Prometheus Rising And The Eight-Circuit Brain

Hello everyone, welcome to the next step into our journey into higher content creation.

Today, I want to discuss Robert Anton Wilson's work: Prometheus Rising." It is, paradoxically, one of Wilson’s least commercially successful books, but its reputation in occult circles is nearly mythic. That is to say, that out of a hundred people who have claimed it changed their lives, maybe ten or so read it, and only a couple of those readers actually went the extra mile to actually try the exercises. Even Wilson found this out when fans would come up to him and express their love for the work, but none of them could name a specific exercise. He later realized to stop asking questions and just accept the compliments when they came to him. Which is really a kind of shame because I think this book really can change your life if you are diligent and stop taking things - especially yourself - too seriously.

At it's core, Prometheus Rising is Wilson's interpretation of another body of work, Timothy Leary's Eight Circuit Brain Model, which I'll summarize in a little bit. Wilson starts this interpretation by discussing how the human brain as if it were composed by two elements: a Thinker and a Prover. Whatever the Thinker thinks, the Prover proves. Basically, whatever we think, a part of our brain will be hard at work trying to prove that it's true (no matter how weird it may seem). The Prover ensures that any information that contradicts what we think is filtered out.

It's easy to see this idea in today's society all over the internet as people express their political opinion. People immediately begin arguing to each other that what they believe is the truth, regardless of actual facts. Their Prover has done its job of giving them all the information they require. This was a reason that Wilson was always so adamant that we believe or disbelieve everything 100%. It's a frightening thought, I think, just how easy it is for people to convince themselves of the most bizarre things. We may mock and snort at primitive beliefs, but the same part of the brain that caused people to believe the sun was pulled across the sky in a chariot is still at play. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t have any beliefs, just allow that they could be wrong and never allow the notion that you have nothing else to learn to take root in your mind.

The Eight-Circuit Brain

This brain model divides the development of the mind into eight parts. I know what you're thinking, and no, this is not meant to be scientific truth, but rather it is a convenient map that encompasses both the  regular development present in all people, as well as the stranger processes that appear in a minority of people often referred to as mystics, shamans, occultists, and the cuckoo lunatics.

Circuits I-IV

If you've ever taken a class on childhood development this may seem familiar to you.

1. The Bio-Survival Circuit - This first circuit is imprinted shortly after birth. Infants really only have two responses to the outside world: moving towards and moving away. We carry this forward/backwards pattern for the rest of our lives; as we attempt to increase our pleasure and decrease our pain. The hitch is that we often associate pain with activities that would enrich our lives, and pleasure to behaviors that are inherently destructive.
2. The Emotional-Territorial Circuit - As toddlers, we add domination or submission to our increasingly complex brain functions. We gain a rudimentary understanding that these strange, tall creatures we’ve imprinted as “parents” can be manipulated by laughing, crying, etc.
3. The Semantic Circuit - Around the age of seven or eight, another growth spurt in the brain gives us logic and the beginnings of rational thinking. We start to have a better understanding of time, symbols, and classification.
4. The Socio-Sexual Circuit - This comes online during puberty, typically after first orgasm. This is the stage where we become aware there are multiple tribes (social groups) and begin exploring our place in them, as well as grappling with our sexual identity. Morality comes into play as we begin to develop our own ideas of right and wrong independent of our upbringing.

For the majority of people, this is where it stops. The first four circuits evolved to aid our survival. Wilson points out that many people take strong imprints from the second or third circuits, which may account for a lot of political differences. For example, you could say the average Conservative has a strong second imprint, and operates from how things "feel." The typical Liberal, on the other hand, has a stronger imprint with the third circuit and is more concerned with science and facts.

Circuits V-VIII

The second group of four circuits is more recent. Wilson speculates that they will become more common as man moves towards a more technological, and space-savvy society.

5. The Neurosomatic Circuit - This is the legendary state of bliss that many meditation methods promise. Bliss feels like intense love coupled with powerful sexuality, hence the association with tantra. Turning on the fifth circuit often gives one a continual sense of ecstasy.

6. The Neurogenetic Circuit - People who have turned on this circuit have a greater sense of Jung’s Collective Unconscious, and many archetypes of the mind may begin manifesting as gods and goddesses from ancient faiths.

7. The Meta-Programming Circuit - This circuit gives us the understanding that we can reprogram and re-imprint ourselves at will. People who have only awakened the first four circuits are trapped by their early childhood imprints. The seventh circuit gives us access to change, erase, or imprint new experiences according to our will.

8. The Quantum Circuit - Imprinted by people who have had near-death experiences, out-of-body experience’s, etc. The budding shaman or cuckoo lunatic gains an understanding that there is far more to being a human than what we experience in our bodies and that we are not limited by space/time locality.

Robert Anton Wilson goes into greater detail and even includes exercises to assist in bringing them online. Much of mysticism/spirituality/occultism is designed to exhaust the typical first four circuits so we lose our attachment to them and are able to move into the next stage of evolution. As long as we are trapped in the Right/Left, Capitalist/Socialist dynamic we are limiting ourselves to what we can truly accomplish.

In today's increasingly polarizing political society, I think we need these teachings from Robert Anton Wilson more than ever. The secret to our evolution is pacifying and moving past the first four circuits instead of letting that pendulum constantly swing back and froth between emotion and rationality. 

The Conservative who mumbles angrily at the thought of a Liberal taking away his gun is just as lost as the Liberal who thinks that every problem in the world can be solved if we all just hugged it out and sang "Kumbaya." In Prometheus Rising Wilson calls for a neurological revolution: increasing intelligence while learning to choose our emotional responses.

I'd say that, since Wilson made these speculations back in the early 1980's, our society is slowly moving past those first couple of circuits and going further. We are becoming more aware, and that is evidenced by the increasing marginalization of the Conservative mind-set of favoring facts, science, and equality.

Big thanks to an article posted by Samuel Morningstar on Disinfo, which is where I got a lot of this information from.

And with that, I'll call this a higher form of content creation. See you all tomorrow.

Buh-bye.