Robert Anton Wilson - Maybe Logic

List Price: $19.95 Buy For: $17.99
Usually ships in 24 hours


Add to Cart


Compare New & Used Prices From All Available Merchants:

Starring: Robert Anton Wilson
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Type: DVD
Directed By: Lance Bauscher
Studio: Disinformation
Release Date: 2006-05-30
"Engaging..." - Variety

"I have learned more from Robert Anton Wilson that I have from any other source." - George Carlin

This feature-length documentary is a hilarious and mind-bending journey into the multi-dimensional life of Robert Anton Wilson, one of the foundations of 20th Century Western counterculture and author of the Illuminatus! Trilogy. It features video spanning 25 years and follows Mr.Wilson as he penetrates human illusions, exposing the mathematical probabilities and spooky synchronicities of the eight dimensions of his Universe.

Featuring Tom Robbins, Douglas Rushkoff , R.U. Sirius, Rev. Ivan Stang and Paul Krassner and a sound track by Boards of Canada, Amon Tobin, Pullman, Tarentel, Animals on Wheels, Funki Porcini, and The Cinematic Orchestra.

Winner of Best Documentary Audience Award at the 2004 San Francisco Independent Film Festival.

Extras include:
* Maybe Logic exercises
* 12 minutes of bonus footage

Great Guy, Diluted Documentary
I feel like most of the 5 and 4 star ratings that this documentary has received are primarily given for the man himself and not for the quality of this DVD. It is interesting to watch once, but doesn't have much replay value. Most of his earlier talks that are included can be found online now, so it's really only the newer interviews that you'd be purchasing. And even these are just reaffirmations of his lifelong philosophies, along with some reflections on the pain of post-polio syndrome. Sprinkle in some vaguely trippy transitions and Boards of Canada to top it off.

Buy this DVD if you are a fan of Robert Anton Wilson
If you are new to the writings of Robert Anton Wilson, maybe you have just heard of him or maybe you are a science fiction fan who has read only The Illuminatus Trilogy, then don't bother to get this video. If you are intrigued by this writer and want to hear more of his message, then just read more of his books. Any of his books will do; however, I shall recommend Cosmic Trigger, Schroedinger's Cat, and/or Right Where You Are Sitting Now.

If you have read three or more of his books and you would really like to know more about the man, then definitely get this DVD. I met him at a convention about twenty years ago. I got to hear him talk and even to hang out with him a little bit. This man had an incredible presence and a beautiful spirit. Yes, I meant the past tense since he has since passed away. The video does a great job capturing the life and essence, and final days, of this heroic, visionary writer.

Gambles and Risks
Robert Anton Wilson believed that there is no meaning in life; that meaning is in sentences. As a result, all perceptions are considered gambles: we believe what we see and then we believe our interpretations to be reality, not realizing that our interpretations are just interpretations. So we all perceive the world from the point of view of our individual "reality tunnels," and there is no vantage point from which "real" reality can be seen. Once one realizes that everyone else is looking through their own reality tunnel or grid or focus, it is easier to empathize, understand, and even forgive others. And if we are willing and able to tune in and listen, non-judgmentally, to other perceptions, we may learn something interesting about our world.

This DVD is well-produced and well worth watching for the compelling ideas and the humor of a man who challenged traditional Aristolian "either/or, yes/no" notions of logic (in favor of the "maybe logic" of quantum mechanics) and who refused to let his intellect and emotions be usurped by ideological dogma.

What I found particularly interesting, though, was Douglas Rushkoff's take on the element of danger inherent in R. Wilson's philosophy: "The biggest thing I got from Bob is that all of our reality constructs are models. All of them are approximations, are metaphors, are allegories for what's going on, and that we live in a world where we are all negotiating on behalf of our stories. We each create a story, a narrative, a picture, an allegory, a model for what's going on here and then we fight, sometimes to the death, to make others, if not believe in that model, we fight to be able to keep believing in it ourselves. So we try to erase contradictory evidence to that model. But it also becomes [to the point] where I end up parting ways philosophically with him, too. I get the feeling that Bob is not just _aspiritual_, but that he's _anti-spiritual_. He doesn't believe in God or Spirit or a special super-reality connecting us all--because it's not there, because it's not evident, because it's not apparent. And I feel in a way like Bob's world view, having passed through The Chapel Perilous of Wonder, that his view now is that, 'Well, there's nothing. This is it. Period.' As far as I'm concerned, the idea that there's nothing is just another, What if? It's the skeptic in _Cosmic Trigger_. It's the skeptic's world view. But it's just a world view. And I don't think it's any intrinsically _safer_."

Missing Robert Anton Wilson
The video was an excellent way to get a glimpse of a genius on his way out. RAW should be required reading in the schools, except we really wouldn't want a nation full of free thinkers. More to the point, if you haven't read him, please do so. Especially "Prometheus Rising" and the "Cosmic Trigger" series. Sad to see him go, but he did it with dignity. A great man/mind.

A new reality tunnel
I watched this DVD the other day, and it became my introduction to Bob. It was liberating for me to find that he articulates with great clarity and detail many of the ideas I have been contemplating in the past several months. I agree with virtually every point he brings up. I'll have to watch it a few more times to give a better review, because my mind is still just opening to such a heightened level of awareness. One of the great thinkers of our time.