I went to see him lecture once and I bought a signed copy of The New Inquisition but I just couldn’t get into it mainly because I didn’t get what he was getting at. It was the first time I heard of “Fundamental Materialism”. Being a huge fan of science and the scientific method, I just didn’t get it. Now, years later, in light of all the ruckus over skepticism/debunker, psuedoskepticism, etc., I want to read it, but woe is me...I can’t find my autographed copy anywhere…oh, well, I’m just going to have to buy it again (sort of like The White Album every time they change formats)
I am wondering what peoples’ thoughts and opinions are about Robert and what books, particularly The New Inquisition, have others read.
Discussion, please.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Anton_Wilson
"My goal is to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone but agnosticism about everything."[
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Inquisition
The New Inquisition
Summary
“It seems to me that existence - at this point I have doubts about 'the' 'universe' - is a lot like a Rorschach ink-blot. Everybody looks at it and sees their own favorite reality-tunnel”
—Robert Anton Wilson,
commenting on absolutism
[citation needed]
The New Inquisition is the author's term for what he refers to as a tendency within mainstream science to forbid certain forms of theories from being classed as "science." He cites the cases of Wilhelm Reich, Rupert Sheldrake, and the Mars effect controversy, among others, in support of a central claim that a materialist bias within the scientific community has led to some speculations and theories he claimed were unjustly thought of as unscientific.
Like all of Wilson's books, The New Inquisition makes one think, and look at the world in a completely new way. Wilson is one of the most brilliant and open minded writers around, and he is funny to boot. Both fundamentalist theists and fundamentalist atheists ought to avail themselves of his books.
"The New Inquisition" basically sends the fundamentalist materialists (such as Richard Dawkins, et al) a big and well-deserved thump upside the head. As biologist J.B.S. Haldane remarked, "The universe is not only queerer than we imagine, it is queerer than we CAN imagine". Or Spinoza's remark that the human mind is to the mind of God as a dog is to the Dog Star. Anyone, scientist or theologian, who thinks they can explain anything away uncritically is dead wrong. We live in an era where materialistic science is accepted as uncritically as the Catholic Church was in the Middle Ages. If more people read "The New Inquisition" (and other of Wilson's books) we might start to change that and think for ourselves.Statistics: Posted by jakesteele — 06 May 2010, 01:49
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