Guys I have a bro who's a physics phd and he's unhappy with his life. I want this christmas to offer him a new perspective by way of introducing him to the fucking genius who was Alan Watts. Masters degree in theology, doctorate in divinity, friends with Carl Jung, and all-around master of untold proportions.
Is anyone here familiar with Watts and if so, could you please recommend a book of his which would offer a gentle but profound introduction to his genius-tier, other-worldly perspective? I really think it could help my mate but I just don't know which of his many books would be best suited.
pls halp. Thanks /sci/
also out of appreciation for my man watts, postan this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMRrCYPxD0I
thanks again all. peace yo.
Never heard of the guy before but your post has so many red flags I bet he was probably an /x/-tier kook.
>>7704315
he really wasn't. he was extremely intelligent, there are hundreds of hours of his lectures on youtube.
he influenced jung and freud. he is extraordinarily articulate. he has no gripe with science, he merely attempts to merge eastern and western philosophies in an attempt to provide a more holistic perspective, and perhaps avoid global extinction by way of recognizing the interconnected nature of mankind in the same way as did jung. he took something of a hermetic perspective, just like isaac newton. incidentally. dude is not to be underestimated.
>>7704332
Okay I watched the video, it was about what I expected
>you're the whole universe here and now lmao
>everyone in the universe is you, just as separate people
>he influenced jung and freud
Well a lot of their theories were trash too.
> Masters degree in theology, doctorate in divinity
In other words, he wasted a lot of time studying useless bullshit.
Get your friend some healing crystals and tell him they'll align his chakra. At least then he'll have some nice crystals to look at.
>>7704377
yeah i thought it'd be pointless posting here. this is why i'm struggling to find an appropriate book.
do you realise that isaac newton was massively intrigued by hermetecism and that this is essentially the basis of watts' philosophies?
you underestimate the unknown, anon. it's not a scam, it's not bullshit, it's simply the contrast by which your own perspective makes sense to you. both are valid to varying extents. which is more accurate is irrelevant to me right now, i just want my friend to see things from a different perspective, flawed as it may be it is NOT without merit. you are not perfect, even if western philosophy and science has apparently shown to be more logical.
to say that there is nothing of value in the perspective of billions of people who are the yin to our yang, is sheer ignorance. even if only 1% of it proves to be legitimate, that's still valuable.
fucking hell you're such a bunch of pedantic assholes. be nice. help me to make my bro feel better. watts was smarter than all of you, so was jung, so was isaac newton, the alchemist and hermeticicist whose genius made even einsten look relatively retarded. read the corpus hermeticum. you might learn something.
look just fucking help me to recommend a book. please.
this:
The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are
>>7704416
third person to suggest this. thankyou anon. i will definitely look into this.
more suggestions would be much appreciated.
https://www.google.co.uk/trends/explore#q=alan%20watts
I can guarantee you that spewing your /x/ horseshit at your friend is only going to annoy him OP. One smart guy believing in alchemy and shit doesn't make it any less stupid. Believe it or not smart people can be wrong, and there have been many people at least as smart as Newton who thought alchemy was bullshit.
Why are you even asking /sci/ about this faggot anyway? This has nothing to do with math or science. Take it to /x/ or /lit/ or something.
I recall a lot of mr watts' material, unless im confusing him for a mr watt ( no s ), where it boiled down to something like " la la la la la I'm smarter than you and I cant hear you".
I really dont think you are at a place in your own u.derstanding to be offering some "esteemed scholar" educational tips. Watts' deal was a lot of learning to let go and stalwart giving in. The journey that both philosophical realms encompassed and didnt fault the other for. While I myself enjoyed his "teachings", I do believe most people skimmed over his words and caught of it wgat they wanted to hear. After a while he became more of motivational speaker anyway.
Your doctor friend might come to benefit more from a freeing experience rather than a guide. I understand watts dealt with LSD a bit but no I don't mean that either. I mean your friend sounds like he didnt get what he wanted out of that degree and for someone to only realize that after the journey shows that he was probably expecting it to come from someone else. Maybe he wanted to be more desirable ( lots of eastern philo, i mean asians, in universities ), maybe he thought hed be treated with a genuine respect rather than as a trophy friend, maybe he thought hed meet new people. I dont think being told what to think for an extended period of time will help him, and this from someone that listened to alan watts as a journey to enlightenment. In the end, i just realized how shit people were, even through all the "tolerance" I thought I embodied. Now Im just old and owe child support.
>>7704332
Uneducated scum. You fell for the handsome and articulate meme. Just because someone is picturesque and articulate doesn't mean shit. You /x/ faggots are fucking unbelievable.
>>7704447
This. Newton believed in it when he couldn't have known better. He was a genius doing his own thing. It had nothing to do with your farcical interpretation of it. What a pathetic attempt at reasoning.
Listen, if you want an introduction to philosophy for your friend you are going to want to start with two things, Kant's Critique of Pure Reason and Wittgenstein's complete works. They clear up a good 80% of what your common man is going to be caught up with at some stage in his life when his eyes are off his facebook feed.
But you won't do that because Kant is a real challenge, at most you will read about Wittgenstein's biography on wikipedia because it's sexy and exciting.
If you want to introduce him to a heap of shit, introduce him to Watts. He is a motivational speaker full of empty rhetoric that uneducated people think is deep and profound. It's like DFW, if you are new to literature you'll think he's great because 'lol so random and smart at the same time oh wow how ditty do dat'.
It's cringeworthy as fuck seeing someone asking for a fucking recommendation of an Alan Watts book to help a friend out. Neck yourself.
Also, before you dismiss me; I took a year out of my studies to read up on religion and philosophy after a big crisis. I was reading 10+ hours a day consistently. I have spoken to theologians that have masters and they were amazed by my knowledge compared to theirs. They literally study nothing, they have said so much to me. I have also spoken to a bunch of philosophy lecturers and they were similarly btfo.
Right now, I'm working on my PhD in Mathematics. People like you, who hop on the latest sexiest trends, see >>7704435 , should all be hanged.
>>7704435
Too good.
>>7704399
Nigger have you not read the books yourself?
You call him an other worldly genius and haven't read them?
It's clear why you're so easily impressed
oh man, so much rage to respond to, i cbf.
>>7704447
>Why are you even asking /sci/ about this faggot anyway?
because if i ask /x/, i'll be recommended a book which appeals primarily to spastics. i have asked /lit/ and they've made a few suggestions. however, if one of you lot likes him, you're likely going to be able to recommend the least-abrasive book for someone scientifically-minded like my bro.
he's interested already in meditation, and so too is richard dawkins btw. he said in an interview with russell brand that while he hates most religions, there "may be something valuable in meditation" - you lot are too quick to condemn. meditation and it's health benefits and broader implications are essentially the inspiration which drove watts' work.
before you lot condemn him, give him a listen. there are shitloads of his lectures on youtube, and he is absolutely not anti-sciencefag, he's very much a westerner but also had a staggeringly profound understanding of eastern culture, and whether you like it or not, there's a lot of valuable knowledge therein. it's different, but it's not as abrasive as you lot appear to expect. give it a go, i bet it'll cheer some of you up, and my mate is sufficiently open-minded that i know if i can just find the 'right' book for him to start with, he'll like watts' work too.
>>7705516
>Nigger have you not read the books yourself?
i've only read two of them and they're not quite right, bit too hardcore to give to a dude who has spent literally his entire life since childhood studying physics to such an extent that it's essentially ALL he does. his (watts') writing is rather dry. his lectures are the reason i find him so inspiring. i'd rather give him a book as a christmas gift though as opposed to a link to something on youtube, yaknow?
>>7704309
>Master at sitting around making vague "profound" assertions while idiots laugh at his lame jokes.
Into the garbage.
>>7704309
Your friend with the physics PHD is not going to be happy that you gave him some hippie selling him feelgoods packaged with eastern themes and stamped as life lessons.
>>7704332
>He influenced jung and freud.
Really? That's interesting because they were both already psychiatrists when watts was being born.
>>7706364
He is that good.
Another good Alan Watts book that your friend my benefit from is The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety
