Info-Psychology Timothy Leary
THE EVOLUTION, STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
4. There are Eight Stages in Human Evolution.

The human nervous system is evolving sequentially through eight maturational phases. At each phase a new circuit of the nervous system is activated and imprinted.

The larval (neuro-umbilical) terrestrial stages of the nervous system designed for attachment to and survival on earth are:

  1. The Bio-survival (Marine) Stages -- mediating the reception, integration and transmission of neural signals concerned with cellular health and vegetative, metabolic security. Safety-danger.
  2. The Emotion-locomotion terrestrial-mammalian Stage -- mediating the reception, integration and transmission of neuro-muscular signals concerned with body-mobility, territorial control, and the avoidance of helplessness. Fight/Flight.
  3. The Symbolic-artifactual Stage -- mediating the reception, integration and transmission of oral-manual signals, language, artifacts, symbols, tools. Tribal.
  4. The Industrial Stages -- mediating the reception, integration and transmission of neural signals concerned with sexual roles, occupation and socialization in the Factory Culture.

The four circuits of the nervous system designed to mediate somatic, electronic-neural, genetic, atomic information, and to adapt to post-terrestrial, info-worlds are:

  1. The Cyber-somatic Stages -- mediating the reception, integration and transmission of sensory-somatic signals uncensored by government imprints designed to operate in a zerogravity environment. Body Consciousness.
  2. The Cyber-electronic Stages -- reception, integration and transmission of neural signals at the simultaneity and velocity of a bio-electric-grid; not programmed by government imprints, but by the individual. Brain consciousness.
  3. The Cyber-genetic Stage imprints the DNA code, receiving, integrating and transmitting RNA signals, thus operating at species-time, making possible biological immortality, and symbiosis with Higher Life forms. DNA consciousness.
  4. The Cyber-atomic Stage imprints sub-nuclear quantum-physical and gravitational signals, thus transcending biological existence. Quantum consciousness. Nano-technology.

SPECIES EVOLUTION:

At each chronological stage of species evolution, new imprints for collective-governal realities emerge. These socially-consensual neural-programs determine the positive-negative magnetic poles for culturally conditioned members of the gene-pool. Good/evil Taboo.

Collective consciousness was needed to accomplish the embryonic states of evolution. A fetus or a larval form cannot branch out on hir own.

Governal (hive) consciousness was required to domesticate animals, establish agriculture, fashion metal tools, form nations and empires, build sea-going vessels, printing presses, steam engines, factories, electrical plants, airplanes, radios, movies, nuclear instruments, rockets and computers.

When the 20th century hives had the technologies necessary to leave the planet and communicate in quantum-speak, then, and only then (1987?) was it time to transcend biology and locate the environment for evolution in the minds of individuals. The Cyber Society.

INDIVIDUAL EVOLUTION:

In the cyber-stages of evolution each individual is responsible for fabricating the futures.

We are no longer tied to gene-pools or womb-worlds.

There are inevitable, logical stages which the Cyber-person must learn to master. To be more precise -- there are technologies which can only be operated by individuals. There is a logical geographies of worlds which the Cyber-person must learn to navigate.

The Cyber-somatic: Piloting the Individual Body.

Only the individual can operate a human body. Sorry, Gov, but that's the way it is.

Only the individual can experience and inhabit and evolve in the somatic-sensory world. Only the Indy can experience the tooth ache or the orgasm.

The first declaration of independence, the first solo intercontinental flight is control of our own body and sense-organs.

The Cyber-neural: Piloting the Individual Brain.

Only the individual can operate a nervous system. Individual consciousness is a mysterious, precious and lonely experience which cannot be duplicated by the most powerful collectives.

The Cyber-genetic: Piloting the DNA code.

The Cyber-atomic: Piloting nano-technology.

At each chronological phase of individual evolution a new imprint is formed. Each imprint determines the positive and negative foci for subsequent condition of the newly activated neural circuit. Each imprint defines a level of island reality. Recently developed techniques for reimprinting make possible serial, planful re-creation of realities.

All the activity of the nervous system is based, of course, on chemical-electrical communication.

The first four governal stages of the nervous system have been designed by the DNA code to deal with the Euclidian-Newtonian characteristics of the planet earth and to adjust the individual to herd-flock-tribal, national industrial realities.

The four later post-terrestrial stages are designed for the quantum-info world so that the individual can pilot through somatic signals, neuro-electric receptivity, deciphering of DNA-RNA signals, and integration of sub-atomic messages.