A Book that has Inspired Me - Stranger in a Strange Land
I think I was nineteen years old when my friend Steve Turner gifted me with this book. After our 6am meeting for sober people we would go to, we met for coffee regularly. It was then that he gave me this book. He said “Al, back in the 60s this was our hippie Bible, and I wanted you to have it.” In Remember Tomorrow the character Elton is modeled after my friend Steve Turner. He’s one of my best friends and a mentor to me since the early to mid nineties. Before we got sober we were both huge fans of psychedelics and cannabis. Him in the 60s, and me in the 80s–90s. We both felt a sense of gratitude for what gifts our psychedelic experiences brought us. We complimented each other with sage wisdom that the other might have been lacking or needing in the moment. The elder and the youngling both contributed much to each other. Expanded consciousness and the nature of reality were our most visited topics of discussion.
“Al, back in the 60s this was our hippie Bible, and I wanted you to have it.”
—Steve Turner
Favorite Portrait of my friend Steve Turner
Steve said not only had the book had an impact on him, but he got to meet Robert Heinlein and inherited one of his cats. This copy of the book I have now isn’t the same physical book he gave me. I lost it, but I replaced it with one of the same printing era (with the same cover art). Once I devoured that book I decided that I loved it. There are many science fiction books that have cracked open new ways of thinking and shattered paradigms for me, and this was one of them.
One aspect of the book that I loved was that while the story was set in the future, the flirtatious banter amongst the characters still felt like the 60s. But how could one accurately predict how cultural social norms would evolve? In the book a grown human child (Valentine Michael Smith) born on Mars to two deceased astronauts is brought back to Earth. The laws of the time entitle him to both the estates of his famous scientist astronaut parents, but also the possible real estate rights on Mars. This causes quite a bit of conflict and intrigue. While he is human he was raised by Martians. His parents died when he was a baby. In the book Martians are more vegetable than animal. As Valentine Michael Smith adjusts to Earth it becomes apparent his upbringing made him very different. Because he wasn’t taught that he has physical limitations, he simply doesn’t have physical limitations. At will he can manifest things to be or not be. He can spend hours underwater without drowning. I do highly recommend reading Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land. It’s a seriously fun read.
What I loved most is the notion that our limitations are only taught, but not actually inherent in us. We have seen how monks in the East defy the laws of physics with their bodies through focus and concentration. Also through hypnosis people can achieve things thought impossible. If that is true, then why have humans been conditioned to be less than they could be? If our systems of finance don’t seem balanced or equitable for all, and those systems are merely made up, is the current status quo the designed target? Just some food for thought.
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