Cosmic Trigger
Final Secret of the Illuminati
by Robert Anton Wilson · first published 1977
46% recommend54% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Autobiographical account of years of psychedelic exploration and belief in contact with an alien intelligence, as the author tests scientific explanations. Suits readers into psychonautics and epistemology.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Cosmic Trigger I: The Final Secret of The Illuminati is the first book in the Cosmic Trigger series, first published in 1977 and the first of a three-volume autobiographical and philosophical work by Robert Anton Wilson. It has a foreword by Timothy Leary, which he wrote in the summer of 1977. The first volume was published without numbering, as the second volume did not appear for nearly 15 years. Wilson is perhaps best known as the co-author of the award-winning science fiction work [The Illuminatus! Trilogy][1]. Cosmic Trigger revisits many of the themes from that earlier work in a more
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Probably Robert Anton Wilson’s Cosmic Trigger or Prometheus Rising back in 2010. The “reality tunnel” concept has defined much of my personal and intellectual exploration of the past 10 years. “ When we meet somebody whose separate tunnel-reality…
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?” ↗Cosmic Trigger was great, but I must say it's hard to speak of Robert Anton Wilson without mentioning his magnum opus, The Illuminatus Trilogy.
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?” ↗I can recommend all books written by Robert Anton Wilson, especially the Cosmic Trigger series, Quantum Psychology and The New Prometheus. Another book that's definitely worth a read, or two, is "The Goal", which teaches you how to think goal-oriented while not being a bore to read.
on “Ask HN: Life Changing Books?” ↗All books from Robert Anton Wilson, but especially the Cosmic Trigger series and Quantum Psychology. Also: The Goal. If you're intellectually capable, they're life changing. If you're more for leasure, consider reading the longest running science fiction series in history:…
on “Ask HN: What Books Do You Recommend Reading for 2022?” ↗Highly recommend the author of this post, or any other psychonauts, to read Cosmic Trigger by Robert Anton Wilson. He recounts a period of several years in his life where his psychonautic explorations left him believing he was in contact with an alien intelligence. He wrestles with trying…
on “How ayahuasca changed my perspective” ↗Robert Anton Wilson: Cosmic Trigger and Quantum Psychology Isaac Asimov: Beginnings Alex Garland: The Beach Buddha: The Dhammapada
on “Ask HN: Which books did you read at least twice?” ↗RAW's Cosmic Trigger and Prometheus Rising for me: I read both when I was 13 and was a recently-converted Southern Baptist. I quickly shifted my entire understanding of epistemology and the nature of reality.
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗Apparently Hawking coined this term in 2010. Robert Anton Wilson coined a similar term, "Model Agnosticism", all the way back in 1977 in his book Cosmic Trigger: "The Copenhagen Interpretation is sometimes called "model agnosticism" and holds that any grid we use to organize our experience of the world is a model of the world and should not be confused with…
on “It’s time to admit quantum theory has reached a dead end” ↗…K. Dick is one of these visionaries(Exegesis, VALIS). Also some other that come to mind are William Blake, Carl Gustav Jung(Seven sermons to the dead, Red book). Maybe even Robert Anton Wilson with his Cosmic Trigger book.
on “The Eyes Have It (1953)” ↗OP is ~23 at the time and that seems like a very natural age for that experiment. One of the most interesting things about reading Robert Anton Wilson's more autobiographical stuff (Cosmic Trigger? Prometheus Rising?) is that when he talks about doing LSD for the first time with Leary and co, all these guys were in their 30s!! I can't imagine how shocking it would be to have gotten that far in…
on “Every Entrepreneur Should Try Magic Mushrooms” ↗…writings of the esoteric Brother Blue, who was he? It eventually caused me to go in a reality tunnel for a few years. It was a fascinating and puzzling experience similar as to what was described in Cosmic Trigger III by R.A. Wilson.
on “Chess engines do weird stuff” ↗Seconded. The book is a joy. Also, the current UK discordian undercurrent is producing some fnord wonderful things. Daisy Eris’ Cosmic Trigger play has opened some excellent locks (perhaps not flood gates yet). And the KLF have recently gone into businesses as undertakers [0]. [0]: https://www.mumufication.com/
on “The Principia Discordia (1963)” ↗I'm currently reading Cosmic Trigger (1977!) with an open skeptical mind and this was the first thing I thought.
on “The Quantum Mechanics of Fate (2014)” ↗As RAW wrote in Cosmic Trigger: "Why does the gnosis always get busted?"
on “Bill Atkinson's psychedelic user interface” ↗