paj@argus.uucp (Paul Johnson) (06/28/90)
In article <541@argus.mrcu> I wrote: |I put this here for want of somewhere more appropriate. Can anyone |tell me more about this organisation (if such it can be named)? I |read the entry in the jargon file as well as the "prophets license" |piece in sci.skeptic. It sounds interesting. How can I get some |slack? I received the following information: From: John Shipman <john@edu.nmt.jupiter> |There is a book called ``The Book of the Sub-Genius'' available in |the USA. I own this book, and it is quite strange. I don't think |most people would be tempted to take it seriously as a genuine |religion, but it is sort of amusing. I presume you are in the U.K.; |if you know of a book dealer that specializes in imports from the |USA, they can probably get it. From: Keenan Royle <iuvax!royle@uucp.mcsun> |they own alt.slack. look there. Unfortunately my site does not get the alt groups. Thanks anyway. From: Isaac Rabinovitch <netcom!ergo@uucp.mcsun> |I never looked at these guys closely, so I may have this wrong, but |you can easily find out if I'm right. There's a group of conspiracy |buffs more or less led by Robert Anton Wilson. They are the most |ambitious paranoia theorists of modern times, attempting nothing less |that a sort of Grand Unification Theory of conspiracy, attempting to |tie in every conspiracy theory from the Elders of Zion through the |Plot to Kill JFK, and ending with those UFOs that are supposedly |kidnapping thousands of motorists. (And I mustn's forget the |malicious multidimensional beings that are the *real* cause of |LSD-induced psychosis.) They even tie in themselves and other |conspiracy buffs in some weird mystical way with the conspiracy. |Anyway, as far as I can tell, the Church of Sub Genius is their own |satire of themselves. That might seems strange, but note that this |bunch don't mind being criticized -- they just answer, "Well, you're |probably right, but isn't it an interesting coincidence that..." and |proceed with another "proof" which just might be the same one you've |just debunked but from another source. |If *you're* a conspiracy buff, than I suggest you just look for |Wilson's books in libraries and stores -- they all stock them. |Otherwise I suggest you forget about them, they are of little |interest except, perhaps, as a psychological study. I have an academic interest in conspiracy theories (tho I do not subscribe to any myself). This does not seem to tie in any too well with the stuff in the Jargon File under Church of the Sub-Genius and Discordianism. The Jargon File lists RAW as the populariser of Discordianism and the CotSG as a Discordianism off-shoot. I have been looking in my library for RAW "Schrodinger's Cat" and "Illuminatus" books. No luck so far. From: Paul Elliott x225 <optilink!elliott@uucp.mcsun> |The first book to get is : _The_Book_of_the_SubGenius_ |subtitled _THE_SACRED_TEACHINGS_OF_J.R._"BOB"_DOBBS_ | |A Fireside Book Published by Simon & Schuster, Inc. New York |ISBM 0-671-63810-6 | |The marked price is $10.95, and it is worth twice that (IMHO), if for |nothing else than a practically endless source of .sig quotes! (although |I am personally partial to Philip K. Dick quotes) | |"Researching the Public's Fear of the Unknown Since 1953!" |There's no 'prob' with "Bob" |"You'll Pay to Know What You *Really* Think" |"If You Act Like a Dumbshit, They'll Treat You As An Equal" |Are alien space monsters bringing a STARTLING NEW WORLD? | |There may actualy be some profound wisdom hidden in this book, masked in |satiric humor, but that can be said of many things. The character "Bob" |(always in quotes) seems to come from the old National Lampoon comic section. | |The artwork is amazing! Thanks. I will have to order it. Also thanks to everyone who replied.