Alan Watts Being in the Way - Ep. 36: Seeing through The Net
Original Recording Date: mid-1960s to IBM Systems Group
Host: Mark Watts
Release Date: August 27, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Mark Watts introduces a rare, archival Alan Watts lecture titled “Seeing through The Net,” originally given to engineers at IBM. Alan Watts explores the foundations of human knowledge: how we describe, categorize, and control the world. He delves into the limitations and pitfalls of a purely analytical, linear approach to understanding reality, contrasting it with holistic, intuitive perception. Throughout, Watts draws from both Eastern and Western philosophies, challenging the “net” we cast over the wiggly, organic nature of life and urging listeners to recognize—and trust—deeper, non-linear intelligence within themselves.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Problem of Control in Modernity

Timestamps: 02:49–08:00

• Watts opens by addressing the feeling of being obstructed by increasing complexity and bureaucracy in modern life—whether in business, education, or healthcare.
• Quote: “...the individual increasingly feels himself obstructed by his own cautiousness.” (03:55)
• He frames these issues within the ancient question: “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” (“Who guards the guardians?”), tying it to the urge for rational control.

2. The Value of Cross-Cultural Triangulation

Timestamps: 08:01–11:15

• Watts discusses his lifelong interest in Eastern vs. Western thought, advocating for triangulation: viewing one’s own beliefs through the lens of another sophisticated culture (especially Chinese and Indian).
• Quote: “You don’t establish the situation of a particular object unless you observe it from two different points of view.” (10:23)
• He believes this comparative approach reveals the underlying assumptions guiding our perception of reality.

3. The Western Model of the Universe: The World as Construct

Timestamps: 11:16–17:30

• Describes Western thought as fundamentally mechanistic—seeing the universe as a construct or artifact, an idea even atheists unconsciously inherit.
• Contrasts this with Eastern perspectives, using the metaphor of growth (organism) vs. construction (artifact).
• Western language and logic are imbued with engineering/political metaphors: assembly, “making,” analysis into parts.

4. “Seeing Through the Net”: Measurement and Reality

Timestamps: 17:31–23:59

• Introduces the titular metaphor: ancient humans overlaying a net on wiggly, organic reality to count, measure, and make sense of it.
• Notes success of this approach in science and technology—“the whole of western technology is the result of bitting”—but warns it risks mistaking the map for the territory.
• Quote: “We break down the wiggliness of the world into comprehensible, countable, geometrical units and thereby figure it... This is so successful up to a point that we can come to imagine that this is the way the world really is.” (19:22)

5. Personality Types: “Prickles” and “Goo”

Timestamps: 23:59–27:20

• Watts humorously dubs two fundamental personality types:
  • “Prickly” types: prefer precision, logic, particles (classicists, nominalists)
  • “Gooey” types: prefer vagueness, art, waves (romanticists, realists)
• Science and nature are “neither prickles nor goo exclusively. It’s gooey prickles and prickly goo.” (26:46)
• This interplay is essential; one without the other is incomplete.

6. Scanned Knowledge vs. Field Understanding

Timestamps: 27:21–34:05

• The “scanning” function of consciousness divides reality into bits, much like a spotlight versus a floodlight.
• Analytic, digital thinking is powerful but slow and limited—especially compared to the pattern recognition and field awareness of the human mind.
• Quote: “Are we leaving out of consideration our strongest suit, which is the brain itself?” (34:00)

7. Limits of Analysis & The Role of Intuition

Timestamps: 34:06–38:25

• Watts details how creative breakthroughs often arise not through stepwise logic, but from letting the deeper, unconscious mind work.
• Advocates for “trusting your own brains” and notes that truly innovative ideas aren’t always explainable in analytic terms but are recognizable when they appear.
• Quote: “He makes his best discoveries without thinking.” (38:15)

8. Over-Reliance on Symbolic Systems

Timestamps: 38:26–42:10

• Warns of confusing symbol (notation, language, money, maps) with reality (life, wealth, the “dinner”).
• Draws examples: clock time (vs. biological time), the Western appetite for control systems, and the political implications of how a culture views human nature.

9. East vs. West: Trust in Human Nature

Timestamps: 42:11–44:40

• Contrasts Judeo-Christian emphasis on sin/fallibility (thus, need for control) with the ancient Chinese assumption of basic human goodness (trust in organic intelligence).
• This core assumption shapes politics, education, and society at large.

10. Conclusion: Starving on Menus

Timestamps: 44:41–46:42

• Memorable Quote: “We’ve run into a cultural situation where we’ve confused the symbol with the physical reality, the money with the wealth, and the menu with the dinner. And we’re starving on eating menus.” (46:32)

Notable/Memorable Quotes

• “You don’t understand the basic assumptions of your own culture if your own culture is the only culture you know.” (07:35, Alan Watts)
• “So by looking at what we are pleased to call reality... from the basic standpoints of different cultures, I think we're in a better position to know where we are than if we only have one single line of sight.” (10:32, Alan Watts)
• “We break down the wiggliness of the world into comprehensible, countable, geometrical units and thereby figure it and construct it in those terms.” (19:22, Alan Watts)
• “It all depends on your level of magnification. If you've got your magnification on something... you've got a prickly point of view. A little out of focus, it's gonna go bleh, and you've got goo.” (27:08, Alan Watts)
• “A person... who is really functioning completely is basically a person who trusts his own brains. And permits his brain to operate at a more optimal level.” (38:15, Alan Watts)
• “We've confused the symbol with the physical reality, the money with the wealth, and the menu with the dinner. And we're starving on eating menus.” (46:32, Alan Watts)

Important Timestamps

• 02:49 – Opening thoughts on control, complexity, and technological society
• 08:02 – The necessity of cross-cultural perspectives and “triangulation”
• 17:31 – The net metaphor and Western measurement systems
• 23:59 – Prickles and Goo: Personality types and analytic vs. holistic thinking
• 27:21 – Scanning, spotlight consciousness, and limits of analytical memory
• 34:00 – The brain’s field capacity vs. limitations of symbol-driven thinking
• 38:15 – On trust, intuition, and the creative process
• 42:11 – Eastern vs. Western assumptions about human nature and society
• 46:32 – Final metaphor: starving on menus (symbol vs. reality)

Tone & Speaker Style

• Alan Watts’s delivery is playful, witty, and illuminating—full of metaphor, philosophical references, and humor (“prickles and goo,” “starving on menus”).
• The style is conversational and accessible, even as Watts delves into deep metaphysical and cognitive themes.
• Underlying message: balance analysis and intuition; look beyond symbolic “nets” to reclaim direct, organic intelligence and awareness.

Summary for New Listeners

If you’ve never heard Alan Watts, this episode showcases his ability to bridge cultures, challenge assumptions, and invite listeners to rethink the very tools of thought itself. Both philosophical and practical, “Seeing through The Net” is a timely meditation on trusting ourselves in an age of information overload, remembering that life is to be tasted directly—not just analyzed or symbolized.

For more rare lectures, visit alanwatts.org.