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Robert Anton Wilson
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American author, futurist, and agnostic mystic (1932-2007)
OverviewAI-generated
Robert Anton Wilson (1932–2007) was an American writer, novelist, philosopher, and essayist. Born in Flatbush and educated at Brooklyn Technical High School and the New York University Tandon School of Engineering, he began his professional work in 1965. Wilson was a member of Discordianism and practiced mysticism. He is noted for works including *The Illuminatus! Trilogy*, *Endless Inspiration*, *Playboy's book of forbidden words*, *Ebk Evolution of Morality*, and *BÖRSE FÜR EINSTEIGER - Intelligent Investieren Wie ein Profi*.
Wilson was nominated for the Locus Award for Best Novel. His body of work includes 61 titles according to Open Library records. He died of natural causes in Capitola, with post-polio syndrome listed as the cause of death.
Synthesized by Vinony from 39 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Crossref, Last.fm, TMDb, Wikiquote, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 18. Januar 1932
- Died
- 11. Januar 2007
- Works
- 61
Top works
- Cosmic trigger
- The Illuminatus! Trilogy
- BÖRSE FÜR EINSTEIGER - Intelligent Investieren Wie ein Profi
- Endless Inspiration
- Playboy's book of forbidden words
via Open Library + Wikidata
Film & TV
Acting
Known for
- Nova '78 — Self (archive footage)2025
- WMK 23 13 11 — Master Bob (clip)2019
- Tim Leary: The Art of Dying — Self2008
- Disinfo.Con — Self2007
- Maybe Logic: The Lives and Ideas of Robert Anton Wilson — Self2003
- The Gospel According to Philip K. Dick — Himself2001
- 23 — Er selbst1998
- Manual of Evasion LX94 — Himself1994
- Arise! SubGenius Recruitment Film #161992
- Robert Anton Wilson: The "I" In The Triangle — self1990
via TMDB
Music · MusicBrainz
- Type
- Person
- Gender
- Male
- Country
- United States
- Active from
- 1932
- Active to
- 2007
Discography
- Secrets of Power1986
via MusicBrainz · CC0
Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 3,385
- Total plays
- 36,103
Tags
Robert Anton Wilson or RAW (January 18, 1932 - January 11, 2007) was an American novelist, essayist, philosopher, psychologist, futurologist, anarchist, and conspiracy theory researcher. Wilson was born in Methodist Hospital, downtown Brooklyn, New York, and spent his first years in Flatbush, moving with his family to Gerritsen Beach around the age of 4 or 5, where they stayed until he turned 13. Wilson described his work as an "attempt to break down conditioned associations <a href="https://w
Recent publications · Crossref
5 total works indexed
- Development of the Colle-Salvetti correlation-energy formula into a functional of the electron density
· 1988 · cited 95,712x
- The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews
· 2021 · cited 84,720x
- Hallmarks of Cancer: The Next Generation
· 2011 · cited 56,512x
- Research electronic data capture (REDCap)—A metadata-driven methodology and workflow process for providing translational research informatics support
· 2009 · cited 46,778x
- Regression Shrinkage and Selection Via the Lasso
· 1996 · cited 39,745x
via Crossref · CC0
Quotes
- “Most of our ancestors were not perfect ladies and gentlemen. The majority of them weren't even mammals.”
- “There is no governor anywhere; you are all absolutely free. There is no restraint that cannot be escaped. We are all absolutely free. If everybody could go into dhyana at will, nobody could be controlled — by fear of prison, by fear of whips or electroshock, by fear of death, even. All existing society is based on keeping those fears alive, to control the masses. Ten people who know would be more dangerous than a million armed anarchists.”
- “No wife, no horse, no mustache.”
- “Guerrilla ontology The basic technique of all my books. Ontology is the study of being; the guerrilla approach is to so mix the elements of each book that the reader must decide on each page 'How much of this is real and how much is a put-on?'"”
- “The persons we think we are have been manufactured out of some shotgun wedding of history and and imagination.”
- “It only takes 20 years for a liberal to become a conservative without changing a single idea.”
via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA
Key facts
- Born
- Robert Edward Wilson , ( 1932-01-18 ) January 18, 1932, Brooklyn , New York, U.S.
- Died
- January 11, 2007 (2007-01-11) (aged 74), Capitola, California , U.S.
- Occupations
- Writer, lecturer
- Spouse
- Arlen Riley Wilson ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1958 ; died 1999 )
- Alma mater
- Paideia University ( MA , PhD )
- Era
- 20th-century philosophy , 21st-century philosophy
- Region
- Western philosophy American philosophy
- School
- Agnosticism Discordianism Libertarian socialism
- Main interests
- Conspiracy theories futurology mysticism paranormality politics psychology religion
- Notable works
- The Illuminatus! Trilogy (1975) Schrödinger's Cat Trilogy (1979) Masks of the Illuminati (1981) The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles (1982) Prometheus Rising (1983) Quantum Psychology (1990)
- Notable ideas
- 23 enigma Celine's laws Eight-circuit model of consciousness Guerilla ontology Reality tunnel
via Wikipedia infobox
~31 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American writer, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson helped publicize Discordianism through his writings and interviews. In 1999 he described his work as an "attempt to break down conditioned associations, to look at the world in a new way, with many models recognized as models or maps, and no one model elevated to the truth". Wilson's goal was "to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone but agnosticism about everything."
In addition to writing several science-fiction novels, Wilson also wrote non-fiction books on extrasensory perception, mental telepathy, metaphysics, paranormal experiences, conspiracy theory, sex, drugs, and what Wilson called "quantum psychology".
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Robert Anton Wilson” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.