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Chaos & Cyber Culture
Timothy Learys Chaos and CyberCulture is his futuristic vision of the emergence of a new humanism with an emphasis on questioning authority , independent thinking, individual creativity, and the empowerment of computer and other brain technologies. This cyberpunk manifesto describes a new breed that loves technology and uses it to revolutionize communication and tweak Big Brother while being successful, achieving political power and having fun. Timothy Leary is a leading figure in the consciousness revolution of the 1960s. Chaos and CyberCulture brings together his provocative, futuristic writings, lively interviews and cogent conversations with a variety of writers and thinkers. Chaos and CyberCulture defines the emergence of the New Breed of the Information Age, who are creating the cyberdelic politics and culture of the 21st Century. Chaos and CyberCulture is a substantial work (over 100,000 words) consisting of over forty chapters and conversations with leading figures. There are eight main sections and a epilogue.
320 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1994
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707 people want to read
About the author
Timothy Leary
167 books816 followersTimothy Francis Leary was an American writer, psychologist, futurist, modern pioneer and advocate of psychedelic drug research and use, and one of the first people whose remains have been sent into space. An icon of 1960s counterculture, Leary is most famous as a proponent of the therapeutic and spiritual benefits of LSD. He coined and popularized the catch phrase "Turn on, tune in, drop out."
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 4, 2015
Everyone should read this.
July 11, 2012
A wonderful feast for the mind and soul. If more of our books were like this, we wouldn't need--or even want--television!
September 29, 2021
Somewhat torn, due to loving the style: the layout, the art, the prose. It’s a groovy book, with some intriguing ideas. Maybe the nature of Lucy fanatics (over the mushroom & cactus quaffing shamanic squad) all trend a little more mechaphiliac. For me, the less plugged in I am to any machine, the more alive & purposeful I feel. It’s the way of the neoamish for me! Maybe that makes me a shark…or a mudskipper - per Leary’s analogy - an extant analog dinosaur that didn’t really require very much terrestrial development to achieve peak performance. Let the rhinos have the land…let the canaries have the coal mines, if they’re so hellbent! But leave me out of that dystopian jungle…
I just find his connection to the spiritual through technology personally very offputting, even though of course there are arguments and he makes them, the way he slithers through an argument like an oiled eel as if convinced that silver tongued charisma is enough to get the whole cult onboard. You’re sassy & courageous & Oscar Wilde would be proud of your style, Leary. But this whole message just don’t jibe with #druidlife.
I just find his connection to the spiritual through technology personally very offputting, even though of course there are arguments and he makes them, the way he slithers through an argument like an oiled eel as if convinced that silver tongued charisma is enough to get the whole cult onboard. You’re sassy & courageous & Oscar Wilde would be proud of your style, Leary. But this whole message just don’t jibe with #druidlife.
February 22, 2019
I think this might have been the once and only time I have ever been carded for buying a book. I bought this in the nineties as a high school teenager at Borders. Probably the most amazing theory by Leary in this is his concept of 'RPMs,' or Realities Per Minute, and how modern technology and advertising, including VR, are like the drug. Pairs nicely with with Adbusters Magazine and Culture Jam: How To Reverse America's Suicidal Consumer Binge - And Why We Must by Kalle Lasn. Subsequent reads: How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence.
November 22, 2020
Prophetically Accurate
March 5, 2023
It turns out I am already a cyborg. Just for having a smartphone. I tried to resist. I really did. I was sick of people stuck to their phones not talking to each other and did not want to add to it but then I finally got one and discovered it is a superpower. One time I saw this guy on a bench staring at his phone when a gigantic pack of beautiful females ran right past him. He didn’t look up from his phone. It blew my mind. I looked at them for a long time. Maybe it’s similar to what the spiritual masters know about the spiritual realm. We are all caught up in the material realm and the saints barely care about it because it is all Maya. An illusion. Catch my drift?
December 29, 2014
the chaos & cyber culture of today's age is very much like the picture that leary paints on these pages. however, there are some things that are very far-fetched and almost impossible that it could happen. maybe i am still holding on to basic imprints and ol' traditions that our feudal-industrial society implanted in our brains without our consent, but leary is at times pessimistic and that ails me.
the first few chapters are very captivating that i could not look away from the words. as i turned the pages and got farther ahead in the book, the ideas were redundant and the same evidence was given as supportive arguments to prove the rest of the book, which it could be cut without missing much.
the interviews are somewhat interesting, but they are not very insightful. the questions are more about their personal relationships with each other rather than real philosophical questions about the chaos & cyber culture that is continuously taking us to new heights in the evolution department.
the new culture presented by leary is almost identical to our current status in the USA. Also, the global society is following the same trends that leary depicts in the book. i would definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes to learn more about psychedelics, psychology, philosophy, cyber-culture, society and electronics, and of course, the man himself, timothy leary.
the first few chapters are very captivating that i could not look away from the words. as i turned the pages and got farther ahead in the book, the ideas were redundant and the same evidence was given as supportive arguments to prove the rest of the book, which it could be cut without missing much.
the interviews are somewhat interesting, but they are not very insightful. the questions are more about their personal relationships with each other rather than real philosophical questions about the chaos & cyber culture that is continuously taking us to new heights in the evolution department.
the new culture presented by leary is almost identical to our current status in the USA. Also, the global society is following the same trends that leary depicts in the book. i would definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes to learn more about psychedelics, psychology, philosophy, cyber-culture, society and electronics, and of course, the man himself, timothy leary.
February 7, 2012
What do you turn on when you turn on? Timothy Leary gives insight on the birth of cyber-culture. Amazingly prescient, though some aspects he offers are out-dated.
Read
January 3, 2010Weirdness,Self Help
April 5, 2017
Great book with a range of underground publication from Leary on his thoughts on where society is heading with the computer and Information Age.
Bang on and thought provoking
Bang on and thought provoking
April 18, 2017
Way back in 1994, Timothy Leary was all about the Internet. Heralding it as--and I'm paraphrasing--the next great drug, Leary thrilled at the prospect of the whole world connecting in a universe of our own making. He elaborates on this thrill in Chaos & Cyber Culture: a collection of essays from the 1980s and 1990s linking his thoughts on sex, drugs, religion, death to the marvels of the 21st century. Why die when you can upload your memory to the internet and "live" forever? What use do we have for monotheistic religions in a time of such growth and inter-connectivity? Is it actually possible to have sex with a computer? Leary expounds on all these topics, and his answers . . . are less than thrilling.
I've never read Timothy Leary before, but I knew of him, and I wanted to like him for the ideas that he advocated, particularly free thinking and the expanding of consciousness. (Though it should be noted that I'm in the middle of a discussion with a good friend of mine about whether or not "consciousness" exists, so take that with a grain of salt, I suppose.) He certainly has a stellar reputation among artists that I like: David Byrne, William S. Burroughs, William Gibson, Aldous Huxley, Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder are all either referenced or interviewed in the pages of Chaos & Cyber Culture.
And yet among my more scientifically-minded friends, Timothy Leary is perceived as a crank and a hack fraud: a dabbler in pseudo-science who got side-tracked by his use of psychedelics. I value the opinions of my friends well, but tried to give Leary the benefit of the doubt as I read, figuring that there was a happy medium between the two polarizing viewpoints of his work.
Ultimately, I admire his generally optimistic world view, but can safely conclude that the man frequently has no idea what he's talking about. At some point I'd like to go back and read his earlier works for a sense of comparison, because though his ideas SOUND good, they either come off as extremely surface level or feel like they've been cribbed from another scientist. Having only read about Leary within the context of drugs, I have no idea what his "legitimate" research was like. But if it's anything like the ideas he presents in Chaos & Cyber Culture, then I have no idea how he made it as a Harvard professor in the first place.
As I see it, the main problem with Chaos & Cyber Culture is that it locates itself too much in what COULD be and not enough in what IS. Leary's pie-eyed observations about "cyber-suits" and humans as "viruses" may sound fun, but not if there are very real problems being unaddressed. In the section on religion, Leary takes to task the "warrior caste" in America and advocates a military informed by justice and not the fervent love of killing. Yet within that same section, he speculates that monotheistic religions will be a passing fad in the 21st century.
My perception of these predictions is obviously warped by my living, currently, in the 21st century, at a time when organized religions are not only strong, but dangerous and deadly. As with anybody predicting the future, one can expect a certain amount of incorrect speculating, but for me, it feels like Leary should no better. The man tussled with all sorts of authoritarian figures in the 60s and 70s, and amidst his calm and thoughtful musings are some very angry and bitter accusations against "the man". Yet, simultaneously, Leary underestimates the power of these authoritarian figures when it comes to controlling the internet.
Organized religions have a presence online, and a strong one, for those who seek it out. But what really irked me was his prediction that in the future, even the poorest child in the ghetto would have free access to the internet. This is simply not true, as is the case for other human necessities (food, water, shelter) more important than a Wi-Fi connection. Make no mistake that Timothy Leary is a smart guy who has his moments. But in getting excited over the possibilities of the future, he and other speculators are ignorant to very real problems that might impede those possibilities in the present.
Yet his hope persists, and that is the staying power of this book. For every ill-conceived and potentially prejudiced statement he makes, Leary constantly affirms the importance and beauty of humanity, and the potential we have to do and create great things. It's hard to remember that in 2017. From my perspective, and the perspective, the internet has devolved into a bitter, hateful and inane extension of the real world, with anonymity allowing for greater threats with lesser repercussions. In many ways, I'm sick of the internet, or at least what we've done with it. And yet if Leary is to be believed, we can do better, and we WILL do better. Leary offered no concrete dates as to when these technological innovations would take place, so it's entirely possible that this rough period of coarse language and false news is part of the process. And as simple as his messages are, they are certainly worth repeating: think for yourself, choose your own fate, expand your mind. He took 270-ish pages to say what could have been said in a 32-page booklet, but nonetheless. It's an important message he's imparting, and few are emphasizing the importance of those ideas as greatly as he is.
Chaos and Cyber Culture was a slog of a read for me, but I think it is still worth checking out despite all of its flaws. The illustrations are neat and the interviews are interesting. Apparently, Winona Ryder is Leary's goddaughter! Who knew?! And if nothing else, you can observe this as a document of one man's opinions, as right or as wrong as they may be. The majority of people reading this will no doubt already be fans or at least familiar with the works of Timothy Leary, and so they are reading it because it's him, as much as they are for what he has to say.
Because these essays span the course of two decades, the through-line is not always consistent, and I wish that Leary's musings, on the whole, were more factual and comprehensive, more exploratory of what the internet was like back in 1994.
Still, it's interesting, because it's Leary. As Marshall McLuhan observed (and Leary endlessly repeats in his book), "The medium is the message". And if you're looking to know about the internet (or possibly ecstasy) through the medium of Timothy Leary, then Chaos and Cyber Culture is the way to go.
I've never read Timothy Leary before, but I knew of him, and I wanted to like him for the ideas that he advocated, particularly free thinking and the expanding of consciousness. (Though it should be noted that I'm in the middle of a discussion with a good friend of mine about whether or not "consciousness" exists, so take that with a grain of salt, I suppose.) He certainly has a stellar reputation among artists that I like: David Byrne, William S. Burroughs, William Gibson, Aldous Huxley, Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder are all either referenced or interviewed in the pages of Chaos & Cyber Culture.
And yet among my more scientifically-minded friends, Timothy Leary is perceived as a crank and a hack fraud: a dabbler in pseudo-science who got side-tracked by his use of psychedelics. I value the opinions of my friends well, but tried to give Leary the benefit of the doubt as I read, figuring that there was a happy medium between the two polarizing viewpoints of his work.
Ultimately, I admire his generally optimistic world view, but can safely conclude that the man frequently has no idea what he's talking about. At some point I'd like to go back and read his earlier works for a sense of comparison, because though his ideas SOUND good, they either come off as extremely surface level or feel like they've been cribbed from another scientist. Having only read about Leary within the context of drugs, I have no idea what his "legitimate" research was like. But if it's anything like the ideas he presents in Chaos & Cyber Culture, then I have no idea how he made it as a Harvard professor in the first place.
As I see it, the main problem with Chaos & Cyber Culture is that it locates itself too much in what COULD be and not enough in what IS. Leary's pie-eyed observations about "cyber-suits" and humans as "viruses" may sound fun, but not if there are very real problems being unaddressed. In the section on religion, Leary takes to task the "warrior caste" in America and advocates a military informed by justice and not the fervent love of killing. Yet within that same section, he speculates that monotheistic religions will be a passing fad in the 21st century.
My perception of these predictions is obviously warped by my living, currently, in the 21st century, at a time when organized religions are not only strong, but dangerous and deadly. As with anybody predicting the future, one can expect a certain amount of incorrect speculating, but for me, it feels like Leary should no better. The man tussled with all sorts of authoritarian figures in the 60s and 70s, and amidst his calm and thoughtful musings are some very angry and bitter accusations against "the man". Yet, simultaneously, Leary underestimates the power of these authoritarian figures when it comes to controlling the internet.
Organized religions have a presence online, and a strong one, for those who seek it out. But what really irked me was his prediction that in the future, even the poorest child in the ghetto would have free access to the internet. This is simply not true, as is the case for other human necessities (food, water, shelter) more important than a Wi-Fi connection. Make no mistake that Timothy Leary is a smart guy who has his moments. But in getting excited over the possibilities of the future, he and other speculators are ignorant to very real problems that might impede those possibilities in the present.
Yet his hope persists, and that is the staying power of this book. For every ill-conceived and potentially prejudiced statement he makes, Leary constantly affirms the importance and beauty of humanity, and the potential we have to do and create great things. It's hard to remember that in 2017. From my perspective, and the perspective, the internet has devolved into a bitter, hateful and inane extension of the real world, with anonymity allowing for greater threats with lesser repercussions. In many ways, I'm sick of the internet, or at least what we've done with it. And yet if Leary is to be believed, we can do better, and we WILL do better. Leary offered no concrete dates as to when these technological innovations would take place, so it's entirely possible that this rough period of coarse language and false news is part of the process. And as simple as his messages are, they are certainly worth repeating: think for yourself, choose your own fate, expand your mind. He took 270-ish pages to say what could have been said in a 32-page booklet, but nonetheless. It's an important message he's imparting, and few are emphasizing the importance of those ideas as greatly as he is.
Chaos and Cyber Culture was a slog of a read for me, but I think it is still worth checking out despite all of its flaws. The illustrations are neat and the interviews are interesting. Apparently, Winona Ryder is Leary's goddaughter! Who knew?! And if nothing else, you can observe this as a document of one man's opinions, as right or as wrong as they may be. The majority of people reading this will no doubt already be fans or at least familiar with the works of Timothy Leary, and so they are reading it because it's him, as much as they are for what he has to say.
Because these essays span the course of two decades, the through-line is not always consistent, and I wish that Leary's musings, on the whole, were more factual and comprehensive, more exploratory of what the internet was like back in 1994.
Still, it's interesting, because it's Leary. As Marshall McLuhan observed (and Leary endlessly repeats in his book), "The medium is the message". And if you're looking to know about the internet (or possibly ecstasy) through the medium of Timothy Leary, then Chaos and Cyber Culture is the way to go.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews