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The eight-circuit model of consciousness is a holistic model originally presented as psychological philosophy (abbreviated "psy-phi" [1]) 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) [2] 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. [3] This model has been described as a potential route towards reconciling different interpretations of what it means to be a human being. [4][ unreliable fringe source?] 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. [5] Leary and Alli include three stages for each circuit, detailing developmental points for each level of consciousness. [6] [7] [8]
The model lacks scientific credibility and has largely been ignored in academia. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
Of the "eight circuits" in this model of consciousness, the first four circuits concern themselves with life on Earth, and the survival of the human species. The last four circuits are post-terrestrial, and concern themselves with the evolution of the human species as represented by so-called altered states of consciousness, enlightenment, mystical experiences, psychedelic states of mind, and psychic abilities. The proposal suggests that these altered states of consciousness are recently realized, but not widely utilized. Leary described the first four as "larval circuits", necessary for surviving and functioning in a terrestrial human society, and proposed that the post terrestrial circuits will be useful for future humans who, through a predetermined script, continue to act on their urge to migrate to outer space and live extra-terrestrially.[ citation needed] Leary, Wilson, and Alli have written about the idea in depth, and have explored and attempted to define how each circuit operates, both in the lives of individual people and in societies and civilizations.
The term "circuit" is equated to a metaphor of the brain being computer hardware, and the wiring of the brain as circuitry. [14] [15]
Leary used the eight circuits along with recapitulation theory to explain the evolution of the human species, the personal development of an individual, and the biological evolution of all life. [16] [17]
from the very first, [Richard Alpert] and his associate, Timothy F. Leary, have been as much propagandists for the drug experience as investigators of it... The shoddiness of their work as scientists is the result less of incompetence than of a conscious rejection of scientific ways of looking at things.[quoting Andrew Weil]
We have already noted that nineteenth-century religious movements were developed and systematized by way of evolutionary mythology. The evolutionistic framework has been similarly popular in the twentieth century [...] More importantly, it is a common theme in the literature of the new religious movements, as in Timothy Leary's seminal work The Politics of Ecstasy. Leary repeatedly links the use of LSD, spiritual evolution, the evolution of consciousness [...] He argues that the popular use of LSD heralds the next great evolutionary step for mankind.
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The eight-circuit model of consciousness is a holistic model originally presented as psychological philosophy (abbreviated "psy-phi" [1]) 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) [2] 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. [3] This model has been described as a potential route towards reconciling different interpretations of what it means to be a human being. [4][ unreliable fringe source?] 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. [5] Leary and Alli include three stages for each circuit, detailing developmental points for each level of consciousness. [6] [7] [8]
The model lacks scientific credibility and has largely been ignored in academia. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
Of the "eight circuits" in this model of consciousness, the first four circuits concern themselves with life on Earth, and the survival of the human species. The last four circuits are post-terrestrial, and concern themselves with the evolution of the human species as represented by so-called altered states of consciousness, enlightenment, mystical experiences, psychedelic states of mind, and psychic abilities. The proposal suggests that these altered states of consciousness are recently realized, but not widely utilized. Leary described the first four as "larval circuits", necessary for surviving and functioning in a terrestrial human society, and proposed that the post terrestrial circuits will be useful for future humans who, through a predetermined script, continue to act on their urge to migrate to outer space and live extra-terrestrially.[ citation needed] Leary, Wilson, and Alli have written about the idea in depth, and have explored and attempted to define how each circuit operates, both in the lives of individual people and in societies and civilizations.
The term "circuit" is equated to a metaphor of the brain being computer hardware, and the wiring of the brain as circuitry. [14] [15]
Leary used the eight circuits along with recapitulation theory to explain the evolution of the human species, the personal development of an individual, and the biological evolution of all life. [16] [17]
from the very first, [Richard Alpert] and his associate, Timothy F. Leary, have been as much propagandists for the drug experience as investigators of it... The shoddiness of their work as scientists is the result less of incompetence than of a conscious rejection of scientific ways of looking at things.[quoting Andrew Weil]
We have already noted that nineteenth-century religious movements were developed and systematized by way of evolutionary mythology. The evolutionistic framework has been similarly popular in the twentieth century [...] More importantly, it is a common theme in the literature of the new religious movements, as in Timothy Leary's seminal work The Politics of Ecstasy. Leary repeatedly links the use of LSD, spiritual evolution, the evolution of consciousness [...] He argues that the popular use of LSD heralds the next great evolutionary step for mankind.