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This page is about Timothy Leary's model of consciousness. For other models of consciousness, see Models of consciousness.

The eight-circuit model of consciousness is a non-scientific conceptual model of human cognition and awareness created by American psychologist and counter-culture icon Timothy Leary in books including Neurologic (1973) and Exo-Psychology (1977), and later expanded upon in collaboration with Robert Anton Wilson, in his books Cosmic Trigger (1977)[1] and Prometheus Rising (1983), and by Antero Alli in his books Angel Tech (1985) and The Eight-Circuit Brain (2009).

Reception

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Leary called this model "psychological philosophy" (or "psy-phi").[2] The preface to Neurologic relates that Leary first developed the Eight Circuit Model of Consciousness while in solitary confinement at Folsom Prison[citation needed], where he was incarcerated following convictions for drug possession in 1973.[citation needed] Leary's formal involvement in academic psychology had come to a conclusion following the a scandal that ended a brief tenure at Harvard, and he did not return to academia thereafter. While sometimes linked to various spiritual traditions,[citation needed] the model involves no formal ritualism or religiosity and in fact reflects a deliberate departure from "spirituality" in Leary's work.[3][citation needed] More mature versions of the model corresponded with Leary's attempts at regaining his "scientific credibility" by pivoting away from, or at least disguising, his interest in psychedelics.[4] Leary's conception of the model also partially integrates with his earlier work as a psychologist on the interpersonal circumplex[citation needed], with various of "zones" of this personality test being associated with various circuits and their levels of activation in the eight-circuit model.[citation needed] However, although the model borrows terminology and concepts from various empirical scientific fields, including psychology[citation needed], neurology[citation needed], biology[citation needed], evolutionary theory[citation needed], biophysics[citation needed], and quantum physics[citation needed], as well as the formal philosophical discipline of metaphysics[citation needed], Leary's biographer Higgs reports it is considered "essentially, occult or mystical" rather than "good science" and has been ignored as a legitimate scientific model in academia.[3][citation needed] It has variously been described as fringe science, pseudoscience[citation needed], modern esotericism[citation needed], New Age mysticism[citation needed], or an extension of traditional spiritual or occult traditions.[5][6][7][8][9][excessive citations]

Overview

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The eight-circuit model proposes that the human brain and extended nervous system is comprised of "eight periods [circuits]"[citation needed], which are tied to various stages of human evolutionary development, including future human needs, such as the migration of the species into space[citation needed]. Leary and Alli conceptualize each circuit as being described by three stages of possible activation each, with various mental exercises, such as meditation, tantric yoga and self-actualization[citation needed], as well the use of psychedelics and other psychotropic substances, as being capable of unlocking these levels of activation[citation needed], with each level of activation granting a person an expanded consciousness and perception[citation needed]. Each circuit is also conceptually tied to a set of human behaviors[citation needed] (such as sexuality or moral decision making) or various voluntary or involuntary[citation needed] physiological functions, such as breathing, or swallowing.

The term "circuit" is equated to a metaphor of the brain being computer hardware, and the wiring of the brain as circuitry.[10][11] The comparison of the brain to computer hardware and wiring has been replaced with models describing the different functions of brain networks and how they interact with each other.[12]

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.[13][14]

Of the "eight circuits" in this model of consciousness, the first or "lowest" four circuits (also called the 'terrestrial' circuits) are said to be concerned with life on Earth and the survival of the human species, and are sometimes associated with various of the classical elements[citation needed], or varieties of humorism[citation needed].The last or "highest" four circuits (also called the 'post-terrestrial' or 'astral' circuits) are said to be concerned 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 and colonize outer space.[15] 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 model also has features relating to other key interests of Leary, including life extension and intelligence increases, and advocacy for the use of psychedelic substances, thus being closely tied to another of Leary's paradigms, SMI^2LE. Various of the circuits are also said, by various of the three authors mentioned above, to have connection to various paranormal phenomena, including Extrasensory perception[citation needed], Telepathy[citation needed], Clairvoyance[citation needed], and Precognition[citation needed], as well as other pseudoscientific and parascientific concepts such as quantum consciousness[citation needed], astrology[citation needed], and genetic memory[citation needed].

The Eight Circuits

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Each circuit listed has a name from Leary's book Exo-Psychology[16] and from Wilson's book Quantum Psychology.[17]
Note: In other books from Leary, Wilson, and Alli, the eight circuits have different names, due to the different interpretations and findings of each author. Please refer to the bibliography section for other works on labeling each circuit.

Terrestrial

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First Circuit

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Leary referred to this as the Vegetative-Invertebrate Circuit and Wilson referred to it as the Oral Bio-Survival Circuit.[18][17]

This circuit is concerned with nourishment, physical safety, comfort and survival, suckling, cuddling, etc. It begins with one spatial dimension, forward/back.[19]

This circuit is imprinted early in infancy. The imprint will normally last for life unless it is re-imprinted by a powerful experience. Depending on the nature of the imprint, the organism will tend towards one of two basic attitudes:

  • A positive imprint sets up a basic attitude of trust. The organism generally considers the environment benign and accepts and approaches. This is equivalent to a default life position of "you're okay" in the 'life positions' model of Transactional analysis.[20]
  • A negative imprint sets up a basic attitude of suspicion. The organism generally regards the environment as hostile and flees and avoids. This is equivalent to a default life position of "you're not okay" in the 'life positions' model of Transactional analysis.[20]

This circuit is said to have appeared in the earliest evolution of the invertebrate brain and corresponds to the reptilian brain of triune brain theory. This circuit operates in essentially the same way across mammals, reptiles, fish, primates and humans.[21]

Wilson equated this circuit with the oral stage in the Freudian theory of psychosexual development, and proposed that this circuit is activated in adults by strong opioids.[22]

Second Circuit

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Leary referred to this circuit as the Emotional-Locomotion Circuit and Wilson called it the Anal-Territorial Circuit.[18][17] This circuit is imprinted in the toddler stage. It is concerned with domination and submission, territoriality, etc.[23]

The imprint on this circuit will trigger one of two states:

This circuit is activated by depressants such as alcohol, barbiturates, and benzodiazepines.[25] This circuit appeared first in territorial vertebrate animals and is preserved across all mammals. It corresponds to the mammalian brain of triune brain theory. Wilson equated this circuit with the anal stage in the Freudian theory of psycho-sexual development.[26]

The first and second circuits both imprint in a binary fashion: trust/suspicion and dominance/submission.[27] Thus there are four possible ways of imprinting the first two circuits:

Third Circuit

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Leary called this the Laryngeal-Manual Symbolic Circuit and Wilson the Semantic Time-Binding Circuit[18] This circuit is imprinted by human symbol systems. It is concerned with language, handling the environment, invention, calculation, prediction, building a mental "map" of the universe and physical dexterity.[25]

This circuit is activated by stimulants such as amphetamines, cathinones, cocaine, and caffeine.[25] This circuit supposedly appeared first when hominids started differentiating from the rest of the primates.

Wilson, being profoundly influenced by General Semantics, writes of this circuit as the "time-binding circuit". This means that this circuit's contents, including human know-how, technology, science and so on, are preserved memetically and passed on from generation to generation, constantly mutating and increasing in sophistication.[29]

Fourth Circuit

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Leary called this the Socio-Sexual Domestication Circuit and Wilson the Socio-Sexual Circuit.[18][17] This fourth circuit is imprinted by the first orgasm-mating experiences and local tribal moral standards. It is concerned with sexual pleasure (instead of sexual reproduction), local definitions of "moral" and "immoral", reproduction, rearing of the young, etc. The fourth circuit concerns itself with cultural values and operating within social networks. This circuit is said to have first appeared with the development of tribes.[23]

Post-Terrestrial

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Fifth Circuit

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This circuit, called the Neurosomatic Circuit,[18][17] is concerned with neurological-somatic feedbacks, feeling high and blissful, somatic reprogramming, etc. It may be called the rapture circuit.[30]

When this circuit is activated, a non-conceptual feeling of well-being arises. This has a beneficial effect on the health of the physical body.[31]

The fifth circuit is consciousness of the body. There is a marked shift from linear visual space to an all-encompassing aesthetic sensory space. Perceptions are judged not so much for their meaning and utility, but for their aesthetic qualities.[32] Experience of this circuit often accompanies an hedonistic turn-on, a rapturous amusement, a detachment from the previously compulsive mechanism of the first four circuits.[30]

This circuit is activated by ecstatic experiences via physiological effects of cannabis, Hatha Yoga, tantra and Zen meditation. Robert Anton Wilson writes, "Tantra yoga is concerned with shifting consciousness entirely into this circuit"[33] and that "Prolonged sexual play without orgasm always triggers some Circuit V consciousness".[34]

Leary describes that this circuit first appeared in the upper classes, with the development of leisure-class civilizations c. 2000 BC.[30]

Sixth Circuit

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Leary labelled this the Neuro-Electric Circuit and Wilson called this the Metaprogramming Circuit.[18][17] Timothy Leary listed this circuit as the sixth, and the neurogenetic circuit as the seventh.[23] In his Prometheus Rising, Wilson reversed the order of these two circuits,[29] and described neurogenetic circuit as the sixth circuit, and the metaprogramming circuit as the seventh. In Quantum Psychology, published later, Wilson reverted the order back to Leary's original schema.[35]

This circuit is concerned with reimprinting and reprogramming the earlier circuits and of perceiving the relative (versus absolute) nature of the "realities" perceived by them: the sixth circuit becomes aware of itself. Leary thought that this circuit enables telepathic communication. He believed that the circuit was activated by 50-150 μg LSD, moderate doses of peyote, psilocybin mushrooms and meditation/chanting especially when used within in a group or ritual setting. Leary estimated that this circuit came "online" in 500 BC.[30]

Seventh Circuit

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Leary referred to this as the Neurogenetic Circuit. Wilson called this the Morphogenetic Circuit.[18][17] (Wilson here made reference to Rupert Sheldrake's morphogenesis theory.) This circuit is the connection of the individual's mind to the whole sweep of evolution and life as a whole. It is the part of consciousness that echoes the experiences of the previous generations that have brought the individual's brain-mind to its present level.[30]

It deals with ancestral, societal and scientific DNA-RNA-brain feedbacks. Those who achieve this mutation may speak of past lives, reincarnation, immortality etc.[36] It corresponds to the collective unconscious in the models of Carl Jung[33] where archetypes reside.

Activation of this circuit may be equated with consciousness of the Great God Pan in his aspect of Life as a whole, or with consciousness of the Gaia, in which the biosphere is considered as a single organism.[36]

Proponents of the Eight Circuit model believe that it is activated by 200-500 μg LSD, higher doses of peyote or psilocybin mushrooms, and by meditation.{[30][29]

The circuit, according to the model, first appeared among the Hindus in the early first millennium and later reappeared amongst Sufi sects.[30]

Eighth Circuit

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Leary referred to this as the Neuro-Atomic Metaphysiology and Wilson as the Non-Local Quantum Circuit.[18][17] The eighth circuit is concerned with quantum consciousness, non-local awareness (information from beyond ordinary space-time awareness which is limited by the speed of light), illumination. Some of the ways this circuit can get activated are: near-death experiences, DMT, high doses of LSD and, according to Wilson, almost any dose of ketamine.[37]

Leary's contribution

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Leary stated that the theories presented in Info-Psychology "are scientific in that they are based on empirical findings from physics, physiology, pharmacology, genetics, astronomy, behavioral psychology, information science, and most importantly, neurology."[38]

Leary called his book "science faction" and noted he had written it "in various prisons to which the author had been sentenced for dangerous ideology and violations of Newtonian and religious laws".[39] Although Leary propounded the basic premise of eight "brains" or brain circuits, he was inspired by sources such as the Hindu system of chakras.

Leary claimed that among other things this model explained the social conflict in the 1960s, where the mainstream was said to be those with four circuits active and characterized by Leary as tribal moralists and clashed with the counter-culturists, who were then said to be those with the fifth circuit active and characterized as individualists and hedonists. [25]

Leary's first book on the subject, Neurologic, included only seven circuits when it was published in 1973. Exo-Psychology, published in 1977, expanded the number of circuits to eight and clarified the subject. In it, he puts forward the theory that the later four circuits are "post terrestrial", intended to develop as we migrate off this planet and colonize others.[40] Once we begin space migration, according to Leary, we will have more ready access to these higher circuits. Exo-Psychology was re-published in 1987 as revised by Timothy Leary with additional material, under the title Info-Psychology.[25]

Other authors on the eight circuits

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In chaos magic, the eight circuits are sometimes related to the eight rays of the symbol of chaos

Leary's ideas heavily influenced the work of Robert Anton Wilson. Wilson's 1983 workbook Prometheus Rising is an in-depth work documenting Leary's eight-circuit model of consciousness. Wilson's unproduced 1993 screenplay, Reality Is What You Can Get Away With, published as a book, uses and explains the model. Wilson, like Leary, wrote about the distinction between terrestrial and post-terrestrial life.

The 1985 Angel Tech by Antero Alli, is structured around the eight-circuit model of consciousness, while his 2009 book The Eight-Circuit Brain expands on this material. Alli defines the word angel as "a being of light" and tech from the word "techne" meaning "art". The title is defined as "the art of being light".[41][42] It includes suggested activities such as meditations and construction of Tarot card collages associated with each circuit and imprint.

The model is fairly prominent in chaos magic. It has been discussed in Chaotopia! by Dave Lee, a leading member of the chaos magic order the Illuminates of Thanateros, an order to which Leary and Wilson were granted membership.[43]

Social psychologist Rolf von Eckartsberg also appears to have been influenced by the model.[44][45]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Cosmic Trigger excerpt
  2. ^ Davis 2019, p. 251.
  3. ^ a b Higgs 2006, p. 237.
  4. ^ Higgs 2006, p. 237–238.
  5. ^ Cultural historian John Higgs states that Leary hoped to rebuild his academic reputation by pivoting away from psychedelics and toward speculation on human evolution, but that "[this] attempt at scientific credibility was doomed to fail, partly because he was the infamous Timothy Leary and his reputation would always tower over him, but mainly because it simply isn't good science to create a theoretical model and claim that it represents different things at the same time. This thinking was, essentially, occult or mystical, and would never be taken seriously by the establishment." Higgs 2006, p. 236–237
  6. ^ Greenfield, Robert (2006). Timothy Leary: A Biography. p. 197. 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]
  7. ^ Williams, William F. (2023). "Timothy Leary". Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience. p. 189. "Leary also wrote (...) extensively about such subjects as exopsychology, neurologic, neuropolitics, neurogeography, and rejuvenation."
  8. ^ Kaiser, David; McCray, W. Patrick, eds. (2016). "Timothy Leary's transhumanist SMI^2LE". Groovy Science. pp. 238–262. "A once-promising researcher who abandoned the protocols of mainstream psychology for notoriety... / Neuropolitics and Exo-Psychology were clear signs that Leary had strayed far from O'Neill's comparatively straightforward ideas, which were grounded in optimistic yet measured extrapolations of 1970s technology. It's difficult to determine exactly how people responded to Leary's two books. Contemporary responses were relatively rare and memories today are hazy. / Leary incorporated another fringy ingredient besides space settlements and drug-enhanced mental capacity into his formulation for SMI^2LE. / Was Leary's SMI^2LE program an example of 1970s 'groovy science'? Can we even call it 'scientific'? Leary presented few technical details, provided no blueprints for its realization, and shrouded his ideas in cryptic references to quantum fields and neurological circuits of consciousness. [...] In these ways, he differs sharply from 'visioneers' like O'Neill who grounded their ideas about the technological future on detailed engineering studies and who published and occasionally presented research in professional scientific venues. / Leary's ideas tapped into a potpourri of fringe sciences, including est, quantum consciousness, space habitation, and other topics that spanned physics, psychology, and the paranormal."
  9. ^ Hexham, Irving; Poewe, Karla (1998). Understanding Cults and New Age Religions. p. 43. 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.
  10. ^ Wilson 1983, 21st printing, pp. 33–41.
  11. ^ Leary & Wilson 1979, 2nd ed. (1993), p. 4.
  12. ^ Karrer 2020.
  13. ^ Leary & Wilson 1979, 2nd ed. (1993), p. 86.
  14. ^ Leary 1987, 7th printing (2011), p. 5.
  15. ^ Leary 1994, chapter 12.
  16. ^ Leary 1977, p. 14, not numbered, after the preface.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h Wilson 1990, pp. 196–201.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h Leary 1977, table of contents.
  19. ^ Wilson 1983, 21st printing, p. 37.
  20. ^ a b Wilson 1983, 21st printing, p. 74.
  21. ^ Wilson 1983, 21st printing, p. 96.
  22. ^ Wilson 1983, 21st printing, pp. 47–48.
  23. ^ a b c Leary 1977.
  24. ^ Wilson 1983, p. 79.
  25. ^ a b c d e Leary 1987.
  26. ^ Wilson 1990.
  27. ^ "The grid of Circuits I and II creates four quadrants". Archived from the original on 2012-06-19. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  28. ^ a b Wilson 1983, p. 73.
  29. ^ a b c Wilson 1983.
  30. ^ a b c d e f g Leary 1973.
  31. ^ Wilson 1990, p. 198.
  32. ^ Leary 1973, p. V–1.
  33. ^ a b Wilson 1983, p. 41.
  34. ^ Wilson 1983, p. 184.
  35. ^ Wilson 1990, 7th printing (2003), pp. 199–200.
  36. ^ a b "CyberCraft Chapter 4". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  37. ^ Wilson, Robert Anton (2010). "8 Circuit Psychology [audio, part 6 of 7]". YouTube. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  38. ^ Leary 1987, 3rd printing (1992), p. 7; or 7th printing (2011), p. 8.
  39. ^ Leary 1987, p. 7.
  40. ^ Leary 1977, p. 103..
  41. ^ Antero 1985.
  42. ^ Antero 2009.
  43. ^ Lee 2006.
  44. ^ von Eckartsberg, Rolf (1981a). "Maps of the Mind". In Valle & von Eckarsberg 1981
  45. ^ "Rolf von Eckartsberg". EarthPortals.com.

Bibliography

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Works including the model

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Leary

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Wilson

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Alli

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  • Alli, Antero (1985). Angel Tech: A Modern Shaman's Guide to Reality Selection. (Reprint - 2008). Tempe, Arizona: The Original Falcon Press. ISBN 978-1-935150-95-4.
  • Alli, Antero (2009). The Eight-Circuit Brain: Navigational Strategies for the Energetic Body. Berkeley, California: Vertical Pool Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9657341-3-4.
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Category:Parapsychology Category:Psychological models Category:Theory of mind Category:Timothy Leary Category:Robert Anton Wilson

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