- Boomeritis
"Boomeritis: A Novel That Will Set You Free" is a
2002 novel by thephilosopher Ken Wilber . Boomeritis, according to Wilber, is the deadly combination of a modern, liberal, egalitarian worldview and a deep unquestioned narcissism.The
protagonist , who is named "Ken Wilber", is a brilliant MIT student studyingartificial intelligence . Ken believes that the future ofevolution includes the departure ofhuman consciousness from the physical realm, or "meatspace ", and the merging of human intelligence withcyberspace .Ken attends a series of lectures at an institution called the "Integral Center", which guide him towards a more expansive understanding of evolution and
existence . These lectures are interposed with explicit descriptions of Ken's sexual fantasies with another character, Chloe.Ken Wilber (the author) intended the novel to exhibit the traits of extreme
post-modernism —irony , self-reference,noetic flatness — and thus to function as a literary "reductio ad absurdum ", assisting people, especially Baby Boomers, in overcoming the post-modern mentality."Boomeritis" is also a term that Wilber uses to describe a pathological state of consciousness that particularly afflicts Baby Boomers. Boomeritis is characterized by
relativism ,narcissism , and an aversion tohierarchy .External links
Published reviews
* [http://www.wie.org/j22/debold.asp?pf=1 "Boomeritis & Me: Not Just a Book Review"] by
Elizabeth Debold , What Is Enlightenment? Issue 22 (Fall-Winter 2002)
* [http://63.147.64.127/Stories/0,1413,36%257E28%257E871247,00.html "Philosophy, yes, but as a novel, no"] by James Lough,The Denver Post , September 22, 2002
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/06/16/RV2119694.DTL "Boomeritis"] by Don Lattin,The San Francisco Chronicle , June 16, 2002Posted critiques
* [http://www.integralworld.net/rev/rev_b_herron.html Lower Versus Higher Energies: A Critique of Boomeritis] by Patricia Herron
* [http://www.spiraldynamics.org/reviews/boomeritis_or_bust.html Boomeritis or Bust...] byChris Cowan , August 24, 2002
* [http://www.strippingthegurus.com/stgsamplechapters/twentyboomeritisblunders.asp Twenty Boomeritis Blunders] by Jim Andrews, November 15, 2005
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