Robert Anton Wilson was born on this day in 1932.
Not my favorite author, but certainly an interesting one.
What I did like was his “model-agnosticism” or “Maybe Logic” which Wikipedia quotes him as explaining “consists of never regarding any model or map of the universe with total 100% belief or total 100% denial. Following Korzybski, I put things in probabilities, not absolutes… My only originality lies in applying this zetetic attitude outside the hardest of the hard sciences, physics, to softer sciences and then to non-sciences like politics, ideology, jury verdicts and, of course, conspiracy theory.”
The conspiracy theory part gets a little too weird for me, but in small doses is fun. And, yes, I did read the whole Illuminati Triology…
The heart of his argument for Maybe Logic I actually find it kind of compelling. Although the way it seems for him to spiral into any idea is worth considering also has the twitch of madness about it, and seems to contain a warning for those of us committed to what I like to call deep agnosticism. Another writer with occult leanings I like, the late Francis King once said of someone “He would consider any idea so long as it was sufficiently unlikely.” I do believe one can make some pre-sorting decisions without too much danger of missing the proverbial baby. Often there is only dirty water…
All that said, a tip of the hat to a crazy old coot who had more than a hint of wisdom about him!
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