Good stuff. I been a fan of Wilhelm Reich for a while. Anti-authoritarian guy with very open ideas on sexuality, which like him, I think is oppressed in this society in ways that have meaning, and Reich had some good dialogue on that. There's ersatz sexuality in our culture, consisting of cheap thrills, objectification, and chasing after fantasies.
Function of the Orgasm was an interesting read. There was a film "W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism" they made in the 70's that was quite interesting if you haven't already seen it.
You put electronic components together to make your wishing machine?
Shucky darn back in the day, in the 50s, I followed John W. Campbell's directions in my fresh from the presses issue of Astounding Science Fiction and made mine with India ink on paper.
I put it in a box, put a rheostat, frequency dial, on top with wires running inside to the schematic. Friends operating it, not knowing it was nothing but a schematic inside, often reported surprising, to me, results.
Yep, the world's full of delightfully curious strange.
Yes, the mind machines book had instructions on how to build a 'symbolic' machine as well with india ink. Very fun and interesting stuff. The reason I went 'all in' on mine was mostly for creative reasons, I just enjoyed the creativity of building a weird contraption, it was more a work of art and film prop than a serious exercise in radionics. Despite the underwhelming results, I am proud of the craftsmanship.😉
I understand your quite justifiable pride. Here's a link to the coffee pot I made in 2020 that's surely still working just fine, thank you: http://www.ipernity.com/doc/319805/49995548
You're referring to his book The Mass Psychology of Fascism, in which he posited that fascists and authoritarians gain power through the sexual repression of the masses. I never read that one, was not really into the political aspects of his thinking, so I could not give you an educated take on his politics. But from my basic understanding of the time and that book it's a little more complex in context than just "everyone who opposes the left is fascist", I believe he was attempting to come to a psychological understanding of how fascism and authoritarianism are enforced and he saw it through the lens of sexual repression.
Reich interests me for his scientific ideas and thoughts on psychology. Reich had a lot of far out ideas, he was brilliant for sure, was he a quack as some claim? I have no idea. With people like him I think there is a grain of truth to both sides of the story. The orgone thing is fascinating to me, the political stuff, meh.
Well that is a bit of a conundrum, the FDA had it in for him regarding his accumulators, they felt he was a fraud and they wanted to shut him down. The fact that it got to the point where they burned his books and had him imprisoned always seemed a bit much to me considering he was mainly accused of pseudoscience which, to my understanding, is not a crime. They basically nailed him on 'Contempt of court' and that is what he served the 2 years for. It is a very strange case and it seemed like a type of persecution the way they went about it.
Good stuff. I been a fan of Wilhelm Reich for a while. Anti-authoritarian guy with very open ideas on sexuality, which like him, I think is oppressed in this society in ways that have meaning, and Reich had some good dialogue on that. There's ersatz sexuality in our culture, consisting of cheap thrills, objectification, and chasing after fantasies.
Function of the Orgasm was an interesting read. There was a film "W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism" they made in the 70's that was quite interesting if you haven't already seen it.
And I just thought it was a mad tune from psych-rock band Hawkwind
Enjoy all 10 minutes of it….
https://youtu.be/43ek77aAJTQ?si=dUqwDwBdEfYrClai
Love it, a bit of an Iggy and the Stooges vibe, but more spacey.
You put electronic components together to make your wishing machine?
Shucky darn back in the day, in the 50s, I followed John W. Campbell's directions in my fresh from the presses issue of Astounding Science Fiction and made mine with India ink on paper.
I put it in a box, put a rheostat, frequency dial, on top with wires running inside to the schematic. Friends operating it, not knowing it was nothing but a schematic inside, often reported surprising, to me, results.
Yep, the world's full of delightfully curious strange.
Yes, the mind machines book had instructions on how to build a 'symbolic' machine as well with india ink. Very fun and interesting stuff. The reason I went 'all in' on mine was mostly for creative reasons, I just enjoyed the creativity of building a weird contraption, it was more a work of art and film prop than a serious exercise in radionics. Despite the underwhelming results, I am proud of the craftsmanship.😉
I understand your quite justifiable pride. Here's a link to the coffee pot I made in 2020 that's surely still working just fine, thank you: http://www.ipernity.com/doc/319805/49995548
& don't call me Shirley or Rube. ;-)
& anyway, Leslie Nielsen surely out Shirleyed me and the Japanese far out Rube Goldberged my master coffee brewer; https://www.homecrux.com/mug-shaped-rube-goldberg-machine-brews-coffee-plays-christmas-carols/59446/
I could happily spend all my time in rabbit holes.
Absolutely. Magical places 🙃
Phrasing could use some work.
Didn't Reich join Adorno in the whole "everyone who opposes the left is fascist" vibe, though?
You're referring to his book The Mass Psychology of Fascism, in which he posited that fascists and authoritarians gain power through the sexual repression of the masses. I never read that one, was not really into the political aspects of his thinking, so I could not give you an educated take on his politics. But from my basic understanding of the time and that book it's a little more complex in context than just "everyone who opposes the left is fascist", I believe he was attempting to come to a psychological understanding of how fascism and authoritarianism are enforced and he saw it through the lens of sexual repression.
Reich interests me for his scientific ideas and thoughts on psychology. Reich had a lot of far out ideas, he was brilliant for sure, was he a quack as some claim? I have no idea. With people like him I think there is a grain of truth to both sides of the story. The orgone thing is fascinating to me, the political stuff, meh.
He was definitely a complicated dude! In a nutshell—why was the government after him?
Well that is a bit of a conundrum, the FDA had it in for him regarding his accumulators, they felt he was a fraud and they wanted to shut him down. The fact that it got to the point where they burned his books and had him imprisoned always seemed a bit much to me considering he was mainly accused of pseudoscience which, to my understanding, is not a crime. They basically nailed him on 'Contempt of court' and that is what he served the 2 years for. It is a very strange case and it seemed like a type of persecution the way they went about it.
Either he was on to something or they were just government tyrants being government tyrants.