Why this book: I have been a Colin Wilson fan for over 50 years.  I had read this book twice before, and recommended it to my Sci Fi reading group.  I listened to it this time – and it was as if I’d never read it before! 

Summary in 4 Sentences: The Mind Parasites is written in the first person from the perspective of the very close friend of a prominent psychologist who is investigating the completely unexpected suicide of his closest friend.  He is going thru the papers and diary of his deceased friend to try to determine what could have led him to this drastic step.  The journal of his friend indicated that he believed he was being attacked or infected by what seemed to him to be an alien entity inside his consciousness, which the more he explored and learned about it, the more it seemed to attack him.  As he explores his ability to fight these mysterious entities, he discovers human psychic capabilities he realizes all of us have, that  enable him to fight the soul destroying capabilities of these “parasites,” but first, he (and mankind) have to learn to focus beyond the necessities of living day to day. 

My Impressions: This was the third time I’ve read this book – the first two having been decades ago. This time it made a stronger impression on me as I’ve recently resurrected my interest in exploring and better understanding evidence of dimensions of consciousness and reality beyond the consensual reality of Western Civilization.  The book challenges the view that “reality” is no more than what practical science, physics, and the scientific method can demonstrate as proven, and that these truths  are incontrovertible and absolute.  He challenges the idea that the practicalities of survival and improving civilization are enough for humans to thrive.  This science fiction novel intends to challenges traditional understanding of the human mind and human potential and merge with ideas most commonly associated with the occult. 

The Mind Parasites is a Sci Fi novel that explores unrealized potentialities of the human mind.  The novel is written in the first person, from the perspective of an archeologist who is exploring the suicide of his close friend, a psychologist. The archeologist knew his friend very well, and was convinced that suicide by this man was inconceivable.  His friend’s suicide note directed that his journal and notebooks go to this close friend who is the narrator of the book.  The novel is about this friend’s reading of these notes and his investigation into what caused the suicide.  He  is at first incredulous that suicide was a result of some non-corporeal entity – like a virus but with intention and will – but through his own experience comes to accept that this foreign entity had invaded his friend’s mind and deliberately led to his suicide. And as he explores this phenomena, he feels his own mind being invaded, and has to fight for his own survival.  

As he learns to fight this “infection” he recruits others to help him fight these entities, and they too are attacked and a number of them succumb and commit suicide.  He realizes that these parasites pose a threat to humanity and enlists others to help him in his fight. 

Wilson connects the theme of this novel – that we are living superficially,  with so much of our potential and strength un-utilized – with his interest in ancient history by having his archeologist protagonist involved in exploring the ruins of a fictional pre-historic civilization in Turkey.  The fictional civilization existed millennia before our oldest known civilizations, which at the time of his writing was Karatepe (~700 BCE), also in Turkey.   The exploration of these sites opened the door for Wilson to play with some of the mysteries of unknown ancient civilizations, and to give his protagonist reasons to explore his own mental abilities and to teach others to use them, to help  intuitively find truth and to develop his abilities using psycho kinesis to move objects. 

The novel progresses with a battle between the archeologist and the mind parasites as the mind parasites attack not only him but his colleagues and seek to undermine his credibility – the parasites regard his mission of strengthening people’s ability to focus and concentrate as a threat to their power. Eventually the mind parasites become desperate and influence weaker minds to take action which could endanger humanity in the form of nuclear accidents or nuclear war.  This drives the archeologist to prove to authorities the danger of the mind parasites, and to gather and train a coterie of a few highly disciplined intellectual leaders people to withstand the mental assault of the parasites, and to unite in their effort to prevent a catastrophe.

This book reflects Colin Wilson’s insistence on the importance of what he calls active intentionality as a source of power, and to resist the temptation toward passivity (going along to get along) in the face of challenge, which turns us into contented slaves.  His message is that to fulfill our human potential and live fully, individuals need to explore and develop their abilities to do more than simply get and stay comfortable by putting checks in the boxes that promote comfort, safety, and everyday survival and existence – in other words, to do more than just “take care of business.” To learn to focus, people must get out of their comfort zones and train their minds, as athletes train their bodies….

The “mind parasites” are metaphors for mental laziness and apathy, succumbing to  the will to comfort and safety, and the tendency to avoid challenge and discomfort.  It is a fascinating book with much to teach those of us who would examine ourselves and challenge ourselves to become more than automatons walking the well beaten, comfortable path.  He also intends to challenge his readers to consider the reality of  such paranormal mental capacities as telepathy and pyscho-kinesis, and the ability of those with strong minds to influence others and events around them.

Note:Since Wilson wrote The Mind Parasites, and described his fictional civilization of 2 million years BCE, two other very ancient civilizations have actually been discovered in Turkey, that existed from 8-10 thousand years earlier than Karatepe:   Karahan Tepe and Goebekli Tepe (8-10,000 years BCE.)