Talk:Timothy Leary
 | Psychoactive and Recreational Drugs (defunct) | |||
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No mention of Ken Kesey??
What about his interest in the internet / computers?
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Leary did NOT originate the eight circuit model of consciousness.
In his first autobiography, "What Does WoMan Want", he relates in detail that the fully developed theory was presented to him one evening in October 1963 by a "Professor Adams" (certainly a pseudoname). This happened during an extended visit by Adams to the Millbrook mansion in New York. Adams, in turn, was acting as an emissary from an Indian guru who lived "on the mudbanks of the Ganges river". - Dr. Lightning
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Much of what was written about his sentence to prison wasn't accurate according to Chaos and Cyber Culture and Pschopharmocology. There were also two paragraghs discussing his escape/sentence but they were out of sequence so I fixed them.
- Timothy Leary was kidnapped by Interpol agents at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan and extradited to the US in 1974
The word kidnapped seems a little POV, as it has the connotation of unlawful capture. I am changing it to detained, but if anyone can come up with a better NPOVism, by all means insert it.
- It was unlawful capture -- the United States had no extradition treaty with Afghanistan at that time, and U. S. law enforcement agents (who got him, not Interpol) had no legal authority to detain or arrest anyone on Afghani soil.
- It was, in terms of legality, in fact a kidnapping by agents of the government of the United States. However, using the phrase "unlawfully captured" is probably better in order to avoid a fight with those who think NPOV means you can't call a spade a spade.
- I added a sentence from Luc Sante's NYT book review article about that. Sante indicates it was legal. I noted that there's disagreement about that. The best solution would be to find a source that says it was illegal and include that as a sourced comment. Neutrality isn't avoiding an issue, it's just presenting both sides if there's a disagreement, preferably both sides can be sourced.
- Noroton
- According to the obit, he was arrested while still on board the plane (technically not yet Afghani soil). International law becomes very tricky when concerning international travel via airplane, and I'm not sure of the ins and outs of it, but I believe passengers are under the jurisdiction of whatever nation the airline is based in until they touch terra firma (which is why 18 -year-olds can drink wine on AirFrance flights even while in US airspace). If this is the case, then the arrest was legal, if ethically dubious.--Rockero 18:23, 27 June 2006 (UTC)
- Noroton
- While on vacation in Mexico, he tried hallucinogenic Psilocybin Mushrooms while participating in a Native American religious ritual, an experience that would vastly alter the course of his life.
In Leary's Flashbacks (ISBN 0874774977) he writes that he first used mushrooms while vacationing in Mexico, but not as part of a Native American religious ritual. According to Leary, Frank Barron, an old friend and colleague, had told Leary of such mushrooms in 1959, and it was with a scientific bent that Leary sought out the mushrooms in the summer of 1960 as a potential new avenue for affecting change within the framework of his existential/transactional approach to psychotherapy.
I'm inclined to believe Leary unless someone can cite a source for the current version of the event. Timbo 04:06, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)
I've got a question about this one. There's that whole claim that the decapitation was faked for the movie, but no references. I've never heard that anywhere else. Can someone either verify, provide a reference, or alter the language to turn it into a claimed possibility rather than an established fact?
Was the catch phrase "Tune in, turn on, drop out" or "turn on, tune in, drop out"? The second makes more sense but that may not be a guide!
"These psychedelic substances cause hysterical psychoses in people who have not taken them..."
- Timothy Leary
"In the information age, you don't teach philosophy as they did after feudalism. You perform it. If Aristotle were alive today he'd have a talk show."
- Timothy Leary
"A lot of psychologists I have known over the years agreed with Leary - they acknowledged in private that LSD was an incredibly valuable tool. But these same psychologists backed off as the heat from the government increased, until they all became as silent as moonlight on a tombstone. And Tim was still out there with his angry Irish temper, denouncing the government and fighting on alone.
"I don't want to discount that there are people whose lives have been destroyed by drugs, but are they the result of Timothy's research or or the result of government policies? Leary's research was dosed down, and the media stopped quoting him a long time ago. Most people don't even understand what Leary's opinions were or what it was he was trying to communicate. By contrast, the government's policies have been carried out for 30 years, and now we have a major drug disaster in this country. Nobody, of course, thinks it's the government's fault - they think it's Leary's for trying to prevent it, for trying to have scientific controls over the thing. He deserves a better legacy than that."
I just began creating an 8-fold consciousness node if anyone's interested. Leary's philosophies get way too little attention from the mainstream, considering how monumental they were/are.
The factual accuracy of the folloing is disputed, but it was suggested on VfD that it be merged into this article from 8-Circuit Consciousness.
Dr. Timothy Leary, the famous guru of 1960's American hippie drug culture, developed a theory of evolution based on 8 circuits of ascending consciousness.
The Eightfold Model of Human Consciousness
- Intelligence/Reality
- 8 Spiritual/Cosmic
- 7 Mythic/Immortal
- 6 Psychic/Psionic
- 5 Sensory/Hedonic
- 4 Social/Civilized
- 3 Conceptual/Paleolithic
- 2 Emotional/Mammalian
- 1 Physical/Invertebrate
Ref : http://www.deoxy.org/8brains.htm
The pic and article on the DEA page http://www.dea.gov/pubs/states/newsrel/sanfran112403.html says that the DEA arrested Leary in 1972, while this article says he was on the run between 72 and 74. Which is right? Kwertii 19:02, 5 Apr 2004 (UTC)
Jail
How long was he in jail for? Did he die in jail? The article never says.
Goddaughter
I remember that Tim had a goddaughter named... I think Sarah. She was a young afro-American girl. Does anyone have any information on her? We should add her to the list. Joi 18:42, 3 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- Unless she's "encyclopedic" (i.e. that she has, or could reasonably be expected to get in future, a wikipedia article on her own merits beyond being the godchild of an encyclopedic person) then I'd say adding her would merely be trivia (and thus not something I'd personally advocate). -- John Fader 19:26, 3 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Published Works
I added a published works section because Leary wrote volumes during his lifetime. The section is by no means complete, so please add to it if any of you have additions/corrections/etc. Timbo 23:13, 18 Nov 2004 (UTC)
The correct order of the phrase is: Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out
It was the title of a collection of essays by Timothy Leary on topics ranging from religion, education and politics to Aldous Huxley, neurology and psychedelic drugs. ISBN: 1579510094 --VeniceBruin 01:21, 3 Feb 2005 (UTC)
- The full Leary quote is "Like every great religion of the past we seek to find the divinity within and to express this revelation in a life of glorification and the worship of God. These ancient goals we define in the metaphor of the present—turn on, tune in, drop out." This was part of a formal press conference given by Leary in New York in September 1966. http://sunrisedancer.com/radicalreader/library/stormingheaven/stormingheaven24.asp Merenta
?
"At one point in his final delirium, he according the words "why not" to his son Zachery."
Am I stoned or is the above sentence meaningless? RodC
- Our job is to state facts, and the quote is meaningful in the sense that it is Leary's last words. The quote has many meanings, and I believe a few are discussed on various web pages and/or books. --Viriditas | Talk 03:00, 31 May 2005 (UTC)
- I didn't mean Leary's quote was meaningless, Viriditas, I meant the Wikipedia text, as I reproduced above, was meaningless (and I didn't get what the original writer wanted to say). However, while I was writing that comment, and even before I uploaded a slight style correction to the article, 24.34.92.38 rewrote that and other things. Cheers. RodC 10:02, 31 May 2005 (UTC)
FBI
What about the rumors that he turned in some friends to the FBI? 205.217.105.2 23:06, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)
- Can you cite reputable sources? --Viriditas | Talk 00:09, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)
- Does http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/380815.stm count? 24.54.208.177 03:38, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Trivia
After finding it interesting and googling it, the only results I found about this:
Leary claimed to have discovered an extra primary color he referred to as "gendale".
Are this page, or the archives for a website called gullible.info, so I'd say it's pretty dubious. Not confident enough to remove it though. 212.9.22.222 14:47, 1 August 2005 (UTC)
I deleted it on the page yesterday and asked for a source. Someone else updated citing a Guardian Article from this week that more than likely is based on the Wikipedia article. Where did Leary make this "claim"? If this "fact" is true and/or important, why are there only 40 Google returns, all of which are the same phrase without new info. Unless someone can show where this claim was made, this "trivia" ought to be removed.--Snarfer 23:16, 19 May 2006 (UTC)
I run Gullible.info which is a compendium of fabricated information. To the best of my knowledge, this post by a writer for my site is the first place this "fact" has ever appeared. We don't do anti-research to verify that facts are indeed incorrect, but they are nearly 100% fabricated. If there is a legitimate citation for this piece of information it is misinformed. I have deleted line from the trivia section. Kylestoneman 18:10, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
- Well, don't I feel stupid. Looks like I restored the edit with the Guardian cite, originally added by MitchR (talk · contribs) [1]. Kylestoneman, thanks for getting to the bottom of this. —Viriditas | Talk 05:50, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
Influence
From the article - Timothy Leary's ideas also heavily influenced the work of Robert Anton Wilson. This influence went both ways and Leary took just as much from Wilson. The first sentence seems manifestly true (and RAW says as much). The second seems eminently plausible, but I don't recall seeing any proof. Anyone have a source? Dan 02:58, 6 February 2006 (UTC)
Just an interesting fact... I read Cosmic Trigger by RAW before I met Tim. When I met him, I asked him about the Starseed Transmissions and other things that RAW said Tim did. Tim laughed and said RAW made it all up. That comment could also have been party in jest, but he seemed to think it was pretty funny at the time. ;-) --Joi 18:32, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
Cite Source?
Can anyopne cite the source for the following quote under 'Early Life'?
"an anonymous institutional employee who drove to work each morning in a long line of commuter cars and drove home each night and drank martinis .... like several million middle-class, liberal, intellectual robots."
if not maybe it should be removed...--Alex 20:56, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
- I think, but am not certain in memory, that this is a quotation from his autobiography, Flashbacks. Davidkevin 19:56, 24 March 2006 (UTC)
- I seem to recall the same. —Viriditas | Talk 20:24, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
CIA
moved from article to talk:
- ===CIA Stooge?===
- Odd that there's no mention anywhere on this page of Leary's CIA connections. The fact that he had such connections is not in doubt, the interesting and enduring mystery is the extent and nature of Leary's involvement with the CIA. Someone should do a section on this....
--He:ah? 20:30, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
Obviously those guys at CIA are familiar with cognitive science(s) and related topics/studies/research.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Brian G. Wilson (talk • contribs) 04:46, June 13, 2006 (UTC)
The Tool sample
I just reworded the bit about a Leary speech being used for a Tool track. Does anyone know from where this sample came? I figure it's got to be from a spoken word album or perhaps a lecture. Anyway, it should be mentioned. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kansaikiwi (talk • contribs) 16:48, 10 April 2006 (UTC)
Precision
I think this article could stand to be more precise in its description of Leary's academic career. Right now the description of his experiments' turn from scientific validity to debauched parties relies on a quote from a book review, which is presented as unbiased fact. His firing is similarly problematic in its phrasing - giving an undergrad drugs from "his stash" lacks clarity - laws were different at the time, and the cover of academic freedom makes this an action for which details are important. (I honestly don't know much about it - but reading it, I'm left without the information necessary to draw a conclusion about whether it was a reasonable firing). 24.136.38.121 17:42, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
Another link is needed
The link to the text Leary's US Supreme Court case is missing. http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/e1960/learyvus.htm
I would put it in myself but I have been told by editors that putting such links in is "spamming" -- even though these same links are contained in other relevant articles.