Programming the Human Biocomputer

by John C. Lilly

Drawing from his extensive knowledge of and experimentation with brain biochemistry, the inventor of the sensory isolation tank outlines the parallels between computers and the human brain and offers methods for stepping out of the mind-body, leading readers on a profound journey of self-discovery. Lilly's work was adapted into two feature films, The Day of the Dolphin and Altered States.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Engineering, Psychology, Philosophy

186 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

John Cunningham Lilly was an American physician, neuroscientist, psychoanalyst, psychonaut, philosopher, writer and inventor.

He was a researcher of the nature of consciousness using mainly isolation tanks, dolphin communication, and psychedelic drugs, sometimes in combination.

Reviews

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lilly was a pretty controversial scientist in his time - check out the experiment where a human female shared living quarters with a dolphin for a month or two.

Still, the dude did some radical experiments with sensory deprivation and psychedelic drugs (which he refers to as 'entheogens'). He also did research into dolphin language and intelligence.

This book is a manual on how to re-program your brain through various methods, including entheogens. It's quite fascinating, though Lilly's writing in this book is almost of a technical or scientific paper nature and can be very dry. Maybe one for the Lilly completist only - or if you're attempting to read RAW's "Brain Books" list.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I somehow made it this far into the year without reading any psychonautics/mind and spirituality literature. I've been meaning to read some of John C Lilly's works for years and have known about this one for some time but hadn't gotten around to it until now.

The mind and its correlation to computing has been a subject I've found interest in before. I've often drawn the correlation of mental thoughtprocess to delving into folders within folders in a computer. I was interested to see what Lilly had to say about this subject but ultimately was left dissapointed, or at least wanting more.

Lilly covers a vast array of topics in this sub 200 page book. A lot of ideas are introduced and pondered but often they are really only given a short overview. The subject matter of the mind is a very abstract topic. Trying to describe it in words, especially scientifically, is no easy feat. For this reason, this book is not the easiest read. That being said, once I caught on to what Lilly was trying to say I often found that what he was saying wasn't that profound. I'm not sure if this is just due to me already exploring some of these ideas or the fact that this book's influence has impacted others before it reached me but I didn't find as much value in it as I wished.

Comparing the the human mind to a computer is an interesting subject, especially in the 1970s. Some of the antiquated nature of this book might come from the fact that computers in the 1970s were very different to how they are today. It would be interesting to see Lilly's ideas based on the technological advancements of the last half century.

I found the ideas that Lilly presented to be interesting but one of the biggest issues I had with his ideas is that he is so stuck on the human mind being like a computer that he never considers that maybe computers are like the human mind. I know this concept is less intriguing and mystical but it probably is closer to the truth and an interesting topic to explore; maybe just not for what he was intending.

Another issue I had was his lack of citation or explaination of real data to come from some of the experiments he suggests. This book very much feels like an introduction of ideas to gain interest around the subject and get others to test his ideas. This is fine, but I was looking for more results and information.

I also had a few issues with the copy of the book I read. I ordered this from ThriftBooks (my first time) and received what looks like a self published version of the 2004 publication. There were multiple grammatical and syntax errors as well as many images, prodominently the front cover, looking blurry and low res. I'm not sure if this is just what the 2004 publication was or a cheap immitation being pawned off on me.

Overall, Lilly introduces a lot of interesting concepts but doesn't really go anywhere with them. He was a man who studied and researched many different subjects. They were all realated around the mind but they were vast; from etheogens, the development of the sensory deprivation tank, and his work with dolphins. All of these ideas are mentioned here, I just wish they were given more time to be explored, chapters quickly jump from one subject to another. I'd imagine I'd get more out of one of his other works and I look forward to reading them in the future.

[Joe Shepherd]

lmao

[Allan Cronin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book many years ago. It is one of a handful of summations of research efforts which were squelched when governments globally outlawed most psychedelics.
Lilly is a fascinating but complex and frequently quirky character. And you have to be able to read past the idiosyncrasies which permeate this book. If you can do that you will find that Lilly and company were doing some truly interesting work.
I have read that this book was written in an intentionally obtuse manner to limit access to these ideas to only the most intelligent and persistent readers. But the book actually developed quite a cult following. And anyone interested in the slowly reviving research in the field of psychedelics and the mind should be aware of Lilly's work.
The other big summation of research was done by Masters and Houston in their, "Varieties of Psychedelic Experience". But that is a subject for another review.

[Markus · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is a very interesting book that tells you that you can change your outlook on life and change how you were conditioned to live your life by simply reprograming your brain.
The book has a lot of comlex terminology that is sometime hard to keep up with. Althought the author use mind altering drugs (which I don't agree with) to aid him in this work some of the comsepts I did find sound.
I agree that it is possible to change your perspective on how you think and how you live your life by reprograming your mind.
It was an OK read but took me longer than usual do to the complex terminology used through out the book.

[Patsy · Rating 2 out of 5]

wha . . . what did I read? This work dances across the boarder between fascinating and ludicrous rather flippantly. I can't tell if I've been enlightened or my fragile mental state has been horrendously corrupted with trivial delusions. Worth a read, especially if you are opposed to subjecting yourself to drug-induced altered states, let this author do it for you! Definitely a weird one, though.

[Lysergius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently initially circulated as typewritten copy this is Lilly's formalisation of the events he writes about in The Center of the Cyclone. Provides a slightly new way of looking at the mind/brain conundrum and psychedelics.