"Turn on, tune in, drop out."

I've yet to read in detail about the beliefs of good ole Tim Leary. That famous quote, along with his biography will be read by me eventually.

My question to ya'll:

"drop out"

Did he literally mean DROP OUT of school? What did you find in the meaning of the phrase from his perspective? What's your view on it?

I instantly think it's a moronic statement if the drop out is a complete literal meaning. I had the hope that his word usage was misinterpreted just as Einstien was when he spoke of god/religion.

 

Maybe drop out of reality? Drop out of the normal psyche? Something along those lines, I think.

I think it's a beautiful thing to be able to "drop out" of reality, in the sense of psychedelic experiences. Many people will never know what it's like to leave the normal world behind and venture so deeply into your own mind, as to find your own world; your own reality. We are the lucky ones.

 

I wanted to relate this to diphenhydramine, instead of just the conventional psychedelics.

I have tried pretty high dosages of diphenhydramine. I know it is not smiled upon or respected as an "enlightening" substance, but I came to appreciate it after I had my last DPH "trip", if you can call it a trip.

I took 31 benadryl pills, which is equal to 775mg of diphenhydramine and 1550mg of dimenhydrinate, and it was scary and humbling and just straight fukt up. Complete and total delerium. It wasn't really fun or entertaining, but it was very interesting. I also came to appreciate how far it pushed my mind. It was like voluntary/temporary schizophrenia. It is very interesting to know what it feels like to be insane, and I love knowing that there won't be many others to know what that's like, and still be able to return.

The absense of a rational mind, as was the case during my DPH trips, only helped me to appreciate, even more, the rational mind I do have on a day to day basis.

Probably just a bunch of nonsense, but I found it to be relevant to the thread.

And just so you know, I have used the conventional psychs, such as LSD, shrooms, 2ce, salvia, and some others. I'm not some kid that thinks DPH induces true psychedelia, as does LSD and psilocybin, but I got something out of it.

 

He means Turn on to psychedelic drugs, Tune in by taking them, and Drop out by detaching themselves from the existing conventions and hierarchies in society.

 

drop out of the mainstream is the point there, i believe

 

The original way he said it was, "Be cool, be kind, tune in, turn on, drop out". There is a record "L.S.D." (1966), he put out, where he explains what he means to some extent. He later shortened it to just, "turn on, tune in, drop out".

 

drop out of society. Drop out of the norm. Drop out of your present thinking ways and "tune in" to new ones.


That's what he meant I believe. He wasn't telling anyone to drop out of school, that doesn't go with his ideals anyways.

 

Taking this from what my husband always tells me is that you turn on by taking it, you tune in to what is going on around you, and then eventually you'll drop out of the real world or at least I think you drop out of fthe mindless following that follows what the government tells it.

So far, from what I've seen, it seems right, but not sure.

 

He was talking about the education system, he felt it was flawed and urged everyone to drop out, he did mean school, high school, college, university whatever just drop out. Drop out, turn on(LSD) tune in(counter culture). You know the old saying get your head together and the thing was to tune in to the counter culture. I know plenty of smart guys who dropped out of college, I dropped out of high school. This was all Tim Leary's doing, that guy was a professor at Harvard telling everybody to drop out! I think of all the lives that guy ruined, people to this day have a hard time making a living because they dropped out. As for me I went back to school and eventually earned a degree. I would not recommend dropping out!

I think I would drop Tim Leary, but if you wanna do acid go ahead but don't let it take over your life to the point where you drop out.




Bustramp

 

I don't think he meant for people to drop out of school for the very reason that he was a professor. I think what happened was a lot of people interpreted it as dropping out of school.

 

Though he meant well, I think Leary was kinda a dick. I blame him for fucking the whole movement up. He allowed the truth to be blanketed under the drug culture, which at the time was too shaky to push. There is alot more to it than that. There is no 'swallow this and get the answers.'

You can't learn anything from school that you can't learn from books. As much sense as that may make, try getting a reputable job with 'I've read x amount of books.'

It's a horrible situation.

 

Para-phrasing Leary directly, he says:

Turn on - to your spiritual potienals, look within

Tune in - to find your own divinity, to do nothing that is not an act of beauty

Drop out - detach yourself from social and material struggle, (if nessecary
from your friends, job, school, city, sense organs,external+internal)
escape the prison of robot society

Its really not different then other ancient paths of attaining wisdom. His meaning of dropping out meaning basically the Buddhist concept of detatchment. This is on side 4 of the record I mentioned in my earlier post.

 

Nope, he specifically said "the education system is flawed, drop out, just drop out and tune in and turn on".




Bustramp

 

Leary encouraged "dropping out" of school, but said that in his famous "Turn on, tune in, drop out" that he did not mean dropping out literally. I actually think he got annoyed that people didn't look any further into his message.

I don't want to have to quote it since dd3stp233 paraphrases pretty damn well.

Oh well I will anyway:
Leary later explained in his 1983 autobiography Flashbacks: "'Turn on' meant go within to activate your neural and genetic equipment. Become sensitive to the many and various levels of consciousness and the specific triggers that engage them. Drugs were one way to accomplish this end. 'Tune in' meant interact harmoniously with the world around you - externalize, materialize, express your new internal perspectives. Drop out suggested an elective, selective, graceful process of detachment from involuntary or unconscious commitments. 'Drop Out' meant self-reliance, a discovery of one's singularity, a commitment to mobility, choice, and change. Unhappily my explanations of this sequence of personal development were often misinterpreted to mean 'Get stoned and abandon all constructive activity.'"

Bask in the truth... And quit saying what you wish Leary had said, since he wasn't an idiot, he had a good point worth understanding.

 

Perhaps he explained it later in 1983 as you stated, but in the 60's film documentary of his life he was filmed saying "the education system is flawed, drop out". He meant at the time dropping out of the education system and it's on film.





Bustramp

 

Leary (and McKenna) said that the education system is like a factory, mass-producing mindless worker drone robots, in the assembly line society, for each type of job the worker has to be interchangable and most importantly, replacable.

 

Ok, so he thought the education system was flawed and might've encouraged people to drop out. But the actual quote 'turn on, tune in, drop out' I believe had the metaphoric meaning. If it were to be taken literally, it wouldn't make as much sense. Turn on to LSD, then the counter culture, then drop out? If he were so keen to get people to drop out, you'd think it'd be first priority in the quote. I understand what you're saying, but that doesn't mean that anytime he says 'drop out' it's referring to education. dd3stp233's explanation is what it's about in my mind.

 

i dont think he was condemning the search for wisdom, as much as he was condemning the structural confines that society had placed around the attainment of such

really though, no matter how explicitly worded the message may be, people will always read into what they wish to see/hear

 

You need to see the film, sometimes they show it on the history channel. It wasn't what I wanted to hear, it was what he said.





Bustramp

 

Bustramp, I'll look out for the film.