Frankenstein's Castle: The Right Brain: Door to Wisdom

By Colin Wilson

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0906798124
• ISBN13: 9780906798126
• Release Date: January 1982
• Publisher: Ashgrove Pr Ltd
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Theory of Two Brains

From back cover: "Man has two brains. This piece of information was probably gleaned when the first Stone Age axe cleaved the first human skull, yet only in the last century has it been confirmed that man also has two minds. And only in the last two decades has research, following the seminal work of Julian Jaynes and Robert Ornstein, produced the real revolution in psychological thinking which is now apparent. In 'Frankenstein's Castle' Colin Wilson surveys the whole range of current two-brain research with a sure and easy touch--and draws some very personal conclusions. He shows that, by some quirk of evolution, we are trapped in our left-hand brain, in a dark, dingy, limited half of Frankenstein's Castle, while a few centimeters away another 'me', older, wiser and far more optimistic, exits independently. But the two brain, the two 'me's do have a connection--and a wealth of information, inspiration and happiness is available if we can somehow allow the current to flow between them. If we can find the key to Frankenstein's Castle, we can claim our rightful inheritance."

The psychology of Faculty X

However slim, this is probably one of Wilson's most important books, aiming to explain what the author would call "the psychology of Faculty X". One of Wilson's main interests over the years has been an obsession with the possibilities of altered states of consciousness, such as been shown in stages of deep hypnosis. How can it be that in these states we can access information that goes far beyond our conscious memory, or perform impossible physical feats, that suggest a much greater control over the body by the mind than has been thought possible. Surveying the arguments, we pass the results of split brain-surgery and the discovery of the two different brains, and more important: the interplay between the two. Here enters the left and the right brain, each seeming to house a different mind: the rational and objective mind in the left brain hemisphere, and the intuitive and subjective mind in the right. In 'normal' situations, these minds are often divided and in each other's way. But in certain extreme situations, such as times of crisis, or during intense efforts, sometimes we slip into a higher state of synchronization between the two different selves. The result is a peak experience, a rise in consciousness, in which we come closer to the domain which is ours to claim. Or as Wilson would have it, "Normal consciousness is thorougly sub-normal". Even though a bit outdated by now (some of the information is not new anymore but public knowledge), this book is a handbook for this area of Colin Wilson's ideas, very accessible, clear and entertaining. After reading this book, the interested reader should try to get their hands on its unofficial sequel, "Access to inner worlds".