Coming Into Being: Artifacts and Texts in the Evolution of Consciousness

by William Irwin Thompson

In his best-selling The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light , William Irwin Thompson intrigued readers with his thoughts on mythology and sexuality. In his newest book, Coming Into Artifacts and Texts in the Evolution of Consciousness , he takes the reader on a journey through the evolution of consciousness from the preverbal communications of early stone carvings, to the writings of Marcel Proust, around the monumental wrappings of Christo and up to the rebirth of interest in the Taoist philosophy of Lao Tzu. Owing as much to the rhythmic constructions of jazz as to established methods of scholarship, Thompson plays a riff on biology and culture seeing the birth of the mind in Proust's Madeleine, the displacement of humanity in Christo's wrapping of the Reichstag and, in Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching , the path forward to a new planetary culture. In Coming Into Being , William Irwin Thompson presents a fascinating vision of our past, our present, and our future that no one will want to miss.

Genres: Psychology, History, Philosophy, Science, Nonfiction, Art, Metaphysics

284 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

William Irwin Thompson is an American social philosopher, cultural critic, and poet. He received the Oslo International Poetry Festival Award in 1986. He describes his writing and speaking style as "mind-jazz on ancient texts". He is the founder of the Lindisfarne Association.

Reviews

[Jan Höglund · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book where William Irwin Thompson, as a cultural historian, provides a perspective on the evolution of consciousness based on ancient artifacts and texts. The view he provides is sometimes breathtaking as he looks at the texts from the point of view of millennia. Once these texts are seen together, they become a hypertext description of our contemporary situation. Here we encounter the historical roots of our crises. In our beginning is our end. We are still playing out the themes that were laid down at the beginnings of civilization. Over 2000 years ago, humanity chose the militarist and hierarchical path. Will humanity finally take the road not taken?

[Kim Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Discontinued. Some parts were just..off? Elegant prose but may be too pedantic at times. Not recommended for someone who does not have any inkling to cultural studies.

[EC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book!

[Pax Analog · Rating 5 out of 5]

William Irwin Thompson is an amazingly poetic cultural historian. He is a modern mystic, and his aside re comparison of Jean Gebser and Ken Wilber is worth reading the book alone. As with all his work, his assessment of mythology and the evolution of consciousness is breathtaking.

[Had Walmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love W.I.T.'s seminal thoughts; we are generating a new paradigm in human thought, a new mythology resolving and including the anomalies of current thinking, updated to be in harmony with the real or natural world systems

[Chris Stein · Rating 4 out of 5]

40% BS but really creative exploration of ideAs and analogy going where others haven't gone before. I like the criticism of the ecclesiastical nature of the university, the criticism of the post modernist way of thought, and the comparison of all knowledge to story telling. Very cool book

[Andrew Neuendorf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Monumentally awesome (yes, the title is, in part, a pun). Worth it alone for the chapter titled, "The Road Not Taken: Chaos Dynamics and the Cosmic Feminine in the Tao te Ching."