The power of open-mindedindividuals to make and remake decisions about thefr ovm lives, tofabricate, concoct, invent, prevaricate their own Ues is severely limited.Youth had no power, no voice, no choice.The postpoUtical information society, which we are nowdeveloping, does not operate on the basis of obedience and conformityto dogma. It is based on individual thinking, scientific knowhow,quick exchange of facts around feedback networks, high-techingenuity, and practical, front-line creativity. The society of thefuture no longer grudgingly tolerates a few open-minded innovators.The cybernetic society is totally dependent on a large pool ofsuch people, communicating at light speed with each other acrossstate Unes and national boundaries. Electrified thoughts invite fastfeedback, creating new global societies that require a higher level ofelectronic know-how, psychological sophistication, and open-mindedintelligence.This cybercommunication process is accelerating so rapidlythat to compete on the world information market of the 21stCentury, nations, companies, even families must be composed ofchange-oriented, innovative individuals who are adepts in communicatingvia the new cyberelectronic technologies.The new breeds are simply much smarter than the oldguard. They inhale new information the way they breathe oxygen.n TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS I CYIEI CIIITUIE

They stimulate each other to continually upgrade and reformattheir minds. People who use cybertechnology to make fast decisionson their jobs are not going to go home and passively let aging,closed-minded white, male politicians make decisions about theirlives.The emergence of this new open-minded caste in differentcountries around the world is the central historical issue of the lastforty years.THE REVOLUTIONS OF 1989 BEGAN WITH THE BEATSThe beats stood foi the ecstatic vision and foiIn the 1950s in America, at the height of the televisionCold War, there appeared a group of free people whocreated highly communicable counterculture memesthat were to change history.The beats stood for the ecstatic visionindividual fieedom in revolt againstallbureaucratic, closed-minded systems. Theysawthemselves as citizens of the world. Theymetand for individual freedom in revolt against all bureaucratic, closedmindedsystems. They saw themselves as citizens of the world.with Russian poetsto denounce the Cold War.They met with Russian poets to denounce the Cold War. They practicedoriental yoga. They experimented, as artists have for centuries,with mind-opening foods and drugs and sexual practices.Most important, vtith thefr minds himinglike satellite dishesto other cultures, they had an historical sense of what they wereThey practiced oriental yo^a. They experimented,as artists have for centuries, with mind-openingfoods and dru^sand sexual practices.doing. They saw themselves as heirs to the long tradition of intellectualand artistic individualism that goes beyond national boundaries.Most important,with their minds turningWhat made the beats more effective than any dissidentartistgroup in human history was the timing. Electronic technologymade itpossible for their bohemian memes, their images, and theirlike satellite dishes to other cultures, they hadsounds to be broadcast at ahnost the speed of light around theworld. Just as soap companies were using television and radio toan historical sense of what theywere doin^.market their products, so the beats used the electronic media toadvertise their ideas. The hippie culture of the 1960s and the currentliberation movements in Eastern Europe are indebted to thelibertarian dissenting of the Tifties counterculture.They saw themselves as heirs to the lon^tradition of intellectual and artisticIIINCINC THE 1960S TO CHINAindividualism that ^oes beyondnationalThe original Be-In (San Francisco, January 1967) producedan ocean of youth who gathered to celebrate their be-ings and theirboundaries.solidarity. It turned out to be the dawning of the psychedelic-cyberneticage (or glasnost, as it is now called). This first San FranciscoBe-In was not organized. The word got out via the undergroundpress, progressive radio stations, word of mouth. Three monthslater the First (and only) International Monterey Pop festival harnessedthe flourishing psychedelic spirit to electrically amphfiedmusic.The symbol of the counterculture was the widely repeatedimage of a young man putting a flower m the gunbarrel of theNational Guardsman who was threatening him. The students inSECTION 111.; CO U NTE ICU ITU lES THE NEW HEED 75

Tien An Men Square in June 1989 remembered. Their stated purposewas to bring the 1960s to China. The epidemic of freedommemesin China caught the authorities totally off guard just likethe numbers at the Woodstock festival.SELF-GOVERNMENT ENDS REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENTPartisan politics is over. In the postpoUtical age, people areVcatching on to the bottom-Une fact The only function of a poUticalparty is to keep itself in office.This free-speech/iree-thought movement emerges routinelyvihen enough young people have access to electronic technology.When the rulers of China made telephones and television sets availableto millions of people, the swarming of activated youth in TienAn Men Square was guaranteed. Many of the Chinese students hadseen television coverage of student demonstrations in other countries.When East German television stations began transmitting programsfrom the West, the Berlin Wall was on itsway down, hi eachnation, the free-thought movement of the 1980s was produced bystudents and intellectuals who learned how to use electronic appliancesand digital computers to think for themselves, fabricate theirpersonal mythologies, and communicate thefr irreverent aspirations.PETER BOOTH LEETHE POLITICS OF PRO-CHOICE:THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE YOUR COLLEGE MAJORThe social and political implicationsof thisdemocratization of the screen are enormous. In thepast, friendship and intimate exchan^fehave beenlimited to local or 5[eo^raphyoccasional visits. Nowyou can play electronic tennis with a pro in Tokyo,interact with a classroom in Paris, cyberflirtwithFreedom is an individual thing. It means something singular,unique, personal for each and every person. The Chinese studentswant something that is not mentioned by Marx or MargaretThatcher. They want to say what's on then- minds. The right tomake their own career decisions. The right to choose their collegemajor. The right to be sillyand have fun. The right to kiss yourboyfriend in public. The right tomug in fh)nt of a television camera.The right to flaunt their own personal Ues, concoctions, inventedtruths in competition with the old official hes.Gorbachev was dismayed to find that many Soviet youth,given freedom of the press, were more interested in UFOs, punkrock, asfrology, and hashish than in political issues.cute ^uysin any four cities of yourchoice. A ^[lobalfast-feedback lan^uajeof icons and memes,BLUEIEANS. RUNNING SHOES.AND DESIGNER MEMESfacilitated byinstant translation devices, willsmoothly eliminate the barriers of lan5iua^e thathave been responsiblefor most of the war andconflict of the last centuries.MWpBH Most young people in the liberated lands want to^v^^M^Jdepoliticize, demilitarize, decentrahze, secularize.The new breed isjumping the gene pools, forming postindustrial,global meme-pools. They are the informates. From theirearliest years, most of their definmg memes have come flashing atUght speed across borders in digital-electronic form, Ught signals7i TIMOTHY LEAIY CHAOS I CYiEl CULTUKE

eceived by screens and radios and record players. Their habitat isthe electron-sphere, the environment of digital signals that Is calledthe info-world. The global village.They are the first generation of our species to discover andexplore Cyberia. They are migrating not to a new place, but to awide-open new time. The new breed will fashion, conceive, anddesign the realities they inhabitTHE DESIGNER SOCIETIES OF THE 2lST CENTURYWho controls the screen controls the mind of the screenwatcher. The power-control struggles of the 1990s will occur onscreens in the Uving rooms of individuals.In nations where religious or partisan wi, ,,pouticai groups control the screens""o contiols to fabricatetlic scicen contiols thc mind ot thc sciecii watcher.paranoias, the people will be incited to fear, , , i i langer, and moral outrage. In the last ten Theyears,pOWei-COntlOl Ot StlU^f^lCSthe I99OS Will OCCUI OR SCieCnS illttip Islflmip stfltps rind thp IIS iirifiprReagan-BushhaveeffectiveiymadethispoinLThe manufacture and distribution ofinexpensive communications appliances andsoftware will be ofenormous importance. Justas the ussRandtheu.s.controued the worldthe Hvln^ looms of indlviduals. . . %Ik manufactuie andj l xdistiiDution ot incxpensivc communications applianccsandi n i jsottwaie Will bc of enoimous impoitancc. lust as the USSR and thefor forty years by distributing weapons to every x n j xl mi t x l j- x -l x-compuantdictatorship,now Japanese and I'-S- contiolled thc woild toi foity yeais by distiibutin^ weaponstoSilicon Valley companies are Uberating theworld with an endless flood of electronic, ,cveiy Compliant dictatoiship, now lapanese and Silicon Valleydevices designed for individuals.hiexpensive apphances will allow indi- companies,,aie liberatingthe world with an endless flood otviduals to write on their screens the way.Gutenberg haniware-software allowed individ- clectronlcuals to write on pages five hundred years ago.These inexpensive digitizing and editing devices are ah^ady transformingthe home into a cyberstudio in which individuals willdesign, edit, perform, and transmit memes on their screens.Individuals clothed in cyberwear will be able to meet eachother in virtual realities built for two. The worid becomes a neighbourhoodin which a person eight thousand miles away can be"Vight there in your windowpane."The social and political implications of this democratizationof the screen are enormous. In the past, friendship and intimateexchange have been limited to local geography or occasionalvisits. Now you can play electronic tennis with a pro in Tokyo,interact with a classroom in Paris, cyberflirt with cute guys in anyfour cities of your choice. A global fast-feedback language of iconsand memes, facilitated by instant translation devices, will smoothlyeliminate the barriers of language that have been responsible formost ofthe war and conflict ofthe last centuries.,devlces dcsl^nedtor indivtduals.SECTION 111.^ COUNTEtCULTHES THE NEW I II E E D 77

iii.s.Electronic CulturesLet the word qo out, to friend and \o& alike,that we are passingthe torch to a new generation.J.F.K., Inaugural Speech, 1960Thisimpassioned rhetoric was the first time that the leader of a superpower or empirehad ever used the powerful meme: "generation." J.F.K. was a memetic agent, hteraUycreating a new breed!Did the speech writers who in 1960 passed along to Jack Kennedy that famous"torch" quote intuit what was going to happen? Did they foresee that the next two decadeswould produce, for the first time in human history, an economic, poUtical power base called"the youth culture"?The neuiolo^icalsituation isthis: The lan^ua^ecircuits ofthe brain are imprintedbetweena^es three and The mediaei^ht.used in the home will format thebrain of these children. . . Ifthe parentsdo not read and ifthere are no newspapers,hi the 1950s, this new baby-boom generation was tuning in the dials of a new electronic-reahtyappliance called television to Leave It to Beaver and American Bandstand Andthey were being lovingly guarded ui maximum-security homes by devoted parents who haddutifully memorized Dr. Benjamin Spock's Common-Sense Guide to Child Care.The basic theme of Spock's manual (we parents actually called it the Bible) is: TVeatyour children as individuals.This irmocent bombshell exploded at a pregnant moment of postwar national prosperityand global self-confidence. The Marshall Plan was pouring bilhons into the rehabilitation-recoveryof former enemies. Instead of looting, raping, and occupying the defeated enemies,we treated them hke errant offspring who had become deUnquent gang members. Wehelped them get on their feet again and gain self-respecL We postwar Spock parents becamethe first generation to honour and respect our children and to support their independencefrom us.The importance of this event is hard to overestimate. The baby-boomers becamemagazines,or books in thethe first generation of electronic consumers. Before they were ten, their brains were processmgmore "reahties per day" than their grandparents had confronted in a year.house, the kids are at aTHE IMPORTANCE OF PARENTAL HOME MEDIAtremendous disadvantage whenthey timidly walk (or swa^^er)into the scary, impersonalfirst-^rade classroom.In 1950, the humble black-and-white television set marked the birth of the electronicculture. Suddenly, humans had developed electronic technology and the know-how tooperate the brain and reprogram the mmd.The neurological situation is this: The language circuits of the brain are imprintedbetween ages three and eight The media used in the home will format the brain of thesechildren. linguist-psychologists (Noam Chomsky, Piaget) have demonstrated that languagesare imprinted during this briefwindow of imprint vuhierability. This means that the homemedia used by the family formats the thought-processing files (left-brain mind) of the children.Mind-change (reformatting) could occur only under conditions that dupUcate "thehome culture."If the parents do not read and if there are no newspapers, magazines, or books in7l TIMOTIV lEAlY CHAOS ( CVItl CUIIUIE

the house, the kids are at a tremendous disadvantage when they timidly walk (or swagger)into the scary, impersonal first-grade classroom. (Most good teachers understand this principle,and convert the schoohDom into a homey, supportive environment)We also sense the implications for reformatting mind-files (formerly known asremedial reading). Cultures or individuals who vrish to change must use different languagemedia. For the iUiterate, delinquent gang member, we offer a maximum-security, homelikeenvironment jammed with media coaches. Malcolm X, for example, was taught to read by astem, loving parent figure in a Massachusetts prison.And the rest you oughta know!THE STAGES OF HUMANIZATIONAs 1 flash back on my seventy-plus years of service as Self-Appointed Change Agent and Evolutionary Scout, this vievvpoint comesinto focus. Our species has, in seven decades, surfed bigger, faster, morecomplex waves of brain change than our species experienced during thelast 25,000 years.Number of (tribal) generations from cave-wall painting to handwritingand large-scale, public Egyptian art (3200 B.C.)?" About 1,500.Number of (feudal) generations from the pyramids to NotreDame Cathedral, oil painting, and book literacy?IgrAbout 320.Number of generations from first factory-printed book (thefirst home media) to the radios, telephones, record players, movies ofA.D. 1950?S"About 23.Number of generations from passive, black-and-white television(1950) to multichannel, multimedia, interactive digital home-screendesign?f 3.ANDY FRITHTHE GENERATIONAL THINGEach generation since 1950 is the equivalent of an age or an epic or an era in pasthistory. Each succeeding generation has accessed more-powerful electronic-language tools.For the first time, we can understand the mechanics of evolutionthe language and technology.Finally, the evolution of human brain power is reaching the optimum mutation rate.Electronic brain tools change so rapidly that every fifteen to twenty years the new generationcreates a new breed.Each stage of human culture defines memetic evolution in terms of its media, itslanguage. And the media and languages of cultures determine whether they actively evolveor if they remain passive and unchanging.Static cultures have built-in, iron-clad linguistic protections against change. Theirmedia-languages self-replicate via repetition, rote-learning, etc. Their reproductive media-SECTION III. 5 COUNTEICUITIIIIES ElECTIONIC (UlTUIIES 79

languages glorify death as the step to eternal hfe in well-advertised, perfectly run retirementcommunities called Heaven, etc. Their media-languages prevent fliem from being exposedto, infected by, or fertilized by otiier languages.To illush^te tiie importance of language in cultural soUdarify, we cite tiie case of UieIranian Shi'ite ayatoUahs who put a $5 million price "on the head" of autiior Salman Rushdiefor a few taboo words in a novel published in far-away England. Or the case of militantChristians who tiy to force tax-supported schools to teach biblical creationism.Cultures evolve only when ttieirmedia-languages have built-in programs:1. To discourage rote self-replication;2. To stimulate self-change via shock-humour, irreverent counterculture,chaotics, etc.;3. To invite ftision with other cultures, and fusion with otiier media-languages.Feudal languages gave no words or graphics tiiat encouraged, tolerated, or evenOur species has, inseven decades, suife()i5[5[er, faster, morementioned the notion of evolution during earthly hfe. The ahnighty male God creates andconti^ls. Heaven is tiie destination. Chaos, complexity, change are daemonized, tabooed.The tech-mech engineers of Uie industrial age (1500-1950) published texts, manuals,and handbooks defining evolution in terms of a Nevrtonian-Darwinian-Gordon Liddycompetitive power stiuggle: survival of ttie most brutal, and by the book.complexwaves ot brainTHE INFORMATION ACE (i9$o-20io)hi tiie information age, evolution is defined in terms of brain power.chan5[e than our speciesexperienced durin5[ theast 25,000 years.-5^The ability to operate the brain: activate, boot up, turn on, accessneurochannels.The ability to reformat and re-edit mind-files.The abiUty to receive, process, send messages at light speed.The ability to communicate m the multimedia mode; to invent audiograpliicdictionaries and audiographic grammars.By 1995 the mainsti^am home-media array of inexpensive multimedia applianceswill have combined the computer, television, video-cassette recorder, fax, compact-discplayer, telephone, etc., into one personal home-digital system. During tiie feudal culture,brain power changed litUe from century to century. In tiie mechanical culture, mediamachines like telephone and radio reached Main Sti^et homes a few decades after theirmvention. But tiie explosion of brain power in tiie electi^nic culture from 1950-1995requires precise birthdates for each generation.THE FOUR ELECTRONIC (LIGHT) CULTURES AND COUNTERCULTURESAs brain power accelerates exponentially, we can locate with precision the birthdatesof the post-mech cultures.Americans who were ages Uiree to eight around 1950 became the first primitiveelecti-onic culture. As kids, Uiey sat in front of tiie television and learned how to turn on, tunein, and turn off'. Let us call tiiem tiie "Ike-Rnows-Best-Leave-lt-to-Beavers," whose parentswere sometimes known bytiie term "conformist"They were happy But tiiey were not hip. Their bland passivity instigated tiie perfectantidotetiie countercultiire, which initiaUy appears duringtiie sociosexual imprint vrindowknown as adolescence.The Beats! Hipsters! Rebels! They smoked weed and scored junk. They despisedtelevision. They were shockingly hterate. They wrote breaktiirough poetiy and poetic prose,honored jazz by ulti-hip African-Americans. They were sexually experimental.lo TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS ( (YiER CULTUIE

Evolution of Countercultures

The zist Centurywill witness a new global culture,peopled bynew breeds who honour humanindividuality, human complexity, and human potential,enlightened immortals who communicate at li^htspeed and design the technologiesfor theirscientific re-animation.It is usefiil to see that the beats were older than the Beavers. In the 1940s, when thebeats were three to eight years old, their home media were radio, fdms, records, books. Thebaby-boomers (76 miUion strong) were the television-watching Beavers of the 1950s andevolved into the hippies of the 1960s. Affluent, self-confident, spoiled consumers, ready touse their television-radio skills to be imprinted by turning on Bob Dylan, tuning in theBeatles, turning off parent songs, and fine-tuning colour screens.The Nintendo generation of the 1980s became a pioneer group of cybemauts. Theywere the first humans to zap through the Alice Window and change electronic patterns onthe other side of the screen. They will operate in cyberspace, the electronic environment ofthe 21st Century.MILLENNIUM MADNESS (CHAOS COMING)kThe next uncontrollable fifteen years (1995-2010) will accelerate this dizzy^^=r explosion of bram power. The fragmenting remnants of the old centralized social^ systems of the feudal and industrial civilizations are crumbling down.The 21st Century vvill witness a new global culture, peopled by new breeds whohonour human individuahty, human complexity, and human potential, enlightenedimmortals who communicate at light speed and design the technologies for their scientificre-animation.l2 TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS i CVIEI CytTDIE

III.1The Next Twenty YearsIfone is asked to predict the nextstage of human evolution, practicalcommon sense suggests selecting theidentifying survivalcharacteristic of ourspecies. What are our survival assets?The instant glib answer would be thatour speciesis defined by our enormousbrains. Our survival asset is not hive intelligence,as in the social insects, but individualintelligence. Our speciesis classifiedas Homo sapiens sapiens. Victorianscholars apparently decided that we arethe creatures who "think about thinking."Our growth as a species centers on ourabilityto think and communicate.Predictions about our future would focuson improvementsin the way we think.Our young, rookie species has recentlypassed through several stages of intelligence:1. Tribal: For at least 22,000 years(approximately 25,000 to 3000 B.C.)the technologies for sapient thinkingcommunicatingwere those of afive-year-old child: bodily, i.e.,oral-gestural.2. Feudal: During an exciting period ofapproximately 3,350 years (3000 B.C.to A.D. 350) humans living north ofthe 35th-parallel latitude developedorganized feudal-agriculturalsocieties. The technologies for thinking-

Our geneticassignment isthe receiving,w w A A A A A A A A A AT^ .F^ T^ -F^ T^ T^ T^ F? F? T^ F? F?Intimacy at the digital level programs andenriches exchanges inthe warm levels.You do not lessen the richness of yourmurmur-touch-contact with your loverbecause you can also communicate byphone, fax,and hand-scrawled notes.Warm-breath interactions with your touchfriendswill be more elegant and pleasantwith the digital-reality option added.Future global business will take twodirections:Digital business will be run by multinationalcorporations based in Japan andSwitzerland. The "multinates" willindividualusebrains as tools. Just as slaves,serfs, and prostitutes were forced to leasetheir bodies during the three predigitalstages, people in 2008 will be leasingtheir brains. Work will hardly exist. Mostphysical tasks will be performed by automatedmachines. Body work will be considereda primitive form of slavery.Noprocessing,and producingof digitalinformation.(P Cybernetic (management of theleft brain). Mapping and colonizing thedigital data-worlds located on the otherside of screens. Interpersonal computing.Interscreening with others. Building communalinfo-structures. Protecting cyberspacesfrom invasion and exploitation byothers.g~ Psybernetic (management of theright brain). Mapping and colonizing thenext frontier one's own brain. Constructinginfo-environments in one's ownneuroworld. Linking one's neurospace toothers. Marketing, leasing, sharing one'sbrain power with others. Protecting one'sbrain from invasion and exploitation fromwithout.human will be forced by economic-politicalpressure to perform muscular-mechanicalrobots.Intasks that can be done better bythe 21st Century, the old Judxo-Christian-Moslem sects will still bearound, but they will have littlepowerbeyond entertainment and amusement.The future global religionwill be intelligenceincrease. Upgrading rpms. The twomain functions of a human being are consumptionand production of thought. Ourgenetic assignment is the receiving,processing, and producing of digitalinformation. >ii, TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS i CVIER CULIUIE

BlIBfBJBIEMBJBIBlBlBlBJBJBJBIBIBIBMBJBIBIBlBJBJBMBlBIBIBIBIBMBMBJB^^iIIIIIIIIIIIIIiIIiIIIIIIIIIIIiIiiIIIIIIIThemes Which Define CulturesCULTUIE1^-Based on FearSlow-steady or impulsiveSerious-solemn; workerArrogant or self-effacingBasedTough-dangerous or meek-submissively^ind Programmed by ObedienceBy the bookCurious-open-mindedConservative thinkerPious, reverent to organized religionLoyal, unquestioning patriotTHEMECOUNIERCUITUIIEEMOTIONAL Attitude --on Scientific OptimismAnimated-radiantHappy; playfulSelf-confident; candidFriendly-sympathetic'4. Mental Skills #-Mind Programmed by SelfCreative-originalCheerfully irreverent to organized religionIrreverent to organized politics#- NEUROLOGICAL REALITY #-Passive Reality ConsumerConforms to culture's life styleConventionally moral & immoralAvoids brain change; accepts cultural imprintsPassive electronic consumerElectronic Reality SkillsInvents personal styleSensual-sensitiveOperates own brain: psychedelicElectronic communication skills: cybernetic4. PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH ^Sin-DrivenDeeply identified with own race, sex, age & nationBelieves nature should be dominatedPessimistic about evolutionOrder-control personPluralistic ViewpointHumanist: respectsall differencesEcological: earth consciousOptimistic about evolutionChaos designerBuBfBMBIBMaMBlBIBIBIBlBlBlBIBIBIBMBMBIBlBMBJBJBJBJBIBIBIBMBMSECTION III. 6 COUNTEICUITUIES THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS5

III.I.The Godparent: Conversation withWinona Ryder

Inthe old days there was less menu choice of one's life's decisions. Marriages werearranged byfamily and church to make sure that offspring would remain within theflock. Selection of one's religion was also prearranged Soon after birth the newborninfant was rushed to church for baptism and enrollment in the familiar creedIn our secular society the tradition of the godparent seemed to be fading away like themyth ofSanta Claus or the Tooth Fairy or the Virgin Mother Indeed, in the age ofCoppola,the term godfather had taken on a sinisterflavour What reasonably good-natured adultTIMOTHY LEARY: You know, this is thetwentieth anniversary of Interview,which of course started before you werebom. This is the year of other anniversaries,too. We had the Chicago trialstwenty years ago, and the Vietnam antiwarmobilization, the WeathermenWINONA RYDER: Woodstock.would want to play the role of the dread Don Corleone in the overheatedfamily drama?TL Woodstockahnost to the day. WhatThese were my thoughts on the subject until a few years ago, when Winona Ryderdo you make of it all?made me an offer I couldn't refuse: She chose me to serve as her gocifatherWR: Well, it's weird ... you know how ISo lam here to cheer this institution ofgodparent-godchildfreely consenting people who have reached the age ofreason.when it isarranged bygrew up. Even though 1 grew up in the1970s and the 1980s,I could almost say that1grew up in the 1960s, because our houseIt is the duty ofparents and guardians to rush around acting like family therapist,FBI agent, Mother Teresa, Tommy Lasorda, and the neighbourhood savingsand-loanoffice. The duty of the teenager is precisely spelled out: to do everything conceivableto drive parents and guardians up the wallThe godfather, however, has a role that issimple and simply divine: to be a friendand admiring student. The duty of the goddaughter is more complicated It is her pleasure toentertain the godfather and to educate him diligently about current events, new developments,hot happenings, and thus prepare him to deal with the mysterious future. I now feel sorryforany adult who does not have a supportive, caring godchild to act as guide and role model.was like a library-museum of books andparaphernalia from the 1960s. All my lifemy dad has talked about that time, and 1think he's still living in the 1960s in a way.TL Not to mention the cast of charactersthat came to visityour house.WR: Yeah.TL Allen Ginsberg.WR: Yeah, you! {laughs]Winona 'sparents, Michael and Cindy Horowitz, started the world's largest collectionTL:And of course I was there as much asofbooks and materials about the use ofpsychoactive plants, foods, and drugs. Michael and II could be.have worked together very closelyfor almost twenty yearsWR: All the 'sixties and 'seventies fashion ishe was my archivist and publisheda three-hundred-page bibliography ofmy writings. He came to visit me in 1972, while Iwas in exile in Switzerland He had with him a photograph ofWmona taken when she wasinteresting. You walk down MelroseAvenue now and you see platform shoesand all the psychedelic colours.about a week old; so I wrote an inscription on the picture welcoming a new Buddha to planetEarth.The first time I met her she was perhaps seven years old I visited her family's commune-estatein Mendocino county We walked hand in hand and Winona said that she hadwanted to meet me because she had heard that I was a mad scientist. I thought that was apretty good description; I marked her as a comer right there. We've seen each other regularlysince then. We used to go to Dodger games togethershe and her father are greatfans.Winona has so many talents that I hope to emulate. She is modest, changeable, solid,TL: Tie-dyes.WR: Tie-dyes and all that. How does it feelto have your past become this trend now?The other day 1 was driving and 1saw thisgroup of girls who looked like they wereright out of the 1960s. 1 started thinking:Here are these teenagers who are trying tobe nostalgic about a generation they werenever a part ofwitty-wise, thoughtful, and full-tilt here and now: exuberant, intense, bouncy, passionate.Winona does her homework and comes fully preparedAnd so she arrived at my home for this interview. She helped me activate and test thetape recorder, and we began a typical godfather-goddaughter conversation.TL Well, it's the duty, the genetic responsibility,of every 16-year-old kid to doeverything possible to drive their parentscrazy. My stepson Zachary has done theone thing that could offend his mother.SECTION III. 7-COUNTEICULIUIES THE CODPAIENT: (ONVEISATION WITH WINONA RYDER S/

who loves him deariy, and that is, he'sbecome a 'sixties freak (laughs]. He's aAnd he's not lookuig fashionable. Billhippie activist, is a longtime friend ofofcommunion there that youand to share that communion.I have been not surprised butI think the ^leatoffended by the wayialized Woodstock. All the mterviewshave been about the promoters. Whois thatcares thatthin; the promoters lost money?instead ofa rock concert in Moscow that over awatching TVhundred thousand Russian kids cameto with Ozzy Osboume, of all people[laughs]. And they were wearing jeanswe would makethings up. WeMay in China. You had a million kids.would use ouiThat was a Be-In. Nobodyand our 'sixties movement and theChinese andimagination . . . the Soviets is never men-Maybe they were punkstyle drawings and pictures every fewweeks. And they were very avant-garde.WR: No, none.they certainlywere not braids and beads and barefootDeadhead, and he's letting his hair grow. stuff.Up on the commune you wereprobing, which I thought was charming.Walton, the basketball player who was a Do you remember that?WR: Yeah.mine, and he has taken Zach and me Very well [laughs]. I think thattowas all due to the fact that ever since 1 canGrateful Dead concerts. There's a feelingremember I've been so obsessed withcould cutmovies. And my mom ran a little moviewith a knife. It's the revival of the ancienthouse up in Elk, where we lived for apagan festival: people getting together tohave possession and trance experiences,while, and she would show old movies.That's how 1got introduced to the wholething. It was like a warehouse. There werecouches and beds, and people would paythe media have triv-fifty cents or a dollar to come in. And we'dall just sort of lie around and watch movies.That's where 1 first saw A Facx in the Crowdand East of Eden and all theseThere was an emphasis on the mud greatandmovies. 1 think it was that that made methe lack of housing. What mterested mewantwas that exactly the week go home and start designuigof the twentiethanniversary of Woodstock, there wasclothes for Patricia Neal or Lauren Bacall. Ihad no idea that they were older, or thatthey were retired, or they were dead, orwhatever. 1 really thought that they werewalking around like thaLand headbands, and talking about peace TL: Some of your mterviewers have commentedand love. In America you're not allowedthat you seem more like a 'thir-to mention the fact that Woodstock was ties or Torties movie person than a Rrata kid caper. It was happening again that Packer. They were talking about yourvery weekend in Russia. Ithappened in style, or your approach. Over and overagain they say, "She's 16 going on 40," orcalled it a Rein."She's 17 gomg on 50" [laughs]. That's aThe connection between Woodstock wide span and scope of input there.WR: Yeah. It'svery flattering, but at thetioned, because that would unply thatsame time it's a little frightening, 1 think.the same thing ishappening there that TL [with humour] It's a hard job to livehappened here.up to.One ofmy memories of you datesfrom the time that you were on the communeWR: Yeah! /tou^feyin Mendocino. Rarbara from the TL: You'll have to take itday by day here.first time she met you has raved about Another thmg that uitrigued me aboutyour style. And Rarbara as is, you know, your past, Noni, is that there was notan obsessive perfectionist about such much television. There was no electricitythings. I was always amused by the fact for a while, and there was actually nothat you used to send us letters and little television on the ranch.II TIMOTHY lEAIV CHAOS I CYIEI CVlTUtE

TL Now, that is a blessed and singularadvantage you liave. You're off to a faststart on a different track. Because mostkids were watcliing television and didntreally get involved in movies.WR: Yeah. There was no TV. One person,who Uved on the next piece of land, had aTV, but they only got one channel. And sosometimes, ifwe were lucky [TL laughs], ifwe wanted to we could see some fuzzyepisode of, you know, Starsky and Hutch orwhatever [laughs]. But it was never anythuigwe really wanted to do. 1 think thegreat Ihmg is that instead of watching TVwe would make things up. We would useour imagination, and we would make upskits and perform them at the main house.Remember the main house?TL Sure do.WR: Or we would make up different gamesand we would have contests. We would doshiff that exercised our mind much morethan just sitting in fh)nl of a screen andstaring at it What's shocking, I think, aboutthis day and ageis how much televisionkids watch. I mean, I have friends backhome who can't miss a show. They justcan't do it.I'llgo back to Petaluma and Ithink, "Oh, well, I'm here for a couple ofdays; I'll get to spend some time with myfHends." And some people1 know wouldactually love to see me, but they can't misspart two of Family Ties, or whatever theywatch. I'm sure there's a lot of good TV, but,you know, television is just TV, as far as I'mconcerned.TL: Going back to that commune sceneof a small group of young people withintelligent, college-educated parentslike a movie set They're on a spaceship,or they're somehow isolated from themain currents of America, such as TV, sothey begin making up their own nunds.It's almost like an episode of Star TYek.Captain Kirk finds this Mendocinoconunu . . .it'sWR: Yeah! [both laugh] Wtat was also realneat about the land was that there wereabout three hundred acres. I forget howmany people lived there, but every househad a name. We lived in "the Mansion."Then there was "the A-Frame," and thenthere was "the Cabin." Every Uttle househad a name, and every time something wasbuilt, we would name it Everythinga fieldwas named.TL It was personalized.evenWR: Exactly. There were so many opportunitiesto use our unagination. People alwaysassume that Igot frustrated and bored upthere. But I was really blessed, because ittaught me how much there is in here[points to her head] to use.TL Also, you grew up with a lot of books.After all, your father and mother hadpublished three or four books. IVe neverseen a person more obsessed with booksthan your father.WR: [laughs]1 know.TL When he goes to a new town, heimmediately heads for the secondhandbookstores.WR: And he doesn't come back [laughs] fora long time! He literally moves m.TL Like "Daddy's down at the saloon.Let's get him home."WR: Yeah!TL You were exposed to more booksthan most kids your age. That was part ofthe sea that you swam through.WR: Absolutely My dad would give mebooks at a really early age because he wasso impatient. Some of the books I just wasnot old enough to understand. But he couldnever grasp thaL So I'd end up having toread them once and then have to read themagam about a year later and hope that 1would get them. But both of my parentswere so encouraging. I've been writingever suice I can remember. They reallyworked with me.TL Now, wait a minute. You started writingat an early age?WR: Yeah. I have been writing ever since Ican remember, be it my journal or shortstories or whatever. IacUially wrote a shortnovel when I was 12, which was about ToKill a Mockingbird.I read it when 1 wasabout 10. It was one of my favorite books.So 1 told the same story about TomRobinson, the black guy who was convictedand killedfrom his Uttle sister's point ofview. What really has infiuenced me withmy writing is music. wake 1up in the morning,and 1put some tape or record onimmediately, and that sort of determineshow my day is going to be.TL You have to be pretty careftd of that.It's Uke planning your wardrobe. You'replanning your mood for the day. Whenwas the first time that you ever heard ofAndy Warhol?WR: I fu^t heard of him because I becamefascinated with Edie Sedgwick when 1 was11 or 121 read that book about her.TL The one that George Plunpton andJean Stem did. I knew Edie.WR: Yeah. 1 read it driving with my dad toL.A. to visit you.It was about a nme-hourtrip, and remember 1 1 fmished it just as wewere pulling up your driveway.TL You've never been around New Yorkthat much.WR: Well, I've been there a lot, but 1 basicallywent to Brooklyn to visit my grandparents.I wasn't in the Manhattan scene toomuch.TL During the late 1960s, as you know,my family and my friends were living inMillbrook, about an hour and a halfnorth ofNew Yorii City, which was ideal.We could be out allday hiking and playuigaround and just being with nature. Atfive o'clock, we'd take a shower andSECTION III. 7 (OUNTEICUIIUIES THE CODPAIENT: CONVEI$*TION WITN WINONA IVDEI I9

jump in the car, and by seven we could and Huckleberry Finn long before I readCaulfield is defmitely mine. And foundIWR: Whatthem a little bit similar. 1 read Tom compliment' [laughs]Sawyerbe at a cocktail party in New York. Andthen at two o'clock we'd get in the carand be home by three. So we had thebest of both worlds there at Millbrook. Italso meant that on weekends many ofthe New York people would come up.The Mellon family had this big housethere. The Grateful Dead would be therea lot At the same time we'd have the topartists and fashion people too. So I knewAndy very well during those days, and Iused to go by the Factory and the loft. ICatcher in the Rye. ButTL Did they affect you?WR: A great deal. 1 think it's safe to say thatHolden changed my whole life as it did forso many young people. What was amazingabout it was, I read it without knowing thatit was a famous adolescent book, thateverybody read it 1 itthought was thissleeper or something. 1 didn't know. 1 guesseveryone felt that wayTL You discovered it, huh'! [laughs]think Andy has had a great effect onAmerican culture. Andy used to take a WR: Yeah. After 1 read it,from then on itCoca-Cola bottle and say, [doing AfVs was me and Holden we were like thisvoice] "Isnt it wonderful? A peasant inIndochma can drink out of the sameteam. And then 1 found out that everybodyhad read it What I loved ahoul Huckleberrywonderful, shapely bottle that Liz Taylor Finn was . . .well, obviously, that he didcan." That's Pop.what he wanted to do, and was a ireethinker.And 1got a sense of that in HoldenWR: Recently, you've been talking a lottoo. 1 think they would have probably beenabout increasing your intelligence. Howfiiends.would you advise kids to become smarter?Navigate their own reality? Move thingsalong? Is it possible to question authorityand respectit at the same time?TL Well, my only advice and my onlyTL They were both aUenated in the bestsense of the word. Holden was watchingthe craziness that was gomg on aroundhim. I did that as a kid. And obviouslyBuck did that too.message is: Think for yourself and questionauthority. TFYQA. But "thmk foryourselT does not mean "thmk selfishly."It means Ihink independently." Andquestioning authority doesn't mean sunplyrejecting authority. Maybe you questionauthority, and 80 percent ofwhatauthority says, you buy. Good! 1 don'tcare what people think as long us theyhave thought for themselves. So ifyouend up a RepubUcan, right wing, it's okayWR: I think both Holden and Huck are theperfect role models. 1 guess I'm a little disappointedin the role models that kids arechoosing now. You know, Axl Rose &x)mGuns 'n' Roses.TL He gives some pretty raw mterviews,doesn't he? Is he just bemg deliberatelybad, or is he stupid?WR: 1 think he's stupid, actually.with me, as long as you have done it havingI hate to hear you say that, becauseTLgourmet, a connoisseur's selectionof all the options. As long as youhe claims to be a fan of mine. You knowwhat he said to me? He said, [doinghaven't done it out of fear or lazmess.Rose's voice] "Man, I love yoah books,WR: Yeah. I would like to ask you about literaryHuckleberry Finnis one of your literary heroes, and Holden'cause I just take yoah books and show'em to girls, and I can get any gW Iwant."TL Of course, ft didnt imply that he'dread them.WR: Just that he had them there on thenightstand ... In Rolling Stone, maybe amonth ago, right after they did a story onme, somebody vm)te in and said, "WinonaRyder is my role model." I was really flattered.But then 1 got to thinking about it,and I started getting scared. I'm reallygoing to have to watch what 1 do, watchwhat 1 say. 1 feel an instinctive responsibili-ty-TL But your role is not to defendChristianity or the middle class. Yourrole is to be an mdependent, fresh,always-changmg person. So they cannever model themselves after anythingyou've said, because you've left it andgone.WR: Yeah. /fau^feyTL You've got to have that confidence,Noni. Fve had that same problem. Fvebeen in many great mstitutions wheresome of the leading figures come up andsay, "Tun! You have always been my rolemodel. EverythingI have I owe to you."And of course they're prisoners atFolsom.WR: Ohnol [laughs]TL Yeah, [laughs] But you cant worryabout that. People say to me that theywant to be followers. I say, "You can't followme. I dont know where Tm gomg,for one thing. And number two, rm goneby the time you get there."WR: Kids today tend to think the ultimatething is to be a movie star or a rock star. Tobe like Axl or like Madonna.TL Or an athlete . . .Well, there is atremendous change happening m theworld today, as we move from the mdustrial-factorysociety. In a factory societyeverybody wants to get to the top of thatparticular factory. You want to be the topmovie star, or the top rock star, or the top> TIMOTHY LEAIY CHAOS ( (VIEI CULTIilE

The jieat tilingabout bein?in movies isandIthink the movies and modempiotessional spoitsaie the economic andcultural model of the futuie-that you'reafree a^ent.And that's ^oin;to be typicalof more and more peoplein theinformation a^e.banker. That's the industrial age, whichis a pyramid going up. hi the informationage it's all changed. Singularity, individualityeveryoneis gomg to be a moviestar within two or three years. I'm goingto have you come and look at this Uttlefilm in a mmute, and show you how, forless than a hundred dollars, a kid atChristmas in 1990 will have lens goggles,a little cap, an electronic glove, and abodysuit so that they can put themselvesandthey can be dancmg, walking,jumpmgon the other side of thescreen. Everyone is gomg to be du^ctingand acting m their own movies.WR: Well, that's wonderful! Because that'splaying off yourself. And dealing with yourself.TL Think ofhow the Hollywood systemand the music system have become like afactory. They even call it the moviemdustry. And they talk about this softwareindustry, when it's not that at all. Inthe old days the studios would grind itout; it was like an assembly line formovies. And the stars were the com-modifies. But that's all gomg to change.Everyone will be making their ownmovies. And there are going to be networksset up so that every kid can beMarilyn Monroe, or can actually be likeJack Nicholson. You simply tape fivemmutes of Jack Nicholson and putit myour computer. And then you can be himwalking around on the screen. The averagekid will have access to film librariesand tapes. And even the news. Anythingthat's on your television you can tape,change it and put yourselfm it. So thatthese monopoUes, which are typical ofthe industrial age, are not going to be aspowerfulWR: [laughs] Well, that's a very reassuringthoughtTL There's a new generation coming up.rm sure you know this, but during the1980s young people in this countrybecame veiy conservative. For the nextten or fifteen years you're gomgto seethe colleges filled with kids of flowerkids. You were not a flower chUd, but youwere the child of a flower ctuld. Andyou're Dr. Spock's grandkid. Your generationissimply hipper, more sophisticated,and less apt to become 'fifties-typestars. Isn't that being a good role model?WR: [embarrassed laughter] 1suppose. As Isaid before, my day is determined by what 1put on in the morning.TL: I hate to ask this question, Noni.What did you put on this morning?WR: Oh, 1put on The Mission sound track.It's my favorite thing now. It's really beautiful.But I don't know. I'm at that age whereevery day is different One Iday think tomyself, I'm going to do this for the rest ofmy life. And the next day 1 think, I'm goingto do that for the rest of life.my And oneday 1 think I'm going to take everythinglight and life is great, and I'm just going totake things day by day, and I'm going to livein the moment and all that stuff. And thenthe next day I'm going to plan out everything.I'm going to have a map, and myroad is paved. So I'm constantly changing,and I really do believe in living life in themoment 1 think that that's important 1 gotSECTION 111.7-(OUNTEICUITUIES THE COVrAKENT: (ONVEISATION WITH WIHONA lYDEI 91

n^ra great piece of advice from TVey Wilson,who was in Great Balls of Fire and RaisingArizona. He said, "You always have toremember to have a good time. No matterwhat you're doing, just have a good time.Enjoy it. Because if you don't, then what areyou doing it for?" Of course, I've gotten thisadvice before, but for some reason when hesaid it to me IiLreally started to think about^TL- When was that done?TL The great thing about being inmovies isand I think the movies andmodem professional sports are the economicand cultural model of the futurethat you're a free agent. And that's goingto be typical of more and more people inthe information age. I have a game I usedto play at parties in Hollywood. I wouldask people, "If you had to go to anotherplanet and you could take ten movieswith you, which ten would you take?"Which would you take, Noni?WR: A Face in the Crowd. To Kill aMockingbird. Opening Night, a JohnCassavetes movie. The Tempest. . .TL: Oh, the one that Susan Sarandon wasin.WR: Let me see . . . Picnic at Hanging Rock,probably. Maybe Gallipoli. Don't Look Now.Of course, that would be hard to watch inspace [laughs], because we'd probably getreally scared. Walkabout. 1 love NicolasRoeg. Then maybe West Side Story. And Ireally love the original Something Wild,with Carroll Baker and Ralph Meeker andMildred Dunnock.WR: It was made in 1961, and it was basedon a novel that was really big in the 1950s,called Mary Ann. It was one of those cheesylittle novels, but was it a great movie. AndThe Stripper, with Joanne Woodward.TL Would you ever want to direct?WR: Maybe. I've fantasized about it. I'vedone seven movies. And I've learned somuch about good directing from bad directing.And I've learned from bad lighting howimportant goodis. lighting In terms ofworking with actors, my favorite approachis when I'm directed without being intentionallydirected. Michael Lehmann, theguy who directed Heathers, was amazing.We'd be setting up to do a scene and hewould start to tell me a story,and I wouldhave no idea that it had any relevance tothe scene we were about to shooL Butbefore 1 knew it,we would have shot thescene. He would have maneuvered me intothe scene and put me in the perfect state ofmind just by telUng me some weird littlestory. It gets really distracting when directorsstart saying [in a 'serious' voice],"Okay, this is what we're going to do." Ihate it when they start out with that1^TL: So you'll have to learn how to tell storiesto your actors. That's the tradition ofthe Zen person, or of the Sufi storyteller.You tell a funny story and then prettysoon it's allhappened.WR: Yeah. 1usually get involved with whateverI'm doing and it becomes mylife forthose couple of months. Because I'veimmersed myself so many times, 1know alot about it,but it's all sort of in this hurricaneinmy head. It's not very clear yet. It'sallup there, but not in any sort of order.TL That's the quantum-physics theory ofthe universe. It'sup there, but it's out oforder. You don't have to apologize for thatYou're right on beam /tougfey.>2 TIMOTHY LEAIT CHAOS I (YIEI CIlTttlE

s>'^v**Of THE lit,,W.VkV"\^^ ^y^MvU^W' Moe Us

WiXfvf^y-IV.I.Conversation withWilliam S. Burroughs

T IMOTHY LEARY: Do you want to dothis, William?WILUAM S. BURROUGHS: Why not?TL The first topic is unmortaUty. Youknow, I signed up for cryonics. Have youthought about cryonics?WSB: Ah ... Ithought about it,but no, no,no. I feel that any sort of physical immortalityis going in the wrong direction. It's aquestion of separating whatever youchoose to call it the soul from the body,not perpetuating the body in any way. Ithink any perpetuation of the body is a stepin die wrong direction. The Egyptiansmade their mummies, and preservation ofthe mummy was essential to their immortality.I think you want to get away from thebody, not get into ILTL Why not have the option of readilyjumping consciousness back mto thebody? You know, the Egyptians are reallyuiteresting. I see the tombs basically asre-animation capsules.WSB: That's exacUy ...TL They used the highest science at thetime. Fve been working with some scientistsin this new field called bio-anthropology.During twenty-five centuriesthere were four waves of tomb robbers.The first wave took the gold, the secondwave took the art, and then came theBritish and the French. All these lootersthrew the vn^ppingswhich were clottedwith dried blood into the comer.But now microbiologists can get DNAfrom the bio-remains. So the Egyptianplan has actually worked. Within tenyears we'D be able to clone the pharaohs!Of course, the problem is, there would beno memories. But that's why they includedthen- software in the form of the jewelsand artifacts. I admire thatYour book on The Western Landsfascinated me. I read it over and overagain, and 1quote you quite a bit in thestuff I write about cryonics.How about postbiologic possibilities?Moravekall of that. He says youcan download the human brain and fit itm computers and build a new body withbnish-hke antenna software . . .WSB: Certainly, certainly.TL How about language as a virus,Michel Foucault?WSB: Language is obviously a virus, as itdepends on replication. What other weightytopics do we have?TL Your pauitings, shotgun and otherwise. . . of course, Brion Gysin wasalways the one doing the painting.WSB: You see, 1 could never have startedpainting really until after Brion Gysin wasdead. 1 could never have competed withhim. But now I've made more money dianhe did his whole Ufe.TL You've made probably more moneytmm your paintings than your books,huh?WSB: It's pulled me out of a fmancial hole. Ican buy flintlock pistols.TL Good for you. It's an easier way tomake money than running around givmglectures and debating G. GordonUddy.WSB: FlmUock pistols are greatTL And what do you think about Liddy?You know Liddy's a big gun man.WSB: Yes, I know. I know as much aboutguns as he does.TL Let's go on to the Drug-War hysteria.WSB: Oh, now listen. Just a couple of tips,something that nobody has gone mto, inthis whole drug debate, is the simple factthat before the Harrison Narcotics Act in1914, diese drugs were sold across thecounter.TL Opium, cocame?WSB: One-half theispeople-thisa sexsurvey-thoujht analintercourse couldresult in AIDS eventhoughneither one ofthe participants wasinfected with the AIDSvirus. The ImmaculateConception!TL: The ImmaculateInfection!SECTION IV.i INFO-CXEMKAIS i DlUC WAIS (ONVEISATION WITH WILUAM S. lUIIOUCNS >5

. before the HarrisonNarcotics Act in 1914,these drujswere soldacross the counter. . . .Opium, cocaine,heroin. Soldmorphine,over the counter. Well,these were in the daysthat the conservativesevoke as "the joodoldWas Americadays."Offloundering?courseit wasn't. And how wellthe English systemworked, until theAmerican BrainCommission came overthere and talked themout of it.WSB: Opium, cocaine, morphine, heroin.Sold over the counter. Well, these were inthe days that the conservatives evoke as"the good old days." Was America floundering?Of course it wasn't And how well theEnglish system woriied, until the AmericanBrain Commission came over there andtalked them out of it When 1 was there in1967 and took the apomorphine cure withDr. Dent, there were about six hundredaddicts in the U.K., all registered and allknown because they could obtain theirheroin quite legallycocaine and cannabistincture, too. Now that they've made itimpossible, and the doctors won't prescribeto addicts, God knows how many addictswe have. God knows how many narcoticsagents.TL: Once I took heroin in London withR. D. Laing. Ronnie sent out to thechemist. Ronnie Laing shot me up in thehouse of Alex TVocchi. Do you rememberTYocchi?WSB: Knew him well.TL: Svritzerland is Interesting. They haveparks in Zurich and other places wherejunkies can go. The attitude is humanistic."We're one family; we're all Swiss.And if our junkies want to shoot up, wellprovide clean needles." There's no criminalityinvolved.WSB: I remember at one point1 was at oneof these Dutch places where they had needlesand worksand out came the needle.TL: Works-o-matic.you put a coin in a thingWSB: Works-o-matic! Look at the history,the fact that for years there was no Britishheroin problem. The system worked verywell.that the individual has a right topursue happiness, and they're after you.It's basically inquisitional . . . religiose. Iblame the Puritans.WSB: Well, perhaps, yes. But the thing is . . .1 don't quite agree with that The basicthing is how that creates a desire, a necessityin their minds to control the whole population.And the extent to which the generalpublic has been stupidized is appaUing.Have you heard these statistics? The pollsshow that one-half of the high-school graduatescould not locate Vietnam on the mapand did not know that we had fought andlost a war there? When you take WWII, forgetit! They never heard of Churchill,couldn't locate France. The only one theyknew about was Hitler.TL Costumes! He had the best wardrobe,that's why.WSB: And 8 percent couldn't locate theUnited States on a map. It's absolutelyappalling. Now listen to this one. One-halfthe people this is a sex survey thoughtanal intercourse could result in AIDS eventhough neither one of the participants wasinfected with the AIDS virus. TheImmaculate Conception!TL The Immaculate Infection!WSB: Can you imagine such nonsense?Such a complete lack of logic. One-hall![James Grauerholtz announces it's time togo to the Leary-Liddy debate.]TL I want to say one more thing,William. You're with me every day.1 talkabout youall the time. Fve learned somuch from you, with you. And ITl beback.WSB: And I think about you.TL WeU, the problem is the Puritan,Cromwellian moralists who haveimposed theu- fucking neuroses onAmerica and England for the last hun-ideadred years. Any sort of pleasure, or sort of' TIMOTHY LEAIY CHAOS ( (VIE> CULTUIE

iv.li.The Sociology of LSDn 1973 the federal drug agency estimated that more than seven million Americans had usedLSD. When this number of young and/or influential people engages in an activity passionatelydenounced by every respectable organ of society as dangerous, chaotic, immoral, and illegal,we have a social phenomenon that is worthy of study. Here is a fascinating development: a newsin! A new counterculture. A new evil crime.Ihope the following observations will encourage anthropologists and sociologists to undertakemore systematic analysis of the survival implications of this mass behavior. Even a Galluppoll in which users could describe the effect that LSD tripping had on their lives might produceprovocative datawe if are ready to face the facts.IT WAS JUST ONE OF THOSE TIMES.y was probably the most affluent, confident, mdulged crop in human history. Manyn.1 social forces conspired to encourage this group to expect and demand more fh)malThe postwar baby-boom generation that came into adolescence during the 1960slife. The 'sixties idds were free from the economic fears that had dominated the lives of thefrdepression-scarred parents. America was in a period of expansion and growth. Recruitersfrom large businesses used to line up on campuses to beg students to consider well-payingjobs! The nuclear fears that plagued the 1950s were quiescent The new psychology ofhumanism and personal growth, developed by Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, encountergroups, and other developments of the human-potential movement reactivated the basicEmersonian values of self-exploration, self-reliance, franscendence of fear-inspired orthodoxies.The art world, always seminal in countercultural change, seethed with the effects ofexpressionism, improvisation, individualism. Chaos engmeering. Even the staid physical scienceswere exploding with theories of Einsteinian relativity, Heisenbergian alternate reahties,expanding universes.This had happened before. At similar moments in history when cultures reachedsimilar states of national security, economic prosperity, and imperial confidence, theinevitable next step has been to look within. A counterculture encourages novel art formsand lifestyles, tolerates individual search for new meaningself-indulgence, as opposed tosurvival drudgery and coerced mdulgence of elite rulers. Exactly at these times when philosophy,science, art, religion vibrate with transcendent energies, two things often happen:external exploration into undiscovered geographical reahns, and mner exploration usingbrain-change drugs.The first book of the Vedas, the West's oldest extant spiritual text, emerging at thetime of the Aryan conquest of India, defined the drug soma as the basic tool for philosophicinquiry.The Athenians were pioneer navigators: self-rehant, empirical, antidogmatic people.The Greek mystery cult of Eleusis, which invigorated Mediterranean thought for many cen-had happenedbefore. At similarmoments in historywhen cultures reachedsimilar states oinational security,economic prosperity,and imperialconfidence, theinevitable next stephasbeen to look within.ThisUiries, used an I^SD-type substance {from ergot of barley) in its annual rebirth ceremonies.SECTION IV. 2 INFO-CNEMKAtS I DItUC WARS THE SOCIOLOGY OF LSD 97

The Renaissance eruption of individuality and free thought inspired great explorations,east and west, which brought back herbs, spices, unguents that added to the hedonicmovements of the time.K Gordon Wasson, Richard Evans Schultes, Jonathan Ott, Terence McKenna, andother ethnobotanical scholars have argued that most of the great world religions were basedon inner exploration employing brain-changing vegetables. The British Empire was supportedfor over a century by the opium trade, which was clearly related to the flowering ofromantic, mystical, transcendental thought in England. Darwin, for example, was a chronichypochondriac and a respectable opium addictTHE SOUTH INVADES THE NORTH WITH BOTANICAL AGENTSThe acculturation of psychedeUc drugs by Americans in the 1960s provides a powerfulendorsement of rehgious rituals from the tropical latitudes. The psychedelic drugs areall derived from tropical plants. Psilocybin from mushrooms,mescaline from peyote, LSD from grain ergot,DMT and ayahuasca from tree bark and vines, and, ofcourse, marijuanathe oldest cultivated plant on theplanet These are not the euphoriants, or energizers, orintoxicants favored by urban dwellers. Psychedelicsproduce states of possession, trance, deUghtfiJ chaoticness,expanded consciousness, spiritual illumination,powerful, mystical empathies with natural forces.These experiences, which are the aim of the ancienthumanist, pagan religions, are the worst nightmares ofMARK McCLOUDPSYCHEDELIC SOLUTIONthe organized religions.The so-called 'sixties "drug culture" was not acampus fad; it was a world-wide renaissance of the oldestreligions.The hippies intuitively sensed this as theyproudly wandered around barefoot, playing flutes.Paganism 101 suddenly became the most popular campuselective.explain this bizarre chaotic desire to "go out of your mind."Psychiatrists and law-enforcement officials andpoliticians automatically assumed that psychedelicexperiences were self-induced bouts of mass insanity,i.e., hallucinatory psychosis. There were no terms orparadigms in the Western intellectual tradition toIt is of sociological interest that the drug culture in America and Western Europe(and more recently in segments of Eastern Europe) dutifully re-enacted the rituals of pre-Christian pagans and polytheists. hi the 1960s and 1970s, millions living in industrial nationsused psychedehcs in the context of Hmdu, Buddhist, and pagan practices. Psychedelic drugswere taken in groups and in public celebrations. The acid tests. The love-ins. The communes.The need for social bonding and tribal rituals was intuitively accepted by most psychedeUc-drugusers.The importance of group support expressed in pagan-psychedeUc experiences cannotbe overestimated. The psychedeUc culture proudly flaunted drug-taking because it wasdesigned to produce nature-loving, tribe-solidarity, humanist experiences. The first SanX TIMOTHY lEARY CHAOS i (YIEI (UlTIIIE

Francisco Be-In was advertised as "A Gathering of the TVibes." This happens today atGrateful Dead concerts, when twenty thousand Deadheads routinely mingle together indancing celebration.INNER AND OUTER SPACEIs it entirely accidental that our own space program, booming out to the stars,occurred exactly when our LSD-inspired inner-tripping was at its height? When the sense ofnational pride and confidence diminished during the Nixon years, both inner and outerexploration decreased. No surprise to any student of cultural evolution.Can any acceptable history of our species fail to note the effects of drug counterculturesand hedonic booms on the evolution of art and knowledge?Is it still too early for scholarlyexamination of our current drug culture, its antecedents and consequences? Well, let'smake a small beginning.The last two decadesWHY DID THE LSD BOOM DECLINE?have justwhettedWe have just considered some factors that lead to the emergence of an hedonicphilosophicdrug culture. Conservatives are quick to point out that transcendental, selfindulgentmovements usually lead to the fall of civilizations. Did not hot tubs. Eastern drugs,and mystical cults sap the martial vigor of Imperial Rome?Probably But we must hasten to add that was it natural and right that Rome fall. Inthe unbroken migration of intelligence and individual freedom from east to west, Rome haditsday in the sun. But would you want to be ruled today fh)m Italy? High civihzations do notfall; they blossom and send their seed pollens westward. Have not the descendants of thewily Sicilian Itahans planted their roots today in Hollywood and Las Vegas? According tosuch observers as Kissinger, Herman Rahn, Reverend Falwell, and the Shah of Iran, our currenthedonic drug culture represents a sophisticated corruption of the puritan Americanethos. But in their self-serving zeal to restore the old morality, these imperialists fail to realizethat hedonic movements go through predictable states of growth just like other socialphenomena, and that the current American transcendentalism has hardly gotten started.humanity's eternalappetite toitechnologies toactivate and diiectone's own biainHippies were the first naive, innocent, idealistic babies of the new neurologicalinformationsociety. Hippies were passive consumers of the new technology, childish Utopianswho beUeved that tie-dyed clothes. Grateful Dead concerts, and parroted love slogansfunction. The diujwere the ultimate flowers of evolution.The hippie wave decUned because its members were too passive, opting for enlightenmentat the nearest dealer's pad. Advertising usually does get ahead of production in thedevelopment of new culture-changing technologies, and I am ready to accept responsibilitymovement has justbepn.for that No blame, though. When a species wants an evolutionary tool, it will get it in a generationor two. By 1970 there were, apparently, some seven milUon lazy consumers expectingto be given the easy ticket to brain change. Meanwhile the feds had snuffed out the fewreliable manufacturers. Predictably, the land was flooded with unreliable, low-quaUty acid.Good-hearted amateurs combined with unscrupulous scoundrels to distribute an inferiorproduct.Thus the wholesome decline in LSD use, which stimulated exactly what the drugculture needed. Smarten up. Sister. Smarten up. Brother! People were no longer so naivelyUtopian. They warily thought twice before tripping. And the challenge, which no sophisticatedchemist could resist, to produce high-quality LSD, was thrown down.SECTION IV. z INFO-CHEMICAtS i DlUC WAItS THE SOCIOLOGY OF ISD 99

THE THIRD CENEIATION OFBRAIN-CHANCE DRUGSThe first generation of psychedelictechnology involved primitivepreparation of botanicals: joint-rolling,hashish hookahs, bongs. The secondgeneration of psychedelic technologiesinvolved the synthesis of mescaline,psilocybin, LSD, DMT, STP,MDA all crude, Wright brothers,Model-T stuff.BIGWOODThe third generation of brainchangedrugs is now appearing inplentiful quantities. Designer drugs.Just as computers today are more efficient, cheaper, and more reliable than those thirtyyears ago, so are the new drugs. Home domestication of mushrooms is one charming example.The time-consuming, complex, deUcate, unwieldy procedures for synthesizing LSDhave been streamhned so that, from police reports of arrests and sociological observations,Psychedelicsproducestates oipossession, trance,delightfulchaoticness,expandedconsciousness,spiritualillumination,we learn that more LSD is being used today than in the 1960s. There is ahnost no publicity,because drug usageis no longer a trendy topic for the media and poUticians. We have newproblemsoil, economics, crack, the new Cold War. There are ahnost no bad trips beingreported, because the acid is pure and the users are sophisticated. The average suburbanteenager today knows more about the varied effects of brain-change drugs than the mostlearned researchers twenty years ago. The proUferation of knowledge always works this way.The sociaUzation of drugs has followed the same rhythm as the use and abuse of automobiles,airplanes, computers.And the next decade will see the emergence of dozens of new, improved, stronger,safer psychoactive drugs. Any intelligent chemist knows it There is an enormous market ofsome fifty million Americans today who would joyfully purchase a safe euphoriant, a precisepsychedelic of short duration and predictable effect, an effective inteUigence increaser, aharmless energizer, a secure sensual enhancer. An aphrodisiac! For millennia, intelligentpersons undergoing the vicissitudes of aging have longed for an effective aphrodisiac. Onlyrecently have we reaUzed that the ultimate, indeed the only, pleasure organis the brain, anenormous hundred-biUion-cell hedonic system waiting to be activated.The last two decades have just whetted humanity's eternal appetite for technologiesto activate and direct one's own brain function. The drug movement has just begun.powerful, mysticalempathies withnatural forces.THE RESURGENCE OF GOOD OLD LSDThe increased usage of acid is the forerunner of what is to come, and much can belearned from its resurgence. Now that the hysteria has died down, is it not obvious that LSD,pure LSD, is simply the best recreational/enlightenment drug around? A curious reversal ofGresham's law seems to operate. If good dope is available, it will be preferred. If good dope isin short supply, then bad drugs will be used. Good dope drives out bad dopeDuring the recent LSD shortage did we not see a shocking emergence of teenagealcoholism? Don't you remember how drunks were scorned in the 1960s? The horrid PCPmania is directly caused by the acid drain. So is the cocaine mania, the post-Shah heroin epi-III TIMOTNY lEAlY CHAOS ( CVIEI (UtTUIE

demic. Looking at the shoddy replacements, is it not clear that psychedelic drugs are exactlywhat our Harvard research showed them to be in the 1960s? Wonderful giftsih)m the plantqueendom to the animal kingdom; activators of those circuits of the brain that lead to philosophicinquiry, scientific curiosity, somatic awareness, hedonic lifestyle,humourous detachment,high-altitude tolerant perceptions, chaotic erotics, ecological sensitivity, Utopian communality.Weren't the 1960s, in retrospect, a decade of romance, splendor, optimism, idealism,individual courage, high aspu-ations, aesthetic innovation, spiritual wonder, exploration, andsearch? As President Reagan might have said, weren't we happier about each other andmore optimistic when the high times were rolling?our researchhad demonstrated thatIn the Rambo 1980s, drugs were tooted, shot, free-based, cracked in secrecy. Oftenalone.Drug-taking becomes drug abuse when practiced in narcissistic solitude, hi 1988,thirty million Americans used illegal drugs safely, and fifty million used booze moderatelyIndulgence in group rituals protects against abuse. Beer busts. Cocktail parties. Smokinggrass or eating mushrooms with friends.It is important to note that the only effective rehabilitation program for alcohol anddrug abusers is A.A. The stated aims and tactic of A.A. are pagan-spiritual. Surrender to ahigher power in an intense support-group setting. No churches. No government officials. Nosalaries. No funding. Just village-type group support.set and settinjidetermine the courseof an altered-stateexperience, weconsistently broadcastTHE WINTER OF FEAR AND DISCONTENTsignals ot intelligentreassurance: "TrustOur psychedeUc-drug research projects at Harvard and later Millbrook vigorouslyaddressed the task of developing brain-change methods for eUminating human ignoranceand suffering. We knew it could be done and that, eventually, it would be done. Biochemicalknowledge will be applied to manage the synaptic patterns which keep people bogged downin repetitious helplessness. Self-managed brain control is in the future deck.This seemed so commonsensical that it was hard for us to understand, in 1962, howany open-minded person could oppose the planful accessing of altered states of consciousness.Granted that the field was new and the avalanche of new data confusing, the parallelsto the discovery of the microscope and telescope were so obvious that we were naivelyunprepared for the instinctive revulsion expressed by so many inteUigent, distinguished scientistsat the notion of brain change. Alan Watts, always the wry student of history, neveryour nervous system,^0 with the flow,the universe isbasically a beautifuland safe place."tired of remindmg us that Vatican astronomers consistently refused to look through Galileo'stelescopes.Our initial romantic ideahsm was soon sobered by the reahzation that there arepowerftil genetic mechanisms, reinforced by society, geared to react with fear at theapproach of the new. This neophobia obviously has a survival value. At every stage ofevolution each gene pool has been protected by those with nervous systems wired to cryDanger! Caution!The evolutionist urging change says. There is nothing to fear except fear itself."Tlie sunivalist repUes, "There is everything to fear except fear itself." At most periods ofhuman history those who promote fear have been m ascendance. When we examine everyother form of Ufe, we see that a nervous, jumpy ammal alertness to danger is a constant preoccupation.At certain times in the emergence of civilization, optimistic change-agents, believersSincein progress, manage to push our species into new adventures. Then, inevitably, the forces ofSECTION IV. 2 INFO-CHEMICAIS i D I U G WAIJ THI SOCIOIOCY OF IS III

caution, reason, tradition reimpose fear to preserve what tiie change-agents have created.America has, since its conception, represented an optimistic, progressive futureprobe of the human race. Our country was founded by restless visionaries lh)m the OldeWorld, who decided that anything new was better than the status quo. Such people aregenetically wired to stir up excitement and adventure and unsettUng discovery. This redwhite-and-blueromantic pursuit of liberty and happiness,it seems to me, peaked in the1960s. A generation of young Americans threw caution to the winds and recklessly rejectedthe fear-imposed systems that have kept human society survivingthe work ethic, maledomination, racism, Ufestyle conformity, inhibition of sensuality and self-indulgence,reliance on authority.Fear, which has always been the glue that holds human hives together, was temporarilyreplaced by audacious, grinning confidence in a self-directed future.Since our research had demonstrated that set and setting determine the course of analtered-state experience, we consistently broadcast signals of intelligent reassurance: "TVustyour nervous system, go with the flow, the universe is basically a beautiful and safe place."We were amazed to witness otherwise inteUigent and open-minded persons doing everythingin their power to instill fear, to cry danger, to slander the brain with negativity. Do werecall the hoax perpetrated by the Pennsylvania Hospital director who invented the he thateight patients were blinded by looking at the Sun while high on LSD? The chromosomebreakingprevarication? The armies of poUce officials visiting high schools to warn that/Oj^smoking LSD would lead to rape and murder? We were forced to conclude at one point thatLSD does indeed cause panic and temporary insanity in bureaucrats who have nevertouched the stuff.We were comforted by the history of science. Every new technology that compelschange in Ufestyle or in understanding of human nature has always taken one generation tobe sociahzed and domesticated. The more furious and extravagant were the attacks on LSD,^i\ \the more certain we became that an important mutational process was involved.What was lost in the furor was any rational attempt to assay what was really happening.Few Americans realized, for example, that the drug culture was the purposeful creationof an extraordinary group of scholars and people-movers who worked in loose but consciouscoordination to sponsor self-directed brain change: Aldous and Laura Huxley, Gerald Heard,R. D. Laing, Thehna Moss, Alan Watts, Adelle Davis, Gordon and Valentina Wasson,Stanislaus Grof, Joan Halifax, Ken Kesey, Allen Ginsberg, Paul Bowles, John and Louis"Timothy Leary,much to oursurprise, showed, m 200 cells,or)lytwo with chromosomeaberrations, one in each cell. Thisfinding is about as spectacular asmust be the amount of LSD thathe probably has taken in the pastIeight years. am at a loss tounderstand or explainthisnegative finding."Hermann Lisco, M.D.Cancer Research InstituteNew England Deaconess HospitalBoston, Mass.Aiken, Huston Smith, Gary Grant, the brigades of philosopher-musicians who used lyrics toteach, the armies of writers and underground newspaper editors, the fihnmakers, thechemists. Never, perhaps, since Athens and the Renaissance had so many culturally influentialpeople been aUied around a philosophic concept.Also discarded in the controversy was any rational, scientific attempt to keep score.Granted, a lot of mentally disturbed persons took acid and then blamed the drug for theirgenetic instability, but there was never any comparative census count Now that the smokehas cleared, we see that far from inducing window-jumping and self-destruction, the suiciderate for young people actually dropped during the LSD boom. Suicide is caused by boredomand hopelessness and certainly these factors were lowered during the 1960s.And surely it is obvious that psychedeUc drugs, including cannabis, lower the violenceindices. There are more alcohol-induced episodes of violence in one weekend thesedays than in the twenty years of psychedelic drug-taking. More kids are killed and crippledin any weekend by booze plus automobile-driving than during two decades of psychedeUcconsumption. There is no evidence to counter the claim that LSD drasticaUy lowered theincidence of physical danger ui those who tripped. It was Vietnam that kiUed more than fifty102 TIMOTHY LEARY CHAOS ( CYIER CUtTUIE

thousand young Americans and several millionVietnamese. Add is probably thehealthiest recreational pursuit ever devisedby humans. Jogging, tennis, and skiing arefar more dangerous. Ifyou disagree, showme yourstatistics.This is not to say that the real dangersof LSD were exaggerated.Consciousness-altering drugs changeminds and loosen attachments to old customs.Change triggers off intense fear reactions.Acid is a scary thing.There are more alcohol-induced episodes of violence inone weekend these days than in the twenty years ofpsychedelic drug-taking. ...W Acid isprobably thehealthiest recreational pursuit ever devised by humans.Jogging, tennis, and skiing are far more dangerous.IfNow,you disagree, show me your statistics. . . . ^more than ever before, we need to gear our brains tomultiplicity, complexity, relativity, change. Those whocan handle acid will be able to deal more comfortablyNo one said it was going to be simple,and here is another compUcation. Acidshould not be taken by scared persons or ma fearful setting. America is a spookedwith what is to come. . . . ilcountry these days. The genetic caste of danger-criers is operating in full voice. Never in ourhistory has the national mood been so gloomy and spooky. The cause is obvious. Changecauses fear, and the change rate is accelerating beyond comprehension and control.Chaotics! All the familiar comforts of yesterday are eroding with ominous rapidity. While thepopulation rises, all the indices of intelligence, educational achievement, civility, and physicaland economic security are plummeting. At the same time, paradoxically, the accompUshmentsof our scientific elite are elimmating the basic, eternal causes of human helplessness.Geneticists and immunologists predict enormous advances against illness, agmg, and death.The space program has opened up a new frontier of unUmited energy, unUmited raw materials,unlimited room for migration. The new information society based on computers andhome-communication centers is multiplying human intelligence to undreamed-of capacities.We are being flooded with new and better brain-change drugs.The only way to understand and keep up with this acceleration of knowledgeaccelerate brain function. There are three suggested solutions to the seething, volatile situationthat we now face.is toAf The religious answer is that since apocalypse is inevitable, the only thing to do is pray.^ The polltidans assure us that the only thing to do isgrab what you can and protect whatyou've got9~ The scientific answer is to increase intelligence, expand your consciousness, surf the wavesof chaotic change planfully.The fiiture is going to spin faster and wilder, of that we can be sure. If you don't likeacid, rest assured you're not going to Uke the future. Now, more than ever before, we need togear our brains to multiphcity, complexity, relativity, change. Those who can handle acid willbe able to deal more comfortably with what is to come.APEISONALNOTEPeople often ask me if, in hindsight, would do 1it all over agam. My answer, in foresight,is: Like it or not, we are doingit over again. And better.SECTION IV. 2 INFO-CHEMICAIS i D II U C WARS THE SOCIOIOCY OF LSD 103

Fascism: A philosophy or system of government that advocates orexercises an authoritarian rule of the extreme right, typicallythrough the merging of state, military, religious,and industrialPaleadership, together with an ideology of belligerentnationalism. For synonym, see Communism.iv.|.Just say know:America, strangely enough,isbecoming the leader inglobaldevelopingnew forms of fascistmind control viarepression:control of brain-chancemedications. ... The originalmodel of a ""people'sdemocracy" (or a third reich ora of the dictatorship proles)was none other than theRepublican party, USA. In 1866,while the European powerswerestru^^lin^ out of feudalism, ourvery own GOP produced thefirst, and most successful,fascist state.Theprimitive mammalian emotionsof fear and fight are mediated bythe autonomic nervous system.When aroused, these reflexes producein herd animals (including the mostcivilized human beings) the familiar, involuntary,irrational, pleasurable behaviorcalled tantrum.There is one strategy and four standardtactics used by certain male castes tomaintain mastery over the herd, troop,flock, etc. These domination signals invokethis fear-fight reflex.The strategy is to invent or provokeherd panic. This is variously called jihad,crusade. Holy War. The four classic controltactics are daemonization, fanatic rage, sacrifice,and repression.D/EMONIZATION:To arouse the fear reflex one mustconvince the flock that it is menaced by adeadly evil. This peril must be more than anegotiable pressure from competitiveItneighbours. must involve a moral difference.The alien enemy must be seen as aSatanic threat to "our" way of life. To compromisein the slightest degree with thisimplacable foe would betray fatal weakness.FANATIC RACE:Since this peril threatens our veryway of life, a fever of national belligerenceis clearly in order. War frenzy is mobilizedvia metaphor and symbol. The enemy ispowerful. Everywhere. A cancer. An EvilEmpire out to destroy us. A moral plague.We all have, somewhere in our jitterymidbrains, those ancient, down-home,turf-territory, snariing, racial programswhich trigger ofl" violent rage. Hey, angercan be a powerful kick! There's the paroxysmalconvulsion that Dad uses to controlthe family. There's the cold, implacable,slit-eyed pressing of the Pentagon button.And then there's the impersonal, bureaucraticcompulsion to humiliate those underyour control, for example, by forcing themto urinate, on command,into a bottle.Moral outrage allows one to performextreme, genocidal cruelties upon thedaemonic enemy vrithout guilL The HolyWar brings undeniable satisfaction to thosetrapped in any form of inhibited or frustratedboredom. When the mob or the electoratego crazy together, there's a certainblood-warm sense of secure togetherness,ofhive or herd unity.IM TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOJ i CYIEI ClllTtlE

SACRIFICE:To combat the deadly peril, greatsacrifices must be made. Our defenders,the brave soldiers, the valiant policemen,the concerned politicians, must be givenmoney, without stinting. What concernedcitizen could be niggardly when our verymoral existence is at stake? Who couldoppose increasing taxes to fund this crusade?is the numier-one enemy to be eradicatedtotally by "final solutions" involving "zerotolerance."America, strangely enough, isbecoming the global leader in developingnew forms of fascist repression: mind controlvia control of brain-change medications.It was not always thisway in theUnited States. After its founding (1776) thefledgling American Republic presented,THE Eternal Antidote to FascismREPRESSION:During a crusade of this intensity, itis only logical that the normal, easygoingperhaps for the first time in human history(Australia and New Zealand came later), aindividual freedoms, the lax tolerance, thecivil rights, the civilian protections ofpeacetime and logical debate must be suspendedfor the duration.Party propaganda replaces truthfuldiscourse. The "big lie" is eagerly acceptedand repeated. The citizen's duty during anall-out war is unquestioning obedience,which is enforced by the no-nonsensepolice. Difference of opinion about the wisdomof the war is intolerable.The existence of a strong, visiblerival justifies the authoritarian control. Thestronger and more menacing the enemy,the better. The basic threat to the authoritariansystem is not the external enemy, butdissident citizens who question authorityand think for themselves. The fascist-communiststate is obsessively alert to detectand destroy self-reliance, self-confidence,most inhospitable habitat for the authoritarian-militaryimpulse. The extraordinaryisolation from external threat afforded bythe ahnost empty new continent, the WASPhomogeneity of the tiny population, theexciting challenges of building frontier settlementsmade it ahnost impossible to whipup a true Holy War.Oh yes, there had been the Salemwitch trials. The silly low-budget War of1812, stirred up by the "Hawks," provided afew naval slogans. And the fortuitous presenceof those pesky, omniscient heathenhidians produced a few pitiful nationalleaders Uke General Andrew Jackson andGeneral (Tippecanoe) Harrison.By 1860 the adolescent Americawas suffering from an acute "enemy deprivation."With the natives wiped out, therejust wasn't any EvilEnemy on whom toIt is no accident, obviously,that in the yeai 1988, the rulingcaste in Ameiica, the sourcenation of fieedom and affluentconsumerism, decided that selfmedication is the number-oneenemy to be eradicated totallyby "final solutions" involving"zero-tolerance."self-discipline, self-respect, self-direction.And now to ehminate the new andcommit belligerent nationalism. So the militaryHawks, West Point trained, fell toquarreUng amongst themselves. The Warbetween the States (1861-^5) was, at thatultimately dangerous threat to an authoritariansystemtime, the bloodiest conflict in history. Allself-medkation. Self-managementof one's own brain.It is no accident, obviously, that inthe year 1988, the ruling caste in America,the source nation of freedom and affluentconsumerism, decided that self-medicationwars are convulsions of paroxysmal violence,but in retrospect, our Civil War hasto be one of the most irrational: West Pointclassmates leading mechanically equippedarmies against each other.SECTIOH IV. 3 IHFO-CHEMICAtS I D I II G WUS lUST SAY KNOW lOS

There wasa genetic logicat playhere.historical importance. The originalmodel of a "people's democracy" (or a thirdreich or a dictatorship of the proles) wasnone other than the Republican party, USA.In 1866, while the European powers werestruggUng out of feudalism, our very ownGOP produced the first, and most successftil,fascist state.The ruling "industrial-militaryparty" in America organizedduring the Lincohi administrationhas managed tokeep one Holy Warafter anothergoing formore than ahundred years. Thegenocidal hidian Warsgave us the final solution tothe redskm problem. TheSpanish War, sparked by the biglies of Mr. Hearst, announced our manifestdestiny to become a superpower. OurOnce a^ain,in the stiuj^lefoi liberty,the motto becomes:lUST SAY KNOW.TheCM Warproduced, forthe first time inhuman history, thenew update on the oldfeudal-authoritarian program: the emergenceof the industrial-military society.Let's give credit where credit is due. Forgetthat upstart Prince Otto Edward Leopoldvon Bismarck. Forget the copy-cat VladimirDyich Lenin and the later impertinent mimicryof StaUn and Brezhnev. Forget evenBenito Mussolini. Credit our very own,home-grown, WASP, Yankee-Doodle inge-Itnuity.was Honest Abe Lincohi who createdthe first and enduring model of a fascistsocietythe authoritarian-mihtary-industrialcomplex controlled by an eUte"nomenclatura" known in every modemstate as "the grand old party."The Heritage House think tank(Edwin Meese et al.) that guides the partyitstoday is understandably quite modest aboutpointless participation in World War I?BeUigerent nationahsm! World War II? Thenuclear holocausts of Hiroshima-Nagasaki?The endless Cold War against the EvilEmpu^? Korea? Vietnam? Belligerentnationahsm! hi 1980 Americans elected aspresident Ronald Reagan, a cheerM, mmdlessfanatic totally dedicated to the party'sauthoritarian-military compulsions.But a pesky problem emerged. Thefiasco of Vietnam had left the country in nomood for a war buige. Rhetoric about"standmg tall against the Evil Empu*"could get record funding for the defenseindustry, but there was no target-outlet forthe frustrations that had been building upfor decades. Grenada was a meaninglesstvritch. The annoying Uttle dictators inNicaragua, Libya, and later, Panama, couldhardly be taken seriously.The Reagan Hawks were armed tothe teeth, all dressed up in uniforms, buthad nowhere to go. So, once again, the"nomenclatura" fell back on the old standby:a Civil War. A jihad against an insidiousdomestic enemy corrupting us from within.106 TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS i CriEl CUITUIE

The new scapegoat victims. The pervertedsmokers of the Assassin of Youth, the killerweed.THE HOLY WAR ONSELF-MEDICATIONDuring the last Democratic admmistration(1976-80), fourteen states decriminaUzedmarijuana, and President Carterannounced his intention to do the same atthe federal level. Carter was also active inpromoting civil and human rights.Shortly after the Grand Old Partyassumed power m 1980, the standard bel-Ugerent nationaUsm ploy was dusted off.The Cold War against the Evil Empire wasre-declared. Military budgets and thenational deficits suddenly launched towardall-time peaks. But the Soviet Union underGorbachev wouldn't play the game, and thethreats from Iran-Qaddafi-Grenada-Central America were too feeble to justify awar economySo the Civil War card was played. AHoly War on Vegetables was declared.Illegal herbs were denounced as "cancers,"moral plagues, lethal threats to nationalsecurity. PoUticians of both parties immediatelyfell into line, and the media, sensingcirculation boosts and an audience hungerfor moral outrage, scrambled to dramatizethe menace.There was no debate! No rationalpublic discussion about the wisdom of waginga Civil War against some thirty millionfellow-Americans who knew from experiencethat grass is less dangerous thanbooze. No questions about the commonsensepracticality of violating that mostbasic frontier of the liberty, body and thebrain.Children were applauded for turningin their parents. Fill the prisons. Hangthe peddlers. Urine tests for civilian worfiers.When marijuana arrests reached fivehundred thousand a year, Nancy Reagan'sCivil Warriors were far outstripping theInquisition's witch-hunts.And still no audible protests againstthis blatant fascism! Why were the ACLUand the civil-rights movement so silent?Where was Amnesty International? Wherewere the libertarian traditions of this landof freedom?CRITICS OF THE WAR ON DRUGSThree recently published booksdeal brilhantly with the evils and absurditiesof the War on Drugs.Dealing with Dru^ Consequencesof Government Control, ed. byRonald Hanowy. Lexington Books,1987.Breaking the Impasse in the War onDrugs, by Steven Wisotsky.Greenwood Press, 1986.Why WeAre Losing the Great Waron Drugs and Radical Proposals ThatCould Make America Safe Again, byArnold TVebach. Macmillan, 1987.Dealing with Drugsis a collectionof essays by ten distinguished universityscholars who demonsfrate with fact andlogic that the War on Drugs is futile, harmful,irrational, immoral, illegal.Professor Hanowy's collection concludeswith a magnificent essay. TheMorality ofDrug Controls. The author, psychiatristThomas Szasz, is one of the mostimportant intellectuals of our times. Forthirty years Szasz has brought to the dark,swampy field of psychiatry the same penefratingsocial logic and laser-sharp moralitythat Noam Chomsky has given to linguisticsand politics. And more, because Dr. Szaszadds a certain down-to-earth, humanistcommon sense. He writes here, not aboutdrugs, but about drug control as a moralissue, the "drug-user" as scapegoat.A HolyWar on Vegetableswasdeclared. ...% Childrenwere applaudedfor inturningtheir Fill parents.the prisons.Han^ the peddlers.Urine testsfor civilian workers. Whenmarijuanaarrests reached fivehundred thousand a year, NancyCivilReagan'sWarriors were faroutstripping the Inquisition'switch-hunts. And still noaudible protests againstthisblatant fascism! Whywere theACLU and the civil-rightsmovement so silent? Where wasAmnestyInternational? ...^Once a^ain, we are remindedthat the onlysolution to humanproblems are intelligentthought and accurate, opencommunication.SECTION IV.} INFO-CHEMIC/ttS I DRUG WARS lUST SAY KNOW 10?

Ibelieve that just as we regard freedom of speech andreligion as fundamental rights, so should we regard freedomof self-medication as a fundamental right; and that,instead of mendadously opposing or mindlessly promotingillicit drugs, we should, paraphrasing Voltaire, makefrom a fatal social cancer to a treatablehealth annoyance.THE WARONPSYCHEDELICSthis maxim our rule: Idisapprove of what you take, but Iwill defend to the death your right to take itBreaking the Impasse in the War OnDrugs Is a carefully researched, chillingaccount of the incalculable damageswrought upon our country and our southemneighbors by the Reagan regime's Waron Cocaine. Long sections describe theassault on justice and civil liberties, thegrowth of big brotherism, the corrosion ofthe work ethic, the corruption of public officials,disrespect for the law, the internationalpathology of the War on Drugs, instabilityand narco-terrorism, the drug-problemproblem.Arnold TVebach, the author of WhyWe Are Losing the Great War on Drugs andRadical Proposals That Could MakeAmerica S(tfe Again, examines in scholarlyfashion the failures, the hypocrisies, thecorruptions, the repressive illegalities of theHoly War, and presents fourteen commonsense,practical, compassionate "peacefulcompromises." TVebach goes behind thegrim statistics to address the personal,human side of the conflict: interviews withand case histories of the victimsyoungpeople kidnapped by their own misguidedparents; moderate, intelligent users harshlypenalized; cancer, AIDS, and glaucomapatients prevented from usmg appropriatemedication; street addicts caught in a systemthat treats them as criminals ratherthan as patients.In the three books discussed, a totalof twenty experts m the field agree thatlegal energy-mood-anaesthetic drugs(booze, nicotine, pills) are certainly as disablmgand abusive as their illegal counterparts(heroin, marijuana, cocame). Theycome to the common-sense conclusion thatday,by decriminaUzing and regulating the latter,we could reduce the "drug problem," in oneThe most pernicious and hypocriticalaspect of the current drug situation isthe criminalizing of psychedelic drugs.Used with a minimum of common sense,marijuana, LSD, mescaUne, and psilocybinare valuable tools for exploring the brainand changing the mind. "Psychedelic"means mind expanding. These vegetableproducts have ahnost no effect on mood orenergy level. They are the very opposite ofthe "opiate anaesthetics," in that they producehypersensitivity to external sensationsand accelerated thought processing. Theyare not addictive. They have ahnost noeffect on physiology. They change consciousness.They are information drugs.They have been used for millennia in religiousceremonies. Because they alter consciousnessm such intense, individual ways,group rituals develop to support and protectthe visionary france. They are rarely usedalone, because soUtary visions create solipsistic"space-outs."Psychedelic vegetableswhenused with optimum regard for "set and setting"are arguably the safest food substancesthat human beings can ingest Theyobviously represent an ancient symbiosisbetween the sexual organs of floweringplants and the nervous systems of mammalsto the mutual benefit of all concerned.Since the dawning of the informationage m 1946, these psychedelic plantshave become extremely popular in regionswhere cybernetic-digital technologies (television,computers) have taken over. In thelast twenty years the influence of psychedelicdrugs on art, music, literature, fashion,language, electronic graphics, fihn,television commercials, holistic medicine,ecological awareness, and New-Age psychologyhas been so pervasive as to beinvisible.Itl TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS I CYIEI (UlTUtE

Psychedelic vejetableswhenused with optimumrejfardfor "set andsettinj'-are aijfuablythe safest foodsubstances that humanbeinjs can injest. Theyobviously represent anancient symbiosisbetween the sexualorgans of floweringplantsand the nervoussystemsof mammals tothe mutual benefit ofall concerned.It is interesting that psychedelicsubstances are rarely mentioned by theDrug-War crusaders. Government expertsand Newsweek editors rave and writheabout the dangerous pleasures of cocaine,the uresistible ecstasies of crack, the addictiveseductions of heroin. One hit of thesesiren substances and you're a slave to theirwhypower. But they never discuss the reasonsmillions of non-addicts prefer to usemarijuana or LSD, or the benign and gentleMDMA. The law-enforcement doctorsmumble about "gateway" drugs and let itgo at that That which you cannot possiblydaemonize ("killer weed") must be systematicallyignored. The tactic is the famiharfear-fight line. Hey! This is no time for logical,academic discussions or treasonousSECTION IV. 3 INFO-CHEMICAIS ( DRUC WAtS lUST SAY KNOW 109

undermining of the war effort! It's an all-out conflict between good and evil! The DaemonFoe has our backs to the wall!It is interesting that the authors of those three logical, scientific, Ubertarian booksdiscussed above do not deal with the positive aspects of the psychedehc drugs, nor do theyrefer to the hundreds of scientific papers about the benefits, personal and cultural, whichcan occur if these drugs are used with prudence and planning. They arenot psychologists or humanist philosophers, after all. Thank God!With cahn unammity these gentlemen come on as sober, rationalacademics. The attitude is magisterial, ahnost judicial. They express notone dot of approval for the use of mind-changing substances, legal or illegal.They condemn intoxication. They are opposed to the War onVegetables only because it is fiitile and aggravates the problem.Occasionally they sigh in regret for the human weaknesses that lead people to seek changeand solace in drugs. (It appears unlikely that any of these prudent academics has ever beenhigh.) Their prescription is simple: Substitute government regulation and education forrepression.I enthusiastically applaud this statesmanly approach. It could work in Belfast, in theMiddle East, in Afghanistan, and here in our ovm Civil War on Drugs.Once again, we are reminded that the only solution to human problems are intelligentthought and accurate, open communication.Once again, in the struggle for liberty, the motto becomes:JUST SAY KNOW.110 TIMOINY LEAIY CHAOS I CVIEI CULTUIE.

Czar Bennett &:HisHoly War on Drugs,pP Czar: (1) a king or emperor. (2) a tyrant, autocrat.pP Cossacks: D.E.A. agents.pP Pogrom: (1) a domestic policeaction ordered by the Czar.(2) an organizedand often officially encouraged persecution or massacre of people.It is interesting to speculate why America is the only countryin the world where self-medication has been decreed "PublicEnemy Number One."Since 1776, the U.S. has been engaged in a moralistic tugof-war.On one hand, America sees itself as the guardian and inventorof individual liberty, tolerance, secular plurality, ethnic diversity,cultural idiosyncrasy, scientific inventiveness, free enterprise, andindependent thinking. Much of our literature and mythology hastaught us that it is the sacred duty of the patriotic American to maintaina healthy disrespect for authority and to resist every attempt onthe part of religious or political officials to intrude into our privatelives or to impose cultural or reUgious conformity. The mythicAmerica isgood natured, individualistic and creative: rowdy BenFranUin; sturdy rebel David Thoreau; feisty, elegant MargaretFuller; irreverent Mark Twain.At the same time, there has been, lh)m the beginning, asevere and moralistic Calvinist side to American culture that is antitheticalto the "liberal society" described above. Like fundamentaUstIslam, the American puritans beheve that people are divided intothe Select and the Damned, the chosen people and the satanic sinners.Throughout history, this view has justified any number of crusades,morality crackdowns, witch-hunts, and Holy Wars.Inflammatory Holy-War rhetoric, especially when spoutedby politicians and governmental authorities, is the most dangerousdrug of all. It arouses fear. It robs people of common sense and selfconfidence.Most recently, this view has fueled the Drug War, creating asocial atmosphere that is violently impatient with hedonists of anykind. The War on Drugsis the quintessential American morahtyplay In it,we see clearly the distinctions between good and bad;insidious sinners and angry samts; outlaw gangs and the innocent,victimized majority. And this scenario ispreached to us in easy toassess images in our newspapers and on our television screens.The Drug War is fueled by the fact that at this historicmoment, when American Uberalism and free enterprise have "won"the Cold War, our politicians are suffering from enemy deprivation.Faced with the real problems of urban decay, slipping global competitiveness,and a deteriorating educational system, the governmenthas decided instead to turn its energies toward the sixty mil-Uon Americans who use illegal psychoactive drugs.At the same time, there has been, from the be^innin^,a severe and moralistic Calvinist side to Americanculture . . . Like fundamentalist Islam, the American puritansbelieve that peopleare divided into the Selectand the Damned, the chosen peopleand the satanic sinners.SECTION IV.^ INFO-CHEMICAIS i DlUC WARS CZAI lENNETT E HIS HOLY WAK OH DIUCS

CZAR BENNETTany other sort of strengthened political authority. Drug abuse inthese geographic areas has fairly obvious causes: poverty, despair,pP Czar: (1) a king or emperor. (2) a tyrant, autocrat.The use of this pre-Soviet Russian term could be viewedonly as comic in a rational atmosphere. The official use of thisloaded term suggests that D.E.A. agents be called "cossacks." Adomestic police action ordered by the Czar is usually called a"pogrom," defined as "an organized and often officially encouragedpersecution or massacre of people."Drug Czar William Bennett says that "with the weakeningof political authority, the drug user, dealer, and trafficker behevesthat the laws forbidding their activities no longer have teeth, andthey consequently feel free to violate those laws with impunity."This is bombast. At least in the demoralized and impoverishedinner city, the crack-cocaine trade will not be eliminatedand the enormous profits created by criminalization. But the prohibitionists,who have injected the debate with the hyperbolic languageof sin and savagery, escape without having to address thesecomplex social issues.How should we deal vrith Americans who advocate thisRambo-concept "war" as a fmal solution to our inner-city problems?First offenders like Dan Rather should be sternly warned. Regularoffenders should be banned from the Supreme Court, the NFL, theABA, the ABC. Holy-War advocates should have their driver's licensesrevoked and be sent to boot camp.Multiple-offending adults like Nancy Reagan or CzarBennett or Jesse Jackson, who hang around schools shamelesslydealing and advocating Holy War, should be committed to AbbieHoffman De-Tox and Rehabilitation Centers.through beefed-up law enforcement, expanded prison facilities, orDEFINITIONS AND CATEGORIESDRUG:1.3 substance used as medicine in the treatment ofMOOD-CHANGE FOOD & DRUGS:are basically uppers or downers. Caffeine, heroin, cocaine,disease;2. a narcotic, especially one that is addictive.pills.Mood changers tend to be private, lonerLEGAL DRUGS:Nicotine, alcohol, prescriptiontranquilizers, prescriptionsleepizers, prescription energizers.medicaments, thus leading to addiction and alienation.Alcohol, the most popularmood changer, has beenacculturated in the industrial Western world and isused as a social-bonding, ceremonial, festivalagent. Solitary use leads to abuse.ILLEGAL DRUGS:Cocaine, heroin, marijuana, LSD, psilocybinmushrooms, peyote (exceptfor Native AmericanChurch members), MDMA, etc.DANGEROUS DRUGS:(deaths per year) alcohol (60,000), prescription drugs(30,000), nicotine (25,000), cocaine (3,000), heroin (1,000).SAFE DRUGS:(deaths per year) marijuana (0), LSD (0), psilocybinPSYCHEDELIC FOODS & DRUGS:Marijuana, peyote, mushrooms, ergots (LSD),empathogens (MDMA) have been used throughouthistory in social-bonding ceremonials, festivecelebrations, and shamanic rituals.They usuallydo notenergize. They are not addictive. They are not injected.The rare cases of solitary ingestionare considered eccentricand alienated. Psychedelic drugs are usually freely shared.They are pacifistic, nonviolent, reflective, and, withappropriate set-setting, aphrodisiac.Public officials of the prohibitionist persuasionwho lumpmushrooms (0), peyote (0), MDMA (0).marijuana with cocaine and heroin are hypocritical, cynical,and, to borrow their term, "wicked."112 TIMOTHY lEAlY CKAOS ( CYIEI (UlTUIE.

USE AND ABUSEAny rational solution to this situation requires the distinctionbetween use and abuse.Social use implies that the self-medicator knows whatshe/he isdoing and weaves the ingestion into a planful, productive,rewardmg lifestyle. Social drinkmg is a classic example. Reactions topsychoactive foods and drugs are strongly overdetermined by setand setting. In other words, mind state and envm)nment determinewhat happens. In supportive, low-stress social settings, 90 percent ofadults use normal doses of psychoactive substances with positiveresults. This is as true for illegal drugs as for legal drugs like alcohol.Common-sense education about set and setting elimuiates 90percent of the problems.As wise societies throughout history have known, peoplehave to be tramed in the use of mind changers. "Safe drug use" is acommon-sense truism now accepted by the alcohol industry."Harm-reduction" is a current (1993) term for minimizing a drug'sdangers by having knowledge of such things as purity and properdosage level.HI LEITZTHE SOLUTION TO DRUG ABUSEUnder no circumstances^g Drug addicts are a special category. About 10 shouldpercent of anydrujuse byminors beJ^ population is physiologically unable to handle certain stimr1 ulants. Diabetics must say "know" to the ingestion of sugar condoned; yet responsibilityor glucose substances, regardless of peer pressure.Responsible education would prepare peoplefor their care and to recognizeeducationthe signs of addiction. Addicts are sick, bored people. Therapeuticintervention and unmediate treatment are called should be for. Althoughundertaken bycounseUng may comfort and rehabihtate, the specific treatment ofaddiction is chemical. Counsehng does not prevent diabetes. InsuUnfamily members, peers,anddoes. Hospitals and chnics do not cure tuberculosis. Antibiotics do.Researchers have located several promismg compoundshonest educators-not bythethat inhibit addictive behavior. Addiction to cocaine and heroincould be cured in two years if normal medical research replaced thegovernment or the police, andmoralistic attitude of the government In addition, private pharmaceuticalfirms should be encouraged to develop mood changers that not with propaganda andare safe, nonaddictive, and precise in theu- effects.Inner-city drug addiction and trafficking presents a catastrophicproblem. There are two causes:hypocritical pieties.1.poverty and despair, and2. the enonnous profits created by criminalization. Thesolution is not to hire more "cossacks" and throw moreyouths in prison. The solution is to eUminate thepoverty-despau-, and to eliminate the profits.SECTION IV. i INFO-CHEMICAIS i DlUC WARS CZAR BEHMETT HIS HOLY WAR ON DRUCS 11}

t ss^i.:0mt0l*^rffitffw -fmf'f-"niMffif'iti r " iff- Ifrmw*i,!f

The onlycatch is this.With theCold Warover and theWar oti Dru^speacefullyended, uponwhom willthe puritanswa^e theirnext HolyWar?bB2 ^&.imam^mm,v,'.... v:^....lenge to liberal society. Essentially, we are engaged in a Civil War,testing whether our nation conceivedthe ideals of civil society and individual rightsin liberty and dedicated tocan endure. This isan uncivilized war, a test of whether common sense, compassion,civic understanding, and tolerance of difference can keep us frombecoming a divided nation with one-quarter screaming "No!"; one-quarter fighting to keep their opinions heard at all; and half toostoned on narcotic prime-time TV to care what is happening in theirown neighbourhood, much less in the neighbouring inner city.The only catch is this. With the Cold War over and the Waron Drugs peacefully ended, upon whom will the puritans wage theirnext Holy War?ISECTION IV.; INFO-CHEMICAIS ( DlUC WAtS CZAR lENNETT C HIS HOIY WAR ON DRUGS 115

IV.MDMA:THE DRUG OFTHE 1980SLet's face it, we're talkingabout an elitist experience.MDMA is a drug that isknown by word of mouth tosophisticated people whosincerelywant to attain ahigh level of self-understandingand empathy. We'retalking about dedicatedsearchers who've earned a bitof Ecstasy...^tell us that every stage ofhuman culture itsproduces own art,Sociologistsits own music, its own literary mode,its own sexual style,its own unique slang,and its own ceremonial drug.Take the 1980s, for example. The styleof this decade comes from our leader,Ronald Reagan, who has given us aninhibited sexual style,a nostalgic 'fiftiesaesthetic, a series of Moral-Majority witchhuntsas public sport, a gloomy Cold-Warparanoia, and an uncharitable ethic of corporateselfishness.As an antidote, this decade of harshrhetoric has witnessed a new type of drugcalled empathogen, referring to a state ofclear empathy and compassionate understandingactivated in the user's brain.[Later, the terms "entactogens" or "touchingwith'm" also came mto favor Ed.]An earlier version of this drug wasMDA-the "love drug"of the 1970s. Thebest-known current version is a rathermore refined and shorter-acting analogueof the MDA family known as MDMA,Ecstasy, XTC, X, Adam, Venus, or Zen.Dozens of researchers have describedfeelings of profound well-being, insight,understanding, empathy, and ease ofcommunication that are activated byMDMA. Claudio Naranjo, the distinguishedChilean psychologist, has publishedthis report on the very similareffects of MDA:The MDA peak experience is typicallyone in which the moment that isbeing lived becomes intensely gratifyingin all its circumstantial reality . . .The dominant feelingis of calm andserenity, love as it were, embeddedin calm.The perception of things and peopleis not altered; lives are held inabeyance and replaced by unconditionalacceptance. This is much likeNietzsche's amor fetflove of fate,love of one's particularcircumstances.The HeaI'mg Journey, 1976.A SENSUAL APHRODISIACThe eminent Cornell psychopharmacologistThomas Pynchon suggests that "thecircuits of the brain which mediate alarm,fear, flight, fight, lust, and territorial paranoiaare temporarily disconnected. Yousee everything with total clarity undistortedby animalistic urges. You have reacheda state which the ancients have calledNirvana, all-seeingbliss."The effects generally peak after a coupleof hours and last around five hours;there is no distortion of reality,and youcan ifyou have to perform normalfunctions. But you don't want to. Who'dwant to play tennis or drive a car whenyou're sittingwisdom?THE DANCERS OF ECSTASYon the mountain of blissfulThe experienced person, hearing of adrug described with such pushing superlatives,is led to inquire: Come on, what arethe drawbacks?Clinical reports suggest that around 25percent of first-time users experience abrief period of mild nausea, jaw-clenching,or eye wiggle, before passing Go andproceeding to Nirvana.The experienceis so powerful thateveryone feels a bit drained the next day.Most users take the indrug the afternoonlit TIMOTNY lEAlY CHAOS i CYIEI (UlTUIE

...>. If you want thisexperience, start hangingaround smart, spirituallyambitious people who exhibitin their behavior the qualitiesthat the drug promises. Evenifyou aren't interested in theMDMA, you could do worsethan be on the lookout forpeople and places that giveoff that glow.and by midnight are ready for a wonderfulMARK FRANKLYNhalted, despite an enormous lobbyingrefreshing sleep, preferably in the effort by therapists who had achievedarms of a loved one.goodMDMA substance, andis not a genital aphrodisiac. against the recommendation of the federalThe extraordinary sensuality of the experiencegeneralized over the body.judge who heard the voluminous testi-mony. By 1994, a small number of badtrips had been reported, usually resultingLEGALITYfrom excessive use, impurity of substance,At the present time, MDMA and similaror dehydration. Ed.]drugs are legal. Why? Because thereare no cases of abuse. The drugis not One reason for the positive responseaddictive; it doesn't distort reality or lead to MDMA is consumer expectation, itsto antisocial or destructive behavior. word-of-mouth reputation emphasizesThere has never been a recorded case of love and peace.Ifyou're a belligerenta bad trip. [By 1986, MDMA was classified biker or a bar-room rowdy itching for aSECTION IV. $-INFO-CNEMICAIS I DlUC WAIS MDMA: THE DRUG OF THE iM*S n?

AAnd since our brainmarriagein 1978, wehave watched dozens oiour friends share theexperience. It's a90 percent success rate,if taken with the ri^htmotives in the rijhtplace. [MDMA] surelydoes help things alonjif youwant tosincerely^et there. And you musttake it with someoneyouwant to love.TYPICAL ECSTASY EXPERIENCEIn the fall of 1978 my wife Barbara andI were visiting New York City. We hadcocktails one evening with a friend namedBrian, who told us of this wonderful "lovedrug." He gave us a few tabs. Now I mustadd, Brian was not a dealer hangingaround dark alleys pushing dope. He wasa well-known psychologist using IVIDMA inhis psychotherapy practice. He advised usto take the drug on an empty stomachand no alcohol.Three hours later, Barbara and I hadjust tipsily finished a gourmet dinner atthe 5-star restaurant, Chez Estuvay cocktails,wine, brandy, cordon-bleu, and all.Feeling mellow, Barbara looked at mewith that "let's do it, baby" twinkle in hereye. What could Ido? The greatest successesinmy life have come from sayingyes to Barbara's invitations.We each dropped one tab. About ahalf hour rolled by. Zap!Barbara looked at me and laughed."You're so lucky," she sighed. "It alwayshits you first."Before longI was feeling better thanI'd ever felt inmy life (and I've had somepretty good times). Barbara was comingon to the same exquisite sensations.Without a second's delay we stripped offour clothes and hit the bed. Ilay on myback. Barbara sat on top of me, her headand chest next to mine. Our bodies wereglowing. A film of scented moisture, likethe sheen of a lotus blossom, covered ourskin.We looked into each other's eyes andsmiled. This was it. We both understoodeverything. Allour defenses, protections,and emotional habits were suspended.We realized joyfullyhow perfect we weredesigned to be. Apparently the only thingto do was caress each other.The experience went on and on. Whenwe started to come down after threehours, we took another hit.Funny thingshappened. We chatted away like newbornBuddhas just down from heaven.The next day we flew back to Hollywood.Three days later we were married.Here the cynical observer says, "Soyou had to take more Ecstasy to get backto that narcotic state of bliss."drugNope. That's not the itway works. Theseems to activate the empathy-claritycircuit in the brain. Once it's turned on,it stays operative. It's like booting up yourhome computer.Barbara and I have taken MDMAaround twelve times in the past six years.We can return to that blessed state offusion without the drugby lying close toeach other or by looking at each other ina serene environment.And since our brain-marriage in 1978,we have watched dozens of our friendsshare the experience.It's a 90 percentsuccess rate, if taken with the rightmotives in the right place. It surely doeshelp things along if you sincerely want toget there. And you must take it withsomeone you want to love.Ecstasy is not a party stimulant. It's nota recreational hit. It's not a street drug.[Ecstasy became, in fact, all these thingsfor a segment of users once it was outlawedand available only from undergroundchemists. It became a staple ofrave culture by the late 1980s in Texasand the U.K., spreading soon after toEurope and the U.S. Ed.]"INSTANT-MARRIAGESYNDROME"In the past six years we have heardmany enthusiastic reports of MDMA experiencesfrom high places around the country:Manhattan and Maui, San Franciscoand Santa Fe, Austin and Ann Arbor, etc.use MDMAMany New-Age psychologistscalm clarityiswith their clients. After all,the aim of any program of self-improvement.The drug seems to especially benefitvictims of trauma and peoplein relationshiptherapy.One new "problem" has emerged: theEcstasy instant-marriage syndrome.Lots of people who didn't know eachother very well have shared the experience,activated the love-empathy circuits,and rushed off the next day to get married.In some cases, after the rosecolouredsmoke cleared, the couple realizedthat although they did, for a while,share the highest region of love, the practicalaspects of their life were not in sync.You might sayit's a cosmic summerromance.Ill TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS i (VIER CULIUIE

ANDY FRITHItgot so bad in Boulder, Colorado,that bumper stickers and T-shirts wereprinted with the message:"DON'T GET MARRIED FOR 6 WEEKSAFTER ECSTASY."The basic rule of neurological commonsense applies. Don't take any drug unlessyou know, trust, and admire the personproviding it. There's little chance that youcan get your hands on MDMA throughthe usual channels of drug distribution.Colombian gangsters and Mafia pushersaren't interested in selling a love-peacewisdomdrug.Let's face it, we're talking about anelitist experience. MDMA is a drug that isknown by word of mouth to sophisticatedempathy. We're talking about dedicatedsearchers who've earned a bit of Ecstasy.Ifyou want this experience, start hangingaround smart, spiritually ambitious peoplewho exhibit in their behavior the qualitiesthat the drug promises. Even ifyou aren'tinterested inthe MDMA, you could doworse than be on the lookout for peopleand places that give off that glow.[Editor's Note: For a fuller description ofMDMA and itssubsequent history, seeBruce Eisner, Ecstasy: The MDMAStory;Alexander and Ann Sbulgin, PIHKAL(Phenethylamines ILoved); orHave Known andNicolas Saunders, E for Ecstasy.]people who sincerely want to attain ahigh level of self-understanding andSECTION IV. 5 INFO-CHEMICAIS ( DRUC WAKS MDMA: THE D It U C OF THE 19801 119

.MACLEAN'S: Why did LSD become sopopular in the 1960s? Was it because ofthe times, or did the drug act as a catalystto speed the process of culturalchange and its own acceptance?LEAR\^ The demographic situation wasthat you had 76 million baby-boomers inThe drugs did not cause the culturalchange but they were an mevilable byproductof it And it is no accident that 1 amnow inundated by requests from computercompanies to act as a consultant Theyounger generation involved in computertechnologies recognizes die positiveaspects of die consciousness movement ofdie 1960s and sees me sympadieticaUy.The use ot im^i, which are brain-chan5[einstruments, perfectly synchronizedwith homeappliances like television, stereo players, and, later,MACLEAN'S: How do you explain thedecline in the use of LSD. Is it not a deaddrug?LEARY: Actually, police seizures of LSDhave gone up 1,000 percent in Los AngelesCounty in the past year. But there had beena downward trend, and 1applauded it hicomputers. Dru5[sthat alter states of consciousnessdie 1960s and 1970s diere were seven millionpeople takmg it,but diere was notare naturally ^oin^ to be an intejfral partof analways good LSD available, and bad LSD isinformation-intelli5[ence-knowled5[e society.a pharmaceutical disaster; so it was realisticto back away The LSD tiiat is aroundnow is much purer and packaged in smallerdoses.the U.SA. who happenedto be the firstmembers of the information society. Andyou had Marshall McLuhan, television, andthe beginning of computer technology. Theuse of drugs, which are brain-changeinsfruments, perfecdy synchronized withhome apphances like television, stereoplayers, and, later, computers. McLuhanforecast this.Drugs that alter states of consciousnessare naturally going to be anintegral part of an information-intelligenceknowledgesociety.MACLEAN'S: What do these changesindicate?LEARY: That people are more concernedabout die practicalities of their lives andless witti philosophic meaning. There aretimes when it isgood to scan and scopewidely, and tiiere are times when it is necessaryand appropriate to fine-time andbecome more practical. In pharmacologydiere has been a h^mendous developmentof new drugs MDMA, for example diathas enormous vogue m intelligenceincreasedcircles.121 TIMOTHY LIAIY CHAOS i (VIEI CULTUIE

I'WORLD'S HOT p5TG n ^^Sounds like science% V* ^a.! iSnr 'Vl^ -II* fDrug guru Tiexpenences.The spiritlleary s shocking confession:ii:.^iiiiin#tiiiiPiiiiililitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiriJ'iiiiiiiiiiiiiii^# iiiitiMiMiiiiiiiiiiipiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii riiniiiiiriiiiiiii Mr>

i m 4I am 100 percentin favoi of the intelligentuse of diu^s,and1,000 percent againstthe thou^Iess use of them, whetheicaffeine oi LSD. And diu^saie not central to my life.MACLEAN'S: How does MDMA affect aperson?LEARY: It does not provoke the quick realitychange, the hallucinatory Niagara of perspectivesof LSD. This drug and its analoguesgive a very clear, quite deeply affectionateexperience.MACLEAN'S: Does the renaissance ofpsychedelic drugs signal an eventualreturn to a time when people willbecome more inner-directed? Are wegoing in cycles?LEARY: Not cycles, predictable stages. It ispredictable that the first wave of babyboomersis now getting into positions ofresponsibility in laboratories and researchcenters. It is inevitable that they wouldbring back research on improved psychoactivedrugs. It is archaic and barbaricto be limiting ourselves to alcohol andcocaine. We are going to have entirely newfamilies of drugs, which vriU have the bestaspects of the earlier generation but withimprovements in safety and precision.MACLEAN'S: With all the negative publicityon the use of drugs, have youchanged your position on the use of anyof them?LEARY: I am continually experimenting.For example,1 was off caffeine and now Iuse it selectively.The same with otherdrugs. I am much more selective and preciseand intelligentin the timing of how,why, and when I use a drug. am 100 Ipercentin favor of the intelligent use of drugs,and 1,000 percent against tiie tiioughtlessuse of them, whetiier caffeine or LSD. Anddrugs are not centi^ to my life.122 TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS i CYlEt (IIITUIE

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v.i.Hormone HolocaustIrecall eyeballing with dreamy lasciviousness a Saturday Evening Post (1 936) illustrationof a young woman swinging on a hammock, her head tossed back in a gestureof innocent merriment, her white dress and lace petticoat pulled up, revealing two inchesof milky, white, soft, tender, moist, kissable inner thigh.The year was 1938. Place: a small town in Western Massachusetts. Cultural background:Irish Catholic. Erotic climate: dry and frigid. Growing upin this chill environment Iwas taught there was virtue and mortal sinnothing in between. Good was to think andact like the neighbours, to be proper and decent. Bad? The human body Any passing referenceto sexual functions was very bad. The mention of genital organs was taboo! Eroticfeelings bad. Sexual desire beyond bad. It was evil!In my family, morality was administered by my mother and her two spinster sisters.As a youthI became aware of their strange obsession with sexuality.I watched with fascinationas they scanned every work of art, every movie, every song, for any signs of what theyreferred to as "funny business." And it soon occurred to me with genetic dismay that myfamily, dominated by such anti-sex fervor, was dying out! Of my generation 1 was the onlyone to carry the paternal name and one of only two survivors on the maternal side. ThisreaUzation so disturbed me that 1 became determined to fight back. As the last remaming lifeform in my gene pool, I resolved that my familyand by extension, society's great Anti-SexGangwould not gain control over my precious bodily fluids.In short order,I managed to develop an equally sensitivecounter-radar system that scanned every word andSexual arousal is all in the mind.image in a fervent search for something anything mischievous,racy, erotic.My first experience with erotic literature was providedby the Bible. I would sit poring over Old Testament descriptions of lasciviousness,bumingly aware of the fundamentahst erection bulging in my trousers while Mother andaunts beamed approval from the living room, sure that 1 would become a priestSoft-core pom abounded in the 1930s. Endlessly Ieyeballed with dreamylust theMontgomery Ward mail-order catalogue with its pictures of young trollops shamelesslymodeling silken underwear. Pert wantons in nylon hose! Housewife harlots in steamycorsets. Voluptuous nymphomaniacs in one-piece bathing suits, crotch panels hugging tightlyto the firm, labial curves. Sexual repression had created such a steamy hot-house atmospherethat the slightest spark could produce in me a pulsing flame.This secret erotic library of my youth taught me a valuable lesson about the thermo-SECTION V.I CVIEIOTICS HORMONE HOLOCAUST 125

dynamics of sexual expression and repression. Sexual arousal is all in the mind. The humanbeing comes equipped with sexual organs wired to the brain and booted up by hormones.The hardware is activated by various cues your brain has learned to associate with sexualinvitations and availability. These cues, as shared by a particular society, become the pornographyof that culture. Each society and each person develops unique trigger stimuli. Thestimuli may change from person to culture to time frame. The giri in the hammock who wasunbearably erotic to me in the 1930s would leave me yawning today. Even Jerry Falwellwould rate the picture wholesome in the context of the 1980s.But to someone else, in a personally or socially highly repressed environment, theinnocent illustrationmay retain its tang of arousal. The sexual brain is vrired to imprint astrigger stimuli any cue that turns you on. In this way, our brains always have the last laughon the Anti-Sex Gang. The more that political or religious officials censor words and imagesabout sex, the more suggestive and arousing becomes the lightest hint of double entendre,the slightest glimpse of a bodily part.Or consider a photo of young men wrestUng in Olympic competition, bodies lockedand straining in muscular embrace. Such clean-cut, athletic activity could, for male homosexualsor certain homy, imaginative young women, became the pom trigger for hormoneholocausts.The pmdish Arabs swathe their women in veils, and then writhe with lust at thesight of a bare ankle. Westem feminists may wonder why their Islamic sisters put up withthis male repression, but the veiled ladies are aware of the allure. 1 learned this in 1961 whenAllen Gmsberg, William S. Burroughs, and I started flirting with a Moroccan singer in aTangier cafe, and suddenly found ourselves being pulled into enormous, luscious nymphomaniacbrown eyes as warm and melting as chocolate-pudding vaginas. I'm talking abouttwo X-rated, hard-core eyeballs whose wet nakedness was demurely veiled by skillfully flutteringeyelids.I have an innate, physicalThose sexy Italians who grow and blossom in a Vatican-dominated black-robedrepressive culture have developed an amazing shorthand for soft pom. Almost every fmit orrevulsion to violence. Itvegetable, every household appliance broom, rake, hammer, mopis endowed with doublemeaning. Order a zucchini from the waiter in Naples, and a ripple of giggles goes 'rounddisturbs me to look at filmsthe table. Watch lusty Luigi hold a peach in his hot hand. Observe him slice it open, slowly,slowly. Watch him dreamily extract the stone, lovingly gaze into and then start to hck thethat involve fi^htin^,pink-scarlet oval indentation! For Luigi, at that moment, no centerfold is as erotic as thatgunfire,bloodshed. Thehard-core, porno peach!Pomography, then, is whatever tums you on. The dictionary agrees. Pomography isdefined as written, graphic, or other forms of communication intended to excite sexualRambo type,to me, is adesires. What could be clearer? Or healthier? Ihappen to belong to that large percentage ofhuman beings who believe that sexual desire, being the undeniable source of life, is sacred,subhuman monstrosity.and that when expressed by those whose motives are reasonably healthy and loving, it createsthe highest form of human communication. And, to complete this confessional, have1Written or graphican innate, physical revulsion to violence. It disturbs me to look at fdms that involve fighting,gunfire, bloodshed. The Rambo type, to me, is a subhuman monstrosity. Written or graphicexpressionsthat stimulateexpressions that stimulate violent impulsesthese are the tme obscenities. And yet these arethe expressions that are of no concem to the anti-pom cmsaders, the militaristic Hawks, theviolent impulses-theseareevangelical Rambos, the Thought Police, and the whole Anti-Sex Gang.It is no coincidence:The Anti-Sexers haven't the love or the tendemess or the hominess or the balls to appreciatethe true obscenities.pomography. Violence or sex it's one or the other, it seems, and I know where I stand. AsMae West said to the guy with the bulge in his trousers, "Is that a gun in your pocket or areyou glad to see me?"\H TIMOTHY LEAIY CHAOS i CYIEI CUITUIE

^0'^V.I. In Search of the true aphrodisiac/ want a nevi drug . . .One that won't make me nervous, wonderin' what to do...One that makes me feel like I feel when I'm with you.Huey Lewis and the NewsAta very early age, after comparing the rather routine existenceof my family with the heroic adventures I read aboutIn books,I concluded that the well-lived life would necessarilyInvolve quests. Grail adventures for fabled goals to save thehuman race.During these younger years dreamed Iof becoming a warrior,an explorer, a great scientist, a wise sage. During adolescencea new noble challenge emerged.Sex.And here 1 encountered a great and enduring paradox ofthe human condition (male division). To wit Although sex was obviouslyimportant to a happy Ufe, 1did not have perfect control overmy erections. Apparently many other males shared this same inefficiency.The firstproblem was that the erections came when Icouldn't use them. The terrible embarrassment of the unexpectedarousal in social situations. The inabUlty to get up and walk acrossthe room because of that mind-of-his-own down there.Later came the nervousness of "making out." The wildexcitement of foreplay. The unbuttoning of the bra. The removal ofthe panties. The wiggUng into position in the front seat of the car.Would you believe a rumble seat? The zipper. The arrangement ofthe contraceptive. The heavy breathing. The anxieties. Do you hearsomeone coming? The maneuvering for penetration. Whew! Whathappened to my unit?This interaction between the willing mind and the willfulbody suddenly became a most critical Issue. And In puritanical 1936,there were no manuals on the care and use of this complex equipmentI consulted the dictionary and discovered that somethingcalled an "aphrodisiac" Increased sexual performance.1 rushed tothe library and consulted every encyclopaedia available. Not a mentionof aphrodisiac.How curious that such an important topic was totallyIgnored.Oh well, here was another unexplained, mysterious facet ofadult life.Lindbergh could fly the Atlantic. We could put a man onthe South Pole. But we couldn't get control of the most importantpart of our body. Maybe this was what philosophers meant by the"mind/body problem." 1 resolved to file this away for future study.After 1helped win Worid War II and then dutUully graduatedfrom college, 1 decided to be a psychologist This seemed to bethe key profession. If you could understand your own mind, thinkclearly, and not be victimized by emotions, you could then masterthe other issues in life.By 1950, sex was no problem. 1 was settled Into the suburbs,happily married, and productively domesticated. My erectionsreported to duty promptly on schedule just as 1 did at the office.THE QUEST FOR THE MACK POTIONGOES TO HARVARDIn 1960, that magic year, I moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts,to join the Harvard faculty. My sexual situation was changed. Iwas a 40-year-old single person, facing, once again, the thrills, thechills, the spills of the mating ground. At this point found 1 that mysexuality (how shall 1 put this?) was very eUtist and selective. 1 nolonger felt that incessant, throbbing teenage desire to fuck any consentingwarm body in the A vicinity. one-night stand could be a lustor a bust, depending on my feelings toward the woman, my emotionalcondition, my state of mind, and my period of heatSECTION V.2 CYIEIOTKS IN SEAICH OF THE TIUE APHRODISIAC 12?

Sex means cheerfully jivinjTo find out more aboutthese matters, I read extensively onupcontrol to receivethe subject and talked to my friendspleasure. The less sex, thein the psychiatric, cUnical, and per-1 sonality departments. learned thatmale sexuahtyis not an automaticmore compulsionto contro .response turned out to be a mostcomplex, delicate situation. Moremacho scene. The male erotic444444444444444than two-thirds of the male populationover the age of 35 reported lessthan perfect control over theirdesire. Adult males seemed to havecycles and rhythms and all sorts of fragile sensitivities that are usuallyattributed to the Veaker sex." Scientific observers agreed thatmost of the guys who claimed total virilitywere either lying or tooprimitive and callous to appreciate the exquisite complications oferotic interaction m the fast-moving, ever-changing, postindustrial,interactive civilization.So here was an interesting social phenomenon. It was generallybelieved by psychologists back there in 1960 that much of theconflict, aggression, paranoia, and sadism that was plaguing societywas due to sexual frustration. FYeud started this Ime of thoughtWilhehn Reich carried it to its logical political conclusion. Sexmeans cheerfully giving up control to receive pleasure. The lesssex, the more compulsion to control.Take, for example, a control freak like J. Edgar Hoover.Here was a 70-year-old drag-queen who got his FBI kicks from collectingsexual dossiers on rival politicians.Take, for example, Richard Nixon, whom no one everaccused offender erotic feelmgs.At this time, spring of 1960, 1 concluded that if a safe,dependable aphrodisiac were available, many of the psychologicaland social problems facing our species would instantly be ameliorated.So 1 descended on the Harvard Medical School library with ateam of graduate assistants. We scoured the bibhographies andjournal files for data about aphrodisiac drugs and discovered anenormous hterature on the subjectThe mandrake root was apparently the fu^t sex stimulus. Itwas mentioned twice in the Bible. Pythagoras "advocated" itMachiavelli wrote a comedy about itThe flesh and organs of homy animals had been used inahnost every tune and place. Hippomanes, flesh from the foreheadof a colt, was mentioned in Vfrgil. Mediaeval Europeans regulariyused the penis of the stag, bull, ox, goatAmbergris, a jelly from the innards of the whale, was usedby the royal mistress Madame du Barry and the insatiably curiousJames Boswell. Musk was a perennial favorite of erotic searchers;so was shellfish, of course, especially oysters and mussels. In Japan,I2i TIMOTIY lEAlY (8A0S i CYIEI CUlTUtE

the fugu fish, a form of puffer, is stillused by hopeful lovers. Each year morethan five hundred Japanese die while onthis dangerous questAll the texts agreed that cantharides,Spanish Fly, is a "most certainand terrible aphrodisiac." An overdosecauses unbearable itching and irritationto the genitals.Over the centuries the plantkingdom has been ransacked by the sexuaDyambitious. Many believe that satyrian,a mythic herb mentioned by theGreeks and Romans, was nothing elsethan good old marijuana and hashish.Then there's truffles and mushrooms.The South American yage. The SouthANDY FRITHSeas root kava kava. Damiana. The royaljelly and pollen from bees.And, of course, the coca plantPre-Columbian Peruvian ceramics portrayedpornographic scenes on pots usedto prepare the nose candy of the Andes.Thiou5[hout the ajes. intelligent,affluent, ambitious,and just plain hornyhuman beingshave continuallyIs cocaine an aphrodisiac? "First you'rehot and then you're not," reported mostsought the alchemical jraiHhe true aphrodisiac.sophisticated researchers.Casanova attributed his recordmakinglust to raw eggs.The strong, hard, up-jutting horn of the rhino has caughtthe imagination of erection-seekers for centuries. You grind it upinto powder and eat or toot it hi the Orient today, rhino dust goesfor $2,000 an ounce. In Hong Kong restaurants they'll sprinkle someriiino-hom powder on your dinner for a heily addition to your bill.My research at the Harvard Medical School library thusdemonstrated that my quest was not a lonely one. Throughout theages, inteUigent, afiluent, ambitious, and just plain homy humanbeings have continually sought the alchemical grail the trueAt this time, spring of 1960, 1concluded that if a safe, dependableaphrodisiac were available, many ofthe psychological and socialproblems facing our species wouldinstantlybe ameliorated.aphrodisiac.So what does modem science have to contribute to thisnoble search? Nothing. Nada. Zilch.Not only was there no proven aphrodisiac in the currentmedical hterature, there was apparently no research being done onthis most important topic.How curious. Here was a medicine thatcould cure many of our medical and psychological problems, andthere seemed to be a veil of secrecy around the subjectWhen 1 tried to talk to my friends on the medical facultyabout this subject, they clammed up. Finally an endocrinologist palexplained it to me. "Listen, Timothy, the subject of aphrodisiacs istaboo. Ifany medical scientist or physiologist here, or in the SovietSECTION V.z (YIEIOTICS IN SEAICH OF THE TIUE AMIODI$IAC 129

Union, were to apply for a grant toreseardi this Tield, his reputationwould be ruined. He'd be considereda flake.""But it's a great researchtopic," I protested. "The first scientistwho discovers an effectiveaphrodisiac will be a savior ofmankind and make a bundle ofmoney.""No question of it," saidthe endocrinologisL "We all knowthat if a crack team of psychopharmacologistswere to research thistopic, they could come up with anaphrodisiac in a year. It will happen.Someday someone will win aNobel prize and make a billiondollars maiteting one. But this isonly 1958. Eisenhower is presidentKhrushchev is premier.There's an overpopulation problem.The culture isn't ready for aFor twenty minutes thisacrobatic young man prancedaround with total self-masteryin front of an audience of twohundred! We're talking Olympicgold-medal time!"That guy's stamina isimpressive," 1 said to my Germanhosts. They scoffed in that scornful,jaded Hamburg style."That's not the realthing," said the editor. "He's takensome drug."The psychiatrist agreed,waving his hand in dismissal.Ileaped to my feet"What drug!"1 shouted. "What's itcalled? Where can you get it?"No answer from mysophisticated friends. Theyjust couldn't admit to beinginterested.medicine that would have themale population running aroundwith erect dicks bulging out oftheir pants. Jeez, we're just commgup vrith a poUo vaccine. Comeback in twenty years, and maybewe'll have an erection injection."There was no doubt aboutit There was a social tabooagainst the idea of a pill thatwould give man a cahn, certaincontrol over his precious equipment1 couldn't understand it Ifyour car decided to run when it wanted to, you'd have it adjustedright away If your television set was temperamental and turned offat its own whim, you'd take steps to put you back in charge.This resistance to self-improvement became really obviouswlien I was taken to see a sex show in the Reeperbahn of Hamburg,Germany. My guides were a very sophisticated editor of DerSpeigeland a well-known psychiatrist The show amazed me. Straight-outflicking on stage! I was most impressed by a big Swedish youth whobounded around the set with this enormous hard-on, fucking firstthis fiery red-head who wrapped her legs around him, and then asultry brunette who lay on a couch holding up her arms invitingly,and then pleasuring the saucy blonde who bent over, leaning herhead against the wall with her backsides wiggling.vicl

Setting is the environmenL If your surroundings are scary,then you'll be scared. If your surroundings are beautiful, then you'llhave a beautiful experience.Our sessions at Harvard were designed for self-discovery.The sessions were held in groups. So neither the set nor the settingemphasized sex.My colleague Richard Alpert, who later became the famousholy man Baba Ram Dass, was much more hip.He quickly discoveredthat if the set (and expectation) was erotic, and the setting washis bedroom, then psychedelic drugs were powerfiilly aphrodisiac. Igive the wily Ram Dass a lot of credit for this breakthrough. He wasMANDRAKE ROOT *iS?' HIPPOMAKES ^^STAG PENIS ^5^ AMBERGRIS *^ MUSK"^ OYSTERS ^*^ BULL PENIS S^MUSSELS ^"^ FUGU FISH ^*^CANTHARIOES *#i^ OX PENIS '^^ATYRIAN *^ MARIIUANA i HASHISH^ HORSE PENIS ^*^ TRUFFLES S^[Baba Ram Dassl: "All this inner explorationstuff is jfieat.It's true youcanaccess anycircuit in yourbrain and ctian5[e yourmind. Butit's time youfaced the facts, Timothy. We're turningon themost powerfulsexual or5[anin the universe! The brain."certainly way ahead of me.1 remember the day he came to me and said, "All this innerexploration stuff is great It's true you can access any circuit in yourbrain and change your mind. But it's time you faced the facts,Timothy. We're turning on the most powerful sexual organ in theuniverse! The brain."Other sophisticated people came to Harvard and tipped usto the secret The philosopher Gerald Heard. The beat poet AllenGinsberg. The Buddhist sage Alan Watts. The western folk hero NeilCassady. We were just rediscovering what philosophers and poetsand mystics and musicians and hedonists had known for centuries.Marijuana, hashish, mushrooms, LSD were powerful sensory experiences.For the next twenty years, like everyone else, I multipliedmy sensory pleasure, learned the techniques of erotic engineering.Everything became a source of aesthetic-erotic pleasure, etc. Theeffect was in the head. Ifyou knew how to dial and tune your brain,you could enrich your sex life beyond your wildest dreams.But there was still that matter of controlling the rod of flesh.We could boogie around in our brains. Good! But why couldn't aman be able to operate his penis at will the way he moves the voluntaryorgans of his body?A IISKY ENCOUNTER WITH MEDICAL SCIENCEOne night in 1983, was 1 having dinner with a friend whoworiied at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute. During theevening, he mentioned that a breakthrough in the erection depart-KAVA KAVA ^^ COCA '^^ COAT PENIS*^ RAW ECCS *^ RHINO HORN '^OHIMBE ^^^ MANDRAKE ROOT ^^HIPP IS *^ STAC PENIS '^HIS *^ MUSK #' OYSTERS^ HORSE PENIS ^^ MUSSELS ^^iTHARIDES -"^ OX^ SATYRIAN *^ MARIIUANA^ BULL PENIS *^ HASHISH'^ KAVA KAVA -^^-^ GOAT PENIS ^^' RAW EGGSUNO HORN *#* YOHIMBE ^^KE ROOT '^ HIPPOMANES ^ePENIS ^^ AMBERGRIS ^^ MUSK^*^ OYSTERS ^^ BULL PENIS ^^""MELS ^^ FUGU FISH ^^HARIDES '^ OX PENIS ^^RIAN i^ MARIIUANA i HASHISHSECTION V.2 (VBEIOTKS IN SEARCH OF THE TIUE APHRODISIAC IJI

ment was at hand. He said that a Stanford University research teamwas developing a pill that would give immediate control of yourerections! The active ingredient was called yohimbe.This was a discovery of historic importance!It could meanthe end of male insecurity, cruelty, and war! This could break thewretched addiction to prime-time television!My friend also said that a local group, the SouthernCalifornia Sexual Dysfunction Clinic, was giving these new pills toresearch subjects. Iphoned and made an appointment with thedirector. If the pill existed, 1 wanted to try it out, and help make itavailable to the pubUc.The clinic was in the Cedar Sinai Medical Center. Therewas a large waiting room. About eight very old men were sittingslumped over, staring glumly at the carpet A couple had crutches.Two old geezers were drooUng.The nurse greeted me cordially and asked me to fill out aform. I said, "I'm here to discuss research on aphrodisiacs with theAU the Hme Ikept explaining that I had regular, if unpredictableerections. I just wanted the pill!The technician was veryunderstanding. "TeU it to the doctor," he said.The doc was very cordial and understanding. He evaded myquestions about the aphrodisiac. He explained how compUcated thisfield wasthe mind, the brain, the hormones, the circulatory system,phobias, repressions, venereal diseases, herpes, AIDS, alcoholand drug abuse, fatigue, overwork, marital discord, inherited dispositions,early fraumas, fetishes, anxieties, menopausal life stages.At this point it dawned on me that this cUnic, supposedly setup to deal vrith sexual arousal, was the most antiseptic, mechanical,unerotic placeI had ever encountered. 1could feel my reservoir ofsexual desire rapidly draining away. If I didn't have an erectionproblem before, 1 was very Ukely to catch one in here. This placecould make Casanova take a vow of chastity.I felt Uke the ambitious starlet who undressed for the producer,the casting director, the script writer, the director, the director'sbrother Max, and won a part in a safari movie that required herto live in a tent on the wind-swept, dismal Sahara desert."Who do 1 have to fuck to get out of this sexual-dysfunctionmovie?" Ithought to myself.Everything became a source of aesthetic-erotic pleasure, etcThe effect was in the head. If youknew how to dial amtune your brain, you could enrich your sex life beyond yourwildest dreams.The doctor was relentless. He insisted that 1 take theerection-frequency test You took the gadget home and wiredup your module during sleep to measure the number andstrength of nocturnal hard-ons. 1 explained that 1 had themall the time. "Listen, just phone my wife. She takes Richterscalereadings every night"The male nurse outfitted me with the peter-meter,doctor." She smiled compassionately and said she understood, butwould I fillplease out the forms. So 1 did.After a while a male technician, about 40, with the gracefulcharm of a cliic hair-dresser, asked me to come to a back room. Iexplained that 1 wanted to discuss research with the doctor. Hesmiled understanding^ and asked me to take some tests. At thispoint 1 was about to say "forget it,"but it occurred to me that thiswould be a great opportunity see what happens in these frontiers ofmedical science. And I realized that the doctor wasn't going to giveme pills untU I had taken the tests.So I took the standard blood and urine tests.Then came the mad-scientist stuff. The technician patientlyexplained that we had to find out if there was a strong and steadyflow of blood to my unit So he wired the tip of my module, the baseof my module, and an artery in my leg to an amphfier and we satback to hsten. BOOM . . . BOOM . . . BOOM!My genital bloodstreamfiUed the room with its strong staUion pulse! Sounded like theriiythm section of a heavy-metal rock group to me.The technician nodded in approval.Next he had me jog in place, my unit stiU wired for sound.The percussion section reaUy took off. Boom da BOOM!. . . . . .stored for travel in a large suitcase. All the old men in the waitingroom looked up sadly as I bounced by with the case.My wife was intrigued. She couldn't wait for me to try it Werushed to the bedroom and set itup by the side of the bed. Velcrostraps, wires hooked to dials, clocks, and meters. It was so sciencefictionsexy that, in spite of myself, I got an erection. My wifeapplauded.recorded!""That gadgetis wonderful!" she marveled."Hey, look out," I shouted. "You'll ruin the experiment""Fabulous," murmured my wife."Hey," I worried, "everything we're doing is being"Three cheers for science," said my wife.WeU, we broke the machine. Wires puUedoff. A cableapparently short-circuited. The clock motor heaved a buzzing sighand stopped. AU the meters went over the red, flickered, and cameto a satiated rest"Fabulous," I said.Next Monday I returned the destroyed gadget I fell veryguilty. I tried to explain what had happened to the technician. Hegave me a stem look. When I asked about the aphrodisiac piU, hemade an appointment for me to see the doctor.i} TIMOTNY lEAIV (NAOS i CVIEI (tlTUIE

That weekend my wife and I took some mushrooms andhad a wonderful time. On Monday morning Ireported for my interviewwith the doctor.The old men were still in the waiting room. 1 raced back tosee the male nurse and told him about the great sex party over theweekend. He looked at me coldlyI told the doctor about the wonderftil effects of the psychedelic.He seemed unimpressed.1 asked him for the aphrodisiac piDonce again. He flatly denied that such a potion existed. His positionwas clear. Ifyou didn't have a circulatory problem that could betreated by normal medicine, your penile control and enhancementI told the doctor about thewonderful effects of theprogram was to be handled by a shrink, or your rabbi, priest, orminister.psychedelic.He seemecA THRILLING BREAKTHROUGH IN MEDICAL SCIENCE#/1 It was August 1984 when the news we had been awaitingW forhit the wires. Physiologists at Stanford University made it ofTiwm.cial.They had developed a potent aphrodisiac. The potionwas extracted from the bark of the yohimbe tree of tropical WestAfrica. Tests on laboratory rats proved "sensational." It seemed thatthe surprised and delighted rodents produced fifty erections anhour. Fifty times more than normal!The researchers announced that they were ready to begintesting the drug on humans. The news flash stirred up the predictableenthusiastic response. A spokesperson at the Stanfordunimpressed. Iasked him forthe aphrodisiac pillonceajain. He flatlydenied thatsuch a potionexisted. Hisposition was clear. If youdidn't have a circulatoryMedical News Bureau reported that the item had "been accorded agood deal more space and time than most of the bureau's reports onproblemthat could be treatedmedical progress."The expected puritan reaction was not long in coming. Oneby normal medicine, yourDaniel S. Greenberg, publisher oiScierux and Government Report,penilecontrol andcomplained that "in terms of science's traditional quest for ftmdamentalunderstanding, yohimbe research is pretty thin stuff." Mr.Greenberg prudishly asserted that this interest in happmess was aenhancement propmwas tosign of passion, vanity, and self-indulgence as opposed to a spaceshot to study the surface of Mars. The essay was widely reprintedeven in the staid Los Angeles Times. The purpose of the piece was toridicule the research and discourage its continuation.The poUtics of senility prevailed once again. If any scientificcommission recommended funding for aphrodisiac research, itbe handled bya shrink, oryour rabbi, priest, orminister. . . . What normal,would be opposed by the Moral Majority and the right-vring politicians.If a large pharmaceutical house tried to market a sexualenhancementdrug imagine the furor! The moralists would haveanother sin to denounce! Laws would be passed! The narcotic agen-lealthy personwould notwant to trya new love potion?cies would have another victimless crime to persecute.bnagine the black market that will spring up. College campuses.Yuppie parties. Even the senior citizens' centers would bebuzzing. A new drug underground? What normal, healthy personwould not want to try a new love potion?SECTION V.2 CYBEtOTICS IN SEAKH OF THE TK U E APHRODISIAC 135

VWe rusheme to tryi^the side of the bed.etrs.rself, got an erection.I

Do you want to be the center of attention at your next partywithout disrobing orthrowing up on the hostess? Here's a sure-fire tip. Turn to the person sitting next to you andask this question: "Do you think America has undergone a change in sexual morals during thelast five years?"Almost everyonein a reasonable state of mental alertness will respond with someemotion. Most will say "Yes!" Some will say, "It depends." But everyone has an opinion. If youask enough people, you'll get some thought-provoking answers.WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GOODOLD-FASHIONED SUBURBANORGY?My ultra-jaded friend Larry Flynt, aone-time Olympic erotic athlete, groanedwhen 1popped him the "sex-change" question."What happened to sexual freedomand the open marriage?" he complained. "1remember this party in Atlanta around1972. 1 walked into this large house andthere were like a hundred (!)men andwomen, ya know, all nude. Drinking!Talking! Smoking funny cigarettes!Dancing! Flirting!"And ya know what? They were allthere to fuck as many new and differentpeople as the flesh could stand! Hey, I'mspeaking about middle-class folks!Lawyers. Dentists. Accountants. And thefrever-loving wives! Occasionally a couple ora trio heads for the heated pool or the hottub or the rumpus room. In every bedroomyou got two, three, four couples making outon big round beds. Hey, they're swappingpartners back and forth like elastic orgasmshad just come on the market! Jeez, yousure don't hear of those goings-on today!"Larry had his own theory toexplain the new celibacy."Jealousy. Yup! Plain, old-fashioned,male jealousy stopped all the swapping."Larry smiled to himself, a real dirtygrin, and rubbed his belly and shook hishead. "Okay. Imagine Max the dentist He'shappy as a toothless oyster sucking away atthat cute littleGeorgia Peach married to theinsurance agent dovm the street. And thenhe looks over and ya know what! There'shis own sweetie-pie wife, her legs plantedfirmly in the air, merrily boffing some totalstranger, a TV weather reporter fromBirmingham, Alabama, with a pot-belly anda twelve-inch erection! And what's worse,she's got this ecstatic, dazed look on herface!"Well! Dentist Max freaks out. Yougotta be very secure sexually to handle thatsort of scene."A CONCERN FOR THE PURITY OFOUR PRECIOUS BODILY FLUIDSMaybe. But most people cite anotherobvious reason for the new morahty.Fear of the new sex-related diseases.According to Susan, an attractive(one might say voluptuous) psychologist inher thirties, "It started with herpes. ThenAIDS put everyone into the diagnosticmode."There's another health-related sexinhibitor. Female contraceptives have beengiven a very bad press recently."Let's face it," said Susan, "it wasthe pilland the lUDs that kicked off theSECTION V.3 CyiEtOTICS OPEIATION SEX CHANCE IJ5

sexual liberation of the late 1960s. But now,many women are having second thoughtsabout the side effects. What can a homyyoung woman do? Barrier devices likediaphragms are undignified, and rubbersare crude."Susan told a story about Fred, adoctor at her clinic. "He's a real cute guy.Cool, athletic, charming. Prides himselfon being a playboy stud. Now,weVe been eyeing each other fora long time, and one night afterwork Fred invites me to hisplace for a drink. I'm reallyturned on and thinkingsome steamy thoughts aswe walk into his livingroom. Well, one thing leadsto anothererotic music,drinking margaritas, candleUght, smouldering glances,secret little smiles. Fred movesnext to me on the deep, soft couch,and begins caressing my neck."Oooh! Delicious!"1 relax and shiftmy weight to bemore comfortable. Fred puts his hand onmy knee. 1 open my legs just a little. HesUdes his hand up my smooth thigh slowly,slowly. I'm about to go crazy, you understand.His hand moves up more and I'mopening my legs wider. One false move andI'm his!"At this crucial moment Fred startsthinking about his precious bodily fluids.And mine. So he pulls back his hand andclears his throat and initiates the clinicalinterview. He says, 'I've been tested recentlyfor herpes, AIDS, and VD. Includingchlamydia. I'm clean as a bean, Susan. Howabout you? "Susan sighed and shook her headtalk. So Ipop the sex-change question.Works Uke a charm. Everyone has an emotionalreaction."It's frightening," said June, a liberallawyer. "It's part of the Reagan conservatism.These right-wingers want to turnAmerica into a prudish police state likefran, vrith all the women in black veils andchastity belts.""It's frustrating," said Charies, asturdy, thoughtftil aspiring screenwriterwho had just moved to Hollywood. "I'mlooking for a girlfriend out here, and 1 can'tscore a date. The women seem aft^d ofhuman contact It's a lot easier to meet girism Chicago.""Shave your beard, sell a script,buy a Porsche. You'll have no trouble findinggirls, beUeve me," purred June."This new puritanism is a fad," saidJon Bradshaw, a cynical journalist just infrom the TWpoli front "Morality fluctuateswith the economy When the stock marketgoes up, skirts rise. When people are worriedabout money, they fiick less. Period."Bradshaw took a long sip from hisscotch-rocks, unsheathed his war-correspondentleer, and scopedit in June's direction."But I like that stuS' about theAyatollah's dancing girls with black veilsand the belts. Sounds like fim.""It's all about fiiendship," saidNatalie, a producer's mistress. "People aredefinitely less promiscuous these days.Why? Because they want a relationshipnot a one-night stand. And you're moreUkely to stay healthy and swing a moviedeal ifyou make it with a pal."A PASSIONATE ATTACK ONMALE DOMINATIONsadly "Sorta puts a chill on the steamy tropicalromantic climate, doesn't it'"I continued my research at Oasis,the chic new restaurant in Dallas. RichardFRIGHTENING? FRUSTRATING?FADDISH? FRIENDLY?I'm sitting in the Polo Lounge ofthe Beverly Hills Hotel, bored with movieChase, the suave owner, sat me next toPatricia, a beautiful brunette glowing withpregnancy. The sex-change question sether off!l]i TIMOTNY lEAlY CHAOS i CYIEI CULTUtE

According to Patricia, 'Women aremore self-confident and assertive thesedays. The male department just can't dealin green pastures! The Lord strokesmah big udders. Oh praise the Lord, causehe spraids mah laigs.He knocks me up.with it I hear it all over Texas from intelligent,beautiful, successful women. It's thesegun-slinging cowboys who are causing thenew Puritanism. Scared by the competition.Can't getitup for a self-confident Southernwoman."Glory be! "Male monotheism! You knowwhat that means? One God. Whose God?My God! And guess what! He's a man! Atotalitarian, all-powerful, bad-temperedmale. All the Bibles, Korans, Tahnuds agreethis big numero-uno God is of the maleA LIMP DEFENSE OF MALE CHASTITYgender.The guy next to her, a young oilexecutive named Nick, reacted defensivelyto this notion. "Men I know are more interestedin making money than making awoman. Playing around is high-school andcollege stuff. When you get out in the realworld, you realize that you driU a gal, that'sone-night crude. Make a deal for a pipelineand you got almost tax-free security,assuming you survive OPEC roller-coasters."Patricia sniffed with impatience."What is this grease-rigger talk aboutdrilling a woman, Nick? How about a partnershipwith an equal?""No room on my busy schedule formerger propositions. Have your lawyer ringmine, and maybe we can set up a conferencecall," said Nick with a nervous laugh.MEN WHO MAKE WAR, NOT LOVE-ARE THEY THE PROBLEM?This really provoked Patricia. "Forthousands of years power has been monopolizedby men who hate women. Thesesexists can't stand the idea that women aresmarter, nicer, more loving, more beautifulthan men. So they form these men's-clubreligions that put women down. Judaism.Christianity. Islam. Theyall treat women asslaves, property, serfs, assistants to the boss.Women can't play any active role in theceremonies or the politics."Boy, yall get out there and lasso apurty gal and brand her and stick her in thebreeding bam with a copy of the Bible tocomfort her. You know how it says: ThedownLord ismy shepherd! He maketh me lie"And, let's face it This big-shotAllah may own the oil fields of the MiddleEast, but he's a bad-ass Persian! The lastguy you'd want to have a date with. I, forone, wouldn't go on that Mohammed'syacht, would you?"And, to be fafr about it,how aboutour pal Jehovah? Who in thefr right mindwould want Him to move into the housenext door, issuing commands and ruiningproperty values by causing floods and turningpeople's wives to salt?"At this point Nick wiped his browwith a napkin.I did too. Nick looked at hiswatch.There was no stopping Patricia.She was on a roll. "Notice that in all thesefundamentaUst sects, the mullahs and therabbis and the priests actually keep thewomen out of sight, behind veils, or barefootin the kitchen, or in the balcony of thesynagogue, or in the nunnery."At this point Nick got up and totteredoff irom the table.Patricia didn't miss a beat"These religious men are so threatenedby women that they grab swords,flags, crosses, guns, power, uniforms, anythingthat wiU make them feel adequate.They make war because they're afraid tomake love."The two other Texas ladies at thetable seemed fascinated by this stuff, thefreyes bulging, thefr pretty heads nodding inagreement Me, I'm listemng and takingnotes on an Oasis linen napkin.These religiousmenare so thieatened bywomen that they jrabswords, flajs, crosses,juns, power,uniforms, anythingthat will make themteel adequate. Theymake war becauseafraid tothey'remake love."SECTION V.) CYIEIOTKS OPEIATION SEX CHANCE 137

WHAT ABOUT THE SEX CHANCESOF THE 1960S?they wanted and how-some-ever theywanted. It was the women who learnedabout slow, serpentine, Hindu, fuck-me-The hippies representeea feminization,a sensitization otconsciousness, a 5[entle,erotic mellowing."But weren't things different tenyears ago?" I inquired of Patricia."You better believe it, Doc," saidPatricia. "There was that one amazing fourteen-yearperiod between 1966 and 1980when four thousand years of male dommationwere briefly overthrown. The key tothis 'sixties cultural revolution was women'sliberation! The hippies represented afeminization, a sensitization of consciousness,a gentle, erotic mellowing. The hippiestotally ridiculed the male power structuresjust by grinning at the cops."Here, 1986, in Rambo-ReaganAmerica, it's hard to remember that backthere in 1972, Vietnam soldiers wereashamed to wear their uniforms in public.The Texas Rangers freaked out becausetheir swaggering authority was beingignored. The draft and the drug laws werepublicly defied. Male politicians and moralistswent crazy, warning about Western civihzationcollapsing before this wave ofpaganism and hedonism and wild, bra-lessfeminism. It was a feisty woman, MarthaMitchell, who first blew the whistle on theNixon Watergate cover-up."Remember long hair? Long hairon Texas dudes! That started the countryrockscene at the Armadillo in Austin,Texas. What did that long hair mean? Menaccepting feminine erotic power.Remember that cop in Houston whorequested permission to grow his hair longso that he could relate to members of theopposite sexnamely, his wife?"It was the women who made allthis 'sixties stuff happen. The sexual freedomwas really women's freedom. Godknows the men didn't need Uberation. TheJudaeo-Christian-Moslem double standardalways let Texan men do what they wanted."I don't know what it was like upNorth, honey, but dovm here in Texas'round 1969, women suddenly understoodthat they were free to fuck whom-so-everRuddha sexuality."Yup, it was the cowgjris whodemanded some variation on the missionaryposition. And gently pulled the heads ofthefr astonished boyinends dovm to thepromised land and taught white lads howto make girls feel good."And it was the women whodemanded the new aphrodisiac drugs fromthefr guys. Don't you remember the mottoof the Hippie Girt from Galveston? Keep mehigh, Long Horn, and I'll ball you all nightlong."BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SEXUALLIBERATION OF THE 1960$?Patricia looked at me, shook herhead, and sighed. "Don't you get the point?It wasn't 'sexual liberation,' it was freedomfor the two groups who were repressed bythe male morality. First it was the womenwho took off their aprons and came out ofthe kitchens. Then it was the gays whocame out of the closets, insisting that sex bebeautiful and elegant and long and slowand graceful and funny. Mr. RedneckMacho from Fort Worth had to change hisheavy-breathing, bar-room, slam-bam,steer-bull ways, and learn how to boogieand ball and fool around and be sweet andtender with his big red chap-stick."The Texas A&M co-ed looks at theguy and says, 'Is that a stupid jive-ass Colt45 in your pocket, John Wayne, or have yousuddenly learned how to express affectionto a gfrl?' Hey, Buck, the penis is not aBowie knife to be plunged into the gapingwounds of your prosfrate victims! Thepenis is a shaft of pleasure and delightfulfusion."What's changed from the 1960s isthis: Smart, self-confident women, after listeningto Mick Jagger and Jimi Hendrixand WiUie Nelson, weren't gonna go backto lying down meekly, spreading thefr legsanytime some Rice University frat-kid|}I TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS i CYIEK ClltTUIE

CIv^i

decided he wanted to get his rocks off."No way, Don Jose. Smart women,like that lil' ole Jerry Hall, learned to beselective and more demanding. Today,women talk about the men they know andcompare them for size and fit and performanceand wit and charm. And wow! Doesthat threaten the SMU business-administrationmajors! No wonder poor Nick totteredoff to the, excuse the expression,men's room a few minutes ago."The three women at the tablelooked at each other and smiled in somesort of secret agreementSCIENTIFIC POLL REVEALSDIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEN ANDWOMENMy head spinning from Patricia'sunorthodox theories, Iphoned the researchdepartment and requested some hard data.A diligent scan of the scientific literaturerevealed that in 1984, Newsweekpolled students at ninety-eight campuses tofind out if morals were changing. Themajor results: "Students are against casualsex, for fidelity in marriage, and spUt on thequestion of living together."According to Newsweek, "The reallegacy of the sexual revolution andperhapsthe women's movement as well maylie in how men and women think abouteach other. Six out often say there are significantdifferences in the ways men andwomen think."Confirming Patricia's cocky views,24 percent of women beUeved that femalesare more inteUigent than males! And only 6percent thought men were smarter.MACHO MEN LOSING OUTTOTHE CAYS?Patricia and other sophisticatedwomen 1 interviewed kept making thepoint that today, during this confusing timeI asked Julia Andrews, a successfulgeologist from Boulder, about this, and shecame up with a word that I was to hearmore and more as I researched the sexchangeissue.The word is friendship. Manywomen complain that it's almost impossibleto maintain a friendship with a straightguy whom you don't want to fuck. Back inthe 1950s men hung out with and enjoyedthe company of other men, talking aboutsports, hunting, careers, entertainment,business, politics. And in the old days,women busied themselves with cooking,washing, aesthetics, fashion, families, andthe softer human interests. Men andwomen lived in different worlds.According to Julia, "All this haschanged. Many inteUigent, educated, alertwomen these days are equally interested incareers, political issues, IRAs, adult-educationcourses, and prime rates. Of course,they're still into fashion and elegance andhigh culture; so they're looking for widegaugemen who can share thefr fiill-spectruminterests. And a lot of men just won'tget hip."That's where the gays come in. Asa group, homosexual men make moremoney, are better educated, are moresophisticated than sfraights. They are moreopen to make friendships with women.They're more sensitive. And to many of us,sensitive means smarter. Like there's thisprofessor, Bruce, in my department He'sgay. I have great times with him. We candiscuss our research projects. We can gossipabout office politics. He knows morethan I do about French and Japanese dressdesigners, and he's hip on the music andmovie scene. He reads cookbooks andunderstands how erotic eating and foodcan be. But the main thing is, he's sensitiveto my moods, my little double meanings,my ftmny little jokes. There's the addedadvantage that, with Bruce, there's noproblem about exchanging contaminatedmetabolic liquids."of shifting sex roles, they feel more comfortablewith gays.uo TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS ( CYIEI CUITUIE

BUT HASN'T THE CAY SEX SCENECOOLED DOWN?My next expert witness was a wiseJack quietly, "these days in the gay communityyou bugger your friend or you don'tfuck at all."old closet homosexual. Jack Black is a 55-year-old ordained Episcopalian minister. Asithappens, he doesn't practice his clericalFAREWELL SEXUAL FREEDOM?calling. Sensibly enough, he's a full professorat an Ivy League divinity school. Jack issmart, scholarly, cynical, a skillful politician.He's got a satirical sense of humourdry,desiccated, wizened as a vulture's claw.At the moment, Jack has mixed feelingsabout the New Morality.'Riming from the holy to the secularside of the debate, I found that Futuristmagazine, true to its belief that our futureUes ahead of us, has recently offered somesobering predictions about a "NewVictorianism." Editor Edward Cornish". . . the uncontrollablehysteria about herpesand AIDS now sweepingOn the down side, the AIDS epidemichad him crushed. "1 can't beheve it,"he moaned. "After thirty years of hiding inthe closet, I finally see this wonderful gaypridething emerging. Political strength,economic clout, gay churches, gay ministerspreaching from pulpits!A real sense ofexpects that the uncontrollable hysteriaabout herpes and AIDS now sweeping theMidwest and South will lead to a return toromantic love. "Unable to realize their sexuallongings, people will do a lot of pmingand fantasizing. Popular music will moveback to love themes."the Midwest and Southwill lead to a return toromantic love."gay power, and then . . ."asked."Have gay morals changed?"I"Changed! Totally! Facts are, if youcruise the boulevard these days, thechances are 100 percent that you'll get thevirus. Promiscuity is down 80 percent. Thebath houses are all closed. The bar traffic is"Familylife will seem safer.""Pornography will become lessacceptable in polite society . . .but covert interest will intensify,as pornographic materials offer asubstitute for risky liveencounters."down 40 percent And the sex practiceshave changed. Safe sex. People take precautions.No exchange of Huids.""Traditional religious practicesmay revive."On the up side, the new cehbacyhas done wonders for the tranquilUty ofJack's relationship with his gorgeous, 23-year-old, live-in lover. Now that he hasThis is probably the only time, past,present, or future, when Jerry Falwell willfind himself Uking Futurist.become an aging man of the cloth. Jack isvigorously preaching monogamy."That's what happenmg, by God!Monogamous relationships! People areTHE LAW-ENFORCEMENT VIEWON THE NEW SEXUALITYIstaying home with their mates. Or ifyoudon't have a steady, then you stay home"alone and watch Dynasty.And here in this biblical context Iheard again that label for the new sexuality.To resolve these wildly differingopinions, I went next door to get a moreconservative slant on things.My right-wing neighbour, Clyde, isan assistant district attorney. He awaitedFriendship."Friendship. Agape. Monastic withdrawalfrom temptation. Male bonding inthe spirit of the twelve apostles. Christianfellowship. Brotherly love. Yes," said Fatherme at the door, escorted me to the study,and brought me a regulation Miller Lite. Hedrank standard-issue Perrier. Clyde wears ablue suit when he sweeps and dusts forfootprints around his swimming pool.SECTION V.} CYBEtOTKS OPERATION SEX CHANCE 141

wAnd too oftenall you can jetWhen making social conversation, Clydestands at attention like G. Gordon Liddygiving a lecture on the Red Menace.I wasted no time in popping thesex-change question. You don't pull puncheswith Clyde."Sex practices depend on the ethnicand class demographics of the neighbourhood,"said Clyde with that clipped,know-it-all, law-enforcement cadence. "Inthe poor neighbourhoods, it's low-life, mis-each other. Smart ones with theirchums."Basically Barry thought that all thistalk about the new morahty was just tiredgrown-ups talking wistfully about theirown problems with waning sexual desire."Most kids think about sex all thetime," said Barry with a shy smile. "At ourparties, we get X-rated movies and theyplay all night To give an atmosphere, youknow?"demeanor mischief as usual. With those"Are you saying that teenage boysyourhands on ispeople, every man fornicates illegally andimmorally with everyone. Lower-classstill want to fuck anyone they can get theirhands on?"yourown bestindividuals still coercively obtain the sexualfavours of any helpless girl they can comer.Lower-class fathers still copulate with theirBarry laughed sheepishly "Yeah,something Uke that And too often all youcan get your hands on isyour own bestfriend, you know,yourself."daughters, cousins, you name it They'reanimals, pure and simple." Clyde clearedhis throat. 1 had a strong gut-feeling that hewas enjoying this conversation, in someweird way."Middle-class people, as we wellfriend, you know, yourself." We bothlaughed."Haven't kids always been hung upon sex?" asked Barry. "Look at the FortLauderdale deal. In most Eastern schools,kids can't wait to cut loose. The weeksWe both laughed.know, tend to restrict their immoralimpulses and when they indulge, at least(here he coughed) they're discreet ThankGod."As for the kids! Nothing newthere. Spank 'em or spoil 'em, rottenthrough and through. As usual they're insevere need of guidance, discipline, lawand order."At this point Clyde rested his caseand was excused from the witness stand.THE POLICEMAN'S SON'S OPINION OFTHE 'EIGHTIES MORALITYTo check this out, Ispent an hourtalking to Clyde's son, Barry. He's a freshmanat a small Eastern college. He saidthat there were nineteen kids in his dormfloor, and only two were virgins. They wereboth hopeless eggheads. Sexual activitytended to be located in your chque. Thedopers, the jocks, the intellectuals fooledaround with members of their own groups."You mean, friends do it vrithfriends?" I asked.with"Yeah, for sure. Dumb kids make itbefore spring break you can cut the tensionwith a knife. Girls can't wait to pile into acar and head south. Boys too. And youknow they're not going to Florida to ski."FAST TIMES AT THE LOCALHIGH SCHOOLTo check this out I went right tothe source. I interviewed Marilyn, a seniorin a Seattle-area high school. 1 wasimpressed by her poise and wisdom. Toevery question she responded, "Thatdepends.""Are kids doing it as much as previousgenerations?"I asked."That depends. People fool aroundwith the kids they hang out with. Like thejocks, they make it with the cheerleaders.The girls run around with bobby-sox andpom-poms screaming, 'All the way, Bears!'And the guys are always talking about gettingtheir rocks off and crude stuff like thatThese bonehead jocks go for that sloppystuff.Crushing empty beer cans on theirforeheads before they jump into the sack,you know.142 TIMOTHY lEAlY (NAOS i CVIEI CUtTUtE

%fell^JI'^^%fell%fe^1t^1fcM^^1fcll"The fraternity-sorority kids actsedate, but don't be fooled. It's a scam ontheir parents. These Idds get dressed up in'fiftiesgowns and dinner jackets and dancethe fox-trot in the gymnasium, and theirparents are so pleased they're so conservative.Like littlegrown-ups. Well, hey! Bymidnight at the freeway motels, those lacedresses are being pulled off and hung neatlyon chairs. And the yuppie drugs likecocaine and quaaludes are being passedaround."According to Marilyn, sexual activityamong high-school kids also seems todepend on the family racial and religiousbeliefs. Oriental kids seemed more straight,prudish, and hardworking. Kids from bomagainChristian families appear to be moreconservative. Anti-abortion and stuff.Theyall love Reagan."It sorta depends," said Marilyn. "Itthedepends on how good-looking they are. IfChristian girlis a real knock-out, shetends to forget Jerry Falwell when theglands start Ipumping. remember onenight this kid whose folks were away gave aparty, and 1 walked into a bedroom, andthere was this real hot-looking bom-againBaptist girlon her knees in front of thisfootball player. And she wasn't praying."Come to think of it," said Marilyn,"the most sincere Christian kids tend to bepimpled and chubby and running low onanimal magnetism to begin with."In general, Marilyn thought thatkids today were pretty selective, and laidback. "They do it, but keep it quiet It'skinda invisible. Friendship is important""Is there a different standard forboys and for girls?" 1 asked."For sure. Guys that screw arounda lot are considered hot stuff. And girlswhocome on to a lot of guys are consideredwild."VOICES FROM THE 19TH CENTURYMy editor-archivist Michael and his sexual experimentation. Her most famousexplored the link between drug use andwife/writing-partner Cindy came to visit stories in this genre had the theme ofme in Beverly Hills. In their research for seduction under the influence of hashishShaman Woman, Mainline Ijdy, an anthologydrug experiences of famousand opium.She shared this interest with anotherwomen writers, they discovered that notonly had many famous female authorsexperimented with the drugs of theirgreat writer of that time, Mark Twain.Most people do not realize that the creatorof Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finntime, quite a few of them had also linked wrote essays in praise of open sexuality.drugs with sexual experimentation. Of After his death his very proper wifecourse, these worb were often published burned most of his erotic works. At leastunder pseudonyms and not discovered 1601 survived the American sexual classicuntil much later.One of their most interesting pieces ofof the period.If these two icons of 19th-centurydetective work concerned Louisa May American literature could be teleportedAlcott, who, while writing Little Women to the 1 980s, they would probably be lessand other books, secretly published shocked and more fascinated than most"blood and thunder tales" under various of their contemporaries by the cool hedonismpseudonyms. Among other things, sheflourishing today.SECTION v.) CYIEIOTKS OrEMTION SEX CHANCE 14)

HOW COME KIDS DON'T KNOWWHERE BABIES COME FROM?^ Next, I arranged a lunch with myfriend Fred. He's a biacii coun-4^^^^^^ selor in an urban high school. Asfar as he was concerned, there had been nodrop in sexual activity."What new puritanism? This countryis floating in a sea of sexual stimulation.How about all these R-rated fUms on cablebeaming into homes? Thirteen year oldswatching naked bodies writhing away! Inthe past you could only see this stuff atAmerican Legion smokers. Now, it's rightthere in the living room! How about the X-their lives."Fred thought that television andfilms may have dulled consciousness anddesensitized kids from the real, flesh-andbloodworld. "You know, they watch Ramboin the theatres, bare chested, sweating,gunning down armies of gooks, and theywatch Reagan smiUng and waving whilehe's sending bombers over Grenada andLibya, and they don't realize the difference.They seem to think that sex ishaving aerobicfun rubbing body parts together like onthe TV screen. They don't seem to connectsex with the deep significance of the procreativeact It's the yuppie-'eighties attitude.Sex is healthy exercise, good for yourThey just won't take precautions. These kids apparently haven't figuredout wherebabies come from! They cheerfully ^etthemselves pregnant,not just once, but severatimes. These are not justunwanted pregnancies. They'reunconscious pregnancies."self-esteem. Like dancingand jogging andbowUng."As I remember,it was different inthe 1960s. Itmay soundnaive to say this today,but during the hippierated cassettes! Over a hundred pommovies a month coming on the market!Middle-class families screening hard-coreon their home TV! And the Calvin Klein adsand the raunchy MTV cUps! Madonna andPrince prancing around half bare-ass.Never before in history has an adolescentgeneration been exposed to such wall towall sexuality. And it's all hooked up toadvertising and merchandising."Fred was worried. Not aboutimmorality, but about the alarming jump inpregnancies. "1 can't figure it out," he said."They just won't take precautions. Thesekids apparently haven't figured out wherebabies come from! They cheerfully getthemselves pregnant, not just once, butseveral times. These are not just unwantedpregnancies. They're unconscious pregnancies."1 can't understand itThey haveall this information about sex. Manuals andhow-to books and magazine articles, andyet they're not using the data to manageyears there was a bigsense of the sacredness of life.Consciousness was the key. Everything wasvery important. Holy! They even called psychedeUcdrugs sacraments. Can you behevethat!"And sex was an act of yogic celebration.A resurrection of the body! Soundscorny to say this, but there was an undeniablereverence for life in the 1960s. Antiwar.Peace and love, baby! People talkingabout raising consciousness. Kids puttingflowers in the barrels of National Guardrifles. Ecological concern for the onenessof life. Which led to vegetarianism. Andgooiy, pompous ideahsm. And gee-whizspiritualism. But it's a statistical fact thatthe teenage suicide rates were way downin the 1960s and so were the unconsciouspregnancies."In the 1960s there was ahnost nopersonal violence. People were blissed out,I guess. All the violence was governmental.Take Woodstock, for example. Can youimagine it? For three days five hundredlU TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS i CVIEI CUITUIE

thousand kids in gangs rolled around in themud, listening to rock music, and apparentlynot one act of violence. Rape wasunthinkable. Fighting was uncool, man."By contrast, during one week ofspring break in 1986, seven college kidsdied in Fort Lauderdale, fallingoff hotelbalconies, drunk. And in the Palm SpringsEaster riots, kids roamed the streets, drunk,puUing bikinis offwomen in cars."hnagine the low state of consciousnessof these kids when they getdrunk and fuck. No wonder there are somany unconscious pregnancies."I'm talking about the coarseness,the meanness, the thoughtlessness, thematerialism, the low consciousness of theReagan years. Rids seem to be fuckmgmore and enjoying it less, if you ask me."So said Fred.IS THERE A GENERATIONSEX CAP?^^y^^ TThe bottom Une to this discus-sion?Well, based on more than a hundredinterviews and an extensive review ofthe available scientific data, 1 conclude thatthe amount of sexual activity today, asalways, depends on age. The older you are,the less you think about and indulge in sex.The wild gang of rock 'n' rollers who wereour models in the past have unquestionablycooled down. I'm only talking about the livinghere, so to speak.But look at those kids! If anythingit they're doing more and earUer. The 1984Newsweek poll revealed that, by the age of23, only 10 percent of college kids were virgins.And adults, as always, are wringingtheir hands about youthful promiscuity.There does, however, seem to beone consistent sex change in our Americanculture.The quality and variety hasticated, and more selective about sex.Frenzied promiscuity is certainly out offashion, especially among gays. The highlypubUcized orgies, the swinging, the swappingsof the past turn out to be mainlymedia hype.It ain't happening at all now.Everyone is talking about it less.The current attitude: Be cool, do it wisely,do it well, and don't flaunt itYou won't find the New Womenhanging around the 7-Eleven reading JerryFalwell's biography You'll locate NewWomen m that third of the population thatis better educated, upwardly mobile, andmore sophisticated.The rise in teenage pregnancy isalso for real, but mainly m urban ghettosand among the underclass.YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS NO NEWPURITANISMWhat about that new conservatismthat you've been reading about? It's a mediahype. Network executives and magazineeditors creating fads to boost newsstandcu-culation, reacting to the wishful thinkingof vocal moral minorities.Reformers and moralists come andgo, but sexual attitudes stilltoday reflect thebasic, earthy American virtues of tolerance,good humour, common sense, and fan* play.Sure, the right-wing fanatics continue towring their hands at the idea that peopleare stillpursuing life, hberty, and happiness.But rest assured; American womenare not going to let themselves be put inveils and chastity belts. Despite NancyReagan, Americans still want to have funand enjoy Ufe.There is no new sexual conservatism.Nor is hedonism destroying ourrepublic. Your daughters are safe, ArchieBunker. They are more realistic. They aresmarter. They want to fuck friends, notstrangers. And that has to be beneficial forthe mind, for the body, for the soul, and foris no newsexual conseivatism.Nor is hedonismdestroying ourrepublic. Yourdaughters are safe,Archie Bunker. Theyare more realistic.areTheysmarter.Theywant to fuckfriends, notAnd thatstrangers.has to be beneficialfor the mind, for thebody, for the soul,and for the Americanimproved. Especially for Americans in theirtwenties and thirties. They're more sophis-Therethe American way of life.wayof life.StCTION V.3 CYBEROTKS OPERATION SEX CHANGE H5

IIDigital ActivationOF THE Erotic BraintP young woman named Vicki is alone in her bedroom. She sits on the edgeof the chairl\ with her legs spread wide. She is looking intently at a computer terminal on the"deskinlh)ntofher.Wcki is a novice cybeipunk. She is using an electronic-communication device forher own private pleasure, without institutional or government authorization.At the moment, Vicki's eyes are fixated on letters that wiggle across her screen. Vickiblushes with excitement. She is breathing heavily She squirms into a more comfortableposition, not taking her optics off the letters squirting across the screen like spermatozoa.of her.Suddenly the words stop.Vicki smiles. With her right hand she begins typing letters on the keyboard m frontVICKI IN THE AROUSAL MODEVicki's words now appear on screen:RECEIVEOH RON ... I FEEL SO BAUDY WHEN WE'RE ON LINE.YOU'RE SUCH A GOOD TRANSMITTER!AND YOU DOWNLOAD SOOOOO GOOD!OOOH YOU'RE SO COMPATIBLE-LET'S INTERSCREEN .LIKE YOUR BIG, STRONG HARDWARE. (WHERE?)WANT TO PUT LOVE-BYTES ON YOUR KEYBOARDAND SLIDE YOUR JOYSTICK INTO MY F-SLOT.TELL ME HOW YOU WANT ME TO ACCESS YOU.PRESS ENTER AND I'LL BOOT UP MY MALE-MERGE FUNCTION!OOOH! DISK OVERLOAD! MY SYSTEMS ARE CRASHING!. .CYBEINETWORKSVicki is using her Macintosh computer to boot up and artfully program the lust circuitsin her brain. Her software is linked up, via telephone, to the Amiga of a man namedRon whom she has never met Well, never seen in the flesh.Vicki and Ron first interscreened in a computer network. They started off quitesedately, both contributing ideas to a public-access conference on "CIA Terrorism inNicaragua." They came to like each other's ideas; so they agreed to chat on a private linejustthe two of them exchanging electronic signals to each other through their computers.Well, one thing led to anotheras it often happens in male-female conversations. AtSECTION V.4 (VIEIOIICS DIGITAL ACTIVATION OF THE EIOTIC IIAIN U7

No one isimplying that thebasic skin-tissue hardware is in anyway outmoded. Nothing canreplace the kissing, cuddling,licking, nuzzling, nibbling,smelling, murmuring,they joked and flirted. Then they started having imaginary dates. First, they'd select amovie. Afterward they'd select a restaurant, then type in their wine and dinner orders. Whilewaiting, they'd discuss their reactions to the movie.Then, as the imaginary, transcontinental night-on-the-town started winding down,RON TYPED:VICKI, THINK YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL.II'D LIKE TO KISS YOU GOODNIGHTsucking, joking, smoking,honey-moaning, fondling,biting, entering, and receivingthe tender exchange oflove's soft bruises.But, however enjoyable,Vicki wasted no time typing her answeriHER ANSWER:WHY NOT COME IN FOR A NIGHTCAP. I'LL SHOW YOU MY DISPLAYMENU.our bodily contacts exist forus only as registered in ourbrains. We sense the touch andtaste and perfume and the membranesoftness of our lovers onlyin clusters of electric signalspicked up by our neurons and pro-firstgrammed by our mindware.Well, the next steps were quite predictable. Both got slowly carried away. Vicki put acompact disc in the boom-box. Ron lit the fire. Slowly, timidly, they started typing out theirsexual fantasies, step-by-step descriptions of foreplay, sly suggestions about what they wouldlike to do to each other, and what each would like have done. Like most computer kids theyare smart, inventive, and very shy, but just then, they were getting bolder and saucier.Whew! After fifteen minutes of this cyberaphrodisia, they had constructed the mostromantic, elegant, sophisticated, all-out, wanton, mutual sex affair imaginable. Prefrontalnudity, floppy disco, sloppy disco, hard disco, cyberpom.Imagination, the creation of mental images in the brain, was realized in electronicform. The computer screen became the vehicle of their inner steamy, fantastic, cyberoticparty.THE ZEN OFCYBERFUCKRon and Vicki were using the power of modem electronics to brain-fuck, i.e., to linkup their nervous systems by means of carefully selected signals transmitted between theircomputers by the phone lines. These lovers have thus become members of a fast-growing,erotic networkthose who have discovered the intimate possibilities of cybersex. The secretis this:Computer screens have a powerful, hypnotic abilityto create altered states in thebrain. TWo people conununicating through their fast-feedback computers can access a rangeof brain circuits arguably wider than can be reached by bodily contactThis is because the brain and the computer work the same wayin the language ofelectric impulses, of Ught.THE BODY-BRAIN RELATIONSHIPAll of us, 1 am sure, want to improve the wondrous pleasures that come through thesoft tissues and silkymembranes. Tender hands. Soft, probing fmgers. Wet lips. Soft, curvingUl TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS I CYIEI CUlTUtE

thighs. Sweet, satin mounds and bulging protuberances.No one is implying that the basic skin-tissue hardwareis in any way outmoded. Nothing can replace the kissing,cuddling, licking, nuzzling, nibbling, smeUing, murmuring,sucking, joking, smoking, honey-moaning,fondling, biting, entering, and receiving the tender"Tin'*""*!" T 1paacexchange of love's soft bruises.But, however enjoyable, our bodily contacts existfor us only as registered in our brains. We sense the touchand taste and perfume and the membrane softness of ourlovers only in clusters of electric signals picked up by ourneurons and programmed by our mindware. . multimate . . . infocum.9UANTUMSEXPeople who use computer signals to arouse each^jANDY FRITHothers' sexual desires have stumbled onto the next evolutionarystep in human interaction: quantum sex . . . cyberlustLotus 2-5-4. Electronic arts. Radio shacking? Broderbund? The Commodore, after all, is thecommander of a fleet of pleasure craft!It has been known for years that people who communicate via computer-phonelink-ups can reach amazing levels of intimacy. This was a surprising development Mostrespected newspaper columnists, pop psychologists, liberal ministers, and conservativemoralists had been warning that computers will depersonalize humanity, ahenate us morefrom each other.It has been knownfor yearsthat peoplewho communicate viaThese media experts made the classic, dreary conservative mistake: trying to understandand explain the fuhire in terms of the past. Bureau-stats and managerials, their eyesfirmly fixed on rear-view screens, think of the computer as a machine. A metal product ofthe industrial age. Sexless. Hard. No one, except certain decadent, black-leather, transvestite,hair-dyed, mechanico-fi^aks in the decaying slums of factory suburbs, fans of kinky,techno-punk musicians from Lou Reed, Talking Heads, and Devo, to Pomos for Pyros, Babesin Toyland, Pearl Jam, Ministry, and White Zombie, would think of using machines with ballbearings and fransmissions and smoky, metal parts to enhance sexual and romantic experience.computer-phonelink-upscan reachamazingintimacy.levels ofTHE IIAIN IS THE ULTIMATE ORGAN OF PLEASUREBut the computeris not a machine. It's a silicon subcircuit of an electronic brain. It'san interpersonal communication device, a cyberphone.Now, think about it for a moment: The brain has no eyes, ears, full lips, strongthighs. The brain is a powerful knowledge processor packed away in, and protected by, thebony case of the skull. The same is true of the computer, a powerful thought-processorpacked away in, and protected by, the metal case.Both the brain and the computer receive, sort, and output "ideas" in clusters of electricon/off signals.The brain, lest we forget, is the ultimate pleasure organ. And the personal computer,ifwe know how to use it, is a powerful organ for neurosexual intercourse.When two people link up via computers, their "naked" brains are interscreening.Directly. All the complicated apparati of bodily contact garter belts, bedrooms, zippers,bras, contraceptives, body parts-are bypassed. Your electronic tongue can slide along the0-links into his soft pink receivers with no clumsy props to get in the waySECTION v.; CViEIOIICS IICITAl ACTIVATION OF THE EIOTK IIAIN U)

THE EMBARRASSINC COMPLEXITIES OF THE TISSUEWARESuppose that Ron and Vicki had met at a discussion group and started dating.First atthe coffee shop. Then maybe a cociitail lounge. Then dinners and movies. The first fumblingsteps at intimacyholding hands, knees rubbing under the table.What to wear? The familiar mating-ground questions. My place or yours?Then the complicated dance of mutual seduction. The nagging worries of the personwith no more than average sexual competence.He thinks: Shall Imake my move now?She wonders: Will he think I'm a slut if Igrab a handful?Is she smart? Is she pretty enough? Can Igetitup? Does she like to transmit head? Receive head?300,1,200 or 2,400 baud?32-bit dean?Is he hip enough? Too hip? Handsome enough? Can he getitup? Can he boot me up the way want it?IWho is thisguy anyway?Who is thts dame anyway?Wony. Worry.TELESEX ENCOURAGES BRAIN PLAYdance.Digital foreplay is a wonderfully natural way for two people to start their matingWhy use the word "natural" to describe communication via phone-linked computers?Actually, almost every animal species has developed distance courting, tele-arousal signalsto pave the way for the eventual sweaty, writhing contact of genital sex and the ejaculationof sperm.Insects telecommunicate their sexual desires with amazing gusto. Everylittle cricketyou hear scrapmg his violin-string wings on a hot summer night is telUng the neighbourhoodladies exactly how he'd like to do it to them. The homy boy cicada is talking directly to thebrain of the neighbourhood giris.The chemical scents (pheromones) of the female dog in heat are Uke telephonemessages telling every lusty male within miles how the homy young bitch smells, looks, andtastes.THE BIRDS AND BEES DO ITBird songs are a compelling way for arousing sexual desire. At the right time of year,usually in the spring, the male songbird's body swells with testosteronethe male sex hormone.He bursts into song. He sends a long-distance, mating-dating message that ispickedup by every female in the neighbourhood. The song boots up the sex circuits in the female'sbrain and she suddenly starts thinking how nice would it be to have a lusty guy around tonibble her wiUing neck and stroke her soft, feathered body with his wings and climb on topwith his wiry, strong, warm body and open her up with his straining hard modem and makeher feel just the way her brain tells her a young bird should feel in the springtime.ASTONISHING EVIDENCE ABOUT NEUROTUMESCENCEFemando Nottebohm and his colleagues at Rockefeller University have recentlyannounced a discovery that "shakes the conventional wisdom of brain science . . . Nerve cellsin birds go through giant cycles of birth and death ... At the time of hormonal changes, theS TIMOTHY UAIY (NAOS i (YIEI CVIIIIIE

ANDY FRITHbrain anatomies change. The specific portion of the forebrain responsible for singing, whichis large in the spring, becomes half as large in the fall .. .Furthermore, talented canarysingers have larger specialized regions than those deemed less talented."hi other words, the brain is a sexual organ that can swell and subside Uke the pinkmembranes of penis and vagina. And the steamy brain gets turned on by compatible signals.And the songbirds who can give "good phone" grow bigger brains! What an advertisementfor quantum sex!TELEPHONE SEXTelecommunicated sexual messages have become a standard courtmg technique inindustrial-urban societies where boys and gjris don't get to meet and look each other overaround the village square.How do city kids get to know each other, test each other out as mating partners? Theuse of the telephone by courting adolescents is an inevitable step in human evolution. Q-sexis just adding a new dimension to the conversation of good, honest boy-girl lust. Appletalk isa direct way of turning on the teenage circuits of our brains.THE CYBERNETICS OF THE ADOLESCENT BRAINAt the onset of puberty, new circuits of our brains activate. The human body undergoesa sudden change, almost as dramatic as the metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly.All sorts of new bumps and protuberances emerge on the nubile body Breasts beginto swell and strain to be caressed. The littleworm-penis of the school boy grows into aSECTION V.4 CYBEDOTICS DIGITAL ACTIVATION OF THE EROTIC BRAIN

The brain is a sexual or^an that can swell and subside like the pink membranes of penis and vagina. And the steamybrain ^ets turned on by compatible signals. And the songbirds who can ^ive "^ood phone" ^row bi^^er brains! What answelling, red tube of incorrigible desire. New circuits of the brain suddenly turn on, floodingthe body with impetuous hormones and hot mating juices. The teenager becomes obsessedwith sex.Psychologists tell us that the teenager thinks of sex several times an hour.Involuntary erections strain the jeans of the embarrassed lad. Hot steamy currents of desirelash the body of the perturbed young ladyshe screams at rock stars and swoons over thepinups of handsome movie stars.Let's face it, teenagers are often coarse, crude, and insensitive to the delicate needsTelecommunicated sexualmessageshave become astandard couitin^ techniqueinindustiial-uiban societieswhere boysand ^irlsdon't ^etto meet and look each other overof others. In the desperate grip of passion, they trip over themselves and hurt each others'feelings.That's where electronic foreplay comes in.CYBERFUCKINC AND ELECTRONIC FOREPLAYTeenagers use any means possible to turn on and channel their sexual drives. Boysstudy magazines like Hustler, letting the pictures and the text trigger off their imaginations.Girls devour magazines about rock stars and movie actors. The pictures activate the swelling"sex areas" of the brain. Remember the homy songbirds?Morahsts condemn solitary sex and try to suppress erotic-aesthetic publications thatpeople use to trigger oft' their unaginations and boot up the "sex areas" in their brain. TheMoral Majority gets convenience stores to ban Penthouse, Playboy, and Hustter.around the village square.EAR SEX IN THE CONFESSIONAL BOXWhen 1 was a teenager in the dark ages of the 1930s, we were warned in the sexmanuals that masturbation caused nervousness, mental breakdown, and eventual braindamage. The Catholic Church was pursuing its insane policy of stamping out genital pleasureand preventing the "sex areas" of my brain from swelling. 1 remember the kinky conversationsin the confessional box.I would kneel in the dark booth and whisper through the screen into the invisibleear:"Forgive me, Father, 1 am guilty of impure thoughts.""Which impure thoughts, my son?""I thought about making love to my cousin Margaret because of her dimpled knees,to Dr. O'Brien's wife because she is blonde and has big boobs, to Clara Bow, to all the membersof the chorus hne of the Radio City Rockettes, to a giriI saw on the bus . . ."magazines?""That's enough, son," Father Cavenaugh sighed. "Have you used anysinftil books or"Yes, Father." Spicy Detective. Spicy Adventure. Spicy Western. Film Fun. Cq)tainBUlfs Whiz Bang Joke Book. Atlantic City Bathing Beauties. Hollywood Starlets."Enough, enough!" cried the flustered priest "Such books and magazines are occasionsof sin. You must destroy them.""Yes, Father.""Now, say a heartfeh Act of Contrition. And as your penance, say five Our Fathersand five Hail Marys."This whispered "tell and listen" ritual did Uttle to prevent the "sex areas" of my brainfrom growing. Might as well tryto stop the testosterone-drenched songbirds from singing!152 TIMOTHY LEAIY CHAOS I CYIEI CUIIUIE.

advertisement for quantum sex!Your brain wants to be stimulated, opened up, caressed, jacked into by a suremindIfyou don't use your head for your own pleasure, entertainment, education, and growth, who will?Confessions were heard by bored or sex-tortured priests because it was their onlyerotic contact They obviously got off on it. In a way we sinners were giving the good Fathersaural sex by kneeling there in the dari; box, whispering our sweet little dirty secrets into thewarm, open, trembling ear of the priestTeenagers today spend hours on the phone joidng and flirting because it's a safe andweie heaid bycalm way to explore erotic interests without being swirled into grappling scenes. They stimulateeach other's imaginations, exploring and experimenting with erotic signals.CYBERVAMPS: TELEPHONE CALL GIRLSThe telephone-sex call services advertised in the back of magazines like Hustler areboied 01 sex-toituied piiestsbecause it was theii onlyeioticanother step forward in the art and science of brain sex.Sandi's phone-sex ad invites you to "Talk dirty to me! I'll rub my nipples hard. 1 wantcontact. They obviously ^otoffto cum with your phone fantasies."Anal Amiabelle promises,"I'llspread myself wide open and give you all of me, Bigon it.In a waywe sinneis wereBoy.""Beg for it!" says Mistress Kate. "I know what you deserve.""Climax with me! I'm hot, wet, and waiting!" murmurs Lisa.IMMORAL EXCHANGE OF ELECTRONS?Maybe you've felt that this stuff is a bit kinky. Perhaps you felt that telephone callgirlsex is a masturbation aid for lonely people with low self-esteem.Maybe not The moraUsts and spoilsports want us to feel guilty about phone sex.Bureaucratic cyborgs are automatically offended by any frivolous, hedonic, dilettante use oftechnology for personal delight Phones are leased to us by Ma Bell to help us become better^ivin^ the ^oodFatheis auialsex by kneelingtheie in the daikbox, ouiwhisperingsweetlittle seciets into diitythewarm, open, tiemblin^ earcitizens and to call home at holidays.of the priest.Actually, neurophone sex link, if employed with a light touch-tone, can be a wonderfulway to learn how to become skilled at telefucking.TAPPING THE EROTIC MEMORY BANKSThe archives of our brains carry electric memories of our earUest teenage passions.So why not retrieve them, turn them on, and enjoy them at will?The trick is this: You learn how to format your brain to receive the cues, the sensorysignals that activate your homiest 16-year-old memories. You can use a telephone call serviceor do it with a friend. Ask her or him to whisper to you the coded names and phrases ofyour first crushes. The songs of your heated season of rut You'll fmd yourself booting upyour adolescent circuits with the teenage access codes. You are performing a neurolinguisticexperiment You are executing a self-hypnotic age regression. You are "commanding" yourown brain to expand the "sex areas."Now here is some good news: Your brain is apparently eager to oblige. Your brainwants to be stimulated, opened up, caressed, jacked into by a sure mind.Your brain hates boredom. Ifyou keep your brain repeating the same old realitytape, month after month, your brain will sigh and give up on you, just like a neglected lover.For many people, cybersexusing the telephone or computer to arouse the brainiseasier than ruiming around like a homy robot, pulling clothes off and on, jumping in andout of sacks with strangers. Unless you are incredibly cool and poised,it's difficult on a firstConfessionsSECTION v.; CYIEIOTICS DIGITAL ACTIVATION OF THE ElOTIC IRAIN 153

For many people, cybersex-usinj the telephoneor computerto arouse the brain-is easier thanrunning around like a horny robot, pullingclothes off and on, jumpingin and out of sackswith strangers.date to teach a new partner how to turn on your imagination and then start acting it out,while at the same time trying to master the private signals that turn his or her brain on.COMPUTER SIMULATIONSCybersex is a relaxed way of learning how to explore this brand-new frontier ofcybercourse. The computer is a wonderful appliance for simulations and "as if experiments.The hottest seUing software in the hobbyist mariiet is simulation games. Flight simulation:practice takeoffs and landings. Submarine commander; act out the Battle of the NorthAtlantic. Wall Street simulations: pretend you're a hot-shot broker.Now, if it's all right to use software to simulate war, why is it not okay to simulate themost important game of all?Why not get on line and link up with the brain of your partner? Murmur teenagesweet nothings into her brain-ROM? Stick your floppy disk in his cerebral software and whisperexactly the things he wants to hear?Simulation: You are back again in your parent's house flirting with your high-schoolcrush! And while you are taking advantage of your parent's absence by disporting naked inthe rumpus room of your cerebellum, give yourself some credit You are a neurosexual pioneer!You belong to the first generation of your species to use your magnificent brain as asexual organ. Without guilL With healthy curiosity.And a desire to please your cybermate.Cybersex uses the powerful instruments of knowledge processing and communicationto perform the most important task of this stage of human evolution.You are learning how to use your head, to take over the programming of your boredbrain. Surfing your own brain waves.Cybersex and brain-fticking could be a key to freedom and growth. If you don't useyour head for your own pleasure, entertainment, education, and growth, who will?is; TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS ( CyiEt CULTUIIE

VI. I.Pranks: An Interview*ANDREAJUNO: V. Vale and I aredoing a book on pranks, but notjust run-of-the-mill collegepranks. We're interested in pranksas they reveal linguistic and behaviouralinsightsTIMOTHY LEARY: Performance art, in away...AJ: In a way. We interviewed PaulKrassner and Abbie Hoffman becausetheu* activities stand outlined against awhole social and historical miUeu ofspontaneous pranksterish comments onpolitics and society. Just as m a sense thewhole history of LSD was a prank. Youhelped shape a key period of history.TL llike the idea of "prank" in the sense ofinnovation. There's something exploratoryabout pranks--shaking things up, which, ofcourse, is the basic technique of evolution.Chaos engineering.AJ: Can you recall the early days of LSDresearch at Harvard and Millbrook?TL: When we were at Harvard we were fortunateenough to have wonderful coaches,people like Aldous Huxley and Alan Watts.There was a wonderful Englishman namedMichael HoUingshead who had a very mischievoussense of humour. His brain was soaddled with mystical experiences that hesaw everything as a prank. He was myassistant at one time; we were trying to testthe abihty of psychedelic drugs to changepeople's behaviour. So we went to a prison,because that's the obvious place where youplay. What does a prank do? It's spontaneous,a little shocking, a little mischievous,a little jab in the ribs, or a pushtoward something different, hi a generalsense 1 think the entire consciousnessIhave alwaysseen evolutionary steps,or psychedelic dru^s,ormovement was dedicated to a playfiil rathertremendously life-chan^in^ events as bein^ basically joyous,in thethan a serious approach, and certainly levityrather than gravity. Following great psychologicalteachers as Alan Watts, forexample, who described everythmg as aplay of energy or Goddess playing hideand-seekwith herself, things like thatsense that you're liberating yourselfand empowering yourselftochange. You're recognizingthe basic fun of the life adventure.To me the essence of consciousnesschange is humour and gerUk satire. Itactually gets quite theological.One of my ten favorite movies is MontyPython's The Meaning ofLife. What is themeaning of hfe isit all just a joke? Somany theories of God have God as a veryworried, compulsive, power-oriented persontrying to keep everything in order. Atheology just as plausible to me is thenotion of chaotics of play and delight. . .'HE/Search Ml: Pranks!can measure change: whether they go backand commit more crimes, or whether theystay out of prison.So we were taking LSD and similardrugs with maximum-security prisonerswho were all volunteers. We explainedwhat we were doing. We weren't doinganything to them; we were doingit withthem. We would take LSD with them in theprison. The first time we did it, it seemedSECTION VI. I CUEIIllA AIT riANKS: AN INTEIVIEW 15/

I think the philosophic)rank, the intelligent piank,the islife-affirming prank,one that ^ives peoplea)roader or a perspectivenewinsight, so that they're nottakingthemselves soand realize thatsolemnly,ife is basically supposed tobe joyousand merry.like the most scary, reckless, insane thingwe could do: to be going out of our mindsin a maximum-security prison with themost dangerous, evil, homicidal people inthe world!We gotto a moment in one of thefirst sessions when we were alllookmg ateach other. We psychologists were afraid ofthe prisoners because obviously they weredangerous maniacs, and they were afraid ofus because we were crazy scientists.Suddenly we were looking at each other,and they said, "What's happening?" and 1said, "Well, I'm afraid of you," and they aUlaughed, "Well, we're afraid of you," so thenwe just broke up in laughter.For the next two years the entireprison experiment continued (which wasvery scientific; we had personality tests,controls, and the usual procedures), butbasically everyone who was involved in itknew it was a big escape plot We were tryingto help them get out of prisonwewould get them paroles, and in generalhelp them get going in life. The wholething was a big joke in the sense that itseemed so simple to rehabilitate prisonersand make it into a prank, rather than makeit into a crime-and-punishment saga ofgrand-opera criminality. That was anexperiment which did in fact cut down theprisoners' recidivism rate in Concord,Massachusetts, about 75 percentAnother prank that we performedat Harvard was for the Divinity School. Weworked with about thirty Divinity students.We had several professors from theHarvard Divinity School, famous ministers,and the dean of the Boston UniversityChapel involved. It was on a Good Friday,and we gave half of the Divinity studentspsilocybin mushrooms (the other half didn'thomes after working in the prison, we wereexultant What a prank! Here we were, takingthese wild drugs inside a prison, whilethe criminal-justice ofllcials were all cheeringus on! Meanwhile we were seeing thecomedy of life and the fooUshness of repetitiousbehaviour and having a good chuckle.The same thing was true after the DivinitySchool projectIt started out so solemn andso serious with the hymn singing and thedean of the chapel giving sermons, and itended vrith a fremendously life-afllrmingsense of joyous laughter. We got back to myhouse and were drinking beer afterward,feeling that we had tested ourselves, andtested human nature, and tested theexfreme limits of the nervous system in away that would seem almost unbelievable.We were taking "dangerous" drugs in aprison or giving "dangerous" drugs toDivinity Students with the top professorsfrom Harvard, the Newton Seminary, andBoston Universitybe a human coming-together!and it all turned out toAJ: How did they react afterward?TL They laughed their heads oft' withrelieved joy.AJ: And what about even later? Do youthink these people made profoundchanges in thefr lives?TL Well, that's something else. Having arevelatory experience or a deep mysticalexperience is one thing. What you do aboutitdepends on an enormous number of factors.Everyone's lives were changed bythese in one way or another, but as for thefrbehaviourwell, some would leave theirwives, and some would get married. Wehad three ministers quit the church, fortake them) to see if they indeed had mysticalexperiences. It developed into anexample, to go out and make an honest Uving!1 think the philosophic prank, theincredibly wonderful, warm, funny mysticalexperience in which in the most Ughtheartedway we were helping people get beyondthe confines of the church and the ritual.When we would come back to ourintelligent prank, the life-aflfrming prank,is one that gives people a broader perspectiveor a new insight, so that they're not takingthemselves so solemnly, and realizethat Ufe is basically supposed to be joyous"5 TIMOTHY lEAlY (HHS ( CYIEI CUtTOlE

ANDY FRITHand merry.One of the problems with the 'sixtiesconsciousness movement was: somepeople's pranlis are other people's hurt feelings.So there's an (esthetic courtesy aboutpranks. Forcing your sense ofhumour onsomebody else, or disrupting people in away that makes them angry, is not a productiveprank. A productive prank is one inwhich you're not doing something to somebody,but there's some invitation for it, andthere's some openness to iLAJ: Your worii with LSD opening upconsciousness did make some peoplefearftil, resulting in your being fired fromHarvard. A lot of people stop opening up,because it'sscary to start evolving yourconsciousness.TL But I have always seen evolutionarysteps, or psychedelic drugs, or tremendouslylife-changing events as being basicallyjoyous, in the sense that you're liberatingyourself and empowering yourself tochange. You're recognizing the basicjm qfthe life adventure.Looking back, you could say thateverything we were doing over a period often years was basically a prank. Ren Kesey,of course, called his group the MenyPranksters.AJ: Tell us about Millbrook.There's something exploratoryabout pranks-shaking thingsup, which, of course, is thebasic techniqueof evolution.Chaos engineering.SECTION VI. ICUEMLLAAH-MANKS:AN INTEIVIEW 159

Well . . . this mad Englishman,Michael Hollin^shead....typical piank.hesolemnly tell everyonethere was a mysterioustunnel under the castleyoucould confront "theperson in the world." awouldcave orwherewisestTU Millbrook was a very special momentin modem history,I think. We had 3,200acres on an incredible estate where a madBavarian millionaire had built castles,drawbridges, gatehouses, and extraordinarilyforests, shrines, hiddenlakes, and secret groves. It was like aTolkienian situation where we were almosttotally protected, being in the middle of a3,200-acre reahn. It was very difficult forlaw enforcement, or anyone, to get to us.We were on our own propertynunding our own business; yet the wholeadventure was so mind-boggling and scaryto those people who wanted to see it thatway. For about five years we used this wonderfulgeographic base station as a place toexplore human consciousness and the farantipodes of the human brain.Basically, we'd keep changing thescript I've talked to many people who werethere for a week or a month and theywould sayit was like this. But actually itwould change each month. A teacher ofGurdjieff would come along and for manyweeks we would study and live out and tryimprint the ceremonies and the notionsof that particular approach. The next weeksome crazy vegetarians would come andwe'd allgo on nonprotein diets for awhile.There was an openness to change, and toexperiment, and to innovate. Usually oncehad thata week there would be a psychedelic experience;someone would guide it That personcould designit:choosing the music, therituals, the aesthetics, the schedule ... takingpeople basically on trips.There was a sense of adventureand a sense of excursion. There was alwaysa sense of prankiness because we felt thatwhat we were doing was the most innocentvery innocent sort of adventuring.AJ: Can you recall any peak moments?TL There were an endkss number of peakmomentsit's hard to pick out one,because there was such a rich texture ofevents flowing one into another.OkayI'll tell you a prank. Therewas a professor from Princeton who was alifetime student of Persian mystical poetry.He had done a great deal of translating. Hewrote us, and then came up and visited. Hesaid, "Obviously, most of the translationsinto English are wrong, e.g., that famousline from the Rubaiyat, 'a loaf of bread, ajug of wine, and thou.' The Islamic peopledon't drink vrine. The original Persian signifiedhashish." But this word was not inthe vocabulary of people like EdwardFitzgerald and other Oxford dons who weretranslating Persian poetry into some kind ofScoutmaster Upper High Anglican prose.Having dedicated his life to the study of thismystical state, yet never having experiencedit,this Princeton professor was very eagerto have us provide an "initiation'' for him.So we set up an LSD experiencefor him in the enormous baronial "livingroom" of this castle we lived in, whichboasted high arched ceilings and a fireplacethat could hold twenty people. Wetransformed this room into the motif of aPersian paradise, bringing in mattressesthat we covered with silken tapestries. Onthe walls we hung Sufi paintings andembroidered wall hangings, and scatteredPersian artifacts about. The whole roomwas lit with Aladdin's lamps. The musicplaying was Persian music and Sufi chants,some of which he had provided.The professor was having the tuneand the most ideaUsticultraromantic in aof his lifehis eyes were closed, and hewaybased on books like Hesse's Journeyto the East and Mount Analogue by ReneDaumal: the classic stories of the epicadventures of the mind.So on the outside what we weredoing might seem very dangerous to soci-aety and threatening to the police, but it waswas chanting along, and so forth. Thenthree of the young women of the staff camedancing into the room wearing belly-dancecostumes. They were carrying trays of fruit,fine wine, and beautiful cutlery.It was themost elegant kind of presentation notbawdy in any sense; was it just as thoughlit TIMOTIY lEAlY CHAOS I (YIEI CUITUIE

they had walked right out of the canvas ofthat famous Haroun al Raschid painting.Iiuiow that when I looked up,1 couldn'tbelieve it eitherbut the amazed professorfrom Princeton felt he had definitely goneinto Allah's reahn!Incidentally, apparently there aresome sections in the Koran that describeheaven where Allah Uves as being this kindof situation; so we were literally makmgheaven come true! At first the professorwas quite stunned, but he transitionedsmoothly into the program, and enjoyed it.But do you think that was a prank?AJ: Of course!TL Well ... this mad Englishman, MichaelHollingshead, had a typical prank. Duringthe heightened suggestibility of an LSDexperience, he would solemnly tell everyonethat there was a mysterious cave ortunnel under the castle where you couldconfi^nt "the wisest person in the world."He would have everyone holdburning candles. With dilated eyes andspinning heads, people would follow himdown into the basement, which was kind ofold and dark. And then, with the torchesburning, he'd lead you down into a tunnelwhere you'd have to start crawling underthe foundation of the house, holding yourcandle. You'd crawl through various passageways,then suddenly come around acomer where the mischievous pranksterHollingshead had put a mirror! That wasthe ultimate conirontation with the wisestperson in the worid! Some people gotfreaked out by that, but . . .Most of the time at Millbrook, aftersorting throughall the Buddhist and Hinduphilosophies (some of which can get prettytedious, pretty solemn, and pretty morahs-we tended tic), to end up with a Sufiapproach, in which there was that hghttouch, and a sense that ifyou take enlightenmenttoo seriously, then you've pulleditdojrnit'sgot to have a bounce or a joyousmovement and a smile on it.AJ: Please tell more!TL: Well, I'll give you another example of aprank. Richard Alpert was my partner atHarvard. He came from a wealthy NewEngland family; his father was the presidentof the New York/New Haven/Hartfordraifroad. Richard had his own private plane.We would fly around the country inhis Cessna, basically dosing people. Onemorning we left New York and flew downto Duke University m North CaroUna,where Dr. Joseph B. Rhine, the worid'sleading authority on extrasensory perception,had kept his parapsychology laboratorygomg for years.Rhine was a Harvard graduate. Hismain problem was: He was so mtent onproving that it was scientific that it wasimpossible for anything telepathic to happen!He was using cards, and sorting, andusing the rituals of highly experimentalcontrived psychology. But at least he wasstillgung ho. He'd been studying parapsychologyfor twenty years, and nothingmuch had happened; he needed all thehelp he could getI'd originally met Rhine a bit earUer,when he came to Harvard and gave alecture. It was the first time he'd been backin twenty years, because he'd been kickedout for parapsychology. No one on the facultywould introduce him. I did; so therewas a bond of affection between us, besidesthe Harvard connection.Richard and I flew down toDurham; we taxied over to the DukeUniversity laboratory. Rhine had assembledabout eight or ten of his staff to take psilocybinor mescaUne or something. We sataround the laboratory where he had allthese experimental devices set up. You'd beworking cards or be predictmg movementson graphsexperiments.these were highly structuredPeople took the psychedehc drughe gave, and after about a half hour he said,"Everybody hne up for thefr assignment." Itwas hard to keep people disciplinedremember that one Indian gentleman, afamous Hindu professor fix)m Benares, aI.... With dilated eyesandspinning heads, people wouldfollow him down into thebasement, which was kind of oldand dark. And then,. . . he'dlead you down into a tunnelwhere you'dhave to startcrawlingunder the foundationof the house, holding yourcandle. . . . then suddenlycome around a corner where themischievous pranksterHollingshead had put a mirror!That was the ultimateconfrontation with the wisestinpersonthe world!SECTION Vl.i CUEtlttA ART PRANKS: AN INTEKVIEW i6i

ANDY FRITHvery serious, nontrivial student of parapsychology,just wandered off. Someone wentwith him, because we didn't want peoplejust wandering around the Duke campus.He wandered outside and picked arose and came back. He handed it toProfessor Rhine, and said, "This representsthe ultimate in parapsychology." That's anold Hindu trick. Somehow this seemed veryprofound and impressive.Soon Rhine "got the message" andcalled us all into his office. He sat down onthe floor with his shoes off. It was the firsttime anyone had seen him with his shoeswe're not getting more results. We've beentoo . . ." Then he led a free-form discussionof changes in their plans that went on forabout two or three hours. Then peoplebrought in fruit juice and fruit and cheeseand crackers. Richard and I saw that everyonehad been brought back to planet Earth;so we looked at our watches and said, "Seeyou around!" Then we grabbed a cab anddrove to the airport.We jumped into the plane and flewback to New York. We landed at La Guardiaat Butler Aviation and took a cab into NewYork. The New York/New Haven/Hartfordoffrailroad had a suite at the Waldorf-Astoriahe was a "dignified professor gentlemen."that Richard could use; so we walked intoHe was sitting there leaningagainst the wall; then he said, "Well, let'sfigure out where we're going to take thisthing. I'm beginning to understand whythe hotel, ordered champagne, and laughedour heads off at the implausibility of flyingdovm to North Carohna, turning on ten ortwelve very prominent and serious-minded162 TIMOTHY lEAlY (NAOS i CVIEI CUITIIIE

academicians, leaving them in a wonderfulkind of creative shambles, and then jumpingon the plane and coming back!That was an example of the wayRichard and I looked at each other. Therewas a sense of real basic healthiness andopenness about what we were doing. Wesimply couldn't make any mistakes,because our hearts were in the right places.And we were watching carefully,and wewould not let anybody go off on their own.There was just such an aura of youthfulinnocence (although we were in our forties)and a confidence in the goodness ofhuman nature that during those days badtrips were almost impossible.Richard in particular always hadthat mischievous sense. For a while hebecame a holy man Baba Ram Dass andgot a little preachy; a little too holy for me.He'd say, "God, I'm a Jewish boy fromNewton, Massachusetts, and now I'm a holyman!" But Richard always had that twinklein his eye and that saving grace of Jewishhumour that could always bring you downto earth.IVe often compared Richard Alpertand me to Huckleberry Finn and TomSawyer. We were going down that riverhaving these adventures with, I must say,quite pure motives. We were not out to winthe Nobel prize or to make moneyMark TXvain is one of my favoriteauthors of the 19th Century. There is such aprankish quality to his wisdom. He was avery, very powerfid philosopher. AConnecticut Yankee in KingArthur's Courtand Puddin'Head Mlson with all those Utiletwists. There is a sense of pranksterismthat runs all through his writings that influencedus and guided us.AJ; Can you describe that event whenpeople tried to levitate the Pentagon?7L I was never very involved in massmeetings Uke that, although 1 think theywere useful in the sense of a demographicshow of strength. One reason things couldwasbe done by the young people in the 1960sbecause demographically there weretwice as many of them. It was the babyboom, histead of 36 million, there were 76million. So they could just call a mobilization,or call a celebration, or call a Be-In,and plenty of people would show up.And 5,000 people smoking marijuanaat a Be-hi, or 14,000 at a mobihzationagainst the war, or 500,000 at the Pentagon,was a show of presence that was very similarto the flocking of birds at tvvllighLThere's a certain survival tendency on thepart of the gene pooland I'm talking generationalgenetics herefor groups tocheck each other out to see who are we,and what are we doing, and how healthyand big are we.I respect and honour that aspect ofthe big mobilizations. But basically Ithought it was silly to try to levitate thePentagon. I remember we didn't go; 1 thinkwe had something going on at Millbrook. Ithought they were positive, but 1 was neverinvolved in them. There were many groupszooming around the country in those days:the Psychedelic Rangers, the Diggers fromSan Francisco, and Emmett Grogan, whowas a great, mischievous, and somewhathard-minded prankster. There were a lot ofpranks going on. Ken Resey is, of course,the number-one prankster.AJ: Are there any more anecdotes fromthat period before we jump ahead?TL I'llgive you one more example. AllenGinsberg came to Harvard when we werevery square professors, and he just laiddown the whole trip to us and said. Thishas been going on for centuries." He knewa lot about Buddhism, Hinduism, the beats,dharma, Rerouac, and all that; so hebecame our "coach." Allen and 1 had a dealthat we were going to turn on the mostinfluential people in New York. Allen hadthis thick address book, and he'd peer at itwith his thick lenses and say, "Come downnext weekend. I'll call Robert Lowell. OrCharles Mingus."One afternoon I flew down to NewThere was a sense of leal basichealthiness and opennessaboutwhat we were doin^.We simplycouldn't make any mistakes,because oui hearts were in theAnd we wereri^ht places.watchingandcarefully,wewould not let anybody ^ooff ontheir own. There was justsuchan aura of youthfulinnocence(althoughwe were in ourforties) and a confidence in theofgoodness human nature thatduring those days bad tripswere almost impossible.SECTION VI. I GUEIIUAAIT PIANKS: AN INTERVIEW 16}

PldCC VOUI idVOritSYork and got to Allen's tremendous, flamboyantlyimpoverished, filthy apartmentThere was something so emblematic abouthis disdain for middle-class values, whichwas very interesting for me. We took psilocybinor something with Jack Kerouac andothers. The next momlng, without anysleep and with Peter Oriovsky, we took theDUllOUOtG 11616'subway and went uptown^ ^River westside-view apartmentto the Hudsonof RobertLowell, the great Pulitzer Prize-vramingpoet, and we turned him on verycautiously,because he'd had a long history ofpsychotic episodes and manic-depressiveflights. But anyway, Allen sat vrith himwhile Peter and 1hung out with his wife.And we finished that and got him safelylanded back onto planet Earth.Then we jumped into a cab andwent over to the house of Barney Rosset,who at that time had Grove Press andEvergreen Review. Here's a classic NewYork neurotic intellectual with five psychiatristsand worry, worry, worry, and with awonderful, extremely elegant, and aestheticapartment in Greenvrich Village.And wetook extremely powerful mescaline ... itwas a very memorable, aesthetic experience.Most of the time Barney was in hisstudy worrying and complaining to AllenGinsberg that he paid psychiatrists $70 anhour to keep him from having visions likethat! itAnyway,all worked outThen it was dawn the next morningand there was snow all over New York.We leftBarney Rosset's apartment Thesnow had fallen on the garbage cans,everything was glistening, and the sun wascoming up, and it was ahnost impossible totear your eyes away from this blanket ofmagic that covered the squalor of NewYork.Finally we got back to Allen's apartmentand had another one of those philosophiclaughs, just thinking of what we'ddone in twenty-four hours. We had turnedon Jack Kerouac, and then Robert Lowell,and then the top publisher in New York. Itselves took courage and it took confidence in our-and knowledge of the yogic processto do this. And when it was all over, welooked back at what we had done, andcould hardly believe we had performedthese implausible acts.AJ: I assume that you're against spikingpeopleknowledge?giving them LSD without theirTb Oh, yeah! That's very unethical: to usesomething as powerful as that involuntarily.That's what the CL\ was doing. There's anew book out called Acid Dreams, by MartyLee, which is an annotated story of the CIAexperiments. There were hundreds ofexperiments in which they would doseunwitting people.We had one involuntary dosing atMillbrook. Someone had been keeping LSDin a sherry bottle 1 forget what the exactrationale was. No; was it a bottle, and weput sherry in it that was it but we hadhad some LSD in it before, and we thoughtthat we'd washed it outApparently what happened was: Avery famous Canadian television joumaUstwith a crew had come down to fihn us. Hewas a very large gentleman; he must haveweighed two hundred pounds and wasabout 6'2". My wife and I were sittingaround in our hving room with a bunch ofpeople watching the fire. I'd had the sherryand my wife had had some sherry too, andafter about ten minutes we looked at eachother and realized, Wow! This sherry wasloaded.And just at that minute theCanadian producer came barreling up andsaid, "Boy, this is wonderfiil sherry!" Andwe looked at each other and said, "Well, sitdown becausesorry about that, but wejust found out ourselves." And that guy hada real wing-ding of an experience.AJ: Did he relax into it at all? What washis reaction when you told him?TL: He was pretty scared, because heassumed that he had been deliberatelydosed. He was trying to call Pierre TVudeau164 TIMOTHY LEAIY CHAOS i CYIEI CULTVIE

and have the Mounties sent down to protecthim! For several hours we hung in withof the greatest pranksthat Ienjoyed was escaping fiom prison.him and saw him through it And the nextday he slept well, got up, took a shower, gotout and took a walk, and was feeling fine.And this was an experience he'd never forgetFor him it was a very powerfulexperience, because at that time AllenGinsberg was there, chanting and playingdrums, and there were a bunch of Hinduswandering around the house as well; so thewhole thing was like the worst nightmarefor an uptight Canadian to be suddenly inthis weird situation.But the next 1day went out for awalk with him, and he was fine. We cameback up to our living room and sat down.My wife said to him, "Would you Uke adrink?" and he turned white and said, "No,thanks!"That was not a prank, and 1 wouldconsider that an unfortunate event But itturned out all right I was reacting to yourquestion about dosing people.AJ: What did he think about it later? Didhe have a beneficial experience? Do youthink he was glad afterward?TL Well, yes. He felt he'd gone through anordeal, and was proud to have survived itIn general, Canadians have a lot of ballastand solidity!AJ: You used to put on these huge multimediashows; you pioneered these spectaclesand extravaganzas that almostsimulated an LSD experience.7L Well, we had been working for severalyears at Harvard and Millbrook to developa language to express the so-called "visionary"experience. So we were experimentingwith slides, anatomical designs, andcellular programs that then developed intowhat was called "psychedelic art," like theslide shows at rock concerts.We were developing libraries ofsounds and of mythic icons and so forth;onedeveloping a language of the ineffable. Onesummer, hanging around Millbrook, wedecided to have a summer school. We werenot allowed to use drugs (although peopledid on their own, I'm sure). The summerschool ended with a pageant in which weused Hermann Hesse's Steppenwolf. Thelast chapter is the Magic Theatre of theMindPrice of Admission Is Your Mind.Harry Haller, the uptight, worriedEuropean intellectual, is guided by Pablo,and he has some kind of psychedelic experience.He runs throughall these incrediblehallucinations and inner trips.So we acted them out, and therewere about two hundred people attending amasquerade party. You'd wander from onepart of the castle to another, and be "set up"as you went; people would be acting outsections of Steppenwolf.It all ended up inthe bottom of a big basement where weacted out the last scene where the herotries to hang himselfhe's gonna gothrough the Judseo-Christian guilt trip, andat the end the young woman says, "Take offthe noose." It was all done in silhouette andpantomime with the rope and the noose,and 90 percent of the people there wereprobably pretty loaded.Some producers who were presentwere so impressed by it that they said,"Let's put it on Broadway!" We broughtitdown to the East Village and then starteddoing psychedelic celebrations. They weremultimedia events vrith a tremendousamount of script and sound and lighting.This was a very innovative art form that inessence led to a lot of special effects. A lot ofpeople from Hollywood came and saw it Itwas in the afr at that time.AJ: One more question about yourdebates with G. Gordon Liddy. It almostseems like a weird prank for you to be onthe same stage with him. How did thoseshows come about?TL: We had the same agent You see,Gordon got to the White House because hewas the assistant prosecutor in DuchessCounty, near where we were living inMillbrook, and he was raiding us all thetime. He did drive us out of the county.Although he never got us for any drugs, hetook credit for our leaving. As a result of hismidnight raids on us he was brought toWashington, and this led to the midnightraids on Watergate.1 would say, as a finale to thishmnyconversation, that one of the greatestpranks that I enjoyed was escaping fromprison. 1 had to take a lot of psychologicaltests during the classification period, andmany of the tests 1 had designed myself; so1 took the tests in such a way that I was profiledas a very conforming, conventionalperson who would not possibly escape, andwho had a great interest in gardening andforestry.So they put me on as a gardener ina prison where it was easier to escape. Itwas a very acrobatic and dangerous escape,because it was under the lights of sharpshootersand so forth. 1 hit the ground andran out and got picked up by the escapecar. 1 wanted to be able to get out at least tothe highway. If they caught me after that, atleast 1 had made it that far.The feeling that 1 had made a nonviolentescape was a sense of fremendousexaltation and humour and joy. 1laughedand laughed and laughed, thinking aboutwhat the guards were doing now. Theywere going to discover my absence, andthen they'd phone Sacramento. Headswould be rolling. The bureaucracy wouldbe in a stew. This kept me laughing for twoor three weeks. I felt it had been a very successfulpiece of performance art. Providingan example, a model of how to deal withthe criminal-justice system and the policebureaucracies. Nonviolent theafre. Thatwas a . . .good prank which was neverappreciated by the law-enforcementpeopleSECTION VI. I CUEIIllAAH PIANKS: AN INTEIVIEW lis

1(6 TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS i CYltl COtTUIEeith Haring was life embodied. He glowed, sparkled,danced through our visibilities; splashed living coloursacross our pop-eyes.Was he not our graceful blonde Greek god Pan intrack shoes spraying retinal trails of rainbow rods and technicolouredcones behind him as he buzzed our minds, zooming by atninety smiles-an-hour, revving up his rpms (realities per minute) torecord speeds?Keith Haring played a vital role at a crucial time in worldhistory. He accompUshed his mission during the 1980s, a turbulentscary decade of negative pandemonium. At this time of cultural collapseand social chaos, Keith took up the traditional role of performingphilosopherhumanizing, popularizing, personalizing, illustratingthe great pagan insights of our race. He celebrated life, intoxicateddance, the jumping-jack-jill-joy of vrise children, erotic energy,daemonic confrontations.Barry BUnderman has described the nature of Keith's playas "the hallucinatory interface of biology and technology in ourincreasingly cybernetic society." Future Primeval, Barry's title for theKeith Haring Exhibition, really gets it right. Keith's art spanned thehistory of the human spirit Keith could have jumped out of a timecapsule in the paleoUthic age and started drawing on cave walls,and those people would have understood and laughed particularlythe kids. 1 showed his drawings to the Australian aborigines whoinitiated me, and they grinned and nodded their heads. Keith communicatedin the basic global icons of our race.And here we see another awesome dimension of Haring'sgenius. As we move into the information age of the 21st Century, itis clear that a global language will develop. Literacythe use of lettersto communicateis the major barrier between classes, races,nations. This new language will be iconic. It will be communicatedin digital patterns through fiber-optic lines flashed on screens andvirtual-reality eye-phone receivers. Graphics is the key to the informationworld of the future. Television passivity will be replaced bypersonal expression. Just as everyone was expected to "read andwrite" in the factory society, everyone will be expected to "receiveand graphicize" in the future. Everyone will use digital appUances tobecome a graphic artist. The graffiti impulse seen now in our innercities is an interesting forecast. And whose art has most inspired thisfuture?There is one fmal point to be made about the Dionysianpower of Keith Haring. In his last years he confronted, wrestledwith, and triumphed over the ultimate-major daemon of the humanexistence. Death.hi his legendary 1989 Rolling Stone interview, David Sheffasked Keith how having AIDS changed his life.

When youare jettinjcloseto the end of the story, youhave to start pointingall thethinjs to one thinj. That'sthe pointthat Iam at now,not knowingwhere it stopsKeith responded: "The hardest thing is just ioiowing that there's somuch more still to do. I'm a complete workahohc. I'm so scared thatbut knowing how importantsome dayI'll wake up and I won't be able to do it"David Sheff: "Do you make time for life outside of work?"it is to do it now."Keith: "You force yourself to. Otherwise 1 would just work. 1spendenough time enjoying, too. 1 have no complaints at all. Zero. In away, it's ahnost a privilege. To know. When I was a httle kid I alwaysfelt that 1 was going to die very young, in my twenties or something.So in a way I always lived my life as if I expected it 1 did everything Iwanted to. I'm stilldoing whatever I want"Here are Keith's final words in the Sheff interview: "Whenyou are getting close to the end of the story, you have to start pointingall the things to one thing. That's the point that am 1 at now, notknowing where it stops but knowing how importantit is to do it now.The whole thing is getting much more articulate. In a way it's reallyliberating.''ISECTION VI. 2 CUEIIllA All KEITH HARING: FUTURE MIMEVAl i7

literacy-thc use of letters to communicate-is the major barrier between classes, races,nations. This new lan^ua^ewill be iconic. It will be communicated in digital patternsthrough fiber-optic lines flashed on screens and virtual-reality eye-phone receivers.Graphics is the key to the information world of the future. Television willpassivitybereplaced by personal expression. lust as everyone was toexpected"read and write" inthe factory society, everyonewill be expectedto "receive and ^[raphicize"in the future.words.Now these are words. Strong words. Wise words. But stillKeith was repeating thewisdomofthe Buddhist mysticswho wrote The Tibetan Book of the Dying. There they listed thestages experienced as people face the ultimate event in their lives.Modem psychologists agree. First there is denial, then total anguish,and then, hopefully, the liberating acceptance. What is so moving isthat Keith lived out, acted out, realized these powerful emotions inhis last works.In 1987, at the time he learned he was HlV-fositive,he producedan astonishing drawing titled fVeeping Woman. This work isshockingly different from Keith's usual expressions. It conveys theanguish, the terror, that he felt and that we aU felt when we learnedof Keith's condition.A year later he was producing the most radiant paintings ofbirth and life celebrations.And two years later Keith, in collaboration with his idol andmentor, William S. Burroughs, produced the monumental piece.Apocalypse, consisting of twenty silk-screens of poetry and inspireddrawings celebrating the end of the Christian millennium and thebeginning of the new paganism.In the elegantly rendered inttx)duction to Apocalypse,Burroughs precisely outiines the virtual-reality art of the future:When art leaves the frame and when the written word leaves the pagenot merely thephysical frame and page, but the frames and pages of assigned categories-^ basicdescription of realityitself occurs; the liberal realization of art . . . Each dedicated artistattempts the impossible. Success will write Apocalypse across the sky. The artist aims for amirade, the painter wills his pictures to move off the canvas outside of the picture, and onerent in the fabric is all it takes for pandemonium to sluice through.lit TIMOTNV lEAIV CHAOS I CYIEI CULIUIE

% M aterial matters from flashy atoms to

THE COMICSpublic" to create "authorized realities."Oil, canvas, and written word are thecomicsIn the decades before television,sacred tools, monopohzed for centuries byofSpeaking"chaotics"alwaysreminds me oiRobert Williams,because hisoptical wizardryand his retinalphilosophy-lyricsand his eleganteye-catchinjscholarisms arethe clearest, mostbrilliant, down-for-real,flesh and boneexpositions of quantumdynamics, quantumneurology,and chaostheory herself.for obvious neurological reasonswerea most influential media for expressing"unauthorized" thoughts. Comics arevisual, colourful, nonverbal, unreal, fantastic,nonserious, irreverent. They appeal tojuveniles and adults seeking escape fromserious, respectable, authorized realities.IBLAME IT ALL ON FELIX THE CATLooking back, at the age of 72, 1amembarrassed to discover that my basic bioscript,down to the smallest details, wasbased on a cartoon hero who was bom, likeme, in 1920.Fehx the Cat was this cheerful,bouncy, black-on-white figure whosemouth emitted musical notes. He whistledthrough life.In his hand he often carried a cigaretteand a champagne glass. This was durmgProhibitionso Happy the Cat was publiclyindulging in an illegal drug.Fehx was continually getting intoscrapes, running up against "authorizedreahties" headlined in the other grey-printpages of the newspaper. At these moments,an electric bulb would hght up over thecat's head, and he would "think" himselfout of the scrape.COMICS AND OIL PAINTINGAlthough his work emerged in thecounterculture underground press in the1960s and 1970s, Williams considers himselfa painter rather than a cartoonist 1 do2.Please do not be confused by theappearance of comic-book, kid-stuff prankishness.Williams typically wraps his pamtingswith precise, sophisticated, scientificexplanations.He has not been accepted by theserious East-coast art establishment forobvious reasons. Oil paintmgs from Titianto Warhol have traditionally been used to"generalprogram the eyeballs and brains of thepopes, kings, authorities, to program authorizedrealities. Now here comes RobertWilliams, scrawling graffiti on the VaticanCeilings and the Oval Offices of our minds."general public"Williams's paintings disturb thebut they delight andinspire the "specific public," those millionswho enjoy right-brain ftizzy chaotics andhunger for "unauthorized realities."His prefaces to Low Brow Art andFisualAddiction are brilUant literary events.Like his paintings, Williams's writings aremultileveled. He blends biting satire, comicwit, blazing hbertarian bravado with a profoundunderstanding of the psychology ofvisual-optical perception.CHAOS ENGINEER ANDUNAUTHORIZED REALITYDESIGNERLike Geiger, the spooky Swiss wizard,Williams combines the mechanicalwith the bodily The most banal, ordinaryfamiliar objects merge, morph, blend, meltinto disordered heaps of garish, technicolouredgarage-sale piles of thoughts,icons, images.Williams has mastered the jumpy,mind-jamming art of mixing left-brainfocusedrealisms with the jumbled, unfocusedphantasms of the right brain. Heoverwhelms us, dizzies us by jumping ourfocus from figure to ground.A Robert WiUiams canvas explodeswith dozens of eye-grabbing images,objects, events rendered in irresistiblescreams of colour.Any comments about Robert shouldpay tribute to his wife, Suzanne, who isbeautiful, elegant, witty, and a brilliantdesigner of chromatic geometric paintings.I consider hun to be one the bestinformed, effective communicatorsaround.170 TIMOTHY LEAIY CHAOS i CYIEI CULTURE

ROBERT WILLIAMSA Robeit Williams canvas explodeswith dozens of eye-^iabbin^ images,objects,events lendeied iniiiesistible screams of colour.SECTION VI. 3 CIIEilLl* AIT lOIEIT WILLIAMS: POWER TO THE MPIL 171

Vl.i.On William S.Burroughs's Iiiteiizone>^BHH||^HHMMM|^^S III '"''"^ ^- Burroughs is one of Joyce and Pynchon and Burroughs flssion,with laser'^^B^K^^^^Sm^K^^' I^B precision, the grammatical struc-^^vWi^^iU^^S^T^S" Wlf three 20th-centurytures and semantic literary machinery of the old,^^^^wVlK^^'^^j kV^classiclanguage of Shakespeare.B vMl^^K^ j^' \^^^l 9

een charted by mystics throughout history.Since 1938 Burroughs has operatedas a visionary archaeologist; as an alienated,deep-cover espionage agent reportmgabout the human condition as observedfrom the seamy, gritty, sordid underworldof port tovms, exile colonies, border crossings,and cultural black-market interzones.Tangier. Times Square. Mexico City.Panama City.The Left Bank. The Amazonjungle. Etc.Burroughs describes the visionarylandscapes, the detailed sociologies ofimaginary tribes, hallucinatory cities, science-phantasyshowers of steaming hot silversperm sprayed by Venusian transvestiteswith platinum skin. While 'IheJordanian soldier, convicted of selling amap of the barracks privy to Jewish agents,hanged in the marketplace of Amman,crawls up onto the gallows poop-deck tohoist the Black Wind Sock of the InsectThisL"And so forth.BillBurroughs is a master journalistbecause he describes what is really happeningin personal terms about specificpeople. Danny the junkie car wiper. Thepimps and hustlers in the Socco Chico.Heroin cures at Benchimal Hospital. TheInterzone Cafe, reeking of rotting, aborted,larval archetypes. Etc.The book titles tell the storyJunkie, Queer, Naked Lunch, Soft Machine,The Ticket That Exploded, Nova Express,The Wild Boys, Blade Runner And the magnificentfinal trilogy about apocalypse-death-immortality: Cities of the Red Night,The Place ofDead Roads, The WesternLands.Interzone is a collection of dustyfragments and lost manuscripts that wererediscovered in the archives of AllenGinsberg in 1984. It has been beautifullyedited and introduced by JamesGrauerholz. The story? A savage satire. Adour, sour, grim, cynical exposure of officialhypocrisy, puritanical repression, religiousauthoritarianism. Interzone providesa cool, dry, jaded, semi-tender glance at thesocial rejects, the dispossessed, the outcastsof the underworlds. A weary cheer forhumanity in all its messy forms.Burroughs has invented a postliteratelanguage, a new medium in whichwords become clouds or clumps or clustersof meaning sprayed relentlessly at the readerlike the explosive technicolour jungle ofneon signs in Tokyo's Roppongi districtBurroughs paints with words. He slashes atthe page with expressionist, surrealisticword-strokes and verbal shotgun blasts.Like pictures in a gallery, Burroughs's paragraphsneed not be scanned in linear order.His work has been called "hologramic" or"fractal," in that any paragraph might containcompressed sequences that unfold andrecycle in later versions.Above all, Burroughs's work ishumourous. He sees through the tinseljumble of raw sweat details to the eternalcomic strips of life. If any.BillBurroughs is a very hmny man,and one of America's greatest artists.lust as the equationsof the thiee^leat German philosopheisEinstein, Heisenbei^,and Planckreduced Newton's laws to localordinances and dissolved solid,molecular-atomic matter intodusters-waves of electronicinformation, so did loyceandPynchon and Burroughs fission,with laser precision,thestructuresgrammaticalandsemantic machineryof the old,classic lan^ua^eof Shakespeare.SECTION VI. 4 CUEIIllA UT ON WIUIAM S. lUIIOUCHS'S INTERZONE 173

Since1984 William Gibson hassplashed across our screens with fourflashy, sexy, 21st-century cybertexts.Gibson's first novel,Neuromancer, swept the sdence-fictionawards and defined the cyberspacegame. He imagined digital cycology andgave names, roles, rules, rituals, and geographicallabels to those big, new, scary,abstract algorithms that are changing ourgallery owners, officials and members of the Writers Guild who typicallystake out, colonize, and exploit a classor region or genre. The mystery story. Theromance. The biography. The historicalnovel. The Southern novel. Poetry. TheJewish novel. Science fiction.literary factory assembly lines. Thehighly profitable Book-of-the-Month currentlyowned by Time-Life, bic. best-sellerlists. Crown and Waldenbook chains. ThePulitzer Prize! The Nobel Prize! Newton,Darwin, and the engineer scientologists ofthe 19th Century sought to impose law andorder upon a chaotic universe. So did theauthoring world.virtual realities. The name was "cyberpunk."The role was quark. The new digitalterrain the "matrix," aka cyberspace,aka Cyberia.Gibson writes like a cyber-reggaemusician, translating implausible, impersonal,unpopular, indecipherable equationsinto hip human terms. He turnsquantum physics into Electric Ladyland!PERFORMING PSYCHOLOGYAnd here comes the postindustrialelectronicage. Quantum linguistics.Einstein, Heisenberg, Planck, Bohr, Fredkinfaxed us the scary news. Who among uscould handle it? It seems that the universe,from galaxy to atom, is made up of bits ofvery highly miniaturized units of data.These singular bit-izens of the galaxy arecalled quarks. This fifteen-billion-year-oldinformation array is literaDy an electronictelecommunication show. The universe is abunch of digital programs running, running,PERFORMING PHILOSOPHYThe literature and art of any culture perfoims (popularizes)the science and philosophy of that epoch. For one example: The scienceof feudalism is theology. Therefore the art, literature, architecture,and music of the Cat Stevens cross-and-crescent crowd celebratesthe religious myths and the luxurious lifestyle of the nobility,and the stem sword-and-dagger symbols wielded by the selfappointedspecial agents of God.running. There are no "laws." And no"orders." Evolution isprogrammed by algorithms that use the adjacentgeometry of cellular automata recursion. The universe is evolvingevery second with or without you or me.Here come the quarks!There goes the von Neumann neighbourhood!It gets worse! Realities are determined by whoever determinesthem. The elements of the universe are digital, electronic,linguistic. Matter and energy are transitory hardware constructions.(Plato and Buddha, it turns out, were early cyberpunks.)The human brain ishereby and henceforth owned andPERFORMING INDUSTRIAL SCIENTOLOGYA second example: The science of the industrial ageinvolves Newtonian law and order and the equally dogmatic, machoinjunctions of genetic competition (unnatural selection) hallucinatedby Darwin. The art/literature/music of this factory culture isinstitutionalized, socialized, formalized. Like contemporary science,it is obsessed with size, quantity, and replicability.Please meet the cast of characters; orchestra directors, artoperated by an individual. It is equipped with a hundred billionmicro-info-centers called neurons, and is a miniaturized digital representationof the galaxy, which isequipped with a hundred billionmini-info-centers called stars. The universe isequipped with (naturally)a hundred billion mega-info-centers called galaxies.Let us not be confused by outmoded tech-mech, latch-jockey,engineer-hardware Newtonian bullshit hi the feudal and industrialages, size was everything. Bigger was better. Danvin was allabout big numbers. Viral genetics. Spread that sperm, Mr. Macho174 TIMOTNY lEAlY CHAOS I CYIEI CUIIUIE

Male! Infect every dumb egg you can bang your penetration stingerinto. Replicate yourself. More is better.Good news, Ladies! In the info-world, smaller is beautiful.Smaller is more. Because it means singularity. Selectivity.Miniaturization-compaction means "power to the individual." Thatnoisy, polluting, factory-made mass-matter-energy-momentum thatthe male-order crowd enjoys?It works off static hardware constructedby robotic Newtonian laws governing gravity (!), matterlumbering along at a snail pace of c, the speed of light Matter isfrozen boulders of information. Matter is thinking by committee.Start dissolving matter, and you free individual intelligence."Individual intelligence" is a redundancy, just like "HarvardSquare." Artificial intelligence is an oxymoron. The alchemistsknew this. Solve et coagulare. Warm itup. Loosen it up, and you freethe units of intelligence (quarks). Quarks are programmedto linkup with other individual data-pax. This is called "jacking in."Digital-information cloud constellations are what count inHendrix tapes, interpersonal computers, and the enigmatic smile onyour lover's face at the moment of orgasm.Q. Who can explain these mysterious digital programs?Who can read us young, wanna-be quari(s nice bedtimestories to make us feel secure about loosening up? Whocan make us feel comfortable with the chaotic scienceof our wild times? Who can make us laugh at thestructures crumbling before our eyes in Einstein smilesbecause relativityand the fractal natures of the runningprograms are always funny? (Why? Because theysurprise us.) Who will get us gigglinglike shockedschoolkids at the facts of life? Who will tickle us withaccurate disorder?A. TTje artists-poets-mus/dans-stofytellers. The popularizersof quantum linguistics.the info-economics of nature. A quarkis ahnost pure information. Ithas only one hardware function: "off-on." A quark probably has asmuch cyberpower as an atom. Don't be so impressed by the giganticatom, spinning around with heavy nucleus and myriads of planetaryelectrons and space debris. The average atom is the vehicle navigatedand programmed by quarks. This is not to depreciate the atom,an info-center that has as much cyberpower as a neuron, which, inturn, has as much cyberpower as a galaxy.E = nu^ is an engineering blueprint The basic equation isI=mc^, where "/"am information. Granmiatically speaking, thequark should be thought of as first person singular. A single neuronhas more information power than a sun! The exploding star is justnoisy hardware! Your brain has more information crammed into itthan all the stars in the galaxy. A brick-size cram of digital informationis more powerful than Mount EverestHere's a pop version of this principle: an invisible packet ofDNA has enough algorithms to grow you an Amazon rain forest!James Joyce (who coined the word "quark") taught us elementaryword processing and demonstrated how to atomize themolecules of grammar. Think of Joyce as a primitive, predigitalvisionary like Alan 'Ruing. William S. Burroughs was the nextalchemical writer to slash the word line, dissolve the chains of staticgrammatical form, cut up pages of prose, free the squirming atomicwords, and let them reassemble in random disorder.Gibson writes like a cybei-ie^^ae musician,translating implausible, impersonal, unpopular,indecipherable equations into hip human terms.This quantum reality is unbearably lightstuff for a cultureof God-fearing, up-tight farmers and factory engineers. This simpleminimalist mathematique of apparent disorder seems to offer nomercy to the unprepared. None!fcWell, fuck it' What self-respecting singularity, quark, orneuron wants mercy, anyway? And, for that matter, who are theseself-appointed feudal judges and industrial managers who want toconvict a bram-carrying human, at birth, of indescribablesins/crimes and claim for themselves the power to give mercy? Givemercy to a quark? To a brain? To a galaxy? To a strand of DNA?We are stuck with these jolly Sartrean, Foucault, Fredkinalgorithms that have been churning out radio and television signalsfor fifteen billion years and the meter still running. The realitiesinclude Koran, Bible, Talmud, in addition to peacock feathers, passionflowers,aphrodisiac resins of certain aesthetic vegetables, JimiBurroughs and his pal Brion Gysin knew how the algorithmsunfolded. IF you free the individual info-units, THEN theywill combine in the natural way (i.e., as programmed). Burroughswas the first author to use scientific concepts in his artno accident,perhaps, since his grandfather and namesake invented thefirst successfiilly marketed mechanical computer.Thomas Pynchon was the greatest and last of the "quantumUnguists." (We do not use the nervous term "science fiction" todescribe the quantum-science writers.) Classical science fiction wastech-mech fantasy, a serious attempt to impose engineering law andorder on the future. Asimov, Heinlein, Lucas, and their ilk wereloyal company men usmg art in a last attempt to impose mechanicalorder on the postmechanical future. The ultimate writer of theSECTION VI. S (UEIILIA AIT WILLIAM GIISON: 9UAIK OF THE DECADE 175

Gibson has produced nothingless than the underlying myth,thecore legend,oi the next stajeof human evolution. He isperforming the philosophicfunction that Dante did for feudalismand that Melville, Tolstoy, Mann, and Lawrence did for theindustrial aje.industrial age was L. Ron Hubbard. His factory-writtin-can booiis, engineered by"Hubbard, Inc.," still sell millions of copies.Timing is everything in the infoworld.After fifteen billion years of evolution,Gibson hit that small window, bom between1946-64 in North America, right on target!As a member of the first cybernetic (television)generation, he was not the only availablebrain-carrying info-unit programmed toIlip on." The program had readied a miUionor so baby-boom quarks with the sameif/then algorithms.Let me suggest some of the techniquesused by WiUiam Gibson to illustrate/personalizequantum psychology(cycology).First we note that all of Gibson's vmtings, like those ofPynchon and Burroughs, humanize high technology. His cybertechcharacters are street-smart inhabitants of countercultures. DigitalappUances and space-tech gadgets jam the landscapes throughwhich his characters move.His anti-heroesCase, Bobby Newmark [sic], BobbyQuines, Johnny Mnemonic, Fox's partner in New Rose Hotel, are"cyberpunks." They are human versions of the basic element of thequantum universe. They are quarks. Prime numbers dividedthemselves and 1.byQuarks are loners. Free agents. Quarks have minimal hardwarepower in the material worid. They have httle mterest in, andno loyalty to, institutions.They are alien-ates. Outsiders. Dropouts.Their function is to activate themselves by "turning on" to psyberspacewithin and to be ready to "tune in" 0ack in) to cyberspace onthe other side of the screen.Quarks are free-radical individuals who flip "in" to receivethe algorithmic instruction from their neurons and then flip "out" toCybertown. When they are operating "in" psyberspace or operating"out" in cyberspace, they are pilots navigating the oceans of digitalCyberpunks are bored with "hardreaUty." They are happiest when operatingin the inner or outer matrix.Dixie Flathne is the code-cowboywhose wetware-brain was scrubbed andwhose ROM version coached Case throughhis epic adventures. As his reward, hewished only to be left alone in the matrixwith no mvolvement in the hard world.Gibson's defmition of women in thecybernetic age also deserves admiringscrutiny. Unlike his males, his female charactersare strong, independent, effective,heroic, and powerfully attractive. They areshaman ladies, sophisticated wizards, playful,humorous, hip diviners. Gibson'swomen have more material power, worldlyknow-how, poUtical juice, although they rarely "jack m" with"trodes." They seem more at home in the matrix. It's as though thewomen are out there in Cyberia already, watchingwith patronizingfondnessthe klutzy guys scrambUng around in both the materialand the digital worids.Nor can we ignore the global, international interracialnature of his casting. We note his slick mixture of voodoo power,oriental wit, and American innocence. He wisely bases his 21stcenturycyberculture on pre-Christian, premdustrial pagan, feminine,france cultures. His use of voodoo foundations is inspired.Gibson has produced nothing less than the underlymgmyth, the core legend, of the next stageof human evolution. He isperforming the philosophic function that Dante did for feudahsmand that Melville, Tolstoy, Mann, and Lawrence did for the industrialage.Gibson gives us the cast of characters and the landscapes ofthe immediate ftiture. Other, more influential performing Homericphilosophers may come along to script, direct, and screen ourfiitures, but they will consciously and gratefully build on the foundationsgiven us by Bill Gibson.information.I7 TIMOTNY lEAlY CHAOS ( CVIEI CIILIUIE

tf*^^^^ANDY FRITHMM*vi.iHow TO Publish Heresy inMainline PublicationsOheFrench semiotix, MichelFoucault, has demonstrated thatthose who control the thoughtengines(i.e., the mass media) controlthe minds of the people. The Tien AnMen students in China learned how to usetelevision to create history from Americandissidents of the 1960s. The geriatric Dengclique learned to deal with student revoltsby watching Nixon's Kent State massacreon television.Like many outsiders, have1become fascinated by the manufacture of"news" by those who control our press andtelevision. Therefore, for the last few years 1have experimented with methods by whichthe lone individual can insert irreverent,dissident, and libertarian perspectives intothe information assembly lines.For example, the editorial pages ofnewspapers publish opinion pieces by well-known columnists. These syndicated punditsare selected to give the illusion of avariety of viewpoints, but in reality suchcolumns cover only a narrow spectrumbetween the extreme right wing of theCIA-Pentagon fan club (Safu-e, WillBuckley, etc.) and the bland, tame platitudesof the loyal "liberal" opposition.Ifsomebody like meor Alexander Cockbumor Noam Chomsky or even Gore Vidalwere to submit a truly dissident essay to theI have a high rate of successmamstream press, no matter how convincingthe facts and witheringly brilliant thewhen I write under penlogic, there is little chance that it would be names, particularlyif thepubUshed.social-ethnic flavor of the"Letters to the Editor" is the onlysection of the paper where far-out opinionsname fits the content.are expressed. The publicity wings of thevarious politicaland religious groups knowthis, and tend to flood the editorial officeswith their boiler-plate propaganda.SECTION VI. i CIIEtltLA AH HOW TO PUIIISH HERESY IH MAINLINE PUIIICATIONS 177

The most effective info-iaidtechnique is to avoid statingdissident opinions openly.Simply adoptthe cuiientestablishment line. Select themost outrageous, flamboyantExtreme fascist opinions, which"respectable" columnists dare not mention,can be published this way; and sometimeseven libertarian or truly heretical viewscan also creep into print this way.In the last ten years1 have writtenhundreds of letters to the Los AngelesTimes, the Los Angeles Herald Examiner,srA Los Angeles Weekly. Letters signed withmy own name usually vanish dovm thememory hole and do not appear in printHowever, 1 have a high rate of successwhen I write under pen names, particularlyif the social-ethnic flavor of the name fitsthe content. For example,1 invented thename of Mary Agnes O'Brien, to questionthe position of Mother Teresa and the popeon birth control. I invented I. J. Ratz, aretired rabbi, to criticize Zionist extremism.Zachary Chase was a junior-high-schoolstudent who was disturbed by the bloodbathmentality revealed in the many quotesfrom President Reagan.The most effective info-raid techniqueis to avoid stating dissident opinionsopenly Simply adopt the current establishmentline. Select the most outrageous,flamboyant aspect of the hard-line position.Exaggerate it a bit (in the manner ofVoltaire), and "defend" it in the passionatejargon of the true beUever. Satire teachesthose deaf to logic and evidence.Here, for example,is a letter thataddresses the recent Bush-generated hysteriaabout the American flag-burningepisode.of the hard-lineaspectitposition. Exa^^eratea bitDearEdi(in the manner of Voltaire),and "defend" it in theofpassionate Jargonthe truebeliever. Satire teaches thosedeaf to lo^icand evidence.Even flaming liberals agree that scrawling anti-American or anti-religious graffition theWashington Monument should not be constitutionally protected. Nonetheless, some cardcarryingACLU lawyers apparently convinced the Supreme Court that a flag bought andpaid for by some individual mental ispatient not a national monument.Surely, now other self-appointed civil-liberties will lawyers defend the more insidiouscase of "doset aeeps" who will undoubtedly continue to burn flags in the privacy of theirown homes, thus evading detection and prosecution even if Bush's proposed amendmentis passed. Can not our schools and police educate children to turn in such parents?In this current dimate of global disrespect for authority and for sacred symbols, shouldnot the right to possess, transport, and sell sacred symbols like the flag, the BlessedSacrament, guns, and Bibles be resbicted to patriotic and God-fearing citizens whose loyaltiesare beyond suspidon and who can be counted on not to desecrate in public or in private?For example, suppose you saw a Jesse Jackson follower like Willie Norton swaggeringdown the street with an American flagin his hand, or a Dukakis follower with a Bible in hishand. Wouldn't this make you wonder uneasily what people like that might do with thesesacred relics when nobody b watching?Mary Agnes O'BrienReaders are encouraged to experiment with this American method of samizdat, info-guerilla tactics.i7 TIMOTIY lEAlY CHAOS i (VIEI CUITUIE

Reproduce: to generate offspring by sexual or asexual union; toproduce again or renew; to recreate.Authentic: Entitled to acceptancebecause of agreement with knownfact or experience, reliable, trustworthy. For example, anauthentic portrayalof the past, present,or future.vim REPRODycEi AoiHfNiic: The Wizardry of David ByrneReproduced Authentic is a magnificentlybound art book containing fivepaintings by David Byrne and four other"artists that were converted to 8V2 x 1 1images transmitted from New York toTokyo via telephone lineby facsimile.They were exhibited at Galerie Via Eight,a show curated by Joseph Kusuth.Iconsider this apparent oxymoron,"Reproduced Authentic," to be the mostfascinating issue confrontingus as wemove from the solid, possessive materialismof the feudal-industrialsocieties tothe relativity-recreativity of the electronicstage.Now that Newton's laws have becomelocalordinances, clunky, static art treasuresof wood, marble, canvas, and steelbecome crumbling curiosities, their valueinsanely inflatedby well-marketed "rarity."These archaeological antiques arehuckstered at Sotheby auctions,guardedby armed guards in vault-like galleries, orin the mansions of wealthy collectors.Thus the wretched caste-class possessivenessof feudal and industrial culturesthat prized "rarity." Thus the $80 millionmarket for canvases that the unauthenticpainter Van Goghcould not "transmit" fora 5-franc meal at the local bistro.To the feudal aristocrat as well as theManhattan art critic, "authentic" means a"rare original":a commodity traded bygallery merchants and monopolized byowners. The politics of solid-state aestheticsis authoritarian and one way. There arethe owner-producers. And there are thegawkers.TRANSMISSIBILITYREPLACES RARITYAccording to the German philosopher,Walter Benjamin, "The authenticity of ais thing the essence of all that is transmissiblefrom itsbeginning ranging from itssubstantive duration ... to the historywhich it has experienced. Rarity. . . nowis a . . . mask of art's potentialfor meaning.. and no .longer constitutes the criterionof authenticity. . . Art's meaningthen becomes socially (and politically)formed by the living."These liberating, egalitarian notions of"reproduced authentic" and transmissibilityare the application of quantum-fielddynamics and Einsteinian relativity andinterpersonal psychology to humanistelectronic communication.The implications are profound andtimely. The politicsare interactive. TheDavidByrneis a memberof a small group ofilluminati who performthe important role ofnavigating our future.Multimedia wizards whoexperiment with newforms of reproducingand transmitting. Peoplewho perform philosophy,ifyou will.SECTION VI. 7CUEIILIA ART lEriODUCED AUTHENTIC: THE WIZAtDRY OF DAVIO lYRNE 179

What is "authentic" is notthe possessed object but theever-changing network, theentangled field of electronicinteractions through whichthe essence-icon is continuallyre-created andre-animated.passive consumers become active agentswho receive electronic patterns on theirscreens, disks, fax machines, and thentransform . . . transmit . . . re-create . . .re-animate.What is "authentic" is not the possessedobject but the ever-changing networl

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With television and movies andlecoids bein^ disseminated allovei the ^lobe, youhave instantaccess to almost anything,anywhere.But it's out ofcontext-free-floating. People inother of the parts world-India,South America, Russia-haveaccess to whatever we're doin^.They can play around with it,misinterpret it, or reinterpretit.and we're free to do the same.It's a partof the a^e we live in.There's that kind ofcommunication-even thoughit's not alwaysdirect.TIMOTHY LEARY: I mention you in everylecture I give, because you represent the21st-century concept of internationalglobalcoming together through electronics.How did you get into that?DAVID BYRNE: With television and moviesand records being disseminated all over theglobe, you have instant access to ahnostanything, anywhere. But it's out of contextthe worldfree-floating. People in other parts ofIndia, South America, Russiahaveaccess to whatever we're doing. Theycan play around vrith it, misinterpret it, orreinterpret il,and we're free to do thesame. It's a part of the age we live in.There's that kind of communicationthough it's not always directTL The young Japanese particularly.Read those Tokyo youth magazines!They pick up on everything. RollingStone is like a Uttle village pubUcationcompared to Japanese mags.DB: They're very cathoUc in that sense.evenTL: What's your unage in the global newbreedculture? How are you seen mBrazil, for mstance?DB: I'm seen as a musician whom somepeople have heard of not a lot who hasan appreciation of what Brazilians aredoing. Sometimes it's confusing for them,because some of the things I like are notalways what their critics Uke.on Luaka BopFor instance, some of the recordsUke music from theNortheast, and even some of the Sambastuffis considered by the middle andupper class and inteUigentsia to be lowerclassmusic. Like Ustening to country andwestern or rap here. They're surprised thatthis "sophisticated" guy from New Yorklikes lower-class music instead of theirfine-art music.But sometimes it makes tiiem lookagam at their own culhu* and appreciatewhat tiiey'd ignored. Much in the same waythat die BeaUes, RoUing Stones, and EricMuddyClapton made young Americans look atWaters and Howling Wolf I'm notdoing it intentionally, but it has that effectTL What music do you Usten to? Whoare your favorite musicians now?DB: The last Pubhc Enemy record was justamazinga dense collage with a lot of realphilosophy 1 listened to die last Neil Youngrecord. 1 have some records from Japanesegroups, and Brazilian and Cuban stuff allthe sUiff we've been putting out on thelabel.TL Tell us about Luaka Bop.DB: 1put together a compilation of songsby important Brazihan artists a couple ofyears ago, and afterward 1 itthought couldbe an ongoing tiling. Ifigured Uiat I mightas well have an umbrella mechanism sodiat people might see tiie label and check itout It was a practical tilingin Uiat way.We're now slowly getting into a greaterrange of tilings. In tiie fiiture we're going torelease soundti-acks for Indian movies, anOkinawan pop group, and a duo fromEngland. That will be one of our fewreleases in Enghsh.TL Marshall McLuhan would be veryhappy with that globalization. Whatabout your symphony, The Forest?DB: It was originally done for a RobertWilson piece. The idea was dial we'd taketiie same storytiieGilgamesh legend.He'd interpretit for stage and I'd do it as afihn. We'd use my music. The hope wasUiat we'd present tiiem in die same cityatdie same time. So you could see two vastiydifferent interpretations of a reinterpretedancient legend.1 found it's die oldest storywe know. We updatedit to tiie industiialrevolution in Europe.TL Cosmology and immortality.DB: h was written in die fu^t cities everbuilt itOddly enough, deals widi tiie samequestions diat came up during die industiialrevolution and persist today when citiesand indushy expand at a phenomenal rate.llz TIMOTNY lEAlY CHAOS I (YIEI CUlTttlE

It deals with what it means to be civilizedversus natural. So it has a current resonance,although it's as old as you can get.TL: The older I get, the more I see everythmgui stages. I start with the tribe andmove through the feudal, Gilgamesh, theindustrial ... But what's impressed meabout your music is that regardless of thesettmg, there's always the African bodyThe Africans who wereforcibly brought here havecolonized us with their music,with their sensibility andrhythm. They've colonizedtheir oppressors.the samurai, identify with your enemy.Become one with your enemy, understandabout an African religion that's been theresince slavery times. It's mutated andevolved over the years to the extent thatnow it could be called an Afro-Brazilianreligion there's a lot of African elements.The ceremonies, the rituals consist of a lotof drumming, people occasionally go intotrance, offerings are made, altars aremade ... the occasional sacrifice . . . It's anbeat.it, or you won't be able to fmd your way outecstatic religionit feels good.DB: It's part of our culture now. It's somethingwe've been inundated vrith. TheAfricans who were forcibly brought herehave colonized us with their music, withtheir sensibiUty and rhythm. They've colonizedtheir oppressors.Tb Michael Ventura, who explains howVoudoun came from Alnca, says thesame thing. I wrote an article aboutSouthern vegetableswe colonials gomgmto Southern cultures and grabbmgtheir sugar, coffee, and bananas. Theindustrial people arrive, build factories,and then they become countercolonizedby the music, the food, and the psychoactivevegetables. Ithappened to theBritish m India.DB: In a subtle way it changes people'sways of thinking; it increases the possibilitiesfor what they could think and feel. Andthey're not always aware of what's happeningto them.TL I see the industrial age as a stagevery tacky, messy, awkward stage ofhuman evolution. We had to have thesmoky factories, and we must maturebeyond them. I was very touched by yourcomments about The Forest. You weretrying to acknowledge the romance andthe grandeur of the factory civiUzationeven thoughit was fucking everythingup.DB: My instinctual reaction is that this stuffsucks. It's created the mess that we're in.But you're never going to find your way outof the mess unless you can somehow, likeaof the maze.TL The Soviet Union is a great teacherabout the horrors of firepower andmachuie tech. You see the smog andthose grizzled old miners commg out ofthe deep, sooty mines with then- facesblack. On the other hand, there was agrandeur to it, and you can't cut out themdustrial side of our nature, because ithas brought us to this room where wecan use machines to record our conversation.That's somethmg that I find interestmgin Japan, which is the perfectmachine society. There's not much pollutiontherestreet.you never see any filth on theDB: No, it's cleaned up pretty quickly. Youget scolded for tossing a can out your carwindow. I've seen people get scolded fornot washing their car! It's a matter of face.TL And nothingis old there. I didn't seeone car that was more than four yearsold or with a dent in it.DB: That's taking LA. one step further.TL I spent some time today watchingyour video Tfe4^.DB: It's about an Afro-Brazilian religioncalled Candomble. "He Ayie" in Yoruba, anAfrican language, roughly translates as thehouse oflife or the realm that we live in.TL The biosphere I . . .DB: Yeah, the dimension that we live inrather than other existing dimensions. Itwas done in Bahia, in the city of Salvador,on the coast of northeastern Brazil. It'sTL IVe never seen so many dignified,happy human bemgs in any place at anytime. For over mnety minutes Uie screenis filled wiUi Uiese stately older blackwomen . . .DB: It'svery joyous and regal. When thedrums and dancing kick in, it's like a reallyhot rock or rhythm-and-blues show. Whenthe music hits that level where everybodytunes into it, it's the same kind of feeling.TL That's what religion should be. Butit's not all joyous. At times Uiere's a sternnessasphinx-like trance to it.DB: It deals with acknowledging and payinghomage to the natural forces. Some ofthose are deadly, some are joyous, someare dangerous, and some are life giving.That's the flux of nature, and Candombleacknowledges the entire dynamic.TL You also said Uiat Uie aim of Uieseceremonies is to bring Uie Orixasdeities who serve as intermediariesbetween mortals and Uie supreme forceof nature. Tell us about that.DB: When the vibe is right somebody getspossessed by one of the Gods. There's apantheon of Gods like in ancient Greece orBome. The God is said to be there in theroom, in the body, so you can have a conversationwith him, or dance with him. Godisn't up there unreachable, untouchable.It'ssomething that can come right downinto the room with you. You can dance withGod or ask direct questions.TL The great Uiing about Uie GreekGods was Uiat Uiey had human qualities.SfCIION VI. I GUtmiA UT CONVEISATION WITH DAVID lYINE 183

DB: These as well. They can be sexy, jealous,vain, loving, whateverall the attributesof people.Anarchic Adjustments. The front reads"Ecstasy," and on one arm it reads "EgosIn, Egos Out."But you'renever jfoinjto find your wayout oftlie mess unless youcansomehow, like thesamurai, identifywithyour enemy.Become onewith your enemy,understand it, or youwon't be able to findout ofyour waythe maze.TL: William Gibson has written aboutVoudoun. Many of his Voudoun peopletalk about the human being as a horse,and how the God comes down and ridesthe human being.DB: That's the Haitian metaphorhorse. It's the same idea.theTL: The healer, the warrior, the motherbubblmgone after another these archetypesof characters or natural forcesbasichuman situations, roles . . .DB: The nurturing mother or the warriorman or woman, the sexy coquette . . .TL The seductive female warriorYarzan. I became confused when thatthat'sman dressed as a Catholic priest rantedabout false prophets.DB: The Airican religion is periodicallybeing persecuted by the Catholic Church,by the Protestant Church, by the government.They go through waves of being recognizedand persecuted and going undergroundand coming back up again andbeing recognized and pushed down again.TL: I know the cycle well.DB: So that was a scene from a fictionalfilm there dramatizing persecution byorthodox religion.TU You wrote it m .. .DB: It was something1 found in a Brazilianfihn. It was an example of recent persecution;so I threw it in.TU That's a very powerful moment, becauseit wasnt orchestrated. It wasauthentic, as your friend here would say.(Points to a copy of Reproduced Authentic./Would you comment on this book?DB: An artist named Joseph Kusuth organizedit He's most well-known for art thatlooks like your shirt.TU [Displays shirL] It'sdesigned byDB: Joseph Kusuth would have a definitionof a word and just frame that He invitedme to be part of this exhibition in Japanwhere the idea was to create art with a faxmachine. I did something equivalent to theseven deadly sins. It didn't exist IcoUagedit,sandwiched it in the fax machine, and itcame out the other end. They took the faxand blew itup to the size of a painting.When it was transmitted, rather thanreceiving it on paper, they received it onacetate. The acetate became a photo negative.They have fax machines that canreceive other materials, and then they canblow itup to any size.TU You say you didn't want to be a scientistbecause you liked the graffiti in theart department better. If you had been ascientist what would you have been?DB: At the time I was attracted to pure sciencephysicswhereyou could speculateand be creative. It's equivalent to being anartist. Ifyou get the chance, and the cardsfall right, there's no difference. The intellectualplay and spirit are the same.TU Nature is that wayit's basicallyplayful. Murray Gell-Mann, who is one ofAmerica's greatest quantum physicists,used the word "quark" to describe thebasic element from a funny line fromJames Joyce, "three quarks from MusterMark."DB: I had a math teacher in high schoolwho included Lewis Carroll and Alice inWonderland in his higher math studies. Ithought, "This guy knows what he's doing."TU Dodgson, the fellow who wrote it,knew what he was doing. That metaphoro{ through the lookingglass on the otherside of the screen. Talk about yourYoruba Gods and Goddesses. Talk aboutYarzan and Shango. Alice is the Goddessof the electronic age.'4 TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS i (VIEI CIILIUIE

v3.

VIIJ.Common-Sense Alternatives to Involuntary Deathco-iiiiifEN 'mi'm 'immiiDeath is the ultimate negative patienthealth outcome.William L. Roper, Director,Health Care Financing Administration(which administers Medicare)est human beings face death with an "attitude" of helplessness, either resigned orfearful. Neither of these submissive, uninformed "angles of approach" to the mostcrucial event of one's life can be ennobling.Today, there are many practical options and methods available for navigating thedying process. Passivity, failure to learn about them, might be the ultimate irretrievable blunder.Pascal's famous no-lose wager about the existence of God translates into modern life as ano-risk gamble on the prowess of technology.For millennia the fear of death hasdepreciated individual confidence andincreased dependence on authority.Thie, the loyal members of a familialor racial gene pool can take pride in thesuccesses and survival tenacity of their kinship.For example, around the year 1600, atthe height of the obedient, feudal stage, theChinese philosopher, Li Zhi, wrote arevealing essay outlining "the five ways todie":1. death for a worthy cause,2. death in battle,3. death as a martyr,4. death as a loyal minister, unjustlyattacked,5.premature death after finishingsome good piece of work.Thus we see that the aim of the"good (G. Gordon Liddy) life" was one ofsubmission to authority. If yourlife wasdedicated to serving the gene pool, then,logically, your death is the final, crowningsacrifice of your individuality.But for the humanist who believesin the sanctity of the mdividual, these traditionalprospects are less than exalted. Let'sbe honest here. How can you be proud ofyour past achievements, walk tall in thepresent, or zap enthusiastically into thefuture if, awaiting you implacably aroundsome future comer, is Old Mr. D, the GrimReaper?What a PR job the wordmakers didto build this death concept into a primetimehorror show! The Grave.Mortification. Extinction. Breakdown.Catastix)phe. Doom. Finish. Fatality.Mahgnancy. Necrology. Obitiiary. The End.Note tiie calculated negativity. Todie is to croak, to give up die ghost, to bitethe dust, to kick the bucket, to perish. Tobecome inanimate, lifeless, defunct,extinct, moribund, cadaverous, necrotic. Acorpse, a stiff, a cadaver, a relic, food forworms, a mrpus delecti, a carcass. What aNotemiserable ending to fliegame of life!the calculated negativity.To die is to cioak. to ^ive upthe ^host.to bite the dust, tokick the bucket, to perish.Tobecome inanimate, lifeless,defunct, extinct, moribund,cadaverous, necrotic. A corpse,a stiff, a cadaver, a relic, foodfor worms, aorfyMflecti.a carcass. What a miserableending to the ^ameof life!SECTION VII. IDE-ANIMATION/iE-ANIMATION COMMON-SENSE AITEINATIVES TO INVOIUNTAIY DEATH 187

FEAR OF DEATH WAS ANEVOLUTIONARY NECESSITYIN THE PASTand feudal societies. Personal innovationis sternly condemned and ostracized.Industrial democracies vary in the sexualIn the past,the reflexivegenetic duty of topmanagement(those in socialcontrol of the various ^ene)ools) has been to makelumans feel weak, helpless,and dependentin the face odeath. The ^ood of the race ornation was ensured at the costof the sacrifice of thet^ In the past, the reflexive^^JBL^ genetic duty of top management(those in social controlof the various gene pools) has been tomake humans feel vt'eak, helpless, anddependent in the face of death. The good ofthe race or nation was ensured at the costof the sacrifice of the individual.Obedience and submission wererewarded on a time-payment plan. Forhis/her devotion, the individual waspromised immortality in the postmortemhive center variously known as heaven,paradise, or the Kingdom of the Lord. Inorder to maintain the attitude of dedication,the gene-pool managers had to control the"dying reflexes," orchestrate the triggerstimulithat activate the "death circuits" ofthe brain. This was accomplished throughrituals that imprint dependence and docilityfreedom aUowed individuals, but in totahtarianstates, China and h-an, for example,rigid prudish moraUty controls the matingreflexes and governs boy-girl relations.Under the Chinese dictator Mao,"romance" was forbidden because it weakeneddedication to the state, i.e., the localgene pool. If teenagers pUot and select theirown mating, then they wiU be more likelyto fertilize outside the hive, more likely toinsist on directing their own lives, and,worst of all, less likely to rear their offspringwith bUnd gene-pool loyalty.Even more rigid social-imprintingrituals guard the "dying reflexes." Hivecontrol of "death" responses is taken forgranted in all precybemetic cultures.In the past, this conservative degradationof individuality was an evolutionaryvirtue. During epochs of species stability,individual.% Obedienceand submission were rewarde(on a time-paymentForplan.lis/her devotion, theindividual was promiseeimmortality in the postmortemlive center variously knownwhen the "dying alarm beUs" go off in thebrain.Perhaps we can better understandthis imprinting mechanism by consideringanother set of "rituals," those by whichhuman hives manage the conceptionreproductionreflexes, the fertilization rituals.A discussion of these is less likely toalarm you.The mechanisms of controlimposed by the operation of social machineryare similar in the two cases. Let us"step outside the system" for a moment, tosee vividly what is ordinarily invisiblewhen the tribal, feudal, and industrial technologieswere being mastered and finetuned,wisdom was centered in the genepool, stored in the coUective linguistic consciousness,the racial data base of the hive.Since individual Ufe was short,brutish, aimless, what a singular learnedwas nearly irrelevant The world waschanging so slowly that knowledge couldbe embodied only in the breed-culture.Lacking technologies for the personal masteryof transmission and storage of information,the individual was simply too slow andtoo small to matter. Loyalty to the racialcollective was the virtue. Creativity, prematureIndividuation was anti-evolutionary; aasheaven, paradise,or thebecause it is so entrenched in our expectation.At adolescence each kinship groupweirdo, mutant distraction. Only villageidiots would tryto commit independent,Kingdomof the Lore .provides morals, rules, taboos, ethical prescriptionsto guide the aU-important spermeggsituation.Management by the individual ofthe homy DNA machinery is always athreat to hive inbreeding. Dress, grooming,dating, courtship, contraception, abortiontribalpatterns are fanatically conventionalized inchaotic, unauthorized UioughLIn die feudal and indusdial eras,management used die fear of death tomotivate and control individuals. Today,politicians use die death-dealing military,the police, and capital punishment to protectthe social order. Organized religionmaintains itspower and wealth by orchesillTIMOTIT LIAIY CHAOS { CYIEI (IlIIIE

ANDY FRITHtrating and exaggerating the fear of death.Among the many things that thepope, the ayatollah, and fimdamentalistProtestants agree on is that confidentmiderstanding and self-directed mastery ofthe dying process is the last thing to beallowed to the individual. The very notionof cybernetic postbiologic intelligence orconsumer immortaUty options is taboo, sinfid,for formerly valid reasons of gene-poolprotection.ReUgjons have cleverly monopo-Uzed the rituals of dying to increase controlover the superstitious. Throughout historythe priests and mullahs and medicalexperts have swarmed around the expiringhuman Uke black vultures. Death belongedto them.As we grew up in the 20th Cenhuy,we were systematically programmed abouthow to die. Hospitals are staffed withpriests/ministers/rabbis ready to performthe "last rites." Every army unit has itsCatholic chaplam to administer theSacrament of Extreme Unction (what aphrase, really!) to the expiring soldier. Theayatollah, chief mullah of the Islamic deathcult, sends his teen-aged soldiers into thehaq minefields with dog-tags guaranteeingimmediate transfer to the Allah's destinationresort, Koranic Heaven. A terrible autocrash? Call the medics! Call the priest! Callthe reverend!In the industrial society, everythingbecomes part of big business. Dyinginvolves Blue Cross, Medicare, health-caredelivery systems, the Health CareFlnancmg Administration (HCE^), termmalpatient wards. Undertakers. Cemeteries.The fimeral rituals. The monopoUes of religionand the assembly lines of top managementcontrol the dying and the dead evenmore efficiently than the living.We recall that knowledge andFor millennia thefear of death hasdepreciated individualconfidence andincreased dependenceon authority.SECTION VII. I DE-ANIMATION/IE-ANIMATiON (OMMON-SENSE AITEINATIVES TO INVOLUNfAIV lEATN ilf

selective choice about such gene-poolissues as conception, test-tube fertilization,pregnancy, abortion are dangerous enoughto the church fathers.But suicide, right-to-die concepts,euthanasia, life-extension, out-of-bodyexperiences, occult experimentation,The cybernetic aje weare enteringcould markthe bejinninjof aperiod of enlightenedastral-travel scenarios, death/rebirthreports, extraterrestrial speculation, cryogenics,sperm banks, egg banks, DNAbanks, artificial-intelligence technologyanything that encourages the individual toengage in personal speculation and experimentationwith immortalityis anathemaand intelligentindividualism, a timeunique in history whenWhy? Because if the flock doesn'tfear death, then the grip of reUgious andpoUtical management is broken. The powerof the gene pool is threatened. And whencontrol loosens in the gene pool, dangerousto the orthodox seed-shepherds of the feudaland industrial ages.technologyis availablegenetic iimovations and mutational visionstend to emerge.to individuals tosupport a hu;e diversityoi personalizedTHE ACE OF INDIVIDUALRESPONSIBILITY ANDSELF-CONTROLlifestyles and cultures,a world of diverse,The cybernetic age we are enteringcould mark the begiiming of a period ofenlightened and intelligent individualism, atime unique in history when technology isprogrammed, quantum-linguistic appliances,individuals can choose their ownsocial and genetic future, and pertiapsinteracting,small socialavailable to individuals to support a hugediversity of personalized lifestyles and cul-choose not to "die."groupswhose initial-tures, a worid of diverse, interacting, smallsocial groups whose initial-founding mem-THE WAVE THEOIV OF EVOLUTIONfounding membershipnumber is one.bership number is one.The exploding technology of lightspeedand multimedia communication laysa delicious feast of knowledge and personalchoice within our easy grasp. Under suchconditions, the operating wisdom and controlnaturally passes from aeons-old powerof gene pools, and locates in the rapidlyself-modilying brains of individuals capableof dealmg vrith an ever-accelerating rate ofdiange.Aided by customized, personallyCurrent theories of genetics suggestthat evolution, Uke everything else inthe universe, comes in waves.At times of "punctiiated evolution,"collective metamoiphoses, when manythings are mutating at the same time, theten commandments of tiie "old ones"become ten suggestions. At such times ofrapid innovation and collective mutation,conservative hive dogma can be dangerous,suiddal. Individual experimentation andexploration, the thoughtiiil meUiodical sciiftTIMtTIT LEAIT (IJtIS i (YIEI (IITIIE

It is tobe^innin^lookas though,in theinfoimation society,individual human beingscan script, produce,diiecttheii own hybernationandle-animation. Dyin^ANDY FRITHbecomes a "team sport."entific challenging of taboos, becomes thekey to the survival of the gene school.As we enter the cybernetic age, wearrive at a new wisdom that broadens ourdefinition of personal immortality andgene-pool survival: the postbiologic optionsof the information species. A fascinating setof gourmet consumer choices suddenlyappear on the pop-up menu of TheEvolutionary Cafe.It isbeginning to look as though, inthe information society, individual humanbeings can script, produce, direct their ownhybernation and re-animation. Dyingbecomes a "team sport"Here we face mutation shock in itsmost panicky form. As we have done uiunderstanding earlier mutations, the firststep is to develop a new language. Weshould not impose the values or vocabularyof the past species on the new cyberneticculture.Would youlet the buzzwords of apreUterate, paleolithic cult control your life?Will you let the superstitions of a tribal-villageculture (now represented by the popeand the ayatollah) shuffle youoff" the scene?Will you let the mechanical, planned-obsolescencetactics of the factory. Blue Crossculture manage your existence?RECREATIONAL DYINGLet us have no more pious, wimpytalk about death. The time has come to talkcheerfully and joke sassily about personalresponsibility for managing the dyingprocess. For starters, let's demystify dyingand develop alternative metaphors for con-^^mm^^^^m^m^^^mm^mmmmmm^m^^^m^mm^SECTION VII. I DE-ANIMAIION/IE-ANIMATION COMMON-SENSE AITEINATIVES TO INVOLUNTAIY DEATH 1)1

ANDY FRITHWe that therecojfnizedyinj process, whichfor millennia has beenblanketed bytaboo andprimitive superstition,has suddenlybecomeaccessible to humanintelligence.sciousness leaving the body. Let us speculategood-naturedly about postbiologicoptions. Let's be bold about opening up abroad spectrum of Club-Med postbiologicpossibilities. Let us explore the option of recreationaldying.For starters, let's replace the worddeath with the more neutral, precise, scientificterm: metabolic coma. And then let'sgo on to suggest that this temporary state ofcoma might be replaced by auto-metamorphosis,a self-controlled change in bodilyform, where the individual chooses tochange his or her vehicle of existence withoutloss of consciousness.Then, let's distinguish betweeninvoluntary and voluntary metabolic coma.Reversible and irreversible dying.Let's explore those fascinating borderlandstheperiods between body dyingand neurological dying and DNA dying interms of the knowledge-information processinginvolved.Let's collect some data about thateven more intriguing zone now beginningto be researched in the cross-disciplinaryfield of scientific study known as artificiallife. What knowledge-information-processingcapacities can be preserved after botiibody death and brain cessation? What naturaland artificial systems, from tiie growthof mineral stinctures to the self-reproductionof formal matiiematical automata, arepromising alternative candidates to biologyfor the support of life?And then let us performtiie ultimateact of human inteUigence. Let's venturewitii cahn, open-minded tolerance andscientific rigor into that perennially mysteriousterra incognita and ask tiie final question:What knowledge-information-processingpossibilities can remain after diecessation of all bio-logical life: somatic,neurological, and genetic?192 TIMOTHY LEAIY CHAOS ( (YIEIt CUITURE

How can human consciousness besupported in digital, light-wave, zero-onewafers outside the moist envelope of gracefiil,attractive, pleasure-filled meat we nowinhabit? How can the organic, carbon-constructedcaterpillar become the silicon butterfly?POSTBIOLOCICALRE-CREATIONALAWARENESSWe recognize that the dyingprocess, which for millennia has been blanketedby taboo and primitive superstition,has suddenly become accessible to humanintelligence.Here we experience the suddeninsights that we need not "go quietly" andpassively into the dark night or the neon-lit,Muzak-enhanced Disney-Heaven of theJesus Corporation. We reaUze that the conceptof involuntary, irreversible metaboUccoma known as "death" is a lethal, feudalsuperstition, a cruel marketing tactic ofindustrial society.We understand that onecan discover dozens of active, creativealternatives to going belly-up clutching thecompany logo of the Christian Cross, BlueCross, or Crescent Cross, or the eligibilitycards of the Veterans Administration.Recognition is always the beginningof the possibiUty for change. Once wecomprehend that "death" can be defined asa problem of knowledge-information memoryprocessing, solutions to this age-long"problem" can emerge. We realize that theinteUigent thing to do is to try to keep one'sknowledge-processing capacities around aslong as possible. In bodily form. In neuralform. In DNA form. In the silicon circuitryand magnetic storage media of today'scomputers. In molecular form, through theatom-stacking of nanotechnology in tomorrow'scomputers. In cryogenic form. In theform of stored data, legend, myth, hi theform of offspring who are cybemeticallytrained to use postbiologjc inteUigence. Inthe form of postbiological gene pools, infopools,advanced viral forms resident inworld computer networks and cyberspacematrices of the sort described in the"sprawl novels" of William Gibson.The second step in attaining postbiologic,re-creational awareness is to shiftfrom the passive to the active mode,bidustrial-age humans were trained toawait docilely the onset of termination, andthen to turn over their body for disposal tothe priests and the factory (hospital) technicians.Our species is now developing thecybernetic information skills and theactivists' confidence to plan ahead, to makeone's will and testament prevail. The smartthing to do is to see dying as a change inthe implementation of information processing:to orchestrate it, manage it, anticipateand exercise the many available options.We consider here twenty-three distinctmethods of avoiding a submissive orfearful dying.POSTBIOLOCICALRE-CREATIONALPROGRAMMING INTELLIGENCEIn previous writings the authorshave defined eight stages of intelligence:biological, emotional, mental-symboUc,social, aesthetic, neurologjcal-cybemetic,genetic, atomic-nanotech. At each of thesestages there is an input recognition stage,followed by a programming-reprogrammingstage, and an output communicationstage.In order to reprogram, we mustactivate the circuits in the brain whichmediate that particular dimension of intelligence.Once this circuit is "turned on," wecan re-imprint or reprogram.Cognitive neurology suggests thatthe most direct way to reprogram emotionalresponsesis to reactivate the emotionalstage and reprogram, replace fear withlaughter. To reprogram sexual responses, itis logical to reactivate and re-experiencethe original teenage imprints and to re-The time has come to talkcheerfully and joke sasslly aboutpersonal responsibility formana^in^ the dyin^ process. ForStarters, let's demystify dyin^ anddevelop alternative metaphors forconsciousness the leaving body.Let us speculate ^ood-naturedlyabout postbiolo^ic options.Let'sbe bold about opening upa broadspectrum of Club-Med postbiolo^icpossibilities. Let us explore theoption of re-creational dyin^.SECTION yii.i DE-ANIMATION/IE-ANIMATION COMMON-SENSE ALTEINATIVES TO INVOIUNTAIY DEATH 193

imprint new erotic stimuli andWe realize that the intelligentthin^ to do is to tiy to keepone's knowledge-processingcapacities aiound as lon^ aspossible. In bodily fom. Inneuial form. In DNA form. In thesilicon circuitryand magneticstorage media of today'scomputers. In molecular form,through the atom-stacking ofinnanotechnolo^ytomorrow'scomputers. In cryogenicform. Inthe form of stored data, legend,myth. In the form of offspringwho are cyberneticallytrainedto use postbiolo^ic intelligence.new sexual responses.The circuits of the brainwhich mediate the "dying" processare routinely experienced during"near-death" crises. For centuriespeople have reported: "My entirelife flashed before my eyes as Isank into the water."This "near-death, out-ofthe-body"experience can beturned on via certain anaestheticdrugs. Ketamine, for example. Orby learning enough about theeffects of out-of-the-body drugs sothat one can use hypnotic techniquesto activate the desired circuitswithout using external chemicalstimuli.We see unmediately thatthe rituals intuitively developed byreligious groups are designed tomduce hypnotic-trance statesrelated to "dying." The child growingup in a Catholic culture isdeeply imprinted (programmed)by funeral rites. The arrival of thesolemn priest to administerextreme unction becomes accesscodes for the pre-mortem state.Other cultures have different ritualsfor activating and then control-In the form of postbiolo^icalUng (programming) the death circuitsof the brain. Until recenUy,very few have permitted personal^ene pools, info-pools,advanced viral forms resident inworld computernetworks andcyberspacematrices of the sortdescribed in the "sprawlnovels"of William Gibson.control or customized consumerchoice.Almost every animal species manifests "dying reflexes." Some animals leavethe herd to die alone. Others stand withlegs apart, stolidly postponing the lastmoment Some species eject the dyingorganism Jrom the social group.To gain navigational control ofone's dying processes, three steps suggestthemselves:1. Activate the death reOexesimprinted by your culture,experience them. Imaginedressing up like a priest, rabbi,minister, and mimic theusolemn,hypnotic rituals.Visualize. Recite the prayers forthe dying. Do these things m thevirtual reaUty of your mind.Officiate at your own platonicfuneral.2. TVace theu* origins; then3.Reprogram, install your own premortemplan for immortality.iM TIMOTHY lEAlY (HHJ i CVIEI CUITOIE

The aim is to develop a scientificmodel of the chain of cybernetic (linowledge-information)processes that occur asone approaches this metamorphic stageand to intentionally develop options fortaking active responsibility for theseevents.ACHIEVING IMMORTALITYSince the davm of human history,philosophers and theologians have speculatedabout immortahty. Uneasy, agingkings have commanded methods forextending the Ufe span.A most dramatic example of thisage-long impulse is ancient Egypt, whichproduced mummification, the pyramids,and manuals like the Book of the Dying.The Tibetan Book of the Dying presentsa masterful (Buddhist) model of postmortemstages and techniques for guidingthe student to a state of immortality whichis neurologically "real" and suggests scientifictechniques for reversing the dyingprocess.The new field of molecular engineeringis producing techniques within theframework of current consensus Westernscience to implement auto-metamorphosis.The aun of the gameis to defeat death togive the individual mastery of this, the finalstupidity.We do not endorse any particularBRUMMBAERtechnique of achieving unmortality. Ouraim is to review all options and encouragecreative thinking about new possibilities.We do not endorse any particular techniqueof achievingimmortality. Our aim is to review all options and encouragecreative thinkingabout new possibilities.SECTION VII. I DE-ANIMATION/IIE-ANIMATIOIICOMMON-SENSE ALTERNATIVES TO INVOLUNTAIIY DEATH 19$

AP[|[[IMINAiyLlS10FR[-Cl]EAllONAlOPllOiS(TOREPLACE INVOLUNTARY IRREVERSIBLE METABOLIC COMA)PSVCHOLOCICAl-BEHAVIORALTRAINING TECHNI9UESThe techniques in this category donot assist in attaining personal immortality4. Sensory deprivation.Primarily accomplished in isolation-tankimmersions, a method most comprehensivelyinvestigated by John Lilly.5. Reprogramming exercises.per se, but are useful in acquiring the experienceof "experimental dying," reversiblevoluntaryexploration of the territorySuspending and replacing sociallyimprinted "death" imprints.between body coma and brain death, sometimescalled out-of-body experiences; orIt seems likely that,by the year 2000,ceremonial dignifiedcelebration of one'sown transition willbe considered a basichuman ritual.near-dying experiences. Others havetermed these experiences astral travel orreincarnation memories.1. Meditation, hypnosis.The classic yogic routes to explorationof nonordinary states of consciousness,well-known to be labor and timeintensive.The aim is to attain an out-ofbodyexperience.2. Psychedelic drug experiences.The use of re-creational (psychedelic)drugs to access information andoperational programs stored in the brain ofthe individual. In normal states of consciousness,these states are not availablefor voluntary access.3. Recreational anaesthetics.Carefully designed for experimentalout-of-body experiences. John Lilly has6. Development of new rituals toguide the post-body transition.Our cultural taboos have prohibitedthe development of much detailed workin this area, but some important researchhas been done by E. J. Gold and others.7. Pre-incarnation exerdses.Using the preferred altered-statemethod (drugs, hypnosis, shamanic trance,voodoo ritual, bom-again frenzies) to createfuture scripts for oneself.8. Voluntary dying.This procedureis called "suicide,"i.e., "self-murder," by officials who wish tocontrol the mortem process. Until recently,self-induced death has been considered acowardly or insane attempt to interferewith the natural order. Anyone who wishedto manage and direct their own dying wascondemned by law and custom.written extensively about his experienceswith small dosages of anaesthetics such asKetamine. It is possible that the out-of-bodyf^f^subjective effects of such substances areinterpretations of proprioceptive disruption.Nevertheless, information is availablethrough these investigative routes.In a pagan or nature-attuned tribalculture, there is a common-sense geneticwisdom implied in this passive acceptanceof one's termination. The brain continuallyi;6 TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS i CYIEI CUtlUIE

monitors the vital ftuictions of the body, andas the body starts faihng, terminal programstake over. The brain quiefly shutsdovthe body and during the few minutesbetween body death and neurologicaldeath, the brain's hundred billion neuronsprobably enjoy an astonishing "timeless"review of all and everything.In the late 20th Century, however,mechanical medical science started "interfering"quite dramatically with the "natural"order. Tlibes and machines are nowused to keep patients "alive" long after thecessation of consciousness. A stroke victimwho twenty years ago might have died inan hour can now be revived, only to spendyears m machine-induced coma.Most people are shocked and outragedby mechanical-medical methods thatstrip dignity and human consciousnessfrom the terminal-coma patient TheAmerican Medical Association has supportedthe right of the family to remove medicaltreatment from terminallyill comatosepatients.Then there is the problem ofintractable pain suffered by patients terminallyill from "artificial" diseases caused byindustrial pollution hke cancer, whichcause agonizing pain. The brain housed inthe body of a person living in the industriallow-rent, tacky culture of the late 20thCentury is not programmedto handle thesenew diseases. The brain is capable of producingendorphin pam-killers naturallyThe brain is beautiftdly geared to slowly,graceftilly turn out the lights for humansas they do for other animals. Our sistersand brothers, the other pack animals likewolves and dogs and cats (for example),manage to die in dignity without screamingto veterinarians for sedation or priests forextreme unction.But the factory-hospital environment,run efficiently by factory managers(doctors and nurses), is a very strange environmentfor any normal hundred-bilhonneuronbrain. Hospitalized patients whosebrains are imprinted to perform as factoryunits when termmallyill and in great pampassionately beg to be put out of their hopelessmisery.Fundamentalist religious groupsand neofeudal officials oppose any "prochoice"initiative that allows individuals tomanage their own lives. These groups alsoare actively opposed to "euthanasia."[By 1 990 a growing movement haddeveloped inCalifornia to allowterminally ill patients to arranget^for their own dying: AmericansAgainst Human Suffering (Freedomof Choice for Physician Aid-in-Dying). InHolland, "euthanasia on request"is madeavailable after a prudent, suitable periodof review. Since 1992 Michigan doctorJack Kevorkian has repeatedly tested thelaw by helping his terminally ill patientsexercise their right to choose the timeand manner of their death.]It seems likely that, by the year2000, ceremonial, dignified celebration ofone's own transition will be considered abasic human ritual.9. Pre-mortem hybernation.hi the last section we have consideredactive management of one's owndying: voluntary irreversible metaboliccoma. This planful procedure takes on adifferent meaning when the person doesnot "die," but slides into cryonic or brainbankhybernation. This option is calledIt"pre-mortem suspension." has beenruled legal in California, m a case broughtby the Alcor Foundation.SOMATIC TECHNIQUES FORLIFE EXTENSIONTechniques to inhibit the process ofaging comprise the classic approach toimmortality. In the present state of science,these serve to buy time.10. Diet.The classic research on diet andlongevity has been done by Roe L. Walford,The brain is beautifullygeared to slowly,turn out thegracefullylightsfor humans-astheydo for otheranimals. C5. . .wolves and dojsandcats (for example),manageto die indipity withoutscreaming toveterinarians forsedation or forpriestsextreme unction.SECTION VII. I DE-ANIMATION/IE-ANIMATIONCOMMON-SENSE ALTEKNATIVES TO INVOLUNTARY DEATH 197

They are alternatives for preservingthe structure of tissues until a time of moreadvanced medical knowledge.16. Cryonics or vacuum-pack body"pickling."Letting one's body and brain rotseems to imply no possibility at all for yourfuture. Why let the carefully arranged tangleof dendritic growths in your nervoussystem which store all yoiu" memories geteaten by fungus? Perpetual preservation ofyour tissues by freezing is available today atmoderate cost17. Cryonic preservation of neural tissueor DNA.Those not particularly attached totheir bodies can opt for preservation of theessentials: their brains and the instructionalcodes capable of regrowing somethinggenetically identical to their presentbiomachinery.BIOGENETIC METHODS FORTechniques are nowemerging to permit amuch more vividguarantee of personalpersistence, a smoothmetamorphictransformation into adifferent form ofsubstrate on which thecomputer program ofconsciousness runs.M.D. (The 120-Year Diet; Maximum LifeSpan). The bottom line: gluttony and greedare the killer addictions. Skinny folks livemuch longer.11. Life-extension drugs.Anti-oxidants, etc. A comprehensivereference isSandy Shaw and DurkPearson's Life Extension.12. Exercise regimens.13. Temperature variation. Heat kills.14. Sleep treatments (hybernation).15. Immunization to counter agingprocess.SOMATIC-NEURAl-CENETICPRESERVATIONTechniques in this class do notensure continuous operation of conscious-coma.ness. They produce reversible metabolicLIFE EXTENSIONIs there any need to experiencemetabolic coma? We have mentioned waysto gain personal control of the experience,to stave it off by "conventional" longevitytechniques, to avoid irreversible dissolutionof the systemic substrate. Techniques arenow emergmg to permit a much more vividguarantee of personal persistence, asmooth metamorphic transformation into adifferent form of substrate on which thecomputer program of consciousness runs.18. Cellular/DNA repair.isNanotechnology the science andengineering of mechanical and electronicsystems built to atomic specifications.Nanotechnology has a potential for productionof self-replicating nanomachines livingwithin individual biological cells. Theseartificialenzymes will effect cellular repair,as damage occurs from mechanical causes,radiation, or other aging effects. Repair ofDNA ensures genetic stability.i9 TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS I CVIEK CULTURE

19. Cloning.Biologically based replication ofgenetically identical personal copies ofyourself, at any time desired, is approachingthe possible. Sex is fun, but sexualed mainly for inducing genetic variation inspecies that still advance through the accidentsof luck in random combination. Theidea is to reserve sex as a means of communicationand to reproduce asexually!reproduction is biologically inefficient, suit-CyBERNEIICMElHOOSFORAllAININGlMyORIAlllY(tITIIItlAlllFE"INSILKO"). BV EIIC GVllKHSENSomesilicon visionaries believe that naturalevolution of the human species (orat least their branch of it)is near completion.They are no longer interested m merelyprocreatmg, but in designing their successors.Carnegie-Mellon robotics scientistHans Moravec writes.mization theory. Beyond this horizon,which humankind has reached, lies theunknown, the scarcely imagined. We willdesign our children, and co-evolve intentionallywith the cultural artifacts that areour progenyHumans akeady come in somevariety of races and sizes.We owe our existence to organic evolution. Butwe owe it little loyalty.We are on the thresholdof a change in the universe comparable to thetransition from nonlife to life.In comparison to what"human" will mean withinthe next century, wehumans are at present asmdistinguishable from oneanother as are hydrogenHuman society has now reached aturning point in the operation of theprocess of evolution at which the next evolutionarystep of the species is under ourcontrol. Or, more correctly, the next steps,occurring in parallel, and resulting in anexplosion of diversity of the human species.We are no longer dependent on fimess inany physical sense for survival. Our quantumappliances and older mechanicaldevices provide the requisite means in allcircumstances. In the near ftiture, the (nowmerging) methods of computer and biologicalvrilltechnology make the human form amatter totally determined by individualmolecules. Our anthropocentrism willdecrease.Consider two principle categorizationsof the form of the human of the future,one more biological-Uke: a bio/machinehybrid of any desfred form; and one notbiological at all: an "electronic life" on thecomputer networks. Human as machme,and human in machme.Human as machine isperhapsmore easily conceived. We afready havecrude prosthetic implants, artificial lunbs,valves, and entire organs. The continumgimprovements in the old-style mechanicalchoice.As a flesh-and-blood species wetechnology slowly mcrease the thoroughnessof human-machine integration.The electronic life form of humanare moribund, stuck at "a local optimum,"to borrow a term from mathematical opti-in machine is even more alien to our currentconceptions of humanity. ThroughSECTION VII. DE-ANIMATION/IE-ANIM/ITION COMMON-SENSE AITEINATIVES TO INVOLUNTAIY DEATH 19)

From thisviewpoint, theimmortalityoptions becomecybernetic methodsof one'spreservingunique signalThere arecapacity.as manysouls asthere are ways ofstoring andcommunicatingdata.storage of one's beliefsystems as on-linedata structures, drivenby selected controlstructures (theelectronic analog towiD?), one's neuronalapparatus will operatein silicon as it did onthe wetware of the brain,although faster, moreaccurately, more self-mutably,and, if desired, immortally-[end of Eric GuUwhsen]20. Archival-informational.One standard way of becoming"immortal" isby leaving a trail of archives,biographies, tapes, films, computer files,and pubhcized noble deeds. The increasingpresence of stable knowledge media in ourcybernetic society make this a more rigorousplatform for persistent existence. Theknowledge possessed by an individual iscaptured in expert systems and world-scalehypertext systems, thus ensuring thelongevity and accessibility of textual andgraphical memes.Viewed from outside the self, deathis not a binary phenomena, but a continuouslyvarying function. How alive are youin Paris at this moment? In the city in whichyou live? In the room in which you arereading this?21. Personality data-basetransmission."Head Coach" is a system developedby Futique, Inc., one of the first examplesof a new generation of psychoactivecomputer software. The program allowsthe user (performer)to digitize and storethoughts on a routine daily basis. If oneleaves, let us say, twenty years of daily computer-storedrecords of thought-performance,one's grandchildren, a centurydown the line, can "know" and replay yourinformation habits andmental performances.Theywill be able to"share and reliveexperiences" in considerabledetail. Totake a mundaneifexample, an individual'smoves in a chessgame are stored, thedescendants can relive,move by move, a gameplayed by Great-Great-Grandmother in the past century.As passive reading is replaced by"active rewriting," later vrillgenerations beable to relive how we performed the greatstories of our time.Yet more intriguing is the possibilityof implementing the knowledge extractedover time from a person; their beliefs,preferences, and tendencies, as a set ofalgorithms guiding a program capable ofacting in a manner functionally identical tothe person. Advances in robotics technologywill take these "1\iring creatures" awayfrom being mere "brains in bottles" tohybrids capable of interacting sensorilywith the physical world.22. Nanotech information storage:direct brain-computer transfer.When a computer becomes obsolete,one does not discard the data it contains.The hardware ismerely a temporaryvehicle of implementation for structures ofinformation. The data gets transferred tonew systems for continued use. Decreasingcosts of computer storage, CD-ROM andWORM memory systems mean that noinformation generated today ever need belostWe can consider building an artificialcomputational subsfrate both functionallyand structurally identical to the brain(and perhaps the body) of a person. Thiscan be achieved with predicted futurecapabilities of nanotechnology.Communicating nanomachines that per-2IC TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS ( CYIEI CVITUIE

BRUMMBAERvade the organism may analyze the neuraland cellular structure and transfer theinformation obtained to machinery capableof growing, atom by atom, an identicalcopy.According to the American HeritageDictionary, "soul" is Ihe animating andvital principle in man credited with the facultiesof thought, action, and emotion, andconceived as forming an immaterial entitydistinguishable firom but temporarily coexistentwith his body." From the perspectiveof information theory, "immaterial" can beunderstood as "invisible to the naked eye,i.e., atomic-molecular-electronic," and"soul" refers to information processed andstored in microscopic-cellular, molecular,atomic packages. "Soul" becomes anyinformation that "Uves," i.e., that is capableof being retrieved and communicated.All tests for "death" at every level ofmeasurement (nuclear, neural, bodily,galactic) involve signal unresponsiveness.From this viewpoint, the immortalityoptions become cybernetic methods of preservingone's unique signal capacity. Thereare as many souls as there are ways of stormgand communicating data. TYibal loredefines the racial soul. The DNA is a molecularsoul. The brain is a neurological soul.Electron storage creates the siUcon soul.Nanotechnology makes possible the atomicsoul.23. Computerviral existence in thecyberspace matrix.The previous option permitted personalsurvival through isomorphic mappingof neural structure to sihcon (orsome otherarbitrary medium of implementation).Italso suggests the possibihty of survival asan entity in what amounts to a reification ofJung's collective unconscious: the globalinformation network.In the 21st Century imagined bynoveUst WiUiam Gibson, wily cybemautswill not only store themselves electronically,but do so in the form of a "computervirus," capable of traversing computer networksand of self-replication as a guardagainst accidental or malicious erasure byothers or other programs.Given the ease of copying computer-storedinformation, one could exist.... SECTItN VII. DE-ANIMUION/IE-ANIMMION (OMMON-SENSE AITEINATIVES TO INVOIUNTAIY DEATH 2(1

In the 2ist Centuryimagined by novelistWilliam Gibson, wilycybernauts will not onlystore themselveselectronically,but do soANDY FRITHin the form of a"computer virus,"capable of traversingsimultaneously in many forms. Where the"1" is in this situation is a matter for philosophy.We believe that consciousness wouldpersist in each form, running independently(and ignorant of each other's self-manifestationunless in communication with it)and cloned at each branch pointPreserve your bodypreserveyour brainpreserveyour DNA.To immortalize: digitize!computernetworks and[Note: The above options for voluntaryreversible metabolic coma and auto-metamorphosisare not mutually exclusive. Theof self-replicationas aintelligent person needs littleencouragementto exploreall these possibilities, andto design many new other alternatives togoing belly-up inline with managementjuard ajainstaccidental or maliciousmemos.]KONTIKI OF THE FLESHIn the near future, what is nowtaken for granted as the perishable humancreature will be a mere historical curiosity,erasure byothers orone point amidst unimaginable, multidimensionaldiversity of form. Individuals, orgroups of adventurers, will be free toother programs.choose to reassume llesh-and-blood form,constructed for the occasion by the appropriatescience.202 TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS I CYIEI CUtTUIE

SECTION VII. I DE-ANIMATION/IE-ANIMATION COMMON-SENSE AITEINATIVES TO INVOLUNTAIY DEATH 20}

This is an excerpt from a forthcoming novel about high-tech decadencein the film, computer, and art-fashion-literary worlds, as they interfacethe frontiers of pop sdence.The narrator, Dani Mellon du Pont, is currently on assignment aspublicity director of the Alcor Foundation, Riverside, California, topopularize the cryonic-hybernation re-animation option.TRANSFERatdtl 71 47361 703connect 14,400OKay. Let's get organized here.promise that would 1 arrange for his "hybernation re-animation" at ttiing necessary to prevent him fh)m being buried by the MOMA orI am on American Airlines flight 103 from J. Rtz. R. toMiami, Florida, my flop-top computer lapping-flapping away, writingreport on how the cryonic suspension(hybernation) of Andy Warhol's body and soul was accomplished.that moment when his body had been "flat-lined," i.e., when he wasbeing evicted from his current (and let's face it) tacky, mittel-European, washed-out, low-energy, unstylish, albino meat vehicle.1 "undertake" (ha ha) this assignment because the fimerealdread I sense in American culture, the very concepts of cemeteries,undertakers, tombs, burials, crematoriums, obituaries, and lifeinsuranceANDY WARHOL'S SECRET DESIRE TO REIOIN HIS IDOL,WALT DISNEYAndy became interested in cryonic immortality (as he soquaintly called when he learned that Walt it) Disney's soul (brain)and flesh is being hybemetically frozen and preserved until Ericpolicies (which are, when you think about it,death assurancepolicies), have become a nightmare of insanity.May 1 put it bluntly in four-letter words? 1 did not wantworms to eat Andy Warhol.And neither did he!Drexler's M.I.T. nanotechnology (atom stacking) has mastered thelogical steps to re-animate and restore him, i.e., Walt Disney.Andy shared the abnost universal belief that Walt Disneywas one of the most important members of the 20th Century. Yousee, Walt Disney created "screen-iconic" entities of such globalmythicthey are immediately recognized and loved byahnost every quark on this globe. Andy told me over and over againthat Walt Disney created pop culture. By pop, Andy means the popularization,humanization of ideas.Andy was well aware of my assignment as publicity directorof the Alcor Foundation to personahze, popularize, humanize,THE LEGAL AUTHORIZATION FOR LIBERATING ANDYWARHOL'S BODY AND SOUL (BRAIN)The first logical question in anyone's mind is: Did Andychoose neurological (head-soul) freezing? Or total body cryonichybernation?At first he was undecided. Andy could, of course, afford totalbody ($100,000), but he seemed more interested in the neurologicaloption ($35,000). Andy liked the idea that, when his meat functionsflat-lined, his brain (soul) could be preserved, awaiting the kinkymoment when an attractive young person of eitiier or botii sexesDisneyize the cryonic-hybernation re-animation option.would as the tragic result of some car accident afler tiie JuniorAndy shared with us the reasonable aversion to having his Prom or a crack-house shoot-out be lying comatose in the emergencybody and soul (i.e., brain) eaten by maggots or burned in an oven.For this reason (and others) he had discussed with me the proceduresward, a brain-dead neo-mort, available for a transplant froma super-atti^ctive brain.involved and shyly, as was his wont, wrung from me aIpromised Andy, on three occasions, that would do 1 every-itl, TIMOTNY UAIV CHAOS i CYIEI CUIIUIE

Andy Warhol is not dead. He hybernates. a re5[al Ice l)ueen in cool serendipity.His new Hie cyclehas bejun!No thanks to medical silence (and ^[ivena little bit of luck),Andy will return to paint and paradox ajainithe equally insidious Valerie Solanis/Saint Patrick Cathedral gang,2. to assist in the cryonic freezing of Andy;my imageryto our mortuary on West My writing is nothingif not91st Street;or turned over to the M&O (maggot and oven) crowd, i.e., destroyedby legally sanctioned DNA-killers. In return for this promise, Andygave me his power of eternity, which I transmitted by American5. to ship the cryonic patient (Andy) to the Californiadepository;Express.On these three occasions, Andy begged me, "Please don't letmy body be exhibited publicly in the Museum of Modem Art orSaint Patrick's Cathedral."The documents signed by Andy authorizing his hybemation-re-animationhave been properly affidavitted. Andy's plans willremain, as per his wishes, secretThere were several witnesses: Ultra Violet, who still wants4. to attend the Andy Warhol funeral at Samt Patrick'sCathedral and the subsequent ghoulish bodydestructionfestivities to see if there were any signs thatanyone was aware that Andy's body had been liberatedfrom Christian neuro-terrorists who were soenthusiastically driven to consign all of Warhol's organictissue-mformation banks to the ever-hungry worms.to rock 'n' roll hke days of old despite the fact that she's become aMormon or a Christian Scientist. 1 have witnesses! Viva, two. Thesewere two, fine pioneer women that Andy signed up in his weirdowagon train. Edie Sedgwick, three.Andy, by the way, recorded these conversations and shotPolaroid pix of all presentMy flight was delayed; so 1 called Grace Jones from the airportto tell her I'd be late.Grace was not part of the freezing operation, although sheplayed major roles in some of Andy's last pubUc triumphs. Andysymbolically married Grace in public shortly before his hybernation.His very last video performance occurred on Grace's MTV productionA DISTRESSING PHONE CALL TO GRACE lONESAt 6:00 A.M. PST on Hybemation-Day-minus-1,1 was notifiedAndy's meat vehicle was deteriorating sharply and that cardiacarrest was, at most, two days away.1 reserved space on thenoon flightto New York. My cover for this mission was to model aGuess gene commercial shoot by Hehnut Newton. My true missionwas:1. to assist in the removal of Andy's body from the hospitalof "I'm Not Peri'ect, But I'm Perfect for You." Andy, a Cabalistand numerologist (to put it mildly), knew at the time that his nightswere numbered.1suggest you play this MTV tape and observe Andy's comaticstate. How well he concealed his 1968 ilhiess!Andy's chronic impression was contagious. It nibbled at mybrain like worms. These are certainly strange daze!Writing becomes difficult, and 1 have to be careful not to letSECTION VII. 2 DE-ANIMUION/IE-ANIMATION HYIEKNATINC ANDY ZOJ

the history of my illness. The entire slaSf oUnterview magazineis indanger of suffering from the same chronic impression.The role of the Museum of Modem Art in this matter is notexemplary. They showed no great enthusiasm for Andy during hislong, long period of dying (1968-87). And then they go after him conbrio as soon as they think (erroneously) that he is dead. The hakemeatsare barely frozen cold upon the funeral table when MOMA... all this for a barbarictissue-destructionannounces the palladium of a full-scale retrospective!Well, the joke's on they who are marketing Andy like a combinationof Jesus Christ and Donald Duck, and don't realize thatAndy is not dead, but sleeping. Next to . . .guess who?WHY IRAN UP A $3,500 PHONE BILL WHILE ALOFT1was, at this point in time, fucking 35,000 feet high, a nervouswreck, suffering mental fatigue with the portable phone linkedceremony. Ican no longerto my Toshiba laptop, jacking into certain counterculture sectors ofcyberspace, of which there are literally infinite numbers. I was notphoning my bookmaker, undertaker, pimp, wall-street pallbearer. Iremain silent when thewas not ordering call giris or fast pizza delivery.1spent a most pleasant hour on "interscreen" digitizing withthe Chaos Hacker group in Germany, who are very well knovm topeople Ilove wind up inInterpol and the RGB. We have developed these hilarious, international,digital intersex romances. I tell you, you can learn a lot abouthuman nature quarking around in Cyberia! Digital intercourse issquirmholes andthe best way to prepare for the juicy, sweaty, warm-flash transactionof "hard reality."At last, my touchdown in Eastern Metropolis!Am Ihappy?cremation barbecues.No way! My bumper sticker reads: N.Y.ITHE SWITCHING OF THE BODIES;THE RAPID COOLING OF ANDY'SWithin an hour, Court Hay from Team B knocks on myhotel-room door and murmurs the password. We drive in Couri'slimo to the hospital. Our peoplenurses, ward physician,attendants,security guardsare in total control of the ward. 1 wait downthe hall with the perfusion team. And the substitute corpse, whomwe Andy fans remember from the hoax in Salt Lake City.At 3:45 A.M. EST we were notified that Andy was experiencingfinal, agonal respirations. At 3:59 A.M. our man. Dr. MellonHitchcock, pronounced Andy legally dead.The switching of corpses was performed swiftly. We immediatelystarted cardiopulmonary support using a heart-lung resuscitator.We employed an esophageal gastric tube airway to secureAndy's airway against stomach secretions and ventilate him. Andyquickly regained colour and showed good chest expansion. Helooked better, in fact, than he had since 1968, the year he was shotby Kynaston McShine, one of the hangers-on at his studio at MOMA.Andy was then packed in ice and wheeled to the back elevator.We arrived at our mortuary on West 91st Street at approximately206 TIMOTHY LEAIY CHAOS i CYIEI CUIIUIE

This weird ritualdemonstrates that Wecannot escapeTheirmortal coil. Thesemiotic messageisclear. Everythinginthis mediaeval stonecastle warns us it isfor individualsfollyto seek immortalityexcept through faithin one of the threeMediterraneanmonotheistic mafias.4:30 A.M. and began administration of transport medications at 4:40A.M. By 5:25 A.M. Andy was positioned on the mobile advanced lifesupportsystem, and surgery was underway to raise his femoralartery. In addition to his continuing good skin color, Andy's arterialblood was bright tomato red (indicating good oxygenation), and hehad bright red capillary bleeding into the wound during surgeryallgood signs. The coy blandness, pervasive and teasing in itsappeal to the media, was gone! The deathless, albino pallor wasgone!1 know, 1think, how Andyfelt at this momentAndy often experienced the stigmata of the insane sciencefictionartist; aUenation, blurred reality, despair. And here he lies, onthe hybernation table, no longer looking like the last dandy.Flushing with cool blood, he is no longer the figure of the Artist asNobody, but the Romantic Stereotype of the Artist pinkish,involved, grappling with fate and transcendence.He had already cooled to 29.3C by the time bypass wasstarted, and he rapidly cooled to a rectal temperature of 9C overthe next forty-five minutes. Imagine that!A REGAL ICE fUEEN AWAITING THE KISS OF RE-ANIMATIONAfter supervising this delicate business, I am, understandably,thoroughly descoobied. So went out 1to an Eighth Avenue bar,which was noisy with kinky sexual innuendoes. My whole headSECTION VII. 2 DE-ANIMAIION/IE-ANIMATION HYIEINATINC ANDY 2o;

evolved around laughter and crying, as mylife turns down.By the time 1returned, blood washout and cryoprotectiveperfusion had progressed nicely. At 8:43 A.M. 1 approved the decisionto discontinue perfusion. Was this fair to Warhol? No, ifyou areamong those who think he had about five remarkable years(1962-67) followed by a long down-slope decline into money-makingbanality with his silk-screen editions of dogs, famous Jews ofthe 20th Century, and Mercedes Benzos. Yes, ifyou think that Andy was the most importantThey were lined up behind police fences, ^apin^at celebrities talkingand ^rinnin^ at the wide-eyedAmerican artist since Jackson Pollack. In anycase, following the closure of the scalp andchest incisions, Andy was placed inside twoheavy plastic bags and submerged in a siliconecameras celebratingthe destruction oi Andy'sprecious tissues. (Or so they hoped!)oil (Silcool) bath that had been precooled to-17C.Warhol's life force, uneven as itwas,lay in an emotional fiction that contradicted thecold, fixed, iconic surface, lowered at a rate ofapproximately rC per hour to -17C by gradual addition of dry iceto the artificial (fake?) calm. My sense of Jamais Vue could hardlybe blamed on the MOMA curator who selected these icons. A highcapacitypump was used to circulate the oil through a spray-barassembly positioned over the patient. This technique completelyehminated the "hot spots" and "cold spots" that have plagued otherartist's careers.At 19:42 EST, the dewar was completely filled with nitrogen,and Andy Warhol had entered long-time hybernation! Withhim was put to rest gloomy images of foreboding and death, like theskulls that plagued the last years of his first, brief life.That night, at the Gramercy Park Hotel, how 1 enviedAndy's cool tranquillity as the hot fevered hand of sleep sucked medown into the grave-ity of that dark ground.Andy Warhol is not dead. He hybemates, a regal Ice Queenin cool serendipity.His new life cycle has begun!No thanks to medical silence (and given a little bit of luck),Andy will return to paint and paradox again!THE PUBLIC CELEBRATION OF ANDY'S DESTRUCTIONDateline: Aprill, 1987.Fifth Avenue in front of Saint Patrick's Cathedral was teemingwith spectators and photographers and these last survivors ofthe human race who live in giant time-warp bubbles that they leaveonly to go to funerals, cremations, autopsies, and airplane crashes.They were hned up behind poUce fences, gaping at celebrities talkingand grinning at the wide-eyed cameras celebrating the destructionof Andy's precious tissues. (Or so they hoped!)The large doors of Saint Patrick's Cathedral opened thistime portal into the Muddle Ages, high Gothic arches designed tozol TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS ( (YIEt CUlTUtE

dwarf the spirit of us individual quarks. Inside, this organist is playing,not Lower Eastside punk rock, not Velvet Underground, butflicking Bach!People file in with unhappy expressions. Young men vdthrainbow-dyed hair looking uncomfortable in suits and ties. And allthis for a barbaric tissue-destruction ceremony. 1 can no longerremain silent when the people 1 love wind up in squirm holes andcremation barbecues.HOMAGE TO THE MAGCOTS. THE DREAD SIGN OFCRUCIFICTION. THE CLOWN OF THORNS.The orthodox Catholic witchcraft rituals begin predictablyThe dread Sign of the Cross! The ominous kneeling in submission.Meanwhile, the clerical ahens quietly observing the humans,unsmiling in black-cloth (!) garments, family and friends sitting inpeaceful twisted apathetic conformity. Don't be fooled by them,these Catholic-Jewish-lslamaniacs who sitbrooding silently indarkened stone buildings. Behind their frozen faces they are thinkingabout their loved ones in the grave. Don't be fooled by this fakeBible-Talmud-Koran piety. Their Holy Books are male-order cataloguesof death worship. Their minds are busy thinking about themaggots eating the flesh and brains (souls) of their presumed lovedones. Or about the cruel oven flames (dials turned to roast!) cracklingthe skins of their dearly departed. Do you seriously think thatthey can repress, just ignore the culinary facts? Not hear the squishingnoises of the maggots breeding cheerily in the tissues of theirsincerely departeds? The more honest of these mourners are probablypondering their own fate that awaits them in the fire and wormsdepartments.The grisly papist plot crumbles to Gothic horror! To putitcharitably, Andy's funeral m Saint Patrick's Cathedral is not animmortalist commercial. This weird ritual demonsfrates that Wecannot escape Their mortal coil. The semiotic messageis clear.Everything in this mediaeval stone castle warns us it is folly for individualsto seek immortaUty except through faith in one of the threeMediterranean monotheistic mafias.WOULD ANDY LET ALIEN PRIESTS SEND HIM PACKING, SOULAND BONES, TO THE MAGGOT FARM?Our little, silver-haired pal, the solemn, socially insecure.East European waif from Pittsburgh got the point Andy understoodthe cold, mechanical impersonality of the industrial culture. Didn'the just blow into the Big Applesauce factory from Pittsburgh, PA,and call himself the Pope of Pop? Call his studio the Factory? Send areasonable facsimile, silver-wigged model of himself around to giveWarhol lectures at colleges? Enter the Campbell Soup contest? Paintreasonable facsimiles of soup-can labels and Marilp Monroes towin gigantic cash prizes? And admission to correspondence artschools?SECTION VII. 2 DE-ANIMATION/M-ANIMATION HYIEINATING ANDY 209

You think this crafty fox would let them pack him, brainand bones, in a factory carton for easy delivery to the maggot farm?Can you possibly think that Andy Warhol would allow this publicsnufRng of his essence by black-garbed minions of the cardinal?Who, come to think of it,never tended to hang out at the Factoryand the office oflnterview magazine.ANDY INVITES YOU TO HIS RE-BIRTHDAY PARTY1 understand that members of the Alcor CryonicsFoundation and thoughtful people around the four worlds whoknow about the hybernation of Walt Disney and Andy Warhol arecelebrating and drinking toasts to the brave team who snatchedBy the way!Andy, literally, from the mouths of the maggots.I also understand that some members of the AlcorAndyasked meFoundation, being of the very sincere, sober, scientific extraction,are concerned that a person of my colourful reputation couldundermine Alcor's respectability and credibility. Particularly sincedisrespectability and incredibility are my predestined career goalsto especiallyinUfe.1worry, myself, that since Alcor's important work is theinvite all ofultimate threat to religious and political control, the last thingneeded is to take on the negative pubUc baggage of a notorious jetsetvictim of the National Enquirer mentality.youto hisThen 1 remember that to be a member of Alcor is to electoneself as part of a noble band of heroes who are about to savehumanity from the horror of involuntary, irreversible, metaboliccoma. And therefore Alcor members are tolerant of my eccentricity,le-animation paity.knowing it is a hard job, in this weirdo, death-worshipping culture,to be continuaUy recast in these "Oscar Wilde" sequels.By the way! Andy asked me to especially invite all of you tohis re-animation party.Andy was very insistent that, at the gloriousmoment of reanimation,when his friends gather around his hybernation crystal,that you be there. Either in the ice fray or on the hoof. Write theAlcor Foundation ifyou have any questions about fransportation tothe party."PLAN A HEAD" is our motto!The grey-haired black man warned Andy, as he did me andBill Burroughs: Stay out of prisons and hospitals, son. Avoid ministers,priests, and rabbis. All they got is the key to the shit house. Andpromise me, boy, you will never wear the badge of a lawman. Andifyou do end up serving time in the white man's body factories(complete service from womb to tomb), join a gang of friends thatwill cover for you. And ifyou have to be admitted to the disposalroom (planned obsolescence is thefr marketing sfrategy), just besure you've got friends hanging around, watching over you day andnight, lest someone make off with your beloved albino animal skin.And contents thereof.lit TIMOTIV lEAlY CHAOS I CYIEI (UlIUIE

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VIILfl.BACKWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS:A BRIEF HISIDRY OF THE WARRIOR EAST[ IN AMERICALegionnaires' disease: so called from its first recognized occurrenceduring the 1976 Annerican Legion convention: a lobarpneumonia caused by a bacterium (Legionella pneumophila).Esquiremagazine says war is the secret love of a white man's life. The cover of itsNovember 1984 issue shows a gorgeous young white woman wearing a Marine hehnetand torn brown Gl T-shirt.The effect was sexually ambiguous, but steamy!Great cover lines: "War! It is a sexual turn-onIt is a brutal, deadly game, but thebest game there is. It is for men what childbirth is for women. It is Uke Uiting the comer ofthe universe and looking at what is underneath.". . .Reagan was lobbying toAt the hallway point of the Brezhnev-Reagan era. Esquire's motto is, "Man at HisBest" The title of the cover story: "Why Men Love War." The subhead is lyrical;"Thebully oui Latin nei^hbouisoncea^ain.It's a recuiience ofAwesome Beauty, the Haunting Romance, of the Timeless Nightmare." The piece was writtenby William Broyles, Jr., a white Protestant ex-Marine from Texas, who made a good livingin the 1980s refighting the Vietnam War in magazines and glorifying the enduring addictionof the American warrior caste and its sponsor, the Republican party, to killing colouredpeople with high-technology weapons.The Esquire piece appeared just when Reagan was lobbying to bully our Latinthat old Caribbean fever, aparoxysmal virus that plaguesneighboursonce again. It's a recurrence of that old Caribbean fever, a paroxysmal virusthe White House. Apparentlythat plagues the White House. Apparently the Oval Office can't be disinfected. President afterpresident keeps coming down with the Latin-basher Legionnaires' disease.When Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980, everyone knew he was itchingand feverish to send American troops into action. Somewhere. He just had to stand taU andbully some third-worid country to regain the American manhood that General WilliamWestmoreland and Rambo say we lost in Vietnam.in 'Nam.But where to conduct a nice, little, easy to win, ego-massagjng war?The Russkis? Too mean.Asians? The slopes proved too tough for MacArthur in Korea and for WestmorelandThe Middle East? Much too volatile. Ronnie blustered a bit in Lebanon, but pulledthe Oval Office can't bedisinfected. President afterpresident keeps coming downwith the Latin-basherLegionnaires' disease.out quickly after frivolously, whimsically wasting the lives of hundreds of U.S. mihtary personnel.Oh well, back to the old, familiar playground for the Republican party and the warriorcaste. Let's snuff some Latins for God and manhood.Cuba? Too risky.Grenada was fun for a warm-up, but short and hmited and easy.SECTION VIII. I MILtENNIUMMADNESS lACKWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS 2IJ

Hnunm . . .Well, there's always good old Nicaragua. Since the 1890s, the Americanmilitary has occupied or controlled this least-populated nation in Central America. And foralmost a century, guerriUa forces there have opposed American intervention. In 1933, wepulled out our occupation troops and set up a puppet dictatorship run by the Somoza family.The younger Somozas were proteges of the American warrior caste. Anastasio SomozaDebayle, for example, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, returned home, and, at age21, took command of the National Guard. Because of the brutality of this regime, all democraticelements of the Latin Worid despised America. In 1979, the Sandinistas overthrew theSomozas, to the dismay of the West Point Academy classmates of Somoza.IT STARTED WITH THE SPANISHCONQUISTADORESLincoln, as would Lenin sixty years later, created a centralized,industrial, militaristic, expansionist government.lust as theThe firstEuropeans to subdueCuban, Nicaraguan, and South Americannatives for Christ and Plunder were theSpanish. In 1493, ChristopherCommunist partyhas managed the USSR since 1921, so has theRepublican party, USA, controlled the police,the military,the banksthe manufacturing plants,the organsof information.(Christ-Carrier) Columbus returned to theNewe Worid with a disorderly rabble of malebuccaneer thugs seeking gold. It was hardgoing. No quick payoff. So, to man his thirdexpedition in 1498, Columbus was forced toimpress hooligans, convicts, rapists, andthieves. An ominous precedent for OllieNorth.The next centuries of Spanish interventionwere not designed to raise the morale of Caribbean natives, who were immediatelylooted, raped, baptized, and reduced to serfdom by hoodlums representing Crown andChurch. The Spanish settlements were rigidly controlled by Madrid. The colonists were thescum of Europeas slaves.soldiers, priests, and plunderers. Black Africans were kidnapped to workFew Spanish women were involved in the first expeditions; so there was muchforcible interbreeding vrith Indian and African slave women. This ancient custom producedthe rich mestizo races, which now people these fertile lands. On the up side, Latin Americawas at least spared the shameful genocidal policies that characterized the North Americancolonization. Better to use the Cathohc plan, to rape 'em and enslave 'em, than use theCromwell-Protestant-Puritan tactic of spermless genocide.When the South American countries gained independence from Spain, the feudalmihtary-Catholictraditions remained. Thus was created the unstable, volatile, romantic culturalenvironment that has left Latin America masochisticaUy vulnerable to enduring andrelentless Protestant, Yankee adventuring.THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND THE WARRIOR CASTE LOVE WAREsquire's ex-Lieutenant Broyles tells us that he and his Marine Corps buddiesadored Viemam because war "offers a sanction to play boys' games."zu TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS i CYIEI CUITUIE

. Because "war replaces the difficult grey areas of daily life with an eerie, sereneclarity."'. . . Because "war is the best game there is.". Because "no sportI had ever played brought me to such deep awareness of myphysical and emotional limits."\. . . Because the "love of war stems from the union, deepin the core of our being,between sex and destruction, beauty and horror, love and death."me, ex-Lieutenant, . Because some youths "who never suspected the presence of such an impulse inthemsekes have learned in militarylife the mad excitement of destroying."Bioyles, the people who. . Because war is funny. "After one ambush my men fsicj brought back the body ofa North Vietnam soldier. I later found the dead man propped against someC-ration boxes. He had on sunglasses, and a Playboy magazine lay openin hislap; a cigarette dangled jauntily from his mouth; and on his head was perched alarge and perfectly formed piece of shit. Ipretended to be outraged, sincedesecrating bodies was frowned on as un-American and counterproductive. ButK wasn't outrageI felt. Ikept myofficer's face on, but inside I was . . .founded our countrythoughtfulmen such asThomas lefferson andBen Franklin-would notlaughing."have considered this funny.Believe me, ex-Lieutenant Broyles, the people who founded our country thoughtfulmen such as Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin would not have considered this funny.Nor would three billion non-Caucasians with whom we share the planet. Including YoursThily.Nor would three billionnon-Caucasians with whomHOW AN INDIAN CHIEFTAIN'S HEAD ENDED UP ON A POLEIN MASSACHUSETTSwe share the planet.Including Yours Truly.In the early 17th Century, New England was controlled by a wise and benevolentleader. His friends called him MassasoiL In 1620, the first wave of immigrants from Europestarted arriving in the lands of MassasoiL The original Plymouth colony was dominated by aMoral Minority, a small sect of fanatic fundamentalist CromweUian Protestants. ThesePuritans were regenerate (bom-again) Christians who held a strict Calvinist beUef in "theElect versus the Damned," and who publicly confessed their conversion experiences. Thesemihtant, fanatic Protestants doggedly believed that human nature was inherently sinful andevil.Over the decades the actions of the RepubUcan party (exactly Uke the Nazi party inGermany and the Communist party in Russia) can be understood only if we recall that theywere bred to the terrible notion of being the Elect of God. Ronald Reagan deeply believesthat there can be no mercy for nonbelievers. Those who are not "one of us" deserve no pity.Remember how Ronnie called the Democrats "immoral" when they didn't vote for his militarybudget? Recall how he gave bloodcurdling sermons about the need to destroy Godlesscommunism? That's not election rhetoric. The guy beheves it. He really feels that he and hismilitary friends are agents of the totalitarian God. Brezhnev and his friends believed thatBelievethey were agents of their own weird totalitarian prophet, Karl Marx.SECTION VIII. I MILIENNIUMMADNESS BACKWARD CHklSTIAN SOLDIERS 215

When the Puritans showed up in Plymouth, they considered it their right and religiousduty to plunder the land of the heathen Pequot Indians. Poor King Massasoit wasn'tready for a Jesse Hehns approach. In all good faith he had signed a peace treaty in 1621, towhich he and his son, King Phihp, faithfully adhered for many years in spite of continuedland-grabbing by the white setflers.hi 1675, a typical colonial-liberation war broke out King Phihp's forces successfullyavoided pitched battles and kept the conflict going until the European invaders, using"search and destroy" methods, and with the help of local contras, overthrew the native governmentPhilip, betrayed by a Christian convert, was drawn and quartered, and his headstuck on a pole in front of the church in Plymouth. This was known as the final solution.It was all right, you understand, because these heathens were ah^ady damned. InI'm a total, all-out loi peicentthe 365 years since the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, the holy-war faction of the white,patriot, lack. I to no one inyieldmy contempt foi socialism,spiritual fathers of the Republican party has kept up a continual series of expansionist crusadesagainst people with darker skins.Indeed, for the bom-again militants, it has become a tradition, a rite of passage, areligious ritual. This is not just my opinion; Mr. Broyles agrees.communism, or any enemyofA RELIGIOUS KICKIn Esquire, William Broyles tells us that war provides aesthetic and religiousfieedom. 1 also believe in a strong,ecstasies. He recounts the case of a "sensitive" Marine officer who watched enemy bodiesbeing disposed of "like so much garbage" with a "look of creative contentment on his faceintelligent, effective military tothat I had not seen except in charismatic churches. It was the look of a person transportedinto ecstasy."defend our beloved land.That's exactly whyIoppose the"War is beautiful," Broyles gushes. "There is something about a fire fight at night . . .briUiant patterns that seem, given their great speeds, oddly timeless, as if they had beenetched in the night" Here Broyles soars into elegant gourmet connoisseurship. "Many menloved napahn ... I preferred white phosphorous."Christian fanatics and the warIntoxicated by this toot of white phosphorous, ex-Lieutenant Broyles invokes hiswhite Calvinist divinity. "And then perhaps the gunships called Spooky come in and fire theirwin^ of the Republican party.incredible guns like huge hoses washing down from the sky, like something God would dowhen He was really ticked off."That's why Iwrite about the conHere we have the official Republican-warrior-caste version of the Christian God: avengefiil colonial deity casually wasting third-worid peasants who irritate Him.job that they have off forpulledthe pasthundred years.THE ELECT AND THE DAMNEDThe RepubUcan party is the warrior caste. The Republican party, white and veryProtestant, has always represented the militarist tradition in America.The Democratic party, by and large, represents the anti-warrior constituency.During this century Democrats have been the party of progressives. Catholics, passivists, scientists,gays, intellectuals, ecologists, agnostics, Jews, blacks, Latinsminority groups thathave always been barred from the highest ranks of the miUtary.In the 1985 budget fight,it was the Republicans who wanted to cut social-educationalprograms and the Democrats who wanted to him the military ftmds.The warrior caste in America the generals, the admirals, the cops is overwhehninglyRepubUcan. This is ominous. George Marshall, the only famous Democratic general ofthis century, is most renowned for his plans to wage peace.This Imkage of the GOP and the warrior caste is not new. From the Civil Warthrough Eisenhower, seven out of twelve Republican presidents have been ex-generals orglamourous warriors.2i6 TIMOflY lEAlY CHAOS i CVIEI CUITUIE

This tradition of the warrior president goes bacii to the beginning. GeorgeWashington, the Father of our Country, won his first fame in the Indian Wars.It is important to note that the other "Father of Our Country," Thomas Jefferson, thespiritual founder of the Democratic party,was an antimilitarisL It was Jefferson who iramedthe philosophic and legal documents that led to the Revolution and who wrote theDeclaration of Independence. Their Constitution was exquisitely designed to protect states'rights and individual rights against a centralized federal authority.A lEFFERSONIAN PRESIDENT MAKES A SENSIBLE PROPOSAL TO AVOIDWAR WITH EUROPEPresident James Monroe, a disciple of Jefferson, is known for the treaties and diplomaticaccords with England, France, and Spain that managed to expand American interestswithout war. The MonroeDoctrine is his most famousachievement There were twoIt is important to note that the other "Father of Our Country," Thomas lefferson,H44AAAAAAAAAunportant and interdependentclauses in this manifesto. Thefirst was a formal restatement ofthe Washingtonian America-firstneutrality. Beware of foreignentanglements! Americapromised not to intervene inEuropean and (implicitly) Asianpolitics, hi return, Americathe spiritualfounder of the Democratic party, was an antimilitarist. It waslefferson who framed the philosophicand le^faldocuments that led to theRevolution and who wrote the Declaration of Independence.Their Constitutionwas exquisitely designedto protectstates' rightsand individual rights a5[ainsta centralized federal authority.declared the Newe Worid off Umitsfor European intervention.Modem American presidents such as Kennedy and Reagan are on solid historicaland common-sense ground when they object to Russian meddhng in Cuba and CentralAmerica. We all want to ban Soviet weapons from the Newe Worid. But Reaganis in directviolation of the Monroe Doctrine when he turns around and meddles in conflicts of the OldeWorid. Arms to Pakistan and Tlu-key. More than two hundred thousand U.S. troops inGermany. Forty thousand in Korea. Marines landing m Lebanon to protect our oil interests.THE FILIBUSTER PRESIDENTRlibusten ... An adventurer who engagesin a private military action in a foreigncountry . . . (originally freebooter from Dutch . . . vnjbufter, pirate, "one whoplunders freely").The classic device of using a foreign adventure (the fiUbuster) as a stepping-stone tothe presidency was invented by Andrew Jackson. In 1818, Jackson, then a major general,was sent off to Florida to campaign against the Seminole Indians. These natives, employingstandard liberation tactics, fled across the border to Spanish Florida. Disregarding his ordersand violating international laws, Jackson invaded Spanish territory and wasted variousnatives. He also executed two British subjects. Jackson's own private war created an intema-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS(TION VIII. MIllENNIUM MADNESS lACKWAID (HIISTIAN SOLDIERS 217

tional crisis. Responsible American ofTicials denounced the action, but Jackson's illegalwog-bashing won support from populists, expansionists, ultranationalists, imperialists,and Calvinist Protestants looking for a crusade against the heathen.Jackson rode a wave of personal popularity that almost won him the presidencyin 1824. In 1828, he swept into office, and for two terms was able to use his populistWestern support to protect Eastern financial interests. Sound familiar,Ronnie?ISIT A CONDITION OF MANHOOD TO LOVE WAR?In his Esquire piece, which passionately glorifies the mechanizedmass murder of Orientals, ex-Marine William Broyles, Jr., is less than scientific.He writes, "Most men who have been to war would have to admit,if they are honest, that somewhere inside themselves they loved it . . . lovedit as much as anything that happenedto them before or since."But wait a minute. Isn't ex-Lieutenant Broyles describing a well-knownaltered state of consciousness that can be and usually is attained by many otherless-violent means?The scientific situation seems to be something like this. There are circuitsin the human brain that when activated produce heightened states of awareness. Amongthese are certain neural tracts, mainly centered in the midbrain, which mediate convulsiveThere are circuits in the humanbrain that when activatedproduce heightened states ofawareness. Among these arecertain neural tracts, mainlycentered in the midbrain,which mediate convulsivesurvival behavior. Theseancient primitive circuits areinvolved in height, flight,territorial defense, and maledominance. When a guyengages in violence, he fallssurvival behavior. These ancient primitive circuits are involved in height, flight, territorialdefense, and male dominance. When a guy engages in violence, he falls into a trancelikestate that produces an incredible adrenaline rush. Some call this the mad-dog reflex, orgoing berserk.This sympathetic-nervous-system hit is necessary for our survival repertoire.It's likethe endorphin-opiate rush that protects us from pain. Useful for desperate survival, but dangerouslyaddictive.At this point we must remind ex-Lieutenant Broyles that the destructive paroxysmalstate (DPS), which he glamourizes and politicizes,is not restricted to war.We have all felt on occasions this seductive invitation to "flip out" in wild destructiveness.You don't have to ship eight million young Americans eight thousand miles acrossthe Pacific to waste a small Asian country. Just go downtown, Broyles, and catch a barroombrawl in a Burt Reynolds-Clint Eastwood movie. Tme into a prime-time television show likeTheA-Team.Alcohol tripsoff the DPS. Drop into any redneck saloon in Texas, Broyles. Visit achnic for battered wives, ex-Lieutenant Broyles, and you'll get a glimpse of your favorite"comer of the universe." Put on some black leather and join a bikers' club. Bullies love toexpress their manhood by riding in male-bonded packs. Jom the Mexican Mafia, an innercitygang. Cops and Bloods in the ghetto feel it. The Waffen SS felt it.love."It's called "warriorinto a trancelike state thatproduces an incredibleadrenaline rush. Some call thisthe mad-dog reflex, or goingberserk.FROM THE HALLS OF MONTEZUMA TO THE SHORES OF TRIPOLIThe Mexican War (1846-48) is another good example of the fun-fame-fortunerewards of Latin-bashing. After this conflict Mexico conceded two-fifths of its land toAmerica. Are you hstening, Adolf?2il TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS I CYBER CUtTUIE

The Mexican War was a bonanza for the warrior caste and for ambitious Republicanpoliticians. Take Zachary Taylor. For starters, Zach earned his general's stars by snuffingSac, Fox, and Seminole Indians, for which he won the label "Old Rough and Ready." HisMexican War triumphs assured him the presidency at the age of 65.General Winfield Scott had good wog-busting credentials. He fought the Creeks andthe Seminoles and supervised the removal of the Cherokee to the Southwest Scott won thebattle of Mexico City and proceeded to defy the U.S. envoy during the peace negotiations,causing considerable embarrassment in Washington. Agents of God shouldn't have to obeydiplomatic rules; Reagan and Ollie North understand thaL So did Adolf and Brezhnev!THE RECENT REHABILITATION OF THE FREEBOOTER ETHICThis Christian-soldier stuff isHow, we wonder, can a presumably respectable journalist like Wilham Broyles, Jr.,get away with a cover story in Esquire celebrating the wanton, lustful Nazi-Stalinist-MarxistPol-Pot slaying of millions of Asians in the name of self-fulfiUment? Well,it turns out thatBroyles, for self-esteem and profit, was shrewdly surfing the wave of neomilitarism generatedby the Reagan regime.During the humanist "give peace a chance" antiwar movement of the 1960s, and thehuman-rights moments of the Carter period, the Puritan-killer ethic got pushed around a bit,but it never disappeared. The Schwarzenegger-Stallone hero figures were stillpacking theminto the theatres. The Reagan administration briUiantly rehabiUtated militarism. Ronald wasa fihn star. He knew how to put the adventurist hero back in the saddle! Wog-bashing wasback in style.It was the triumphant return of the Wild West, John Wayne-Ollie North piratewho scornfully ignores the legalities of effete politicians and takes the law into his ownnot limited to the redneck Southand Southwest. It well allplaysaround white, CalvinistAmerica. The American Legion,the National Rifle Association,the Hell's the Angels,Marinehands.Lieutenant Galley, you're forgiven. The heroes of My Lai are marching down FifthCorps Association, theAvenue in a ticker-tape parade. Crank up OUie North.This Christian-soldier stuff is not Umited to the redneck South and Southwest Itsurvivalists, the G.Gordonplays well all around white, Calvinist America. The American Legion, the National RifleAssociation, the Hell's Angels, the Marine Corps Association, the survivalists, the G. GordonLiddy crowd, and Soldier of Fortune readers are visible tips of a profoundly deep, whiteAmerican need to get kicks from wasting coloured people.Liddy crowd, and SoldjerdJqrtune readers are visible tipsof a profoundly deep,whiteA STRANGE LITTLE EPISODE IN NICARAGUAAmerican need to ^etkicks fromWilliam Walker (1824-60) merits a footnote in history as a classic case of an OUieNorth American warrior compulsively involved in private, illegal plundering raids ofwasting coloured people.Caribbean countries. In 1853, Walker led a group of frontier hoodlums in quest of LatinAmerican plunder. First these white, American thugs tried Sonora, Mexico. The fi^ebootingmission failed miserably Walker was arrested for violation of neutrality laws. An understandingfrontier American jury acquitted him. He was apparently a charismatic, JohnWayne kind of thug. A good communicator, you might say And after all, it was onlyMexicans he had wasted.In 1855, Walker joined a group of confra terrorist revolutionaries in Nicaragua. Afteroverthrowing the government, Walker obtained recognition ftum the U.S. State Departmentand set himself up as dictator of Nicaragua. But the real power in Nicaragua those days wasAmerican tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt, whose Accessory TVansit Company monopolizedSECTION VIII. I MIltENNIUM MADNESS lACKWAKD CHRISTIAN SOlDIEtS 21)

trade in that inviting land. When Walker's operation became competitive, Vanderbilt ran himoutBut Walker still suffered from that old Caribbean Freebooter Legionnaires' disease,as recurrent as malaria. In 1860, based now in Honduras, he led still another pirate attemptto take over Central America. It failed, and Latin-basher William Walker was finally done inby a Honduran government firing squad, leaving behind a book that has some relevancetoday. It's called War in Nicaragua!Onward ChristianSoldiers! It's anothercrusade againstSatan.THE COMMUNIST PARTY TAKES OVER AMERICAThe American Civil War (1861-65), one of the bloodiest conflicts in history, was provokedwhen a manic-depressive, psychotic. Christian bully strongman, Abraham Lincohi,used federal troops to ruthlessly suppress the independence of the southern states and forceIt's jihadtime.M Blowthem unwillingly into the American Union. Before this "Brezhnev maneuver," the UnitedStates of America was a loose confederation of small sovereign, agricultural states. Lincohi,it all upfor Allah! Killfor Qaddaii!W Praiseas would Lenin sixty years later, created a centralized, industrial, militaristic, expansionistgovernment Just as the Communist party has managed the USSR since 1921, so has thethe Lord and passtheammunition! Hand methat red phone, boy.Howdy there, God. Timeto dropthe BijOne onthe Godless heathenslike the Good Booksays!Republican party, USA, controlled the police, the military, the banks, the manufacturingplants, the organs of information.This change from small, feudal, independent-interdependent agricultural states to ahighly organized, mechanistic, imperiaUstic, monolithic, state-centered society is aninevitable stage in human evolution. Let us not daemonize Abraham Lincohi. The time hadcome for the industrialization stage. In the eighty years after Lincohi and the "party" seizedconfrol of America, other smokestack countries Japan, Germany, Italy, Russia set up similarcenfralized military-industrial systems controlled by a "party."After the Civil War the party leadership in the American Union automatically wentto military men. U. S. Grant was succeeded by Major General Rutherford B. Hayes. ThenMajor General James Garfield, a lay preacher in the Disciples of Christ, was succeeded byQuartermaster General Chester A. Arthur. President Benjamin Harrison was a brigadiergeneral. All, of course, were party members.ft was during this stage of industrial-miUtary growth that the glorification of thewarrior caste hit its peak. Statues were raised in the center of every town and city: a general(and party leader) on a bronze horse, riding off to war. With the Cross of Jesus going onbefore!THE REIICIOUS ISSUE lUST WON'T fUlTNow comes Esquire magazine, publishing an inflammatory moral justification ofwarfare at a spooky moment in history when nuclear conflagration threatens and when thereligious right wing in this country and in several Islamic theocracies speaks approvingly ofHoly Wars, Evil Empires, and Armageddons. Onward Christian Soldiers! It's another crusadeagainst Satan. It's jihad time. Blow it all up for Allah! Kill for Qaddafi! Praise the Lord andpass the ammunition! Hand me that red phone, boy. Howdy there, God. Time to drop the BigOne on the Godless heathens hke the Good Book says!Reflect for a moment on the quotes from the Broyles article. Glazed-eye babbleabout brotherly love among the napahn, and God as the gunner in a helicopter gunship, andblissed-out looks on the faces of charismatic Protestants, and the psychotic Marine assassinwith "Just You and Me, Lord" tattooed on his shoulder.221 TIMOTHY IIAIV CHAOS i (YIEI CUITUIE

wife isMywoiried about this article.She thinks that I've ^one too fai. She fears that this expose of the warrior caste is ^oin^to sound unpatriotic."America is a youn^ country without traditions," she explains."We need heroes and a glorious history."CARIBBEAN FEVER STRIKES AGAINThe war for Southern independence ended in 1865. Between 1869 and 1878, morethan two hundred pitched battles were fought against a newly invented enemy: the PlainsIndians. The Massacre of Wounded Knee was the final solution for this overpopulation problem.More than two hundred unarmed men, women, and children were killed. "The soldierslater claimed that it was difficult to distinguish the Sioux women from the men," a complaintto be heard again in later wars against coloured people.By 1898, the expansionists and war lovers and heretic-bashers had simply run out ofpoor neighbours to invade. A new generation of young men hungered for the "awesomebeauty, the haunting romance, the timeless nightmare" of a colonial war. Well, how about alittle rumble in Cuba?It so happened that there were heavy American investments to protect on the island.The military, with itseye on Panama and Nicaragua for a canal, stressed the strategic positionof the island. It was easy for the press to whip up support for the contras fighting againstSpain.Cuba was a media war. William Randolph Hearst broadcast fake propaganda. Therewas a Gulf of Tonkin-Korean Air Lines Flight 007 faked incident involving the American battleshipUSS Maine.The war itself was a pushover. The Spanish put up token resistance. The biggestwinner was a wealthy politician named Teddy Roosevelt, who organized his own semiprivateregiment (Western cowboys and "adventurous blue bloods from Eastern universities") andwhose routine exploits were highly pubhcized. Quick results: Within three years Roosevelta swashbuckling, militaristic, Reagan-typewas in the White House. Roosevelt's regime wascontinually involved in Latin-bashing, dollar diplomacy, Venezuela, and the Philippines. Heinfuriated all of Latin America by placing, in the Dominican Republic, U.S. customs officerswho stole revenues for the benefit of American business. He backed a group of contras whohijacked Panama from Colombia. Just eight years ago, when Jimmy Carter returned thecanal to Panama, the Repubhcans screamed, "TVeason! We stole that canal fair and square!"Teddy Roosevelt's jingoistic imperialism made him the scourge of Democrats, progressives,and Jeffersonian Americans. And in 1906, Teddy, the ultimate war freak and ultraimperialist,won the Nobel Peace Prize. Shades of Henry Kissinger!A BUSY TIME FOR THE WARRIOR CASTEDuring the 20th Century, every generation of young Americans has been offered aforeign expeditionary war. Worid War Iagainst the Huns. Worid War II against the Nazis andJapanese. To prop up the unspeakably fascist regime of South Korea, our generals sacrificedmore than fiftythousand American lives. General Douglas MacArthur, the ultimate freeboot-SECTION VIII. I MIllENNIUMMADNESS lACKWAKD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS 221

ir ir ir ir ir1^ t^ i^ f^ 1^i^- ir ir ir i^1^ i^ i^ i^ mAs I review American history,I see a larje 5iloriouscompany of heroic men and women who representour red-white-and-blue ideals of initiative,^ ^ ^- s6^k -Ai^-A--sd?-i^ A^ 7^ /^ 7^tV ^ tV tV ^4^ ^- ^ ^- c4vA^ j^ )^ 7^ l!TriV iV iV ^ iVsjc^ ^vK?' "nM:^' nk?' ''smt'i^ /^ W y!^ 7^ir ir ir i^ irSB7 '=A==' \7 'stt?' SM7'^ ^ ik ^ ^^ * *- * ^ir i^ ir ir ir^ ^ -^ ^ ^i^ ^ ^ i^ it^ -s^ ^ -s^ sip7^ f^ 7^ 7^ 7^er, started to wage his own Me psychotic war against a bilUon "slant-eyed" Chinese until hewas forcibly removed by President Thiman. "Dugout" Doug returned as a hero andannounced his candidacy for the presidency. On the Republican ticket, of course.Then came Vietnam. And Cambodia.More explosives were dropped on Vietnam than during all of our two hundred yearsof warfare. Not to mention a small sea of Agent Orange, which has left much of that unfortunateland blighted for years to come. We have listened recently to a deafening chorus ofaggrieved-victim complaints from Vietnam vets who feel unrewarded; we hear verylittleabout the punishing casualties we inflicted upon the peoples of Vietnam and Cambodia. Wewon the Body Count War! We wasted 'em soldiers,civilians, women, and children.Esquire is off to a good start. Let's encourage these psycho vets to tell their storiesabout the fim of body desecration, and the "perfectly formed piece of shit" on the non-Caucasian's head, and "the mad excitement of destroying." And about how impossibleit is totalk about it unless you were there. It's good Freudian catharsis. And let's build them a monumentwhere they can weep, not for Metnam and Cambodia wasted, not for America rent byconflict, not for Jeffersonian ideals lost, but in pity for themselves.But the ticker-tape parade led by General Westmoreland isn't enough. Even coverstories in national magazines can't heal the scar of ex-Lieutenant Broyles. Even a M-pagepicture of him in natty suit and tie, lookmg very serious-grim like a young Dallas stockbroker,standing in front of a war memorial with his blonde kid (a boy, of course) in his arms,holding (no shit) the American flag in front of an enormous bronze statue of three realyoung, clean-cut, good-looking white soldiers Texas A&M types still raising anotherAmerican flag over Iwo Jima, Managua, or even Havana?ir ir ir iriicintelligence, tolerance, humour, compassion.ik iic i^ i^ i

common sense, optimism, and 5[ood-natuie(skepticism of bureaucracy and authority. PeopleSo let's issue some patrioticwho believe in fair playand who dislike armedAmerican commands tobullies runningaround in uniforms.ex-lieutenant Broyleshundred years.As I review American history,I see a large glorious company of heroic men andwomen who represent our red-white-and-blue ideals of initiative, intelligence, tolerance,humour, compassion, conmion sense, optimism, and good-natured skepticism of bureaucracyand authority. People who beUeve in fair play and who dislike armed bullies runningand his comrades.around in uniforms.Let's Ust a few examples of true American heroes gentle WiUiam Penn, founder ofPhiladelphia, city of brotherly love; Henry David Thoreau, the Concord libertarian; EdgarABOUT FACE! ORDER ARMSIAllan Poe, a West Pointer who became a literary star, inventors such as EU Whitney, RobertFulton, and Thomas Edison; Ralph Waldo Emerson, philosopher of self-reliance; WaltWhitman and Mark. TVain.Let's recall the long hne of blacks who have provided us models of noble humanity,creatively waging peace, not war George Washington Carver, Ralph Bunche, andAT EASE!Dr.Martin Luther Ring, Jr., among others.THE CIVILIZED AMERICAN HEROHear this, lads: We haveWhat, indeed, is any thoughtful American gomg to feel when exposed to thisAmerican Legion, bom-again fake patriotism?Most of us CathoUcs, Jews, Latins, women, and men are descendants of thosecalled off the Christianwho came to the United States of America to escape militarism and to create a better socialorder. Basically, most of us don't want to stirup foreign adventures and Umi our countiy intoa Christian empire. We've got enough real problems here at home the complicated ti-ansitionfrom an industiialized economy; tiie agonizing racial tensions; the collapse of our educationsystem. There is a need for heroes, not to lead religious crusades, but to apply good-crusade. You don't havewill, tolerance, and intelligence to make the American Dream come time.So let's issue some patriotic American commands to ex-Lieutenant Broyles and hiscomrades.to others toABOUT FACE! ORDER ARMS! AT EASE!bully proveHear tiiis, lads: We have called off tfie Christian crusade. You don't have to bully othersto prove your manhood! @your manhood!fSECTION VIII. I MILLENNIUM MADNESS lACKWAlB CNIISTIAN SOIDIEIS 223

ace yourselves, folks. The Roaring 20th Century Is boiling up to a Chaos Climax.In the next few years Millennium Madness isgonna inundate this planet!viiij.God Runs for President on the Repudlican TicketCheck out the history books and read about the years 987to 1000. In those days a lot of fruit loops were runningaround stirring up trouble. Exactly one thousand yearsago Grand Prince Vladimir of Russia started a religious Cold War byjoining the Eastern Orthodox CathoUc Church. The Persians andArabs and Christians were waging a Holy War. People were scaredand confused back thenjust as they are today.And in the next few years,I believe we will see similar irrationalkookiness, messianic megalomanias, mass insanities, apocalypticparanoias, end-of-world prophecies; demented demagogues.Holy Wars, crazy crusades, lunatic leaders, disharmonic divergences,and thousands of just plain old four-square evangeUcal badtrips. OUie North, Jim Bakker, Muammar Qaddafi, ShirleyMacLaine, the AyatoUah Khomeini, Oral Roberts, and, yes, PatRobertsonthey're just warm-ups for the eccentricities and terroractivatedmanias to come.No question about it,most of the violence and angry politicsthat are apparent these days pitone biblical God against another.The Cold War has taken a back seat. It's as if America and Russiahave become mere pawns on God's chessboard. It's the Roaring 9thCentury all over again! Feudal Super Bowl crusader time! My Godversus your Great Satan! Israel versus Rome versus Byzantium.Shi'ites versus Sunnis. Hindus versus Buddhists. Hindus versusSikhs. Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia. Jehovah versus Allah for the woridchampionship.And now, with the emergence of the militant evangelicalsand the candidacy of Reverend Pat Robertson, the angry, jealous,fundamentahst God has thrown his beUicose hat into the AmericanpoUtical ring.I have studied the skillfully vvritten press releases of theChristian Broadcasting Network, a monstrously successful mediaempire that had a take of $182 miUion in 1987. have 1pored overstacks of lavishly adulatory columns on Robertson from small-townnewspapers and unashamedly adoring articles in mainUne pubhcations.I was stunned, for example, to read this Chicago THbuneheadline: The $70 Million Miracle Named CBN. It was subtitled:"With the Lord's Grace, Pat Robertson Builds a Cable Empire."Huh? A presumably rational, mainstream newspaperinvokes the Deity in its discussion of a political candidate? What isChicago coming to?Robertson's platform is not surprising. It'syour standardright-wing, strident, millenarian kook show. Predestination, here wecome. The familiar Jimmy Swaggart, Oral Roberts, Pat Buchanan,Ronnie Reagan platform. An appeal to the chosen people. An expectationof the imminent and miraculous intervention of God or hismessianic prophet. A belief in the total fransformation to the perfectkingdom. An eternal struggle against the Evil Empire.Fiercely ascetic white-bread puritanism. Anti-abortion, antigaywitch-hunting. Pro-school prayer, pro-creationist "science."What most astonishes and disturbs, however, is the shamanic powerof Robertson's evangelical television show. The "700 Club" isdesigned to produce an altered state of consciousness, a classicvoodoo hypnotic trance.To begin with, the show's production is that of state-of-theartprime-time television, using the same slick, commercial techniquesthat seduce us into buying Coors beer and Extra-SfrengthTylenol. The actors who appear on the show look like local newsanchors. Dignified Ben Kinchlow with his white trimmed mustachelooks like a Supreme Court justice. The lovely assistant, DanutaSoderman, looks like a model for some sensible home product suchas Drano or Roach Motel.The program builds efficiently toward its climax, namelythe invocation of the Deity. Buckle your seat belts, trippers, whileShaman Pat leans over, his eyes clenched m painful concenfration.Hey, the guy's possessed! When the audience iswhipped into a classicfrance state and is neurologically vuhierable, Robertson starts toimprint the commercials. He dials up the sponsor and starts to discussGod's agendanamely His impatience with what's happeningon the planet Both Robertson and the Ahnighty Lord are "sick andtired" (the candidate's favorite buzz phrase) of God's country being2U TIMOTNV lEAlY CHAOS I CYIEI (UlIUIE

taken over by sinners, homosexuals, Democrats, secular humanists,atheistic scientists, communist dupes, pomographers, and, aboveall, the anti-Christ Iranians.Meanwhile, the older pious-looking chap next toRobertson the guy wearing the Episcopal clerical collar is softlysinging, beseeching, "Jesus! Jesus!" It's a gentle, soothing, imploringchorus behind Shaman Pat.Eventually Robertson begins to beg the Lord to strengthenand arm his people to deal with his enemies. The "Jesus! Jesus!"chorus increases in volume and tempo. Soon the two of them haveworked up a voodoo rhythm. The cameras zoom in for close-ups ofthe audience, their faces twisted with awe and righteous self-pity.Soon the folks are holding hands, softly chanting and sighing thename of Jesus.Hey, I've participated in as many trance experiences as anyone.I've tripped out to voodoo rites in Haiti. I've been mesmerizedour middle-a^jedleaders simplydon'tby Gnaoua drummers in Tangier. I've attended Navaho peyote ceremonies,Ren Kesey's acid tests, ganja funeral rituals along theGanges, sacred mushroom chants in Oaxaca, Pan rites in the Rifmountains of Morocco. I've seen folks holding hands, softly chantingand sighing the name of Jerry Garcia. I've even participated insunrise davening prayers with Hassidic rabbis.So swear me in, bailiff, and I'll testify as an expert witnessthat the bom-again rituals of our homegrown southern Pentecostalsare authentic head trips,and that preachers such as Pat Robertsonare performing the classic shamanic role of brainwashing.The problem1 have with these Bible Belt altered-statesmenhas to do with their motive and cultural framework. When thepower of the shamanic tripping is hooked to a confrontational,understand altered states of mind. They'reneurological innocents. Theynever had to talkdown a trippin^f colle^feroommate. They'retotallytounequippedhandle cabinet-level kooksand White House zealots who use slick televisionmonotheistic religious dogma, you've got the potential for majormind games. Reverend Pat taps into the old "One God," MiddleEastern Numero Uno, who is congenitally jealous, possessive, andgiven to vengeful genocide if and when His monopoly is challenged.("And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the Earth, andtoadvertising techniquesrave about theirbiblical revelations and millennium dreams.itgrieved Him to His heart," reads Genesis: 6. "So the Lord said, 'Iwill blot out man whom Ihave created ftx)m the face of the ground,man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for 1 amsorry that have made Ithem'.")As I watch Robertson incite hatred of nonbelievers, I amreminded of those familiar television news scenes in which mobs inthe streets of Tehran lash themselves with chains into frenzies ofsorrowful rage against the Great Satan. Discounting superficial culturaldifferences, there do seem to be striking similarities betweenRobertson and the AyatoUah. They're both media shamanselectronicwizards who are able to use television to convey magnetizingcharisma. And they both head highly efficient political organizations.Come to think of it, Robertson and the AyatoUah are mirror...images of each other. Their beliefs stem from the same monothe-SECTION VIII. 2 MIllENNIUM MADNESS GOI lUNS FOI PIESIDENT ON THE RErUlllCAN TICKET 22$

^ZC!7ANDY FRITHism. And when they look at each other, guess what they see: theGreat Satan.For instance:1. They both present themselves as agents of God. Thosewho oppose them are, by definition, evil.They aim tocreate a theocratic state.4. Their opponents are treated without tolerance or mercy.Robertson, for example, publicly wished for the deathsof Supreme Court justices Marshall, Brennan, andStevens. (Scientific duty compels me to admit that allthree justices were hospitalized within weeks afterRobertson's curse. In fairness to the Ayatollah,I mustalso note that every American move against Iran hasmysteriously backfired.)2.They both whip up hatred of nonbelievers a conditionthat leads to holy-war crankiness. Their approachis divisiveand confrontational.3. As God's agents, they can allow no compromise withSatan. This leads to a profound impracticality. They can'tbe bothered with such prosaic human concerns as life,liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They're engaged inan all-out Holy War against evil.5. They're both full of biblical sternness for unrepentant sinners.They're for the death penalty, punitive policeaction, a big military, and an aggressive foreign policy.They don't blink at nuclear weapons.6. They believe that women should be subservient to men.7. Both exhibit obsessive prudishness and a hatred of modernlifestyles; they believe in the censorship of books,226 TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS ( CytER CUIIUIE

drama, music, movies.8. They're committed to an apocalyptic vision. Both ofthem yearn for the end of the world, when God willreward His faithful.9.They distrust sdence, Western culture, and secular education.10. They appeal to the dissatisfied who feel that they'vebeen left out of the secular mainstream. The Americanfundamentalists have been scorned by the mainlineProtestant sects and ridiculed by such intellectuals asSinclair Lewis, H. L. Mencken, and Garry Trudeau. Theirfollowers include hardworking. God-fearing, small-townfolk who bitterly resent the freedom of liberals,hedonists, and other urban followers of Satan.testifyas an expertwitness11. They long for a return to a simpler, more orderedsodety.that the born-ajainrituals of our12. They're intensely antihumanist. They see humanism as aSatanic attempt to place worldly issues before the will ofGod.homegrownsouthern Pentecostals13. They seek political power to further their religious aims.are authentic head trips,and thatThey're unconcerned with social and economic issues.Robertson's platform doesn't seriously address nuclear disarmament,the budget deficit, racism, the agonizing conversion to apreacherssuch as Pat Robertsonpostindustrial society, the trade imbalance, and the environment.The Ayatollah is unperturbed by the slaughter of his young soldiersare performingthe classicon the Iraqi front They don't worry about social injustice and thefate of the Earth, because they're counting down to Armageddon.With only a few years left before the millennium, prayer in schoolsshamanic role of brainwashing.is obviously a key survival issue.Since 1946 the Cold War has obsessed the planet's politics.Why did we support a monster like Ferdinand Marcos? Why are theSoviets wasting billions on an incompetent megalomaniac like FidelCastro? Why are we in the Persian Gulf now? Why are the Sovietsusing toy bombs against Afghan children? It's because every countryin the third worid is a pawn on the red-black chessboard.The American obsession with the Cold War came to ascreeching halt in the mid-1960s, when the fu^t waves of the babyboomgeneration 76 million strong started to hit college. The Dr.Spock people are the first post-Cold War generation. WinstonChurchill and Omar Bradley are as alien to them as Ulysses Grantand General Jack Pershing.111The group initiations of the Spock kids occurred not atSECTION VIM. 2 MIllENNIUM MADNESS COD lUNS FOI PIESIDENT ON THE lEPUIUCAN TICKET 227

Anzio Beach or Normandy but at Malibu Beach and FortLauderdale. They were the first postnuclear, the first postindustrial,the first electronic generation. Extremely individualistic, supremelyseU-confident, indulged, and ennobled by demand feeding, theseaffluent children of a doting adult culture are obsessed with suchpractical, down-to-earthmatters as enriched sex,Mainstream America is now learningwhat psychedelicresearchers learned in theearly 1960s and what most baby-boomers learned in the 1970s: Religious, mystical,visionary possession states are powerful and wonderiul-they openthe doorsperception, polish our sensory lenses, shake upthe autonomic nervous system,and ^etthe hormones sur^in^-but they'reintimate and precious. Theyshouldn'tphysical comfort, aestheticstyle, and personalgrowth. Above all, theywere and still are consistentlyantiwar andantidraft.The 1976 electionpitted a dependableCold Warrior, GeraldFord, against JimmyCarter, who actuaUybe imposedon others. And above all, they should be kept out of politics.issue here is the separationof state and religiousvisions.The reaquoted Bob Dylan in hisspeeches. The electionwas a toss-up. The militantBible vote was splitCarter, after all, was abom-again Southerner.The electionlandslide of 1980 was produced by an alliance between fundamentalistProtestants, fundamentalist Catholics, and cold-war conservatives.The Reagan Revolution will surely go down in history as themost zany, irrational, unrealistic period in American history.Common sense has floated out the window. The national debt hasexploded, the trade balance has collapsed, the industrial base hasshrunk, the educational system has failed, and Reagan's ring-dingregime has launched military strikes in Beirut, Libya, CentralAmerica, Grenada, and the Persian Gulf, not to mention its highlypubUcized and ineffective War on Drugs. So what's going on here?Oh, have you forgotten? It's Millennium Madness. Just afew more looney-tune years to go until A.D. 2000. Happens everythousand years.Ronald Reagan, let us not forget, believes in the apocalypticscript. George Bush is an EpiscopaUan Christian. Can you imaginewhat Pat Robertson would do if he had the Pentagon and the CIAunder his command?How, you wonder, can these nitwits get away with this stuff?Why do the Democrats and the liberals and the moderateRepublicans and other practical people sit by with dazed expressionsand let harebrains like Pat Buchanan, Richard Secord,Thomas Clines, and Manucher Ghorbanifar run U.S. foreign policy?Why? Because our middle-aged leaders simply don't understandaltered states of mind. They're neurological innocents. They22a TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS I CYBEI CULIUIE

Oh, have you foi^otten?It's Millennium Madness.lust a few more looney-tune yeaisto ^0until A.D. zooo.Happens every thousand years.? 9 f 99% %%%%%%%%never had to talk down a tripping college roommate. They're totaUyunequipped to handle cabinet-level kooks and White House zealotswho use slick television advertising techniques to rave about theirbiblical revelations and millennium dreams.The same thing happened in Tehran. The Iranian middleclass and the technicians and the merchants watched with amazementas madman Khomeini whipped up holy-war passions.Mainstream America is now learning what psychedelicresearchers learned in the early 1960s and what most babyboomerslearned m the 1970s: Religious, mystical, visionary possessionstates are powerful and wonderftil theyopen the doors ofperception, polish our sensory lenses, shake up the autonomic nervoussystem, and get the hormones surgingbut they're intimateand precious. They shouldn't be imposed on others. And above all,they should be kept out of poUtics. The real issue here is the separationof state and rehgious visions.As we approach the millennium, our survival could dependupon staying cahn and cooUng out the crazies among us.SECTION VIM. 2 MIllENNIUM MADNESS COS IUN$ FOI riESIDENT ON THE lEPUIllCAN TKKET 22)

VIII.^.Who Owns theJesus Property?Q'vebeen trying to make senseout of the current flap about theered, century after century, about the trinityor the virgin birth or that always explosivetopic, the personality, habits, andhuman/divine endowments of Jesus.guns and gelignite. Just like the MiddleAges, except for improved weaponry.But here in the U.S. our sectarianChristians merely quarrel like talent agen-film version of The Last TemptationThe sides inthese well-publicizedcies disputing who owns the screen rightsof Christ. Whyare fundamentalistdebates are usually drawn along geographiclines. In general, the people fromNorth Europe tend to define Jesus andthe women in his life as less emotionalthan people from the Mediterranean do.The Nordics want a Jesus like themselves,cold and repressed. The Southerners wantto the Jesus Christ story. We're hasslingover the ownership to one of the mostvaluable properties of all time. Look atthe script: The birth in the manger. Thewalking on water. The loaves and fishes.The scourging of the money lenders fromthe Temple. (Well, on second thought,Protestants attacking this movieinspired by a novel penned by a tormentedGreek Catholic, adapted bya guilt-ridden Protestant, and directedby a moodyItalian Catholic?Christians, allwhy the rhubarb?What we have here is a typical bunchof quarreling Christian sects exactly the... the ancestors of these bad-temperedEuropean Bible thumpers were runningaround bare-assed in bearsl(ins, sacrificinga passionate, volatile Jesus again, likethemselves.There is a fascinating parallel here withIslam. The angry born-again fundamentalistsin Iran; the moderate Sunni and SaudiArabs who are just trying to make a buckSince theyall claim to be sincere on the Mecca tourist trade and the oilwells, but who are forced to band togetherto resist the highly impractical Iranianmilitants.This relativistic speculation cheered meup. showed It me, once again, how far ourAmerican Christians (and American Jewsand Moslems) haveevolved from theirlet's not stress that scene.) The betrayalby Judas. (I wouldn't mention the thirtypieces of silver, to spare Jerry Falwell'sfeelings.) The crown of thorns. The everpopularCrucifixion Climax. The surpriseendingResurrection. ItJones, doesn't it?beats IndianaOur fundamentalists and televisionevangelists understandably insist thatthey have amonopolyon the JesusProperty. Of course, there's no shred ofevidence to support this in any court.There's not a single paper anywhere thatsays the Christ family, Jesus, Mary,Joseph, etc., signed away these valuabledocudrama rights to North EuropeanProtestants and their descendants in theright wing of the Republican party. Hey,virgins to Thor the Thunder God, when theoriginal Christ script was penned.same noisy cast of characters who havepesky counterpartsin the Olde World. Inthe Middle Eastthese theological differencesare stillbeing fought outwith tanks andbombers and poisongas; in Northernthese Johnny-come-lately Protestants didn'tappear on the scene until fourteencenturies after the death scene wentdown. To be absolutely frank, the ancestorsof these bad-tempered EuropeanBible thumpers were running aroundbeen profiting from similar theologicalbattles for two millennia. They've bick-Ireland, the dour Protestants and passionateCatholics have at each other withbare-assed in bearskins, sacrificing virginsto Thor the Thunder God, when the origi-230 TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS i (VIEI CyiTUIE

ANDY FRITHnal Christ script was penned.The televangelists are obviously worriedthat their alleged monopoly on the$50 billion a year Christ Market will bethreatened by passionate Latin and Greekversions that attribute Mediterraneanhumanity to Christ in contrast to the pale,blonde, plastic doll, blue-eyed killer versionthat they are peddling. The primordialGreek-Latin image of J. C. is too"human" and emotional for dogmaticJerry Falwell or shy, onanistic JimmySwaggart, or sexually naTve Jim "Motel"Bakker.Inmy scenario of these events, Jesusand Mary Magdalene and Peter theFisherman and the rest of the rowdy gangwould be laughing their haloes off at thisgrubby wrangling for the screen rights totheir story. After all, the Jewish Jesus, orYeshuahthe prototype, even older thanGreek-Latin versionsseems to havebeen an easy-going Reform rabbi with asly sense of humour, a genial,rabbi like Ram Dass.Anyway, ifinterest, theyHin-Jewthe Writers Guild takes anshould demand residuals forMatthew, Mark, Luke, and John, thosefour hard-working, ink-stained wretcheswho penned this eternally interesting andcontroversial script.In general, the people fromNorth Europe tend to defineJesus and the women In hislife as less emotional thanpeople from theMediterranean do. TheNordics want a Jesus likethemselves, cold andrepressed. The Southernerswant a passionate, volatileJesus again, likethemselves.fSECTION VIII.) MIILENNIUM MADNESS WHO OWNS THE lESUS PIOPEITY? 231

VIII.4.God is not a tribal father,nor a feudal lord, nor anofengineer-manager theHiGH-JjCHjAMNISMco-wmiiENwiiH[RicGyiucHrrNuniverse. There is no God(in the singular) except youat the moment. . . . Since Go("1 appears to be held hostagelack there bythe blooc -thirsty Persian ayatollah,ly the telegenic Polish pope,and the Moral Majority,there's onlyone logicalalternative. You "steer" yourown course. You and yourdear friends start your ownreligion. The Temple, ocourse, is your body.Your minds write thetheolo^iy. And the holy spiritemanates from that infinitelymysterious intersectionbetween yourbrain and the)rains of yourteam.THE CYBERPUNK AS MODERNALCHEMISTThebaby-boom generation grew up inan electronic world (1960s to 1970s)of turn-on, tune-in television and personal-computingscreens. The cyberpunks,growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, developnew metaphors, rituals, and lifestyles fordealing with the universe of information.More and more of us are becoming fuzzylogicshamans and digital alchemists.The parallels between the cultureof the alchemists and that of cyberpunkcomputer adepts are numerous. Bothemploy knowledge of an occult arcanumunknown to the population at large, withsecret symbols and words of power. The"secret symbols" compose the languages ofcomputers and mathematics, and the"words of power" instruct computer-operatingsystems to complete Herculean tasks.Knowing die precise code name ofa digital program permits it to be conjuredinto existence, transcending die labour ofmuscular or mechanical search. Rites ofinitiation or apprenticeship are common toboUi. "Psychic feats" of telepresence andaction-at-a-distance are achieved by selectionof die menu option.Young digital alchemists have attheir command tools of a clarity and powerunimagined by their predecessors.Computer screens are magical mirrors,presenting alternate realities at varyingdegrees of absti^ction on command (invocation).The mouse or pen of die digitizingCRT/monitortablet is the wand, contix)Uing the fire of diedisplay and harnessing diecreative force of die operator. Spinning diskdrives are die pentacles, inscribed widicomplex symbols, earthen tablets to receivethe input of "air," resulting in die cracklingintellectual electricity of the processor-chipcircuitiy programming. The RAM chips are,literally, die buffers ("buffer pools"), diewater, the passive element capable only ofreceiving impressions and reti-ansmitting,reflecting.Iconic visual programming languagesare a Tarot, the pictorial summarizationof all possibilities, activated for divinationby juxtaposition and mutual influence.It is a Periodic Table of Possibilities,die Western form of die Eastern IChing.TVaditional word-oriented programminglanguages-FORTRAN, COBOL, and dierestare a degenerate primitive form ofdiese universal systems, grimoires of profitorientedcorporations.Detailed data-base logs of the activityof operating systems form die Akashicrecords on a microscale. At a macroscopiclevel, diis is die "worid net" knowledgebase, die worid-vride online hypertext networkof information soon to be realized bydie storage capacity of CD-ROM and diedata-ti-ansmission capabiUty of opticalfiber"matiix."William Gibson's cyberspacePersonal transmutation (die ecstasyof die "ultimate hack") is a veUed goal ofbodi systems. The satori of harmonioushuman-computer communication resultingfrom die infinite regress into metalevels ofself-reflection is die reward for immaculateconceptualization and execution of ideas.232 TIMOTHY lEAlY (NAOS i CVIEI (UlTVIE

BRUMMBAERThe universality of and 1throughout magic and religionyin andyang, yoni and lingam, cup and wand aremanifested today in digital signals, the twobits underiying the implementation of alldigital programs in the world in our brainsand in our operating disks. Stretchingit abit, even the monad, symbol of change andthe tao, visually resembles a superimposedand 1 when its curving central Ime isstretched through the action of centrifugalforce from the ever-increasing speed ofbaby-boom generation will be digital or(to use the old paradigms) philosophic-spiritual.During their teens the boomerswent on an adolescent spiritual bingeunequalled since the Children's Crusade,hi their revolt against the factory culture,they reinvented and updated their tribalpaganroots and experimented withHinduism, Buddhism, American Indianism,Magic, Witchcraft, Ann Arbor Voodoo,Esalen Yoga, 1Ching, Taoism, Exorcism ofBuddha, Krishna,Gurdjieff. eliL, havetaught: The aim oi yourlife is to take care oirotation of the monad.the Pentagon, 5-D Re-lncamations, Love-Ins, and Psychedelic Celebrations.yourself so youcan takeCYBERRELIGIONOFTHEIAIY-ROOMERSBom-again Paganism!Pan-Dionysus on audiovisual cassettes.Mick Jagger had them sympathizing withcare oi others.the devil. The BeaUes had them floatingtheBy the year 2000 the concerns ofAsupstream on the Ganges. Jimi HendrixSECTION VIM.; MIllENNIUM MADNESS HIGH-TECH PACAHISM 2)}

taught them how to be a voodoo child. Isthere one pre-Christian or third-woridmetaphor for divinity that some rock grouphas not yet celebrated on an album cover?As Buddha, Krishna, Gurdjieff, etaL, have taught The aim of yourlife is totake care of yourself so you can take care ofothers.You and youifriends can doanything that the ^leatleli^ions and empiies andracial groupshave done inthe name of their God. Andcertain to do it betteryou'rebecause . . .well, look attheir track records. There'sno way yourPersonal Statecould producethepersecutionsand massacresand bigotriesof the pastandpresent. There's onlyone ofyou, and even with the helpof yourfriends the amount ofdamage individuals can do isinsipificant compared withthat of a collective.ONTOLOGY RECAPITULATES THEOLOGYThe baby-boomers in their evolvingUfe cycle seem to have recapitulated thetheological history of our species. Just asmonotheism emerged to unify pagan tribesmto nations, so did some boomers rediscoverfundamentahst, bom-again Judaism andChristianity in their young adulthood. Evenfar-away Islam attracted gourmet blacksand ex-hippies Uke Cat Stevens. Bob Dylannicely exemplifies the consumer approachto rehgion. For twenty-five years Dylan hascontinued to browse through the spiritualboutiques, dabbing on a dash of Baptist"bom again," nibbling at Hassidism, beforereturning to his old-time faith of sardonicreformed humanism.We can laugh at this trendy shoppingaround for the custom-tailored,designer God, but behind the faddism wefmd a powerful clue. Notice how Dylan, forexample, preserved his options and tried toavoid shoddy or off-the-rack soulware. No"plastic Christs that glow in the dark" forBob!The real religion here isEvolutionism, based on the classic humanist,transcendental assumptions:God is not a tribal father, nor afeudal lord, nor an engineermanagerof the universe. There isno God (in the singular) exceptyou at the moment. There are asmany Gods (in the plural) as canbe imagined. Call them whateveryou want. They are free agentslike you and me.You can change and mutate andkeep improving. The idea is tokeep "trading up" to a "better"philosophy-theology.WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM YOURFRIENDSThis generation, we recall, was disillusionedby the reUgions, politics,and economicsof their parents. Growing up withthe threat of nuclear war, the assassinationof beloved leaders, a collapsing industrialsystem, an impossible national debt, reUgiousfundamentalisms (Christian-Jewish-Islamic) that fanatically scream hatred andintolerance, acquired immune deficiencies,and uncomprehending neglect of the ecology,they have developed a healthy skepticismabout collective solutions.No wonder the baby-boom generationhas created a psychology of individualnavigation. Singularity. The basic idea isself-responsibility. You just can't depend onanyone else to solve your problems. Yougotta do it all . . .by yourself with a littlehelp lh)m your friends.A DO-IT-YOURSELF RELIGIONSince God #1 appears to be heldhostage back there by the blood-thirstyPersian ayatollah, by the telegenic PoUshpope, and the Moral Majority, there's onlyone logical alternative. You "steer" yourown course. You and your dear friends startyour own religion. The Temple, of course,isyour body. Your minds write the theology.And the holy spiritemanates irom that infinitelymysterious intersection between yourbrain and the brains of your team.The attainment of even the suburbsof paradise involves good navigation andplanning on your part. Hell is a series ofredeemable errors. A detour caused byfailureto check the trip maps. A losing streak.Reward yourself for making choicesthat lead to friendship and pleasure.Build a cybernetic cycle of positive feedinTIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS i (VIEI CyiTVIE

"UMtJtback. Only fh)in a stale of free selfhood canany truly compassionate signals be sent toothers.THE ADMINISTRATION OF APERSONAL STATEThe management and piloting of asingularity leads to a very busy career.Once the individual has established herselfas a religion, a country, a corporation, aninformation network, and a neurologicaluniverse, it is necessary to maintain personalequivalents of all the departmentsand operations of the bureaucracies thatperform these duties.This means forming privatealliances, formulating personal politicalplatforms, conducting one's own domesticand foreign relations, establishing tradepolicies, defense and security programs,v?j S S iI""^iPft^B A E RBRUMMBAEReducational and recreational events.On the up side, one is free fromdependence on bureaucracies, an inestimableboon. (Free agents can, of course,make temporary deals with organizationsand officials thereof) And if countries havehistories and mythic origins, why shouldn't Write your very ownyou?Newest Testament,THE PERSONAL MYTHOLOGYremembering thatSearch and research your very owngenetic memory banks, the Old Testaments voluntary martyrdom isof your DNA-RNA, including, if you like,tacl

Jack Merer!fa^ff ^-"''" ^udiio"""thing that the great religionsand empires and racial groupshave done in the name oftheir God. And you're certainto do it better because . . .well, look at their trackrecords. There's no wayyour Personal State couldproduce the persecutionsand massacres and bigotriesof the past andpresent. There's onlyone ofyou, and evenwith the help of yourfriends the amount ofdamage individualsprograms.Human as program. Or human inThrough storage of one's belief systemsas data structures online, and drivenby desired programs, one's neuronal apparatuscould operate in "silicon" basically asit did in the meatware of the brain, thoughfaster, more predictably, more self-mutably,and, if desired, immortally.Intelligent post-humanists will notonly store themselves electronically, butmay do so in the form of a "computervirus," capable of traversing computer networksand of self-replication as a guardagainst accidental or mahcious erasure."What's on this CD?"^""TiSt;;"^^nc^H"^-T.^'5>S3.I""'U'^can do is insignificantcompared withthat of a collective.Besides,you're children ofthe 1960s and1990s. You're imprinted"Ah, that's just boring,adolescent Leary. Let's go aheadand reformat it."One speculation is that such vfralhuman forms might afready inhabit ourto want a peaceful, tolerant, funny world.You can choose your Gods to be smart,funny, compassionate, cute, and gooiy.computer systems. Cleverly designed, theywould be very difficult if not theoreticallyimpossible to detect Current programs donot permit matchmg the real-tune opera-Intelligent post-humanists will"IRREVERENCE" ISTHE 2l$t CENTURYA PASSWORD FORtion speed and parallel complexity of conventionalbrains. But time scale of opera-not onlystoie themselveselectronically, but may do so inthe form of a "computer virus,"capable of traversing computernetworks and of self-replicationas a ^uard againstaccidentalor malicious erasure.Human society has now reached aturning point in the operation of the digitalprograms of evolution, a point at which thenext evolutionary steps of the speciesbecome apparent to us, to surf at will.In the near future, the methods ofinformation technology, molecular engineering,biotechnology, nanotechnology(atom stacking), and quantum-digital programmingcould make the human form amatter totally determined by individualwhim, style, and seasonal choice.The sanctity of our body image,along with the irrational taboos about sexand death, seems to be one of the most persistentanachronisms of industrial-agethought The human being of the futuremay be a bio-computer hybrid of anydesfred form, or an "electronic entity" in thedigital info-universe.tion is subjective and irrelevant, except forthe purposes of interface.Of course, there is no reason torestrict one's manifestation to a particularform. With ever-loosening physical constraints(through perhaps inescapable economicconstraints), one will be able toassume any desired form.Given the ease of copying computer-storedinformation, it should be possibleto exist simultaneously in many forms.Running independently and cloned at eachbranch point, intelUgence would persist ineach of these forms. Where the "I's" are inthis situation is a matter for high-techpagans and digital philosophers.236 TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS ( CYlEt (UtTUtE

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2)1 TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS i CYIEI CIIITUIE

t was a void.It wasn't darkness or silence. It was the absence of all sense. J. X. Brilllgcouldn't think in terms of blindness or deafness, because there was no suchthing as sight or sound andcertainlynot touch. She couldn't rememberwords like eyes and ears. Space itself had no meaning.IX. Brillig in CyberlandBYWIUCOIEMANANDPATPERRINFEATURING A CONVERSATION WITH JlMOTHY LEARY"I guess this is what that first line of Genesis meant, 'thought Brillig. She floated through the void. She had no idea forhow long. Time didn't mean anything, either.Then came a voice: "Hey, Josie. Can you hear me?" Thevoice was warm and full of good humour.'Sound!'' thought Brillig. "What a novel concept!"She heard herself answer "Yes, I can hear you." She wassurprised at the lighhiess, the lilting buoyancy of her own voice. Shedidn't yet know why "Can you hear me?""Yeah, loud and clear.""Good. Now maybe you can tell me where I am. Maybe youcan tell me what I am."The void was empty of sound again for a moment Then thevoice answered, "You mean you don't know?"Suddenly, two human figures appeared in the void twomen, flickering and wavering, threatening to dissolve or collapseinto a swirl of television snow. Brillig's reality had a weak horizontalhold. But it was a moderately convincing picture, as holograms go.The man on the right was perched on an invisible stool,punching instructions into a keyboard that rested on his lap. Hewore a cowboy hat, and was smoothly outfitted in blackbut was itleather or some sort of synthetic? Optical fibers poked out of hishead hke an unruly mane of hair. At the ends of the fibers, tiny"Good. Do you recognize either of us?""I don't believe so," answered Brillig. "I'm not sure.""Well, first off, let me introduce you to Upton Omdorf, databasecowboy extraordinaire.""Not so 'extraordinaire' just this minute, damn it," grumbledthe cowboy, looking up from his console. "Something's notworking right, here.""Orruto/;;^'' thought Brillig. "The name is familiar. Wherehave I?""And I'm Timothy Leary," said the tall, silver-haired gentleman."Don't you remember me at all?"Brillig's memory strained. "I remember headlines, newsstories," she said. "I remember a Harvard psychologist gettingmixed up with psychedeUcs and the counterculture during the1960s, eventually getting into computer software and stand-up philosophy"date."Leary let loose a peal of laughter. "Whoa, you're way out of"Please don't talk in riddles. I'm very confused here. Thelast thing I remember was swallowing a little capsule.""When was that?""How am Isupposed to know? It could have been minutespoints of light danced around his craggy features. BriUig couldn't tellwhether those were functional or notThe one on the left was a tall, jolly fellow with silvery hairand Celtic features. He sported an enormous grin and mischievouseyes. He looked more than a little familiar.or hours or days.I don't even know what those words mean anymore.""The year, Josie? What was the year?""Uh, 1994, 1 believe.""You mean you don't remember anything past 1994?""No. Should I?""Can you see us, Josie?" asked the man on the left."Yes," said Brillig.Omdorf let out a wail of frustration. It was tough, gravelly,abrasive. "Holy shiU broke I through a waU of the blackest, meanestSECTION IX tritOCUE lllllIC IN (YIEIIAND ni

metaphor-chains in any inscape to rustle a construct with a memorystucii back in 1994! I'm sorry, Leary. 1 guess I'm losing mytouch." The fiberoptic lights whipped around his head as heshook it"But who am IT asked Brilhg. "What am Idoing here?""You're a bio," Omdorf said ofihandedly. Then he continuedto Leary, "You should've read it,one simile just rolled into anotherand another and another. The oxymoron fence was easy, but then Iran mto a cortazar continuity.""What . . . what . . . who. ." .Brillig stammered frantically."You're supposed to be the recorded memory of JosephineXaviera Brillig, one of the legendary pioneers of cyberspace," saidOmdorf, a bit impatiently. "It was a serious marienbad, but Ithought I'd broken out itokay Maybe was escheredmore than 1thought"On "Are you tellingme I'm not even myself?" criedother planets, they've justbeenBrilhg. "I'm just a memory?'Omdorf turned to Leary. "That's a problemwith thesewaiting around until we bios," he said. "They think they're sentientdevelop a globalbeings.""1 resent that," cried BriUig."If 1 think I'm sentient,then 1 must be sentient"matrix brain or thatcyberspace entity"That's another problem with 'em," Omdorftold Leary. "They're semi-stuck in the Cartesian paradigm.Like all those junior prosejockeys educated toothey can interact with." spec you know, majors and all that No flex, noreflects.""If I'm just BriUig's memory," Brilhg demanded, "tiienwhat's happened to Brillig?""Brillig was remaindered," said Omdorf. He shivered. TinyUghts bounced. "I guess it could've just happenedto me. 1 had a hellof a time getting back into Uiis borgespath.""What do you mean, remaindered?" BriUig kept futilely hyingto pull at tiie hologram's arm."Remaindered. Discarded. Flat-lined, to use an older term,"said Omdorf. "Do you understand bram-dead?" he asked whenBrilhg just looked uncomprehending. "BriUig died in the inscape, incyberspace. Nobody knows why That's why we did a re-release onyou, to find out what happened. We didn't count on you being defective.We thought maybe you'd remember.""WeU, I don't remember," shouted BriUig. "1 thmk this is aUcompletely crazy. And what is cyberspace, anyway?""Relax," said Leary. "We'U fiU you in on a few things. Wherewould you like to start?""WeU, maybe you could give me an historical update."BriUig composed hersetfa bitthat story Ime.""Gibson's the teUer here," said Omdorf. "You'U have to grab"What . . . who ..." BriUig was sputtering agaui.241 TIMOTHY lEAIV CHAOS I CriEl CUITUIE

^9^''."TT,

asked Omdorf."Gibson and some others defined a lot of terms we still useway back in the IQSOs," Omdorf said. "But me,I take to the newniverse.It's based on fores who cogged the inscape."Then the Itimage changed. looked like a 1980's newsreelonly holographic, multidimensional. Brillig gasped. "Didn't you saythere was no more warfare?""Oh, there are still some conflicts here and there," saidLeary. "Iraq and Iran are still fighting each other. But no one worriesabout the Persian Gulf. If Iraqis want to fight theThe intelligent jfioupsnow runnin5[ thinjfselsewhere."Iranians, everybody lets them do it It's the sameThe hologram extended and wrappedsee the importanceoi diversityand pluralityaround Brillig entirely. Jet fighters fired rockets attankers. There were terrorist bombings. Learyto allow an evolution of new creativity.explained, "Monotheists like Catholics andProtestants are still fighting each other in places likeBelfast Those kinds of conflicts are totally isolated; so they're justconsidered local customs."Images of a riot swept by Street punks surrounded Brillig,looking much Uke gang members of the 1980s, only with extraordinaryinnovations: electrical jacks and plug-ins built into their bodies,and weapons protruding from their fleshswitchblades thatflashed from their fingers, forearms that concealed surgicallyImplanted guns and launchers."And there still are street gangs in the urban centers,"Leary continued amiably. "But they're high-tech street gangs, and solong as they're localized, people have the option to leave those areasiftheywantto."Brillig cringed from the action around her. Despite theirarmaments, the cyberpunks fought each other mostly on computerscreens and consoles, over networks and modems. Their plugsseemed more potent than thefr knives. StiD, she was grateftil whenthe scene changed again.Now the view was ftt)m above. Brillig rushed high over theface of the Earth at unspeakable speeds, and as far as the eye couldsee was the interminable vastness of Ughted cities merged togetherin enormous sprawls."The big cities are plastic fantastic. Both in the good andbad sense of it But there still are places where you can get awayinto nature." Leary continued, "Instead of fighting over terrain theGolan Heights, saymost of the competition is now commercialamong the big conglomerates. And what they're mainly fighting foris smart human beings. They're kidnapping smart human beingsand high-tech secrets."But Brillig was puzzled. "In 1994," she said, "a lot of us considereda world dominated by multinational corporations a ratherfrightening prospect"Both Leai7 and Omdorf chuckled, disembodied sounds.JW TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS I (YIEI (UlTUIE

". . .theydon't wantwarfare, because that's bacor business, and theywantjeople to be prosperous, sothey can buy stuff. And theydon't want to interfere inyour privacy. They don'tcare about yoursex life orI'l'lllSlllliJIwhat youdo alone, as lon5[as you're consumin^f.The"No, it's wondeiM!" Learyexplained. "It's a step ahead!Remember, they don't want warfare,because that's bad for business, andthey want people to be prosperous, sothey can buy stuff. And they don'twant to interfere in your privacy.They don't care about your sex life orwhether you take drugs or what youdo alone, as long as you're consuming.The intelligent groups now runningthings see the importance ofintelli^ient ^[roups nowsee therunnin5[ Wimpimportance of diversityand to pluralityallow anevolution of newcreativity."are scientific. But most of them arerecreational. The one we're in, forexample, is a bit like Las Vegasanerotic vacation place, sort of a hightechClub Mediterranean.""Come on," Omdorf said."Join us. Do it" And suddenly she wasa hologram herself, with the curiousphysical illusion of being a body movingthrough space. She was withdiversity and plurality to allow an evolutionof new creativity."But BriUig was swept with a wave of disorientation. "Butwhere are you? Where are we?""In high orbit," said Leary with a note of pride. "You see, the^ace migration I predicted way back in the 20th Century has justnow begun. There are many permanent settlements in high orbit"And now the scene included various objects hanging milesabove the Earth, sateUites cleanly diagrammed vdth computerizedisometrics, eerily motionless in geosynchronous orbits. Her point ofview zoomed in on a huge, wheel-shaped space station, whirlingmajestically above the Earth."But how do you get up here?" asked BriUig."By way of regular shuttles, like au-Unes. We call it 'gomg upthe well.' Some of these settlements you see are industrial; othersLeary and Omdorf inside the spectacularorbital playground where thousandsof people strolled among shoppingmalls and health spas. Leary, stillplaying the garrulous tour guide, pointed out lakes, small forests,genetically engineered wildlifeand even a simulation of a mountainski lodge.How much of it was real, and how much holographic?Radiating from the center of the station was an astoundingly brilliantand convincing semblance of Sun, clouds, and blue sky. Werethose real birds fluttering above her? She couldn't be sure. To thehappy hedonists roaming the satellite, it surely didn't matter."Living in space is still considered somewhat adventurous,the way the Wild West once was.""That was a little before my time," interjected BriUig."Most people are stiU Uving on the surface of the planet Butmany very wealthy famiUes have established their own privateSECTION IX EMLOCUE lllllIC IN (YIEIIAND 2U

'.r^^^ :

^realms up here, and there are some space colonies made up of religiousgroups and people forming new gene pools, people who enjoythe same lifestyle. There's one for vegetarian lesbians, for example."Then they walked into a spa, where astounding medicalfeats were taking place. "Science has given every individual selfmanagerialcontrol over almost every aspect of physical life," saidLeary. There are muscle implants. You can be any height youwant, or any race you want Plastic surgery and vat-grown oi^ansare available; so everyone can have the body and the appearancethat he or she wants."The answer to a question began to dawn on Brillig."Andyour outfit" she began."Vat-grown leather," chortled Omdorf "The best No needfor crocodiles to worry.""Life extension can be achieved by means of hybernationtechniques," continued Leary, "and there is cloning, too.""So everyone . . . everyone will be . . . perfect?""No, not everyoneismaking use of aU this, because the oldmonotheistic religions, which want to control people, are stiU operating.They don't want you to change your looks, because they thinkGod wants you to look a particular way"Suddenly, Brillig stopped cold. The sight of all theseextraordinary transmutations brought something to mind.Something vague and indefmable had been bothering hersince she had arrivedsomething about her name, theunusual lightness of her voice, some difference in hermovements. And now she knew what it was.Tm a woman.'' she cried with alarm."Of course you're a woman," said Omdorf. "What did youexpect?"Science has ^iven"You don't understand! hi 1994 1 was a man! Joseph XavierBriUig! That was my name! What happened?"Leary and Omdorf laughed. "Son of a gun," chuckledOmdorf, his fiberoptic lights dancing. "You think you've really gotsomebody cogged! As far as we could figure, you'd always been awoman.""No need for alarm," added Leary. "You just made a smartchoice at one time or other. Women are now seen as the superiorsex by far. The ascendancy of the male during the last five to tenevery individualself-managerialcontrol over almostthousand years of monotheism, feudalism, and all that has beencompletely changed. Today, it's just like WiUiam Gibson predicted.The women are incredibly powerful, strong, tough, sleek, attractivecreatures. And we men are kind of dirty klutzes doing our best"every aspect of"It's the women who are the real poets," said Omdorf."With all this control over our bodies," mused Brillig, "peopleshould be able to live virtually forever."physical life . . ."Oh, certainly," said Leary."Unless they're dumb enough to get remaindered in cyber-SECTION IX EMIOCVE IIIUIC IN CYIEIIAND n,i

space," qualified Omdorf with a slight sneer."In general," Leary continued, "people who were bom after1946 have had a better chance at life extension than people bombefore that The later you got bom, the higher the probability thatyou had the option. Hybernation was a cmcial factor."And they stepped into an adjoining area, filled with rows of"coffins." Human forms could be seen vaguely through the transparentsides. One was being opened by a clinician, as a friendlygroup of bystanders watched. As the sleeper groggily awoke, shewas warmly welcomed by her fellows."The life-extension transition was made within groups,"Basically, immortality is dipzin^.The more of yourself you digitize,theLeary said. "At first, the idea of waking up as a stranger in a strangeland surrounded by lab technicians was kind of scary. But in the1990s, intelligent people got together people who Uked to livetogether and see each other as Mends, and they did pretty muchmore of yourself is joinjto bewhat the Mormons did long before them. They formed future companies.By pooling their resources, by pooUng their support, bypooling their familial connections, their chances of being resuscitatedwere much greater, because they became part of a futureimmortal. The more of youractionsand memories youthejet digitized,more immortal you're joinjto be. Iwas one of the first to discoverpeople this. My claim to fame is thattodaythere is more of me in digitalformthan of almost anyother personfromfamily. Dying and re-animating are team Itsports. was like themigration from the Olde World to the Newe World in the 16th and17th Centuries. The Puritans went together to New England, andthe CathoUcs went to Maryland. Different ethnic groups wenttogether. You went with people who shared your belief That's happenedhere, too. When you wake up from hybemation, you've got tobe protected by your chronologically extended familybut not necessarilyyour genetic family.""Then surely there are other folks from the late 19(X)s stillaround," said Brillig.She was eager to see some famiUar faces. ButLeary's response was a little cautious."Well, people who have been around since then were peoplewho forecast these changes, and arranged for themselves to behere. All religions are against this sort of personal immortality. Butsome people saw the light.Ram Dass, for example, used to be veryanti-tech, but he's always been very intelligent, and an opportunistin the best sense of the word. And when he saw how things weregoing, he came alongkind of reluctantly."the 20th Century.""Tell her the tmth," said Omdorf, laughmg. "You had tokidnap him and bring him along.""Okay, that's true," said Leary, laughing. "It's always beenlike that with him. It took me a long time to get him to take psilocybin,and once he took psilocybinit was hard to get him to take LSD.And it was the same with computers. But he's still around, becausehe's part of the gang and we'll never leave him behind.""But immortality! It's a terriiying idea," said Brillig with ashudder. She looked closely at Leary. "Isn't the boredom intolerable?"Leary shmgged. "Well, obviously, if you're bored youhybemate. wish 1 1 could have hybemated through much of the lateH,t TIMOTHY LEARY CHAOS I CYBEK CDITUIE

is the evil ofPrivacymonotheism . . .basically, letteredwriting is alwaysabout secrets."COURTESY OF DYNAMIC GRAPHICS, INC.20th Century. Whenever Republicans were elected, 1 would gladlyhybemate for eight years.""So death has become an unnecessary luxury!""Absolutely The answer to boredom is not irreversibleinvoluntary coma. We simply take a nap.""But you'd wake up like Rip Van Winkle and have no ideawhat's happenedjust Uke me!""Not true," said Leary. "We've got brain-information transfers,so that even while you're asleep you know what's going on.""Only yours erewhoned," Omdorf added. "Shoddy workmanship.""More and more of human intelligence is getting stored inliving electronic form," said Leary. "Everything that a human beingthinks or expresses can be electronically preserved. When youwake up in the morning you can jack your thoughts into your masterprogram. Also, any important part of your life can be on video; soI can show you the highUghts of everything that happened to meduring the last ten years."Basically, immortality is digitizing. The more of yourselfyou digitize, the more of yourself is going to be immortal. The moreof your actions and memories you get digitized, the more immortalyou're going to be. was one Iof the fu-st people to discover this. Myclaim to fame today is that there is more of me in digital form thanof almost any other person from the 20th Century.""But death is so fundamental!" Brillig cried with incredulity."Even our models of evolution and progress are based on organismsdying and clearing the way, passing their characteristics on to theiroffspring."Leary scoffed. "These are primitive ideas, vestiges of whenwe had only one cave, say, and you couldn't have a hundred peopleliving in that one cave orin one tree, or on one plot of land. Youhad to die for the sake of the five kids who were supposed to inherityour plot of land, right? You see, everything is information now.Space is free; so the more the merrier. All the ethics and morals andsage principles of the industrial/feudal/land-machine world aretotally overthrown in the info-world."about privacy?""Everything seems so communal," Brillig mused, "What"Privacy is the evil of monotheism," Leary replied. "Whenliteracy started, it was a code the Phoenician traders used, becausethey didn't want the Greek traders to know what the price was. Andthe Bible itself was a code by those cabalist guys who had that trickgoing; they were passing on information they didn't want anyoneelse to know. So basically, lettered vmting is always about secrets."Brillig felt an irrational wave of panic. "But surely you'vestill got books?" She turned toward Omdorf. "Why, you're bubblingover with literary references. Don't you read books?"Omdorf barely seemed to understand the question. "Books?Hell, once we poppedall the literature into the matrix, who neededbooks?"But before Brillig could ask for an explanation, Leary hadslipped into far-off reverie. "Back in the late 1980s," he said, "1remember talking to Spalding Gray Wonderful, wonderful guy. Hewas a monologuist.I wonder what happenedto him? He told meway back then that he was going to start writing. And I remembersaying to him, 'Jesus Brown, why are you going to write? Why areSECTION IX EPItOCUE imUIC IN CYlEklAND 2W

you going to freeze your wonderful tliouglits into lettered words?"He said, "Well, 1 have to go through that stage, so I canrecapitulate through to the human race.'"I tried to explain it to him. I said, 'If you type T-I-M" on atypewriter, that's just ink stained onto wood pulp, right? You can'tchange it But if you type that on a computer keyboard, within secondsyou can modem itup to a sateUite, and a hundred million peoplecan watch you type "T-l-M." '"And do you know what he said to me?Essentially, there's a universe inside your brain.The number of connections possibleinside yourbrain is limitless. And as peoplehave learned tohave more managerialand direct creative access totheir brains, theyhave also developedmatrices ornetworks of peoplethat communicateelectronically. There are direct brain/computerlink-ups. You can just jack yourself in and pilotyour brain around in cyberspace-electronic space.'Maybe 1 don't want a hundred million people tosee what I'm typing.'"Leary chuckled. "You see that? That'syour basic secrecy. Well, 1 respect that If youwant to keep secrets, make your own Uttle code.A lot of people have kept on that way The nicething about human nature is that it's so perverseand so pluralistic, and so creative in bothnegative and positive ways, there will always bea lot of people who won't want to take advantageof all the things we've gotthank the Gods!Because those of us that do wiD be aDowed todo what we like. It's like people in the 20thCentury who didn't want to get stoned on drugs,and 1always said, 'Great!' Those of us who didwere all the freer for iL"But Brilligwas stillstaggered by questionsand perplexities. "What difference has allthis really made?" she asked. "Are people anydifferent, any better off anysmarter?""Lots," said Leary. "The level of inteUigence has beentremendously increased, because people are thinking and communicatingin terms of screens, and not in lettered books. Much of thereal action is taking place in what is called cyberspace. People havelearned how to boot up, activate, and transmit their brains.Essentially, there's a universe inside your brain. The number ofconnections possible inside your brain is limitless. And as peoplehave learned to have more managerial and direct creative access totheir brains, they have also developed matrices or networks of peoplethat communicate electronically. There are direct brain/computerUnk-ups. You can just jack yourself in and pilot your brainaround in cyberspaceelectronic space."The trio stopped and looked at one another. The surroundingorbital resort suddenly vanished. Brillig faced Omdorf andLeary again. There was anticipation in the air."So," said Omdorf after a silence. "Are you starting toremember or what? You were one of the legendary riders of theinscape. Want to tryitagain?"Omdorf punched more instmctions into the board, andBrillig felt an incredible sensation asthough she had done anMl TIMOTHY lEAIV (NAOS i CYIEI (UtTUtE

... An incredible sensation-as thoughshe had done an extraordinarysomersault from one realityinto another. And suddenlyshe was plun^injthrough an altogether different universe, careening amon^ glorious, jlitterinjgeometric towers of li^ht. The sense of space was extraordinary.Her mind swelled with incredible knowledgeand perception.She had no voice or body,but she could still communicate . . ."And each of those towers is surrounded with ICEextraordinary somersault from one reality into another. And suddenlyshe was plunging through an altogether different universe,careening among glorious, glittering geometric towers of light. Thesense of space was extraordinary. Her mind swelled with incredibleknowledge and perception. She had no voice or body, but she couldstiU communicate with Omdorf or Leary. Their thoughts hadmerged."fVhat's this mUed?' she wondered."Myoelectric interface," she felt Omdorf answer."Like it?" she feltLeary ask."Like it? It's wonderful! But where am 1? What is this?"intrusioncountermeasures electronicstechniques of defending yourbase. That doesn't stop a lot of code rusUing from going on."BriUig felt herself swell with cybercosmic laughter. 'Coderustling! Sure, I remember Legitimate accountants and CEOs workinside those towers, cowboys and rustlers like me work on the outside,busting in through layers of ice. A world ofoutrageous, high-techadventure!"Her thoughts blended more and more with Leary's."Cyberspacea consensual hallucination of all the worid's"Everything is information," she felt him think. "Information ismuch more important than material goods. The pohtics of information,that's what we're talking about So just as you had rustlers andinformation."againBriUig felt a twinkle of memory. She was back on her turfeven if she still didn't quite grasp what it was. She was insidecyberspace, a worid of pure information.them'What are those great towers oflight?""Data banks. All the information of the worid is now inand you gain access to them in cyberspace. All of the humansignals that used to sell as books have been digitized and are nowavailable and stored in these data banksthe movies and the television showsplus all the pictures, allabsolutely everything."'Of course!'' she began to remember as she swirled amongthe towers. These are symbolic receptacles of all the knowledge ofthe world!" The thought thrilled her."There is tremendous competition and actual fighting overdata bases," Leary continued. "For example, the Bank of Japan can'tlet the Bank of America into their data bases. So cyberspaceiswhere all the action takes place. In a way, it's just like it used to be.Even back in the 1980s can you remember? trillions of dollarswere exchanged every day in the computer network. Theseexchanges of money were all done by computer. Hundreds of billionsof dollars were being moved around between Japan, Europe,America. 1 cite that as an archaic example of what's happening rightnow.cowboys in the Wild West, today you've got rustlers and cowboysand black marketeers in this info-worid. Ahnost everything the Godsused to do, now the average person can do changeyour body,change your mind, change your DNA code, clone, and also be partof the highly advanced wisdom center."'And a part of a fantastic new mythology!""And a whole new theology, too," answered Leary's mind."Once we established this information worid, we'd also created anew intelligence entitya superintelligence. People that operate atthat level have formed networks of superintelligence."Omdorf chimed in, "Even when we worked out the mathematicsof recovering reality,it was more mysterious than we hadexpected. New story lines kept forming, beyond our programming."BriUig tumbled through cyberspace, letting forth a cry ofdelight "Who'd ever want to go back?"Leary seemed to enjoy the question. "There's a real socialconflict about that The hottest politicaland social conflict now isbetween those people who want to spend aU their time in cyberspace,and those who see it as very dangerous and addictive, whodon't want their loved ones to leave them and spend more and moretime in the info-worid. Once you get into the info-worid, there's noquestion that it's much more exciting than coming down and pushinga body around. So there is now, as there always will be with anSECTION IX EPILOGUE IRIILIG IN CYIERIAND 2t9

^Itwasn't justthe fleshintelligent species so geneticaUy varied, a number of viewpoints.There are those who think cyberspace horrible, and those who considertheir 'meat' existence slow and vulgar."No, she couldn't unagine going back. It wasn't just the fleshthat tied you down. It wasn't just prosaic forces like gravity. Thephysical universe itself seemed cramped, claustrophobica reahnof space-time bent by hunks of mass into gross finitude. It couldn'tcompare to an infinite ocean of uncut metaphor, a neuroelectricthat tied youdown. It wasn't justprosaic forces like jravity. Theuniverse itselfphysicalseemed cramped,reahn containing the absolute essence of literally everything.They passed beyond the man-made information monoliths,out onto the mysterious high seas of cyberspace. Brilligknew shehad been to these parts before. But what had she found out here?Leary wanted to know the answer, too."According to Gibson's predictions, our planet now oughtto be able to interchange messages with other species that havereached this level elsewhere. On other planets, they've just beenwaiting around until we develop a global matrix brain or cyberspaceentity that they can interact with."But it was Omdorf who came out and asked the crucialclaustrophobic-arealm ofquestion: "Josie, before you came out here that last time, you toldus you were about to connect with something, an extraterrestrial,extradimensional intelligencean entity named Llixgrijb.No onespace-time bent byhunks ofmass into finitude.jrossIt couldn't compareto anelse could do it You went riding off into the inscape to make contactwith Llixgrijb."Do you remember? Did you succeed?"The question turned over and over in BriUig's mind."Utgrijb ...Did I succeed? ...Do I remember? ..."And she felt that presence again, a mind unlike anymind she had ever imagined, at once far away and inside ofher, a mind from which she, the physical universe, and cyberspaceitself seemed to emanatea mind which contained all otherminds. Could this be Uixgrijb?infinite ocean of uncut metaphor,a neuroelectric realm containingthe absolute essence ofliterally everything.But a force came down on her like a giant hand pushingher back. She felt herself moving out of cyberspace, backwardthrough space and time, as if sucked into a terrible maelstrom."It's no use," she called to her companions.'It'ssending meback to the time I came from.It'ssending me back to 1994. HI haveto wend my way back the way I came. "She felt Leary's mind receding far mto the future, sendingone last message to her, saying, "It's all right We understand. We'llmiss you. But be sure to tellanyone back there in the 1990s whowants to know how we're getting along now to read WilliamGibson's stuff. It's a nitty-gritty,down and dirty, street-smart blueprintof how we're living and the options we have.""And next time don't get remaindered," added Omdorf."Watch your ways on the borgespaths." She caught a finalgUmpseof tiny dancing lightsas the message from OmdorPs mind trailedaway.2St TIMOTHY ItAlY CRAOS ( CYIEI CDITSIE

^%m^i^

252 TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS I CYBER CUITUKEANDY FRITH

Timothy Leary: Checklist of Primary Works(WIIH ml OF FlVsVrUBUc'AYrON)Multilevel Measurement ofInterpersonal Behavior (1956)Interpersonal Diagnosis ofPersonality (1957)The Psychedelic Experience (1964). With Ralph Metzner and Richard AlpertPsychedelic Prayers (1966)Start Your Own Religion (1967)High Priest (tmS)The Politics ofEcstasy {i%S}The Declaration of Evolution (1970)Timothy Leary, Appellant v. State ofCalifornia (1970)yaJ/A'oto(1970)Neurologic (1975)Cor^essions ofa Hope Fiend (1973)Starseed (1973)Terra// (1974)The Curse of the Oval Room (1974)What Does WoMan Want? (1976)Exo-Psychology{mTjNeuropolitics (1977). With Robert Anton Wilson and George Koopman.The Intelligence Agents (1979)Neurocomics (1979)The Game ofLife {1979)Changing My Mind, Among Others (1982)Flashbacks (1983)Mind Mirror (1986; software)Timothy Leary's Greatest Hits (1990)Chaos & Cyber Culture (1994)WORKS CURRENTLY IN PRINTA/indA/imjr (Mindware, 1986; software)Info-Psychology (New Falcon Publications, 1987; revision of Exo-Psychology)AnAnnotated Bibliography of Timothy Leary {\rchon Books, 1988)What Does WoMan Want? (New Falcon Publications, 1988; revised)Flashbacks (J.R Tarcher, Inc., 1990; additions)The Politics ofEcstasy (Ronin Publishing, 1990; additions)Timothy Leary's Greatest Hits (KnoWare, 1990)The Game ofLife (New Falcon Publications, 1993)How to Operate Your Brain (Retinalogic, 1993; video)The Psychedelic Experience (Citadel Press, 1993)SECTION X lESOHCES CHECKUST OF rilMAlY WORKS 2n

Bibliographic DataI. SCKEINS1. "How I Became an Amphibian" was first publisiied in different form inTimothy Leary's Greatest Hits (1990).2. "Custom-Sized Screen Realities" was first published in different form inTimothy Leary's Greatest Hits{\9m}.3. "Imagineering" is previously unpublished.II.CYBERNETICS: CHAOS ENGINEERING1. "Conversation with William Gibson" is taken from "High Tech High life" pubUshed inMondo2000{m9).2. "Artificial Intelligence: Hesse's Prophetic Glass Bead Game'' was first published in Literatureand Altered States ofConsciousness, a special issue of Mosaic, a journal for theinterdisciplinary study of literature, Volume 19, Number 3/4 (Summer/Fall 1986).3. "Our Brain" is adapted from talks deUvered circa 1990, and first published in different formin The (San Francisco) City (August 1991).4. "How to Boot Up Your Bio-Computer" was pubUshed in shortened form under the title"Digital Dependence" in the Omni Whok Mind Newsletter (1987). Reprinted by permission1987, Omni PubUcation Int'l.5. "Personal Computers, Personal Freedom" was first published m Di^l Deli, Ed. Steve Ditlea(New York: Workman Publishing Co., 1984).6. "Ouantum Jumps, Your Macintosh, and You" is taken from "Quantum Jumps, YourCommodore, and You" and "The Role of the Free Agent in the Computer Culture" publishedin Guide to Computer Living (October and November 1986).III.COUNTERCULTURES1. "The Woodstock Generation" was first published in Timothy Leary's Greatest Hits (1990).2. "From Yippies to Yuppies" was fu^t published in High Society (October 1985).3. "The Cyberpunk: The Individual as Reality Pilot" was firstpubUshed in Mississippi Review(1988).4. "The New Breed" was first published in different form in Timothy Leary's Greatest Hits(1990).5. "Electronic Cultures" is taken from "Hear Me Hear Me: How Home Media Designs CulturalEvolution" published m Creem (April 1993).6. "The Next Twenty Years" was fu-st published in different form in Whole Earth Review (Winter1988).7. "The Godparent Conversation with Winona Ryder"is taken from "A Meeting of the Minds"pubUshed in Interview (November 1989).2$; TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS I (YIEIt (UlTURE

IV. INFO-CHEMICALS DRUG WARS1. "Conversation with William S. Burroughs" is taken from "A Couple of Bohos Shooting theBreeze" pubhshed in Mondo 2000 (1991).2. "The Sociology of LSD" was first published in different form in Psychedelic Reflections, Ed.Grinspoon and Bakalar (New York: Human Sciences Press, Inc., 1983; "Some SuperficialThoughts on the Sociology of LSD"); material added from "Criminalizmg the Natural andNaturahzing the Criminal," Timothy Leary's Greatest Hits (1990).3. "Just Say Know; The Eternal Antidote to Fascism" was first published in different form inAmerican Book Review (Nov.-Dec. 1989); reprinted in Timothy Leary's Greatest Hits (1990).4. "Czar Bennett and His Holy War on Drugs" was first published in New Perspectives Quarterly(Fall 1989); enlarged with portions of the previously unpublished "The Solution to DrugAbuse" (1993).5. "MDMA; The Drug of the 1980s" was first published in different form under the title"Ecstasy; Drug of the Nineties" in Chie (July 1985); reprinted as "Ecstatic Electricity"in ATTalk (August 1985).6. "The Case for InteUigent Drug Use" is a fragment of an interview published in Maclean's(March 5, 1984).V. CYBEROTICS1. "Hormone Holocaust" firstappeared in Puritan International (1987).2. "In Search of the fhie Aphrodisiac" was first published in Chic (November 1985); reprintedin Timothy Leary's Greatest Hits (1990).3. "Operation Sex Change" was first pubhshed in Hustler (October 1986).4. "Digital Activation of the Erotic Brain" was first published in Hustler (February 1985);reprinted in Timothy Leary's Greatest Hits (1990).VI.GUERILLA ART1. "Pranks; An Interview," was first published in RE/Search #11; Pranks! Ed. A. Juno and V. Vale(San Francisco; RE/Search Publications, 1987). RE/Search Publications, 1232 Pacific Avenue,San Francisco, CaUfomia.2. "Keith Haring; Future Primeval" was firstpubhshed under the title "One Rent in the Fabric IsAH It Takes for Pandemonium to Sluice Through" in Keith Haring: Future Primeval by BarryBUnderman (Normal, IL; University Galleries, Illinois State University, 1990). Blinderman'swork, Keith Haring: Future Primeval, which inspired the retitling of this article, is availablein a new edition from Abbeville Press, New York.3. "Robert Williams; Power to the Pupil"firstappeared in different form as an introduction toRobert Williams's Viewsfrom a Tortured Libido (San Francisco; Last Gasp, 1993).SECTION X.2 RESOURCES IIILIOCIArHK DATA 255

4. "On William S. Burroughs's Interzone' was first published in Die Welt (1990); an Englishtranslation was pubUshed in Off the Wall (1992); our current version is significantly revised.5. "WiUiam Gibson: Quark of the Decade" was first published in different form in Mondo 2000(1989).6. "How to Pubhsh Heresy in MainUne Publications" was first published in Thijectories (1989).7-8. "Reproduced Authentic: The Wizardry of David Byrne" and "Conversation with David Byrne"were firstpubUshed in different form as "Two Heads Talking" in Mondo 2000 (1992).VII.DE-ANIMATION/RE-ANIMATION1. "Common-Sense Alternatives to Involuntary Death" was first published as "22 CommonSense Alternatives to Involuntary Death" in different form as a RnoWare monograph (1988);in C. Hyatt, Undoing Yourself Too (1988); reprinted in Timothy Leary's Greatest Hits (1990)and in Magical Bknd (April 1991).2."Hybemating Andy" was pubUshed in different form as "Andy Warhol's Secret Desire toRejoin His Idol, Walt Disney" in Mondo 2000 (1991).VIII.MILLENNIUM MADNESS1. "Backward, Christian Soldiers" was first pubUshed in Hustler (October 1985); reprinted inTimothy Leary's Greatest Hits (1990).2. "God Runs for President on die RepubUcan Ticket " was firstpubUshed as "Robertson" inRegardie's Magazine (November 1987).3. "Who Owns the Jesus Property?" was firstpubUshed in Thijectories (Autumn 1988).4. "High-Tech Paganism" appeared in a different version under the title "High-Tech Paganismand Digital Polytiieism" in Reality Hackers (1988).IX.EPILOGUE"BriUig in Cyberiand," by Wim Coleman and Pat Perrin, firstappeared in the newsletter TheJamais Vu Papers (1988) and was reprinted in a book of tiiat tiUe(New York: HarmonyBooks, 1991).Mi TIMOTHY lEAlY CHAOS I CYIEI (OITUIE

List of IllustrationsCOVERCover designed by Brian Groppe, incorporating illustrations by Carolyn Ferris, VicKeller, Robert Williams, and BrumtnbaerFRONT MATTERii Acceleration of Brain Power (first appeared in Creem, 1993)viiTimothy Leary with Virtual-Reality Gear (drawing by Michael Witte 1991 DiscoverMagazine; reprinted with permission)viiixiiSusan Sarandon (Carolyn Ferris)You Are Here (Brummbaer)I. SCREENS2 Timothy Leary (Dana Gluckstein)4 Timothy Leary bus stop Gap ad (Michael Shields)6 Psychedelic Tim (Brummbaer)8 Multimedia Tim (Carolyn Ferris and Timothy Leary; first appeared in Creem, 1993)12 It Came from Cyberspace (Vic Keller)17 Digital art (Andy Frith)18 Digital art (Andy Frith)20 Virtuality by Spectrum Holobyte (Peter Booth Lee)II.CYBERNETICS: CHAOS ENGINEERING22 William Gibson (Carolyn Ferris; drawing rendered from photo by Morgan Russell, whichappeared first in Mondo 2000, Issue #1, 1989)25 Molly (Brummbaer)36 Virtual Nerves (Vic Keller)40 Cyberhead (Mike Saenz, from Virtual Valerie)42 Digital Gutenberg (Michael Horowitz and Vic Keller)44 Digital art (Andy Frith)46 Digital art (Andy Frith)50 Digital art (Andy Frith)III.COUNTERCULTURES52 Oracle cover of Leary, Ginsberg, Watts, Snyder: San Francisco Oracle Co-op; SanFrancisco Oracle, volume 7 (photo by Paul Kagan1994 Paul Kagan Estate; pagedesign by Hetty McGee MacLise)56 Pow-Wow poster (Rick Griffin)SECTION X.J lESOUICES IIST Of lUUSTIATIONS 257

57 Counterculture Reunion (Carolyn Ferris)68 Three Ronin (Matt Gouig)70 Digital art (Andy Frith)76 VR Machine (Peter Booth Lee)79 Digital art (Andy Frith)84 Digital art (Andy Frith)86 Winona Ryder (Herb Ritts)IV. INFO-CHEMICAIS I DRUG WARS94 William S. Burroughs (Carolyn Ferris)98 LSD blotter art from Psychedelic Solution art gallery Cure of Souls exhibition (courtesyof Jacaeber Kastor and Mark McCloud)100 Sandoz LSD Ampoule (Jeremy Bigwood)106 Bumper stickers (Cindy Horowitz)109 Digital art: Xochipilli (Andy Frith)112 Digital art: Amanita (Andy Frith)113 Marijuana plants (Hi Leitz)114 Drug Ticket (Vic Keller)116 MDMA crystals (courtesy Bruce Eisner)117 Ecstasy: The MDMA Story (cover art by Mark Franklyn)119 Digital art (Andy Frith)121 World's Hottest Gossip (Vic Keller)V: CYBEROTICS124 Rapture (Vic Keller)129 Digital art (Andy Frith)130 Tiresias (Vic Keller)134 Timothy & Barbara Leary (Dana Gluckstein)136 Digital art: Moksha (Andy Frith)139 Barbara Leary (Dana Gluckstein)146 Data Process (Vic Keller)149 Digital art (Andy Frith)151 Digital art (Andy Frith)VI.GUERILLA ART156 Circle of Genius (Carolyn Ferris)159 Digital art (Andy Frith)162 Digital art (Andy Frith)166 Weeping WoMan (Keith Haring)Z58 TIMOTHY ItAlY CHAOS i CVBEII (UlTURE

171Vanity of the New (Robert Williams) first appeared in Views from a Tortured Libido (SanFrancisco: Last Gasp, 1993)177 Digital art (Andy Frith)181 David Byrne (Carolyn Ferris)VII.DE-ANIMATION186 Virtual Head (Howard Hallis)189 Digital art (Andy Frith)191Digital art (Andy Frith)192Digital art (Andy Frith)195 Lost Marbles (Brummbaer)198 Digital art (Andy Frith)201Cycle (Brummbaer)202 Digital art (Andy Frith)203207Digital art (Andy Frith)Digital art (Andy Frith)209 Digital art (Andy Frith)VIII.MILLENNIUM MADNESS212 Millennium Madness (Carolyn Ferris)226 Digital art (Andy Frith)231Digital art (Andy Frith)233 Digital Man (Brummbaer)235Open for Business (Brummbaer)IX.EPILOGUE238 Leary in Top Hat (Howard Hallis)241Digital art (Andy Frith)244 Digital art (Andy Frith)247252Digital art (Dynamic Graphics, Inc.)Digital art (Andy Frith)THROUGHOUT THE BOOK:Slogan buttons and computer icons on pages 9, 39, 40, 41, 54, 104, 122, 200, 218, 247 from the collection andarchives of Vicki MarshallSlogan buttons and event flyers on pages 40, 67, 102, 126, 169, 204, 236 from the collection and archives ofMichael HorowitzSECTION X.3 RESOURCES LIST OF I IL UST II AT 1 NS 259

CTICMcwn^^^Mi HWrvT ^Ixirfinrlbaer's flc^id^^irf Cyberspacel^rfact fSa 3ioo Brunch. For more Information writeSATUr^DAY-AFTERNOON IN THE UNIVERSE520 Washington Blvd. Ste# 114 . Marina del Rey. CA I 902922iO TIMOTHY LEAKY CHAOS i CYBER CULTURE

SECTION X.; lESOUKES CYIEKTISINC 261

Jimotliy leary^00BOm - SOFTWARE ^ TAPESEWPSyCHOLOGVFLASHBACKSTHE GAME OF LIFEGREATEST HITSMIND MIRRORJUST SAY KNOW BUTTON'15.95'15.00'14.95'15.00'1995'2.50FROM cumILV.Lv.H2S8 VENTURA SLVD '702 - STUDIO CITY, CA 91604US CHECK/MONEY ORDERCA 8.25% SALES TAXS/H*4 US; '8 FOREIGNALLOW 4-6 mS DELIVERYSASE FOR COMPLETE CATALOG262 TIMOTHY lEAlY CHOS ( CVIEI CUITUIE

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF TIMOTHY LEARYA detailed listing of all of Dr. Leary's books, monographs, scientific papers, magazinearticles, interviews, lectures, vinyl recordings, audiocasettes, videotapes, film appearances,software, posters, slogan buttons and bumperstickers from 1942 through1986. Also included is a lengthy selection of works about Dr. Leary, and the legalbriefs pertaining to his arrests, trials and imprisonments on four continents.1,200 entries, 304pp, with 50 items illustrated. Clothbound. $45 postpaid.# # @ # # @ @ I-SHAMAN WOMAN, MAINLINE LADYOverThe first anthology of writings by women about their experiences with mind-alteringdrugs. Over 60 writers explore the psycho-sensual-political landscape of women'sdrug experiences from mythic times to the contemporary shamanistic revival.Included are Sappho, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, George Sand, Charlotte Bronte,Louisa May Alcott, Edith Wharton, Isabelle Eberhardt, Billie Holiday, Anais Nin,Laura Huxley, Diane di Prima, Grace Slick and Patti Smith. Profusely illustratedwithportraits and rare graphic works. 8-112x11 inches, 288pp, $15 trade paperback or$25 hardcover postpaid.^ ^ 1> m O 9Sciul check or ni.o. to:L-Woikl40 l-oiirlh Sl.-Suile 260Pclaliima.CA 94952SECTION X.4 KESOUtCES CYIEITISINC 263

vie keller studiopsychrotioa p.o.box193 philo ca 95466(707)895-2919Hi, timothy LIAIV CHAOS i CVIEI CUITUIE

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Chaotic Information from Ronin Books By PhoneChaos and Cyber CultureLeary. 1994. Conveys Leary'svision of the emergence of a newhumanism with an emphasis onquestioning authority, independentthinking, individual creativity, andthe empowerment of computersand other brain technologies.Way Of The Ronin Potter.1988. Cyberpunk career strategy.Developing potential by sheddingspecialization and getting off thefast track. Flowering rather thancrisis, enthusiasm in place ofburnout, and survival instead ofobsolescence.Right Where You Are SittingNow Wilson. 1982. How tohave fun with your own head."Prompts the cosmic with sex,coincidence, suspense, and fliphumor." Booklist0-914171-45-3 207pp.RIGWHE $9.95Ecstasy: The MDMA StoryEisner. 1989. Legal issues,psychotherapy, history, use,chemistry, illustrations, healthrisks, bibliography, index."Remarkably complete, courageousand well researchedwork." American Book Review0-9i41 7 1-77-1 300pp.CHACYB $19.95Politics of Ecstasy Uary. 1990.Leary's most provocative andinfluential early psychedelicwritings and exploration ofhuman-consciousness issues,containing many of his earlypronouncements on the psychedelicmovement of the 1960s.0-914171-33-X220pp.POLECS $12.950-914171-26-7 242pp.WAYRON $9.95Finding a Path with a HeartPotter. 1 994. Enjoy work whilebeing creative and successful, howto take the lead in on-the-jobprojects as well as avocationalpursuits, and how to follow acareer path that brings meaningand satisfaction.0-914171-74-7 288pp.FINPAT $9.95Illuminati PapersWilson.1990. Is all of history a vastconspiracy? Cosmic joke?Speaking through characters fromhis novels, Wilson presents hisviews on our future way of life.Liberate yourself and explore theNew Social Order.0-914171-44-5 207pp.ILLPAP $9.95Sex Drugs and Aphrodisiacs0-914171-68-2 228pp,ECSTAS $17.95Marijuana Law Boire. 1992.Up-to-date comprehensive guidehelps readers to reduce theprobablity of arrests and to defendthemselves from prosecution ifarrested.Legal rights, searches,seizures, privacy, rulings, stories,dogs, cars, houses and more.0-914171-62-3 128pp.MARLAW $12.95Haight/Ashbury FlashbacksGaskin. 1990. Deeply personalaccount of experiences withBrain Boosters: Foods & DrugsThat Make You Smarter PotterAOri^ali. 1993. Make yourGottlieb. 1980. An essentialconnoisseur's guide to herbs andpotions traditionally associatedwith sensual pleasure. ChroniclesPsychedelics EncyclopediaStafford. 1991. With a newforeword and an appendix onpsychoactive drugs during the"Summer of Love" written by oneof the original Hippies. Glimpsethe flower children & thetransformational powerdangersof psychedelics.and0-914171-30-5 220pp.HAIFLA $9.95mind work better.For professionals,business people, seniors,people concerned withAlzheimer's, students, athletes andparty goers who want to improvemental permormance.0-914171-65-8 256pp.BRABOO $12.95the historical quest foraphrodisiacs. Includes discussionsof various substances, as well as ahistory of sources, preparations,and effects. This hard to obtaincult classic is once again available.0-914171-56-9 96pp.SEXAPH $9.95Ecstasy, this edition is an archiveof the psychedelic age. Info onbotany and cultivation; effects andpharmacology; LSD, cannabis,peyote, mushrooms, famouspsychedelic users and events.0-914171-51-8 420pp.PSYENC $24.95(10% off with Money Order, Shipping add $3/order + $l/book. Credit Card check fee $3, CA residents add 8.5% sales tax)3- FREE Catalog or VISA/MC orders call w (800) 858 2665 (510) 548 2124Ronin Books-By-Phone Box 522 Berkeley CA 94701SECTION t.i, lESOUtCES (YIEITISING 26;

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BOOK SPECSThe illustrations in this book were scanned and fine-tuned by Tobin Mayell,Norman Mayell and Rick Greer of Generic Type.The pages were designed by Judy July.The cover is 12-point CIS, printed with a 4-color process and foil stamped. The holographicfoil is Crown Roll Leaf Pattern # 301, Shade #100, "Heavenly." Cover design and colorseparations were made by Brian Groppe.The paper used is60-pound Delta Opaque.TYPEThe display and text type include Avenir, Big Cheese, Remedy, TYiplex Condensed Sans andTWplex Condensed Serif, Univers Ultra Condensed, Walbaum, Whiriigig, and Zapf Dingbats.Sebastian Orfali, Ginger Ashworth, and Judy July at Generic T^pe in Emeryville, California.PRINTED 8BOUNDDelta Lithograph Company.272 TIMOTHY LEAIY CHAOS ( CVIEI CUtlUIE

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