Neurologic (book)

Last updated
Neurologic
Neurologic 1973 book.jpg
First edition cover
Author Timothy Leary
Joanna Harcourt-Smith
CountryUSA
SubjectPhilosophy
Published1973
Pages64 pp. (third edition)
OCLC 3006096

Neurologic is a 1973 book by Timothy Leary and Joanna Harcourt-Smith. The work was written by Leary during his re-incarceration at the California Men's Colony (CMC) in San Luis Obispo, California, from February to April 1973. A portion of the book was also entered into testimony as an exhibit in his trial for his original prison escape from CMC facilitated by the Weather Underground on September 13, 1970. Leary was initially arrested in 1970 for possession of one tenth of a gram of cannabis ("two roaches"), and after escaping CMC he faced a lengthy prison term. The book was published after his extradition in 1973 and eventual conviction. [1]

Contents

Background

Neurologic was published during the clandestine literature phase in Leary's work, when much of his time was spent either in prison or on the run from the authorities. The first development of the ideas for the book began with Leary's early interest in mindmaps at Harvard and were to appear subsequently throughout his work. [2]

Two separate instances of refinement and development of these ideas appeared in the early 1970s while Leary was living in exile in Europe. In 1970, Leary and his then-wife Rosemary were invited to Algeria as guests of Eldridge Cleaver and the Black Panther Party. While staying at the Hotel Mediterranee in Algiers, Leary wrote a letter to his compatriots back in the US dated March 10, 1971. The letter discussed early themes of what Leary called the "seven revolutions" (survival, political, economic, cultural, sexual, spiritual, and neurological). [3] In June 1972, Leary was in Basel, Switzerland, when he published similar ideas in a brochure for an art exhibit known as Der Reiseweg (The Route) depicting paintings by Walter Wegmüller who was associated with the Krautrock movement. [4]

Leary was captured by US authorities in Afghanistan on January 14, 1973, and extradited back to the US on January 18, 1973, where he was returned to the California Men's Colony and held in confinement before standing trial. [5] At his trial, in March 1973, Leary said his occupation was that of a "neurologician", a word he explained to the jury, he had just invented. Leary appeared to many to be mounting an insanity defense based on diminished capacity; he had previously been subjected to an IQ test, and the results were submitted at the trial showing he had a so-called genius level IQ of 143. [6]

Development

Leary began writing Neurologic while he was imprisoned in solitary confinement in 1973. Biographer Robert Greenfield estimates that the entire writing process took Leary about ten weeks. According to Leary, the prison forced him to ingest high doses of chlorpromazine (Thorazine) and interfered with his sleep by waking him up in the middle of the night. [7] Author Robert Anton Wilson described Leary's writing as rushed and haphazard: "Leary wrote this essay in a hurry, with no research sources available, on the floor of a solitary confinement cell, under a 40-watt bulb". [8]

Leary composed the material for the book with a small stub of a pencil on the back of a legal brief by Angela Davis, which was secretly removed from the prison and delivered to Joanna Harcourt-Smith, who at that time went by the name Joanna Leary to reflect their common-law marriage. [7] Joanna distributed the material in the form of photocopies in the first two issues, followed by two additional clandestine editions, then finally a print version in 1973. [9] She used the proceeds from the sale of the books for a defense fund to help get Leary released from prison. [7]

In 1983, Leary recalled the development of the book in his autobiography Flashbacks : "In solitary I awaited trial for my escape. I used this time in solitary confinement to meditate about developmental psychology and the stages of evolution. For hours I would pace the cage-seven steps forward, turn, seven steps back-putting myself in deep trance states of tranquil illumination. The single cell is a powerful habitat from which to view the world. Legal documents were the only paper allowed in the hole, so I sat on the floor under the dim naked bulb and wrote on the back of a legal brief, with this two-inch pencil stub, still another complete system of philosophy. It was one of those inspired clear-channel transmissions. I had been thinking about the classification of brain circuits for years, and now in slow tidy handwriting, with almost no corrections, the words poured out." [10]

Critical reception

Critic Erik Davis describes the book as an outline of the "social-cybernetic and ultimately mystical model of the human nervous system". Davis notes that Neurologic represents a shift in Leary's previous thought from works concerned with "hippie Hinduism" to that of a kind of scientific philosophy, or "PSY PHI" as Leary called it. [11] Cultural historian John Higgs argues that Leary's idea of the mindmap exemplified by Neurologic is "arguably Leary's most important work", but was greatly diminished by newspaper accounts of his prison escape and related travails. Journalist John Bryan said that Leary sounded "like a Raving Madman from Outer Space. It was at this point that many of his former followers decided that Tim had overdosed-both on acid and on life." [6]

Leary expanded on the initial ideas expressed in Neurologic in later works such as Exo-Psychology (1977) and The Game of Life (1979). [12] Erik Davis and historian W. Patrick McCray note that the original seven circuit model Leary describes in Neurologic later became known as the eight-circuit model of consciousness with the help of author Robert Anton Wilson, who wrote about it in Cosmic Trigger (1977) and Prometheus Rising (1983). [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Anton Wilson</span> American author, futurist, and agnostic mystic (1932–2007)

Robert Anton Wilson was an American author, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson helped publicize Discordianism through his writings and interviews. In 1999 he described his work as an "attempt to break down conditioned associations, to look at the world in a new way, with many models recognized as models or maps, and no one model elevated to the truth". Wilson's goal was "to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone but agnosticism about everything."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timothy Leary</span> American psychologist (1920–1996)

Timothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from bold oracle to publicity hound. According to poet Allen Ginsberg, he was "a hero of American consciousness", and writer Tom Robbins called him a "brave neuronaut". During the 1960s and 1970s, Leary was arrested 36 times; President Richard Nixon allegedly described him as "the most dangerous man in America".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Stroud</span> American inmate and ornithologist (1890–1963)

Robert Franklin Stroud, known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz", was a convicted murderer, American federal prisoner and author who has been cited as one of the most notorious criminals in the United States. During his time at Leavenworth Penitentiary, he reared and sold birds and became a respected ornithologist. From 1942 to 1959, he was incarcerated at Alcatraz, where regulations did not allow him to keep birds. Stroud was never released from the federal prison system; he was imprisoned from 1909 to his death in 1963.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solitary confinement</span> Strict form of imprisonment

Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which an inmate lives in a single cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to discipline or separate inmates who are considered to be security risks to other inmates or prison staff, as well as those who violate facility rules or are deemed disruptive. However, it is also used as protective custody on inmates whose safety is threatened by other inmates in order to separate them from the general prison population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Jackson (activist)</span> American author & activist

George Lester Jackson was an American author, activist and convicted felon. While serving an indeterminate sentence for stealing $70 from a gas station in 1961, Jackson became involved in revolutionary activity and co-founded the prison gang Black Guerrilla Family.

The eight-circuit model of consciousness is a holistic model originally presented as psychological philosophy by Timothy Leary in books including Neurologic (1973) and Exo-Psychology (1977), later expanded on by Robert Anton Wilson in his books Cosmic Trigger (1977) and Prometheus Rising (1983), and by Antero Alli in his books Angel Tech (1985) and The Eight-Circuit Brain (2009), that suggests "eight periods [circuits]" within the model. This model has been described as a potential route towards reconciling different interpretations of what it means to be a human being. The eight circuits, or eight systems or "brains", as referred by other authors, operate within the human nervous system. Each corresponds to its own imprint and subjective experience of reality. Leary and Alli include three stages for each circuit, detailing developmental points for each level of consciousness.

Henri Charrière was a French writer, convicted in 1931 as a murderer by the French courts and pardoned in 1970. He wrote the novel Papillon, a memoir of his incarceration in and escape from a penal colony in French Guiana. While Charrière claimed that Papillon was largely true, modern researchers believe that much of the book’s material came from other inmates, rather than Charrière himself. Charrière denied committing the murder, although he freely admitted to having committed various other petty crimes prior to his incarceration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Men's Colony</span>

California Men's Colony (CMC) is a male-only state prison located northwest of the city of San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo County, California, along the central California coast approximately halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Medical Facility</span> Prison medical facility in Vacaville, California

California Medical Facility (CMF) is a male-only state prison medical facility located in the city of Vacaville, Solano County, California. It is older than California State Prison, Solano, the other state prison in Vacaville.

<i>Flashbacks</i> (book) 1983 book by Timothy Leary

Flashbacks: A Personal and Cultural History of an Era is Timothy Leary's autobiography, published in 1983. It was reprinted in 1990 and 1997. The new edition has a foreword by William S. Burroughs, and a new afterword by Leary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angola Three</span> American prison inmates in solitary for decades

The Angola Three are three African-American former prison inmates who were held for decades in solitary confinement while imprisoned at Louisiana State Penitentiary. The latter two were indicted in April 1972 for the killing of a prison corrections officer; they were convicted in January 1974. Wallace and Woodfox served more than 40 years each in solitary, the "longest period of solitary confinement in American prison history".

<i>Nightrise</i> 2007 novel by Anthony Horowitz

Nightrise is the third book in The Power of Five series, written by Anthony Horowitz. It was published and released in the UK on 2 April 2007 by Walker Books Ltd. It is preceded by Evil Star, released in 2006, and followed by Necropolis, which was released on 30 October 2008. The title is a reference to both the fictional organisation represented in the book, and the Old Ones' eclipsing presence on Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henri Young</span> American convicted bank robber and murderer

Henri Theodore Young was an American convicted bank robber and murderer who, while serving one of a series of prison terms, attempted a 1939 escape from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary with four other inmates. Arthur "Doc" Barker, Dale Stamphill, Rufus McCain and William "Ty" Martin. During the escape attempt two inmates were shot, Stamphill and Barker. Barker died of his wounds. All survivors were quickly recaptured. Two of the men, Young and Rufus McCain, were sentenced to solitary confinement and served the terms at Alcatraz for a period of three years. Eleven days after re-entering the Alcatraz general prison population in 1942, Young murdered fellow escapee McCain.

André Maturette was a prisoner in the French Guiana prison colony of Devil's Island who attempted to escape with Henri Charrière and Joanes Clousiot.

<i>The Psychedelic Experience</i>

The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on The Tibetan Book of the Dead is a 1964 book about using psychedelic drugs that was coauthored by Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner and Richard Alpert. All three authors had taken part in research investigating the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin and mescaline in addition to the ability of these substances to sometimes induce religious and mystical states of consciousness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zihuatanejo Project</span> Psychedelic training center and intentional community

The Zihuatanejo Project was a psychedelic training center and intentional community created during the beginning of the counterculture of the 1960s by Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert under the umbrella of their nonprofit group, the International Federation for Internal Freedom (IFIF). The community was located in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico, and took up residence at the Hotel Catalina in the summers of 1962 and 1963.

The following is a list of works by Timothy Leary. The majority of Leary's works were put into the public domain by his estate in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Hillary King</span>

Robert Hillary King, also known as Robert King Wilkerson, is an American known as one of the Angola Three, former prisoners who were held at Louisiana State Penitentiary in solitary confinement for decades after being convicted in 1973 of prison murders.

Brian Sydney Barritt (1934–2011) was an English author, artist, and counterculture figure. He served in the British army, and was a friend and collaborator to such notables as Timothy Leary, William Burroughs, and Alex Trocchi. He was particularly active in the Beatnik, psychedelic, and Krautrock scenes.

Joanna Harcourt-Smith was an author, poet, psychedelic activist and the founder of Future Primitive Podcast.

References

  1. Horowitz et al. 1988, pp. 18, 51, 55.
  2. Higgs 2006, p. 147.
  3. Ulrich 2018, p. 255.
  4. Horowitz et al. 1988, p. 153.
  5. See Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws (1975). "The Weather Underground". Report of the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws of the Committee on the Judiciary. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  6. 1 2 Higgs 2006, p. 209.
  7. 1 2 3 Greenfield 2006, p. 460.
  8. Wilson, 1975, p. 9.
  9. Horowitz et al. 1988, pp. 17, 51, 55.
  10. Leary 1990, p. 333.
  11. Davis 2019, p. 251.
  12. Horowitz et al. 1988, p. 55, 69.
  13. Davis 2019, p. 251; McCray 2016, p. 248.

Bibliography