My goal is to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone, but agnosticism about everything.
Robert Anton WilsonRead
There are periods of history when the visions of madmen and dope fiends are a better guide to reality than the common-sense interpretation of data available to the so-called normal mind. This is one such period, if you haven't noticed already.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that unconventional perspectives can provide deeper insights during certain historical periods.
Robert Anton Wilson's quote reflects the idea that during specific times, traditional logic and common sense may fail to grasp the truth, forcing society to look towards the radical, often dismissed ideas of those labeled as 'madmen' or 'dope fiends.' It serves as a reminder that the boundaries of reality and sanity are often blurred, and that true understanding can sometimes come from unexpected sources, particularly when the status quo is challenged or in turmoil.
Themes
HistoryMadmenPerspectiveRealityCommon Sense
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on societal change, this quote can highlight the need to consider alternative viewpoints.
More from Robert Anton Wilson
All quotes →There is no governor anywhere. You are all absolutely free. There is no restraint that cannot be escaped. If anybody could go into dhyana at will, nobody could be controlled - by fear of prison, by fear of whips or electroshock, by fear of death, even. All existing society is based on keeping those fears alive, to control the masses. Ten people who know would be more dangerous than a million armed anarchists.
Robert Anton WilsonRead
I see anarchism as the theoretical ideal to which we are all gradually evolving to a point where everybody can tell the truth to everybody else and nobody can get punished for it. That can only happen without hierarchy and without people having the authority to punish other people.
Robert Anton WilsonRead
To work for libertarianism - to oppose the growth of government and aid the liberation of the individual - used to be an idealistic choice taken for purely idealistic reasons. Now it is an act of intelligent and almost desperate self-defense.
Robert Anton WilsonRead
The abandoned infant's cry is rage, not fear.
Robert Anton WilsonRead
The only way to stave off boredom, in a complex domesticated primate like humankind, is to increase one's intelligence. This is not appealing to the average primate, who instead invents emotional games (soap opera and grand opera dramatics).
Robert Anton WilsonRead
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