Introduction by Philip Hansen Bailey

Simulations of God completes the cycle of inquiry first sought by Dr. Lilly, at the age of 16, when he wrote a research paper entitled, “What Is Reality?” The precocious youth, nicknamed by his classmates, “Einstein Junior,” went on to become the Section Chief, Section on Cortical Integration, at the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness and the National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland (1953-1958). The writing, herein, explores the psychological, sociological, economic and religious themes that we, as humans, continue to apply as constructs to our modern lives.

In 2012, The New York Times, in its review of D. Graham Burnett’s “The Sounding of The Whale,” pointed out that Lilly’s Freedom of Information Act file revealed that the former Director of The Federal Bureau of Investigation, J. Edgar Hoover, kept a personal copy of Lilly’s intelligence dossier within his private office files. Lilly’s research on the human mind during the Cold War Era held significant importance within the elite military and governmental power structures of the United States of America. When the inaugural search for extra-terrestrial intelligence was launched by the National Aeronautics Space Administration, the assignment was given to Lilly, in an attempt to bridge the language barriers between humans and potential alien species. The resultant interspecies communication experiments between humans and dolphins in Florida, the Virgin Islands, and California have taken on mythic qualities in the cultural history of the late 20th century.

Lilly conceived the ideas for Simulations of God after a lifetime in academic and laboratory settings. With Simulations of God, Lilly attempts to identify the “simulations” of cultural human programming events into modern settings, as they affect perceptions in consciousness. Lilly saw Simulations of God as a clarification of his scientific observations over the previous 40 years.

In a more halcyon time, in the foothills of Southern California, Timothy Leary, Lilly’s long time friend, expressed to me that the three greatest ideas of the 20th Century were: Dr. Benjamin Spock’s concept that parents should treat their children as they would treat themselves; Marshal McLuhan’s famous dictum “The medium is the message”; and John Lilly’s magnum opus “Programming and Meta-programming in the Human Bio-Computer.” Simulations of God furthers the concepts laid forth within that text in a popular analysis, allowing the reader to think anew of how these thought processes are applied to human consciousness in a grand overview.

The Preface to this new edition is contributed by Dr. Lilly’s esteemed colleague, Dr. Michael Hyson. He continues to be inspired by John’s research, and seeks to take it in new directions in the Hawaiian Islands. Dr. Hyson was inspired when he read Dr. Lilly’s book “Man and Dolphin” when he was 13 and went to live near a pod dolphins in Texas at the age of 14. He studied biology and neuroscience at the University of Miami, swam with one of the original “Flipper” dolphins, and later worked with Dr. Hank Truby, a linguist who had worked with Lilly teaching the dolphins English. Truby’s World Dolphin Foundation worked with the dolphins Florida and Liberty and Michael befriended them. After a dolphin time-out working with CalTech, NASA, JPL, and two private rocket companies, he met Star Newland at Lilly’s 75th birthday celebration in 1990. Star founded the Sirius Institute and Michael became its research director. They have been researching dolphins, gentle birth, and space related topics in Hawaii for the last 20 years. See: www.planetpuna.com/hyson for more details.

The Foreword is written by C. Scott Taylor, a doctoral candidate, lecturer and research associate at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia. After years of studying John’s work, Taylor felt a strong connection to the idea of the Cetacean Nation and sought out John to see if there were ways he could support its development. He and John shared the stage at an international conference, talking about the idea. Over time, Scott’s interest in John’s work led to a close connection to his archives, an untapped resource for the establishment of a holistic database for educating future human interspecies ambassadors. Scott and John enjoyed sharing ideas about the project that John referred to as his most important legacy. John nominated Scott to be a global ambassador for the Cetacean Nation, a role Scott hopes someday to take on. See www.dolphinembassy.blogspot.com for more information.

Philip Hansen Bailey,

President, John C. Lilly Research Institute,

Los Angeles, California, May 30, 2012.