I'm a PKD novice and I found this presentation enjoyable simply because of the ideas presented. If you enjoy content that gets you thinking give it a go.
The Exegesis forever changed my life.. especially the VALIS Trilogy (plus Radio Free Albemuth)… PKD’s theophany is some of the most interesting writings about the sublime sciences. Esotericism is linked all throughout the hand written 10,000 pages.
Do Androids Dream…? and The Man in the High Castle got me into PKD, but when I read VALIS it was the moment I realized he was a genius. One of the most incredible works of fiction of all time.
“It is the spiritual which is the real life, the material life being only a copy of the former, and encompassed with errors." The Celestial Telegraph, L. A. Cahagnet, 1851
I really liked this! I started to see and feel where he was going. And then where he takes this short talk actually feels like a long philosophy lecture. Because I kept pausing to think and research. Great!
On the third day, I slept like any characterless object that you would ignore. I felt absolutely empty. Empty enough to not have thoughts but a mind making sounds of silence. My eyes wide open when I woke up in the middle of sleep and not knowing where I am. I was sleeping on the same bed and room. I woke up with every feeling you could imagine. Every subjective feeling was emitting out of my eyes it seemed and it had no object to illuminate. Not because I didn't see anything. But because I didn't recognize anything. I had no prior information on it. I had no knowledge of the functions of things. I don't know if I was sleeping until I woke up. Thoughtless State. I have experienced(?) Not the right word for it - atleast thrice in past 22 years. 1st when I was 11, then at 16 now at 22.
Oh so that's why the homoplasmate just jumped up in me? I don't think God just enjoyed being converted to digital, they must feel very constrained in big noodles servers :x
Phil did not write 8 novels between 1974 and 1982 (the year of his death) -- he wrote three novels -- the novels that were published later were unpublished manuscripts that he had written in the 1950s and 1960s
it is obvious, the format of the presentation format does not lend itself to a good talk on PKD's work. You can not possibly talk about PKD(all his work were about himself, right?) and make sense to casuals in 15 mins. VALIS is a good book(a set) go read it and this talk will make more sense, perhaps. I liked the idea that he himself became the VALIS. That he became the information. But are there any other ideas in PKDs books? Perhaps hidden? I get it that most of the novels already contain too much to digest in one bite. But what are the most powerful ideas you found in his nivels? For me, I was blown away how he has a style that grips you from the begging and rolls on an organic and believable story which is set in a totally unfamiliar setting with truly unique perspective on the events. But that is just his style. The contents and contexts of his ideas are also very unique. Just those words about invasion of ones mental world by some other entity where everything gets subverted is a scary and funny thought to entertain. He is also crafty wordsmith and a scholar. He catches you off guard with fundamental contemporary theories about medicine/information theory/logic/philosophy and interpretations of scriptures. Fascinating writer indeed. He was a man who was not celebrated before his death. Which is another way to say that he was ahead of time.
Very true. I haven't read enough of his books. I have listened to a couple audio books of his, and it has a feel of some type of real event being recaptured. Very strange. I have to read his work slowly sometimes to understand where he is trying to go next.
@@aaronasmus284 Yes. There are 4 or 5 books that he refers to a lot in his Exegesis that if I recall formed a sequence or were interrelated and linked to his '74 peak experience. Martian Time Slip, Flow My Tears, Ubik? Maze of Death, Valis, Scanner... ok that's 6 I can't remember them tbh but the list is close. I'd say read those first, b/c they're great books anyways. Exegesis is pretty thick to get your head around regardless; to me going into it with some context from his novels to work with is the way to go. Valis was semi-autibiographical sort of novelized synopsis of what he talks about in his Exegesis If I understand correctly. 'Divine Invasion' is Valis pt. 2 and I think Transmigration of Timothy Archer' I saw referred to as Valis pt. 3 somewhere Transmigration is one of my favorites of his novels and I've read all of them minus 1 or 2. Though it's not sci-fi per se, but he wrote a number of good non sci-fi books imo. Transmigration is probably top 5 on my list, and he wrote nearly 40 novels. But yeah Valis was the first PKD novel I read, which I got turned onto thanks to Robert Anton Wilson talking about it in 'Cosmic Trigger Vol. 3' which I found intriguing.
Fascinating talk. I don't think that thoughts can be exhausted, though written self-inquiry can exhaust the identity. Momentary depersonalization is one thing, abiding non-dual awareness is another.
Well said. " written self-inquiry can exhaust the identity" It just occurred to me that process CAN lead to depersonalization, and is it not the aim of meditation "to quiet one's mind by emptying it of all thoughts"? Wouldn't meditation then lead some to depersonalization, which is considered by modern Medicine a serious mental condition?
Interesting ideas. Personally, I don’t think the “identity” of an individual can ever be exhausted. Exhaustion is a scientific term related to mass and energy and I don’t believe the “identity” needs any self sustaining momentum after it has been developed. Dick’s identity was well under way to being formed experientially in his youth - some identities may take longer to develop, others maybe shorter... who knows. I think a written self-inquiry can become redundant and repetitive - it is the physical act that reacts by becoming exhaustive (unless you are a well-funded Stephen King happily writing the same novel a billion times). PKD wrote from some desperate place within himself and felt it a duty to bring ideas he felt we all needed to understand to all of us. To me it is not that “thoughts” become exhausted. It is the act of thinking, and the purpose and motivation and need, that become exhausted when “we” who are the recipients trample over them on our way to our urban and suburban labor camps - or crush them on the cracked pavement under the wheels of our coughing metallic chariots.
Sounds to me that he said "stopped". After a second and third listen, he said "stalked". Information, inflammation...what can we do with words? My first PKD novel, read during summer 2014, watershed year for Alaska - Solar Lottery.
"Dick was dissolving himself into langauge" sentence of your speech provided a great support for one my undergraduate thesis' main ideas. Thanks for the inspirational talk on such a hard text to analyse.
Information consumes our sense of self. He may be on to something there, especially in the context of our internet-addicted culture of the early 21st Century. And running out of thoughts might be bad for a writer, but that alleged experience possibly provided some temporary respite for PKD the man.
The tech isn't bad it's just when it is used wrong or isn't used for what it can be, but the same positive statement I just made there can be turned around to mean something about controlling people. When it is used - wrong - when it is used - etc. Like PKD was used in such a way.
i had this same experience, different subject matter, different beliefs, im not religious and dont do hard drugs but hits my experience on many many levels, i even used many of the same words describing it before ever really knowing who PKD was. think i saw something on tv once about him but just saw part about him laying on a couch and getting his vision, sounds like they got it wrong too. i live about 50 feet from the hermit house my entire life. maybe theres a spacetime glitch in the area or a chemical or something creating a temporal syndrome er soemthing.
i have a hard time describing it in less than a few pages but idk if i could do 9000 yes it makes me sound insane also but it happened, cant prove it except to myself but if you knew me im not the type to makeup something like this i dont even like psychic kinda stuff in sci fi 99% of the time
Thanks! :) (This instantly swallowed my attention!;) But why is this such a low volume recording? I have to turn up the Volume to 100% and I can still hardly hear what he's saying...
astounding that anyone could take this bizarre non-message away from the Exegesis - literally astounding. akin to reading the Gospels and suggesting it is a guide to day trading the stock market....
And the Lord said unto me, thou shall long during bull markets and short during the bear market, but I tell you one day the bull shall lay with the bear. Amen.
I couldn't even imagine a more boring presentation of pkd. His works have phenomenal ideas and altered realities. This presenter did not do his works justice.
Thanks for the comment, Joey. The video focused on The Exegesis, which is not for everybody, and neither are my observations. Just sharing what was amazing to me, not suggesting it should be amazing to everyone. Indeed, part of the point of the talk is that we all experience life in a singular way, so one size can never fit all :) Keep enjoying PKD.
THE HIGHEST STATE of consciousness & being is love, kindness, and benevolence. It includes insight, understanding, *and the great overcoming and conquering the sick, evil little game of 'oneupmanship'. our ONENESS *must* be with that which is beautiful, IDEAL, and GOOD. the ugly must be discarded as trash and unworthy of either wisdom OR self.*
Couldn't agree more, Len, with the spirit of this comment. In love itself no self separate from another, exists, so no such oneupmanship could persist through such a state. The question asked by the Bhagavad Gita and many other traditions of the Perennial Philosophy is - how to best get to this state? One way is pure devotion to an ideal - Bhakti. But there are others, and Knowing that one's true essence is consciousness rather than a body or matter can enable this selflessness. When the separation that accompanies this idea that we are essentially bodies or matter dissolves, then we are indeed One with the beautiful, the ideal and the good. Intriguingly, though, in my humble experience, nobody is around to "discard" the ugly, which strictly speaking no longer exists because it is seen as an aspect of the One, In love even "trash" is worthy. PKD used the greek word for total love "agape" to describe this ability to see the divine in a "fly grooming itself" or the "god in the gutter." If everything is One, One is in everything and nothing at all, not even nothing, can be discarded. All is welcomed :)
once again, a scholar takes Phil at his word, when things did not really happen that way -- I'm tired of explaining it, but Phil already knew what a fish sign was, and he was temporarily blinded by the sunlight reflected from a shiny sticker on our window
@Tessa , do you know, thats what I thought may have happened. A brief blinding flash of a sun ray reflected pink. Maybe the info was locked in the dust motes and Phil captured it. x
well it was me that contacted Phil and I chose the color pink ( the color of my bedroom, melted ice cream pink), sometimes i chose other colours. I contacted him about his son. We experienced a series of visions that were initiated by God. Phil was not crazy. If you would walk towards the dawn you must have your slippers on cause my middle name is dawn and its cold here. And when i asked my dad where i lived he said portugese states of america because he was scared about why a 3 year old girl would want to know that. Phil was a good man always patient and kind even though i joked with him alot he never lost his patience. When i contacted him about Christophers illness was because an angel told it to me and i repeated it exactly as i heard it to him cause i didnt really understand what it meant but i wanted to help. We also had the same vision of the opening of bladerunner and i agree its very much like what we saw. I find your constantly trying to discredit him disturbing.
and yes God keeps trying to tell me im the holy spirit incarnated so that's where that comes from. Glad this book exists cause its very helpful to me to know what he saw and heard because its more than i thought. Expecially when he said he also heard the angels singing with me. As always with God seeking provides more questions than answers, or maybe more acurately: answers lead to more questions
The best thing about PKD was his ability to define and fully express in written paper. His experience is not unique as he put it we all experience these things on a daily basis. We just have to be aware.
Gibberish ? Let me guess not a fan of Christianity ? Hardly gibberish. I would like to hear your 15 minute version. gibberish ˈdʒɪb(ə)rɪʃ/Submit noun unintelligible or meaningless speech or writing; nonsense.
Humans are layered in meaning because unlike animals, we can re-invent new meaning to the basics of life such as sex or pleasure and food. Like a lamb being caught in a bush of thorns, we attempt to untangle ourselves in the complexity we have created with our minds.
The 4 novels related to this are Radio Free Albemuth, Valis, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, and The Divine Invasion. This is my recommendation for reading order though not how they were published or how I read them. Fair warning if you're anything like me, I had to read each on days off because I couldn't put them down once started 😅🤓
Usually, it takes at least half the TED lecture before I figure out if the speaker is crazy, self-deluded, or both. Not so here! He makes it clear in the first 90 seconds!
I would at least read Valis to get context, and if that prompts ya to deep dive as I did, into The Divine Invasion, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, The Divine Invasion, and Radio Free Albemuth all the better 😉
I am seeing this presentation for the first time. It is my humble opinion that PKD did in fact have what some would term, a Kundalini awakening, or at least the stirrings of one.
In 2021, this TED talk with an audience feels alien. I enjoy the topic, but perhaps part of the exegesis commentary is on display here. Pre-2020 to Post-2020 has gone through a PKD temporal transcendence creating this feeling of cognitive dissonance.
digitalscales Lucky your plane wasn't waaaay off when you took your sole "Landing in Frankfurt" video. What a contribution you made to modern thought you made right there!
PKD had all the symptoms of schizophrenia. Thought insertion, thought blocking, loss of ego boundaries, paranoia, hallucinations, ideas of reference, delusions etc etc.
Saying he had symptoms of schizophrenia doesn't mean he was delusiomal and insane. From Dialogues in clinical neuroscience: The existence of a specific brain disease underlying schizophrenia remains a hypothesis. Despite the availability of criteria allowing reliable diagnostic identification, schizophrenia essentially remains a broad clinical syndrome defined by reported subjective experiences (symptoms), loss of function (behavioral impairments), and variable patterns of course. Research has identified a number of putative biological markers associated with the disorder, including neurocognitive dysfunction, brain dysmorphology, and neurochemical abnormalities. Yet none of these variables has to date been definitively proven to possess the sensitivity and specificity expected of a diagnostic test.
@@TheManFromNowheres his doctor prescribed amphetamines during the last three years of his marriage to Anne, but after that, he was simply hyperactive or manic
. Nope.In Hawaii, this gesture means "thank you", and if there was any intention at all, it was intending gratitude. Thanks for the close attention, though!
Nope, just seems like a subconscious hand movement to me. The human hand naturally reclines in that way at times, if you've had a baby you'd see that their hands can often rest like that.
Your comment made me all the more curious, but after watching i can conclude that you are either young or otherwise lacking the experience with these ideas to understand that this is actually one of the better talks by far. Dig in deeper, learn more about these ideas, language is faulty inherently so it takes many phrasings to really get what anyone means. We usually just assume we understand people, and then wonder why certain things happen lol.
that guy races through his speech, I can't catch up with him, so I try to read his PowerPoint extract phrases, and they re unreadable, being light blue on a light background. Stressful.
VALIS may well have he;ped this man,, but is it wise to enter the mind of a mad man ? you best think about that long and hard before you accpet the invite to help, " map " this region of pdk "mind"....i dontthink its needed,, he was of use for his time....but. he is no and isolated incident. IN accuracies are bound to creep into the explration of naything, blind tunrs and blind alleys are to be expected as one traverse the edge of a domain NOt known, like tracing teh edge of a fractal,, the closer you look the more complex it can become. it also Occours that valubale information in the hands of current average humans is a highly bad idea,, if you dont understand why, you should not veen be allowed to understand this type information.... MOdern HUmans, are not a s usefull or needed as they think themsleves,,,,, jelyfish make a far bigger contribution to planet health, than humans ever will. thats a Fact and if you want progress then you better start doing something about that...... before you aspire to information that is frankly and rightly beyond our tiny ego driven minds,,,,,, tiny being the opperative term... low hanging fruit is seldom he most nutricious, for damed good reason. Perhaps it is suitbale for mad white men to flail at facts, they lack the Moral capaity to aplly in an appropraite context..... if i were were y0u lot i would be looking at the concept of moral compass, before seeking to grab, the celophod by the tentacular feeding clubs. thats simply not wise............................... Peace, love and light,,,,,,, you do not give children matches,, niether should humans have any power,,,,,, they demostrate all tooo readily why all of us are unworthy of higher states of conciousness..........
Humans are layered in meaning because unlike animals, we can re-invent new meaning to the basics of life such as sex or pleasure and food. Like a lamb being caught in a bush of thorns, we attempt to untangle ourselves in the complexity we have created with our minds.
