John Cunningham Lilly (January 6, 1915 – September 30, 2001) was an American
physicianA physician — also known as medical practitioner, doctor of medicine, medical doctor, or simply doctor — practices the ancient profession of medicine, which is concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease or injury...
, psychoanalyst, philosopher and
writerA writer is anyone who creates a written work, though the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, as well as those who have written in many different forms.-Profession:...
.
He was a pioneer researcher into the nature of
consciousnessConsciousness is subjective experience or awareness or wakefulness or the executive control system of the mind. It is an umbrella term that may refer to a variety of mental phenomena...
using as his principal tools the
isolation tankAn isolation tank is a lightless, soundproof tank in which subjects float in salinated water at skin temperature. They were first used by John C. Lilly in 1954 in order to test the effects of sensory deprivation. Such tanks are now also used for meditation and relaxation and in alternative...
,
dolphin communicationCetacean intelligence denotes the cognitive capabilities of the cetacean order of mammals and especially the various species of dolphin. Cetaceans include whales, porpoises, and dolphins, and while all are broadly considered intelligent, dolphins have generated much more attention than their...
, and psychedelic drugs, sometimes in combination. He was a prominent member of the Californian
countercultureCounterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition...
of scientists, mystics and thinkers that arose in the late 1960s and early 70s.
John Cunningham Lilly (January 6, 1915 – September 30, 2001) was an American
physicianA physician — also known as medical practitioner, doctor of medicine, medical doctor, or simply doctor — practices the ancient profession of medicine, which is concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease or injury...
, psychoanalyst, philosopher and
writerA writer is anyone who creates a written work, though the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, as well as those who have written in many different forms.-Profession:...
.
He was a pioneer researcher into the nature of
consciousnessConsciousness is subjective experience or awareness or wakefulness or the executive control system of the mind. It is an umbrella term that may refer to a variety of mental phenomena...
using as his principal tools the
isolation tankAn isolation tank is a lightless, soundproof tank in which subjects float in salinated water at skin temperature. They were first used by John C. Lilly in 1954 in order to test the effects of sensory deprivation. Such tanks are now also used for meditation and relaxation and in alternative...
,
dolphin communicationCetacean intelligence denotes the cognitive capabilities of the cetacean order of mammals and especially the various species of dolphin. Cetaceans include whales, porpoises, and dolphins, and while all are broadly considered intelligent, dolphins have generated much more attention than their...
, and psychedelic drugs, sometimes in combination. He was a prominent member of the Californian
countercultureCounterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition...
of scientists, mystics and thinkers that arose in the late 1960s and early 70s.
Albert HofmannAlbert Hofmann was a Swiss scientist best known for having been the first to synthesize, ingest and learn of the psychedelic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide . Hofmann authored more than 100 scientific articles and wrote a number of books, including LSD: My Problem Child...
,
Gregory BatesonGregory Bateson was a British anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. Some of his most noted writings are to be found in his books, Steps to an Ecology of Mind and Mind and Nature...
,
Ram DassRichard Alpert , also known as Baba Ram Dass, is a contemporary spiritual teacher who wrote the 1971 bestseller Be Here Now. He is well known for his personal and professional association with Timothy Leary at Harvard University in the early 1960s...
,
Timothy LearyDr. Timothy Francis Leary was an American writer, psychologist, futurist, advocate of psychedelic drug research, and one of the first people whose remains have been sent into space. An icon of 1960s counterculture, Leary is most famous as a proponent of the therapeutic, spiritual and emotional...
,
Werner ErhardWerner Hans Erhard authored transformational models and applications for individuals, groups, and organizations....
, and
Richard FeynmanRichard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as work in particle physics...
were all frequent visitors to his home.
Career summary
Lilly was a qualified
physicianA physician — also known as medical practitioner, doctor of medicine, medical doctor, or simply doctor — practices the ancient profession of medicine, which is concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease or injury...
and psychoanalyst. He made contributions in the fields of
biophysicsBiophysics is an interdisciplinary science that employs and develops theories and methods of the physical sciences for the investigation of biological systems . Studies included under the branches of biophysics span all levels of biological organization, from the molecular scale to whole organisms...
,
neurophysiologyNeurophysiology is a part of physiology. Neurophysiology is the study of nervous system function...
,
electronicsElectronics is a branch of science and technology that deals with the controlled flow of electrons. The ability to control electron flow is usually applied to information handling or device control. Electronics is distinct from electrical science and technology, which deals with the generation,...
,
computer scienceComputer science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation, and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems. It is frequently described as the systematic study of algorithmic processes that create, describe and transform...
, and
neuroanatomyNeuroanatomy is the study of the anatomy of nervous tissue and neural structures of the nervous system. In vertebrate animals, the routes that the myriad nerves take from the brain to the rest of the body , and the internal structure of the brain in particular, are both extremely elaborate...
. He invented and promoted the use of the
isolation tankAn isolation tank is a lightless, soundproof tank in which subjects float in salinated water at skin temperature. They were first used by John C. Lilly in 1954 in order to test the effects of sensory deprivation. Such tanks are now also used for meditation and relaxation and in alternative...
as a means of
sensory deprivationSensory deprivation or perceptual isolation is the deliberate reduction or removal of stimuli from one or more of the senses. Simple devices such as blindfolds or hoods and earmuffs can cut off sight and hearing respectively, while more complex devices can also cut off the sense of smell, touch,...
. He was also a pioneer in attempting
interspecies communicationInterspecies communication is dialogue between different species of animals, plants, fungi or bacteria. It occurs as sign-mediated interactions whereas the signals which serve as signs in most cases are chemical molecules....
between humans and
dolphinDolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly...
s.
His eclectic career began as a conventional scientist doing research for universities and government. But as he followed his own inquiries, Lilly delved into what mainstream science considers fringe areas. An able publicist, he published many books and had two Hollywood movies based loosely on his work. His reputation enabled him to attract private funding for his more unconventional later work.
He progressed ethically during his career from conventional and often invasive research (in which the mind under study was seen as a complex object), into increasingly consensual peer to peer interactions with other beings, especially dolphins.
Career history
John Lilly was born on Jan. 6, 1915, in
Saint Paul, MinnesotaSaint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the north bank of the Mississippi River, downstream of the river's confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
and showed an early interest in scientific experimentation.
He studied physics and biology at the
California Institute of TechnologyThe California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. The Institute maintains a strong emphasis on the natural sciences and engineering, and operates and manages NASA's neighboring Jet Propulsion Laboratory...
, graduating in 1938. He studied medicine at
Dartmouth Medical SchoolDartmouth Medical School is the medical school of Dartmouth College, located in Hanover, New Hampshire, in the United States. The fourth-oldest medical school in the United States, Dartmouth Medical School was founded in 1797 by New England physician Nathan Smith and grew steadily over the course...
and received a medical degree from the
University of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private research university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and is one of several institutions that claims to have been the first university in America...
in 1942.
Early research
During World War II, he researched the physiology of high-altitude flying and invented instruments for measuring gas pressure.
After the war he trained in psychoanalysis and at the University of Pennsylvania where he began researching the physical structures of the
brainThe brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate, and most invertebrate, animals. Some primitive animals such as jellyfish and starfish have a decentralized nervous system without a brain, while sponges lack any nervous system at all...
and of its
consciousnessConsciousness is subjective experience or awareness or wakefulness or the executive control system of the mind. It is an umbrella term that may refer to a variety of mental phenomena...
. In 1951 he published a paper showing how he could display patterns of brain electrical activity on a cathode ray display screen using electrodes he specially devised for insertion into a living brain.
Development of the sensory deprivation tank
In 1953, he took a post studying
neurophysiologyNeurophysiology is a part of physiology. Neurophysiology is the study of nervous system function...
with the US Public Health Service Commissioned Officers Corps. At the
NIMHThe National Institute of Mental Health is part of the federal government of the United States and the largest research organization in the world specializing in mental illness. It is one of the 27 component organizations of the National Institutes of Health , which is in turn part of the U.S....
in 1954, following the desire to strip away outside stimuli from the mind/brain, he devised the first
isolation tankAn isolation tank is a lightless, soundproof tank in which subjects float in salinated water at skin temperature. They were first used by John C. Lilly in 1954 in order to test the effects of sensory deprivation. Such tanks are now also used for meditation and relaxation and in alternative...
, a dark soundproof tank of warm salt water in which subjects could float for long periods in sensory isolation. Dr. Lilly himself and a research colleague were the first to act as subjects in this research.
His quest next took him to ask questions about the minds of other large-brained mammals and in the late 1950s he established a centre devoted to fostering human-
dolphinDolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly...
communication; the Communication Research Institute on St. Thomas in the
Virgin IslandsThe Virgin Islands are an archipelago, part of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean Sea. The Leeward Islands are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles, where the Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean....
. In the early 1960s, Dr. Lilly and co-workers published several papers reporting that dolphins could mimic human speech patterns. Subsequent investigations of dolphin cognition have generally, however, found it difficult to replicate his results.
Exploration of human consciousness
In the early sixties he was introduced to
psychedelicsA psychedelic substance is a psychoactive drug whose primary action is to alter the cognition and perception of the mind. Psychedelics are part of a wider class of psychoactive drugs known as hallucinogens, which also includes related substances such as dissociatives and deliriants...
like
LSDLysergic acid diethylamide, LSD-25, LSD, formerly lysergide, commonly known as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family...
and (later)
ketamineKetamine is a drug used in human and veterinary medicine developed by Parke-Davis in 1962. Its hydrochloride salt is sold as Ketanest, Ketaset, and Ketalar. Pharmacologically, ketamine is classified as an NMDA receptor antagonist...
and began a series of experiments in which he took the psychedelic either in an isolation tank or in the company of dolphins. These events are described in his books
Programming and Metaprogramming in the Human BiocomputerThe Human Biocomputer coined by John C. Lilly, refers literally to the "hardware" of the human anatomy. This would include the brain, internal organs, and other human organ systems such as Cardiovascular, Digestive, Endocrine, Immune, Integumentary, Lymphatic, Muscular, Nervous, Reproductive,...
: Theory and Experiments and
The Centre of the Cyclone, both published in 1972. Following advice from
Ram DassRichard Alpert , also known as Baba Ram Dass, is a contemporary spiritual teacher who wrote the 1971 bestseller Be Here Now. He is well known for his personal and professional association with Timothy Leary at Harvard University in the early 1960s...
, Lilly studied
PatanjaliPatañjali is the compiler of the Yoga Sutras, an important collection of aphorisms on Yoga practice, and also the author of the Mahābhāṣya, a major commentary on Panini's Ashtadhyayi...
's system of
yogaYoga refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India. The word is associated with meditative practices in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. In Hinduism, it also refers to one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy, and to the goal toward which that school directs...
(finding
I. K. TaimniI. K. Taimni was a Professor of Chemistry at the Allahabad University in India, and an influential scholar in the fields of Yoga and Indian Philosophy. He taught and practiced yoga most of his life...
's
Science of Yoga, a modernized interpretation of the
SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
text, most suited to his goals). He also paid special attention to
'Who am I?' meditationSelf-enquiry is a practice designed to rapidly bring about Self-realization, Self awareness, spiritual liberation or enlightenment, and is most commonly associated with its most famous modern advocate, Sri Ramana Maharshi...
advocated by
Sri Ramana MaharshiSri Ramana Maharshi , born Venkataraman Iyer, was an Indian sage. He was born to a Tamil-speaking Brahmin family in Tiruchuzhi, Tamil Nadu. After having attained liberation at the age of 16, he left home for Arunachala, a mountain considered sacred by Hindus, at Tiruvannamalai, and lived there for...
, and was reformulating the principles of this exercise along the lines of his
human biocomputerThe Human Biocomputer coined by John C. Lilly, refers literally to the "hardware" of the human anatomy. This would include the brain, internal organs, and other human organ systems such as Cardiovascular, Digestive, Endocrine, Immune, Integumentary, Lymphatic, Muscular, Nervous, Reproductive,...
paradigm (described in
Programming and Metaprogramming in the Human Biocomputer: Theory and Experiments and
The Centre of the Cyclone).
He later travelled to
ChileChile, officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
and trained with the spiritual leader
Oscar IchazoOscar Ichazo is the Bolivian-born founder of the Arica School which he established in 1968. Ichazo's Enneagram of Personality theories are part of a larger body of teaching that he terms Protoanalysis...
(whose attitude to metaphysical consciousness exploration Lilly characterized as "empirical" in
The Centre of the Cyclone). Lilly claimed to have achieved the highest level of
SatoriSatori is a Japanese Buddhist term for "enlightenment." The word literally means "understanding." "Satori" translates as a flash of sudden awareness, or individual enlightenment, and while satori is from the Zen Buddhist tradition, enlightenment can be simultaneously considered "the first step"...
-
SamadhiSamadhi is a Hindu and Buddhist technical term that usually denotes higher levels of concentrated meditation, or dhyana, in Yogic schools.In Hinduism, it is the eighth and final limb of the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali...
during his training.
Later career
His career then took the turn of becoming something of a mix between scientist, mystic and writer, publishing 19 books in all, including notably
The Centre of the Cyclone which describes his own LSD experiences and
Man and Dolphin and
The Mind of the Dolphin which describe his work with dolphins.
In the mid and late 1970s he was an adviser to the then up and coming film maker
George LucasGeorge Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, director and chairman of Lucasfilm Ltd. He is best known for being the creator of the epic sci-fi franchise Star Wars and joint creator of the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
.
In the 1980s he led a project which attempted to teach dolphins a computer-synthesised language. Dr. Lilly laid out the design for a future "communications laboratory" that would be a floating living room where humans and dolphins could chat as equals and where they would find a common language.
He envisioned a time when all killing of whales and dolphins would cease, "not from a law being passed, but from each human understanding innately that these are ancient, sentient earth residents, with tremendous intelligence and enormous life force. Not someone to kill, but someone to learn from."
In the 1990s Lilly moved to the island of
MauiThe island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at 727.2 square miles and is the United States' 17th largest island. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai...
in
HawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states, and is the only state made up entirely of islands. It is located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August...
, where he lived most of the remainder of his life.
His literary rights and scientific discoveries were housed within Human Software, Inc., while his philanthropic endeavors were channelled through the Human Dolphin Foundation. His legacy continues through the John C. Lilly Research Institute, Inc.
Solid State Intelligence
Solid State Intelligence or SSI is a malevolent entity described by John C. Lilly (see
The Scientist). According to Lilly, the network of computation-capable
solid stateMatter is generally found in three different forms: solid, liquid, and gas . The solid state of matter is characterized by a distinct structural rigidity and resistance to deformation . Most solids have high values both of Young's modulus and of the shear modulus of elasticity...
systems (
electronicsElectronics is a branch of science and technology that deals with the controlled flow of electrons. The ability to control electron flow is usually applied to information handling or device control. Electronics is distinct from electrical science and technology, which deals with the generation,...
) engineered by humans will eventually develop (or has already developed) into an autonomous life-form. Since the optimal
survival"Survival of the fittest" is a phrase which is commonly used in contexts other than intended by its first two proponents - British polymath philosopher Herbert Spencer and Charles Darwin....
conditions for this life-form (low-temperature
vacuumIn everyday usage, vacuum is a volume of space that is essentially empty of matter, such that its gaseous pressure is much less than atmospheric pressure. The word comes from the Latin term for "empty," but in reality, no volume of space can ever be perfectly empty...
) are drastically different from those needed by humans (room temperature aerial atmosphere and adequate water supply), Lilly predicted (or "prophesied", based on his
ketamineKetamine is a drug used in human and veterinary medicine developed by Parke-Davis in 1962. Its hydrochloride salt is sold as Ketanest, Ketaset, and Ketalar. Pharmacologically, ketamine is classified as an NMDA receptor antagonist...
-induced visions) a dramatic conflict between the two forms of intelligence.
Cultural references
Lilly's work, particularly his development of the sensory deprivation tank, is referenced explicitly or implicitly in numerous film, music and television productions.
- In Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters is a 1984 science-fiction comedy film written by co-stars Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis about three eccentric New York City parapsychologists-turned-ghost exterminators. The film was released in the United States on June 8, 1984 and like several films of the era, teamed Aykroyd and/or...
, the Peter Venkman's line to Egon Spengler in the library about Egon's attempt to "drill a hole in his head", to which Egon replies "It would have worked if you hadn't stopped me" was inspired by Lilly's own thwarted experiment.
- Lilly's work inspired two films made without his direct involvement, The Day of the Dolphin
The Day of the Dolphin is a 1973 science fiction-thriller film directed by Mike Nichols and starring George C. Scott. Loosely based on the 1967 novel, Un animal doué de raison , by French writer Robert Merle, the screenplay was written by Buck Henry.-Plot:A brilliant and driven scientist, Jake...
, in 1973, in which the US Navy turns the animals into weapons, and Altered StatesAltered States is a 1980 science fiction film adaptation of a novel by the same name by playwright and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky. It was the only novel that Chayefsky ever wrote, as well as his final film. Both the novel and the film are based on John C...
, in 1980, in which scientists combining drugs and isolation tanks see reality dangerously unravel.
- Lilly and his tools on consciousness (isolation tank, dolphin communication, drugs) are mentioned in the anime Serial Experiments Lain
Serial Experiments Lain is an anime series directed by Ryutaro Nakamura, original character design by Yoshitoshi ABe, screenplay written by Chiaki J. Konaka, and produced by Yasuyuki Ueda for Triangle Staff. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo from July to September 1998...
.
- In the movie Daredevil, the main character sleeps in a sensory deprivation tank in order to deal with his hightened senses.
- Lilly was also referenced in the 2001 song "Oz is Ever-Floating" by the eclectic rock group, Oysterhead
Oysterhead is a supergroup rock band featuring bassist Les Claypool of Primus, guitarist Trey Anastasio of Phish and drummer Stewart Copeland of The Police. The style and sound of the band is a collaborative eclectic mix of the bass-oriented funk metal music of Claypool, Anastasio's jam band music...
, as well as by BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
rockRock music is a genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the 1960s. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, rhythm and blues, country music and also drew on folk music, jazz and classical music....
group, Kasabian, in their song, "Cutt Off" on their self-titled album (2004).
- Lilly's sensory deprivation tank is also mentioned in the The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
episode "Make Room for Lisa"Make Room for Lisa" is the sixteenth episode of The Simpsons' tenth season. The episode aired on February 28, 1999.-Plot:...
", in which Homer and Lisa have a float session, as well another episode's "Treehouse of Horror" segment featuring dolphins taking over Earth.
- Although not credited, the short story "Johnny Mnemonic" (and its film adaptation
Johnny Mnemonic is a 1995 cyberpunk film, loosely based on the short story of the same name by William Gibson, in which Keanu Reeves plays the title character, a man with a cybernetic brain implant designed to store information...
), features a heroin-addicted dolphin named "Jones" in a tank that communicates with the Lo-Teks and performs a type of mind-meld with the main character Johnny at the end of the film.
- In the film Minority Report
Minority Report is a science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg and loosely based on the short story "The Minority Report" by Philip K. Dick. It is set primarily in Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia in the year 2054, where "Precrime", a specialized police department, apprehends...
, precognitivePrecognition , also called Future Sight, refers to perception that involves the acquisition of future information that cannot be deduced from presently available and normally acquired sense-based information...
twins float in a dimly lit holding tank. Although no explicit reference to Lilly's sensory deprivation tank is made, Lilly notes the wide array of non-ordinary states of consciousness experienced through sensory deprivation in several of his publications.
- In the film I ♥ Huckabees, protagonist Albert Markovski is placed in a body bag by his "existential detective" in order to, "help shut down your everyday perceptions and give up your usual identity that you think separates you from everything." Within the bag, Markovski experiences visions relevant to his existential crisis. In the following scene, Markovski is shown wearing an eyemask and immersed in his bathtub, a practice that may be considered to be the "poor man's sensory deprivation tank".
- Lilly is referenced in a song by Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects called "Vitamin K Experience (A Homage To The Scientist/John Lilly)" on the CD Sol Niger Within
Sol Niger Within is the first and only release by Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects, a side project of Meshuggah guitarist Fredrik Thordendal. The album was originally released in 1997 on the Ultimate Audio Entertainment label....
, and it's subsequent re-issue 'Sol Niger Within Version 3.33'.
- Laurie Anderson's CD The Ugly One with the Jewels features a song about Lilly: "John Lilly, the guy who says he can talk to dolphins, said he was in an aquarium and he was talking to a big whale who was swimming around and around in his tank. And the whale kept asking him questions telepathically. And one of the questions the whale kept asking was: do all oceans have walls?"
- Lilly's work with dolphins may have inspired the Ecco the Dolphin
Ecco the Dolphin is an action-adventure video game released in 1992 for the Sega Mega Drive. The central character, Ecco, is a bottlenose dolphin controlled by the player through a progression of side-scrolling aquatic levels...
video games for the Segais a multinational video game software and hardware development company, and a home computer and console manufacturer headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan...
Mega DriveThe is a fourth-generation video game console released by Sega in Japan in 1988 and Europe in 1990. The console was released in North America in 1989 under the name Genesis, as Sega was unable to secure legal rights to the Mega Drive name in that region...
/Genesis. Lilly coined the acronym Earth Co-incidence Control Office (ECCO), which refers to his belief that non-physical entities arrange for the occurrence of meaningful coincidences (synchronicities) in order to co-ordinate the physical and spiritual development of individuals on planet Earth.
- Roy Scheider's character, Captain Nathan Hale Bridger, on the 1993-1996 television show Seaquest DSV
seaQuest DSV is an American science fiction television series created by Rockne S. O'Bannon. It originally aired on NBC between 1993 and 1996. In its final season, it was renamed seaQuest 2032....
was based on Lilly.
- Douglas Adams' character from So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish is the fourth book of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series written by Douglas Adams. Its title is the message left by the dolphins when they departed Planet Earth just before it was demolished to make way for a hyperspatial express route, as described in...
, Wonko the Sane, that Arthur Dent makes a pilgrimage to see, who lives in California in a beach house and knows what happened to the dolphins, was inspired by John Lilly.
- The anime film "Ghost in The Shell: Solid State Society" contains a reference to SSI in its title.
- The scientist character in the Fox series "Fringe," Walter Bishop, is a composite character that appears to owe a significant debt to Lilly: Walter works with an isolation tank, frequently takes psychedelic drugs, has qualifications in medicine, physics, neurophysiology and electronics, and has a background that includes sometimes questionably invasive human experimentation, for which he sometimes atones in the series.
Quotations
Books
- Man and Dolphin . Doubleday, Garden City, NY, 1961. 1962 Gollancz ed., ISBN 0-575-01054-1
- The Mind of the Dolphin. Doubleday, 1967, ISBN 0-385-02543-2. The Mind of the Dolphin: A Nonhuman Intelligence; Avon, 1969.
- Programming and Metaprogramming in the Human Biocomputer: Theory and Experiments. 1968, Communication Research Institute, 112pp. 1987 reprint, Julian Press, ISBN 0-517-52757-X.
- The Centre of the Cyclone. Bantam Books, 1973, ISBN 0553133497. 2001 reprint of 1973 ed., Marion Boyars Publishers, ISBN 1-84230-004-0 . (First published 1972)
- Lilly on dolphins: humans of the sea. Anchor Press, 1975, ISBN 0385010370.
- The Deep Self (1976, ASIN B0006CP8ZO. 1981 reissue ISBN 0-446-33023-X. 2007 reissue, ISBN 0-89556-116-6)
- John C. Lilly with Antonietta Lilly, The Dyadic Cyclone. Simon and Schuster, 1976, ISBN 067122218X. 1978 Paladin reissue, ISBN 0-586-08276-X
- Simulations of God: The Science of Belief. Simon and Schuster, 1975. ISBN 0-671-21981-2
- The Scientist: a novel autobiography. Lippincott, 1978, ISBN 0-397-01274-8. 1988 update. 1996 reissue, ISBN 0-914171-72-0)
- Communication between man and dolphin: the possibilities of talking with other species. Julian Press, 1987, ISBN 0517565641
- John C. Lilly with E.J. Gold et.al., Tanks for the Memories: Floatation Tank Talks. Gateways/IDHHB, 1995, ISBN 0895560712
See also
- Cetacean intelligence
Cetacean intelligence denotes the cognitive capabilities of the cetacean order of mammals and especially the various species of dolphin. Cetaceans include whales, porpoises, and dolphins, and while all are broadly considered intelligent, dolphins have generated much more attention than their...
- Consciousness
Consciousness is subjective experience or awareness or wakefulness or the executive control system of the mind. It is an umbrella term that may refer to a variety of mental phenomena...
- Louis Herman
Louis Herman is a researcher of dolphin sensory abilities, dolphin cognition, and humpback whales. He is currently professor in the Department of Psychology and a cooperating faculty member of the Department of Oceanography at the University of Hawaii at Manoa...
- Hallucination
A hallucination, in the broadest sense, is a perception in the absence of a stimulus. In a stricter sense, hallucinations are defined as perceptions in a conscious and awake state in the absence of external stimuli which have qualities of real perception, in that they are vivid, substantial, and...
- Hallucinations in the sane
A hallucination may occur in a person in a state of good mental and physical health, even in the apparent absence of a transient trigger factor such as fatigue, intoxication or sensory deprivation....
- Isolation tank
An isolation tank is a lightless, soundproof tank in which subjects float in salinated water at skin temperature. They were first used by John C. Lilly in 1954 in order to test the effects of sensory deprivation. Such tanks are now also used for meditation and relaxation and in alternative...
- Ketamine
Ketamine is a drug used in human and veterinary medicine developed by Parke-Davis in 1962. Its hydrochloride salt is sold as Ketanest, Ketaset, and Ketalar. Pharmacologically, ketamine is classified as an NMDA receptor antagonist...
- LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD-25, LSD, formerly lysergide, commonly known as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family...
- Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Such studies span the structure, function, evolutionary history, development, genetics, biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, informatics, computational neuroscience and pathology of the nervous system.The International Brain Research...
- Schizotypy
Schizotypy is a psychological concept which describes a continuum of personality characteristics and experiences related to psychosis and in particular, schizophrenia....
- Marcia Moore
Marcia Moore was an American astrologer and yoga teacher brought to national attention through Yoga, Youth, and Reincarnation by Jess Stearn in 1968. She became a proponent of the drug ketamine in her 1978 book, Journeys Into The Bright World, written together with her husband anesthesiologist...
- D. M. Turner
D.M. Turner was a reclusive author, psychedelic researcher and self-described psychonaut of ambiguous origins, known for two widely-regarded books on psychoactives and entheogens...
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