Exploring the Crack in the Cosmic Egg: Split Minds and Meta-Realities

by Joseph Chilton Pearce

In this uniquely challenging book, Mr. Pearce demonstrates that man can achieve wholeness and a more expansive and fulfilling existence. Reuniting the self--despite culture's limited and mechanical focus--is the issue.

Genres: Psychology, Philosophy, Spirituality, Metaphysics

239 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

For nearly half a century Joseph C. Pearce, who prefers to be known simply as Joe, has been probing the mysteries of the human mind. One of his overriding passions remains the study of what he calls the "unfolding" of intelligence in children. He is a self-avowed iconoclast, unafraid to speak out against the myriad ways in which contemporary American culture fails to nurture the intellectual, emotional and spiritual needs and yearnings of our young people. Part scholar, part scientist, part mystic, part itinerant teacher, Joe keeps in close touch with the most brilliant men and women in each field of inure relevant to his guest. He creates a unique synthesis of their work and translates the results into a common language-such a valuable contribution in these days of increasing scientific specialization.

Reviews

[Tucker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book once (nine years ago, according to my Goodreads data) and was impressed enough by it that I intended to return to it, carrying the paperback with me across six moves, ultimately to another continent. Apparently I have changed a lot because — as I finally sit down with it again — I am no longer impressed.

The author's main claim is that language and culture obscure and corrupt our direct experience of reality. Unfortunately, he uses unnecessarily academic language to make this argument, which undermines his own thesis. Example:

"Name labeling, then, leads to semantic overlay, and becomes split-inducing. Realness of phenomena is granted only through name labeling sanctioned by culture; 'realness' is thus dependent on the 'otherness' of that named 'real.' Finally, 'realness' in a semantic reality is that which separates subject from object, that which splits." (p. 72)

He could just say: Using language to describe the world makes the world feel more real to us because we are better able to think about the world, but, at the same time, the words we choose imply that we are separate from what we're describing and therefore our language alienates us from the world. And he doesn't have to continue rehashing that point through page 72 and beyond. If he relied on less language and culture to criticize the effect of language and culture—thus making use of his own argument—I would have a more immediate apprehension of the reality he is describing. Yes? I mean, what would better demonstrate his point is if he showed how the world can be better understood through images, sounds, foreign words to which we have no previous exposure, familiar words applied in unorthodox ways—not expressing himself in the very English-language college-level wording that is the very thing he argues is a shroud of phoniness.

I DNFed it in my heart when, on page 50, he noted that the home television audience who believed themselves able to mentally bend a fork in simultaneity with Yuri Geller's televised fork-bending was without exception "between the ages of seven and fourteen" and when he immediately concluded that children therefore have this special ability rather than concluding that Geller is a stage illusionist and that children are very imaginative and impressionable. I continued reading a bit longer but ultimately could not justify it. I want to be open-minded to new ways of thinking, but for me that doesn't mean uncritical acceptance of the paranormal nor—if we were to discover astonishing, untapped mental powers—the application of that energy to useless parlor tricks like spoon-bending.

[Moon Captain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part 2 was pretty silly, but part 1 was good. Nothing earthshaking but an easy read and still relevant today.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first (and probably last) book that I've read by Pearce. I think that his ideas around cultural conditioning remain relevant. And, he does a good job of pointing towards an awareness that lies beyond the everyday, "explained" universe that the Western world embraces. I particularly like his description of creativity as "moving from the known to the unknown." He also doesn't flinch about discussing death and that a lot of what we spend our lives doing is creating "buffers to despair." He counsels the reader to reverse the vector (Reversibility Thinking) which is advice that is similar in other spiritual traditions such as yoga and zazen.

However, I agree with other reviewers that the academic language and tendency to embrace stories that support his theory of childhood development detract from the overall content of this book. There were several times that I found myself skipping over paragraphs that used overly complex descriptions. The value of figuring out the writing didn't seem worth the effort.

His books about raising a child could be interesting for parents looking to instill into their children a curiosity about and appreciation for more than just the material world.

[Alverde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting enough to keep reading, but I felt the author more likely to write to seem impressive than to effectively communicate his ideas. Talks a lot about Don Juan from Carlos Castaneda’s book, so much that I feel inclined to read that and see if Castaneda is a better communicator than Pearce.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terribly disappointed in this book. After having read "Crack" several times (in a rabid attempt to grasp everything the author was presenting), I found this book boring and entirely without substance. His statement early on to the effect that he wasn't going to present a path to enlightenment but try to disappoint the reader in hopes of provoking some kind reverse motivation doesn't work at all. What this book did for me was to cause me to doubt everything he presented in "The Crack In The Cosmic Egg". His arguments are repetitive and incredulous, and while in fact provoking the reader to further inquiry, it's not to any of his other books that I wanted to turn.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of those “new age” type works that argues that there are more connections between our minds and our reality than we think (it’s all about the untapped powers of the mind, isn’t it?)

Acquired Sept 12, 2000
City Lights Book Shop, London, Ontario

[g0rd0 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was 15 and stoned.