Prometheus Rising Read Free Page B

close with a quote from Wilson,
    We are all giants, raised by pygmies, who have learned to
    walk with a perpetual mental crouch. Unleashing our full
    stature—our total brain power—is what this book is all about.
    Israel Regardie
    Phoenix Arizona
    July 1983
    WARNING
    Wilson describes himself as a 'guerrilla ontologist,' signifying
    his intent to attack language and knowledge the way terrorists
    attack their targets: to jump out from the shadows for an unprovoked
    attack, then slink back and hide behind a hearty belly
    laugh.
    — Robert Sheaffer, The Skeptical Inquirer
    CHAPTER ONE
    THE THINKER &
    THE PROVER
    All that we are is the result of all that we have thought. It is
    founded on thought. It is based on thought.
    — Buddha, The Dhammapada
     
    William James, father of American psychology, tells of meeting
    an old lady who told him the Earth rested on the back of a huge
    turtle.
    "But, my dear lady," Professor James asked, as politely as
    possible, "what holds up the turtle?"
    "Ah," she said, "that's easy. He is standing on the back of
    another turtle."
    "Oh, I see," said Professor James, still being polite. "But
    would you be so good as to tell me what holds up the second
    turtle?"
    "It's no use, Professor," said the old lady, realizing he was
    trying to lead her into a logical trap. "It's turtles-turtles-turtles,
    all the way!"
    Don't be too quick to laugh at this little old lady. All human
    minds work on fundamentally similar principles. Her universe
    was a little bit weirder than most but it was built up on the same
    mental principles as every other universe people have believed
    in.
    As Dr. Leonard Orr has noted, the human mind behaves as if
    it were divided into two parts, the Thinker and the Prover.
    The Thinker can think about virtually anything. History
    shows that it can think the earth is suspended on the backs of
    infinite turtles or that the Earth is hollow, or that the Earth is
    floating in space 4 , 1 comparative religion and philosophy show
    that the Thinker can regard itself as mortal, as immortal, as both
    mortal and immortal (the reincarnation model) or even as nonexistent
    (Buddhism). It can think itself into living in a Christian
    universe, a Marxist universe, a scientific-relativistic universe, or
    a Nazi universe—among many possibilities.
    As psychiatrists and psychologists have often observed (much
    to the chagrin of their medical colleagues), the Thinker can think
    itself sick, and can even think itself well again.
    The Prover is a much simpler mechanism. It operates on one
    law only: Whatever the Thinker thinks, the Prover proves.
    To cite a notorious example which unleashed incredible
    horrors earlier in this century, if the Thinker thinks that all Jews
    are rich, the Prover will prove it. It will find evidence that the
    1 Millions of people believe that (including the present author).
    25
    2(5 Prometheus Rising
    poorest Jew in the most run-down ghetto has hidden money
    somewhere. Similarly, Feminists are able to believe that all men,
    including the starving wretches who live and sleep on the streets,
    are exploiting all women, including the Queen of England.
    If the Thinker thinks that the sun moves around the earth, the
    Prover will obligingly organize all perceptions to fit that thought;
    if the Thinker changes its mind and decides the earth moves
    around the sun, the Prover will reorganize the evidence.
    If the Thinker thinks "holy water" from Lourdes will cure its
    lumbago, the Prover will skillfully orchestrate all signals from
    the glands, muscles, organs etc. until they have organized themselves
    into good health again
    Of course, it is fairly easy to see that other people's minds
    operate this way; it is comparatively much harder to become
    aware that one's own mind is working that way also.
    It is believed, for instance, that some men are more
    "objective" than others. (One seldom hears this about women...)
    Businessmen are allegedly hard-nosed, pragmatic and "objective"
    in this