Endorsements

Recognition of the Work

Comments and endorsements for the research being undertaken and more recently the draft and published book are increasingly supportive and include significant acknowledgements from respected academics.

This is a totally new way of looking at the evolution of the human brain. It is so totally fresh, unexpected and hitherto un-thought-of that it will probably take a long time before evolutionary anthropologists and psychologists begin to take it on board; but it will make an impact, of that there is no doubt. It will be, it must be, taken very seriously in any discussion of human origins.
Colin Groves - Professor of Biological Anthropology at the School of Archaeology & Anthropology, Australian National University and author of several books including A Theory Of Human And Primate Evolution and Bones, Stones and Molecules


One the great puzzles of primate evolution has been the explosive evolution of the anomalous human brain. Another aspect of evolution usually ignored or overlooked by evolutionary biologists has been the certain impact of bioactive plant secondary metabolites, abundant in the omnivorous diet of foraging primates, on the evolution of human cognition, as well as physiological and neurological adaptations. The authors of Left in the Dark have proposed a stunningly innovative and challenging theory that neatly ties together these issues and provides plausible, rational, and scientifically insightful explanations for many of the most persistent mysteries surrounding the evolution of the human brain, cognitive and cultural evolution, and human brain anomalies. The authors also show how human interactions and adaptations to plant secondary compounds continue to profoundly influence individual human development, human behavior, and contemporary societal evolution. The authors have made an ambitious and well-crafted argument, and have done so in an engaging manner that will be comprehensible to any intelligent layman, and will also be of interest to anthropologists, evolutionary biologists, cognitive psychologists, neurophysiologists, ethnobotanists, and virtually anyone else who has ever wondered how humans evolved to be the way we are. I think the theory holds together well! But it takes an interdisciplinary cast of mind to fully understand it.I have to go over all that you have written much more carefully. You're onto something, no doubt!
This is important information that needs to reach a wider audience.
Dr. Dennis J. McKenna - Co-founder, Director of Ethnopharmacology The Heffter Research Institute


You provide some interesting observations, and theories. Your ideas are complex, and appreciated. I need to re-visit them to be sure I clearly understand. But I am open to any ideas or thoughts about cerebral dominance since it seems critical to savant syndrome. I've come more and more to the conclusion that rather than there being right hemisphere compensation, there is rather release from the 'tyranny' of the left hemisphere. Your ideas about the right hemisphere actually being the more dominant one (at least potentially) set me to thinking that through more completely. You hint at something that I also have written about, or at least articulated: is there an inherent inability of the brain to understand itself. It can understand the kidney, the heart and other organs as we unravel some of their mysteries, but I wonder whether the brain can transcend itself to explain itself. I'm not at all sure about that. But we are a long ways from reaching that barrier; our exploration has barely just begun and we are at a level that the brain can easily understand. Your thoughts that rather than evolving, we may actually be regressing are interesting ones also .Anyway, I have your thoughts now in e mail form. They are complex (at least to me) so I need to let the percolate among my own synapses now. I appreciate your thoughts. Thanks for sharing them. I'll be back in touch.
Darold A. Treffert, M.D. Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry
University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison

Graham Gynn and Tony Wright follow the implications of modern brain research to an astounding conclusion: that our culturally acquired left-brain dominance has cost us our sanity, and that ancient myths about a fall from grace actually record neurochemical events within our skulls. But if we have alienated ourselves from nature and our original state of wholeness, there may be a way back. This is a startling book that makes us rethink the most fundamental issues of religion, psychology, and philosophy.
Richard Heinberg: (lecturer at the New College of California and author of eight books including Memories and Visions of Paradise and The Oil Depletion Protocol)

Professor Dave Collins has commented on the unique 5 day sleep deprivation experiment he supervised at MMU on behalf of E.C.R.

Both Tony and his colleague improved performance on the various tasks which they were set. This contrasts with conventional wisdom in literature, which would suggest increasing decrement to performance as sleep deprivation effects kicked in. Of particular note were their improved performances on vigilance and reaction time tasks.
EEG data taken from both subjects was statistically inconclusive. There was, however, a notable trend towards decreasing left hemisphere activity, even in the situation of verbal reasoning tasks which would typically engage BROCCA's area, the language centre of the brain in the left temporal lobe. This trend is in keeping with Tony's proposed explanations for the impact of sleep deprivation and performance.
So far as we can see, neither Tony or his colleague yawned during the entire period! Although short micro sleeps to a maximum of 20 seconds were apparent in the early stages of the study, sleep depravation appeared to liven up our two subjects - in stark contrast to my research team.
I would be enthusiastic to be involved in any replication and extension of this work, using the psycho-physiological equipment we have at Edinburgh and perhaps involving my colleagues in para-psychology.
Professor Dave Collins - Currently Performance Director at UK Athletics, formerly Edinburgh University

Dear Tony,
Did you write this piece? I found it very stimulating, and have been working on issues relating to human chemical ecology/cultural psychopharmacology myself. Will you be a the conference?
Cheers
Robin Rodd, PhD - School of Anthropology, Archaeology and Sociology James Cook University Townsville, Australia

Dear Tony,
thanks for your fascinating email. I confess that I am not knowledgeable about flavonoids or the environmental inhibitors of steroid activity but if I understand you correctly, they could inhibit the conversion of androgens to estrogens and so be one way that androgen levels could rise. i will think more about this but at the same time i am copying this to my colleague and collaborator Rebecca Knickmeyer in case she has any comments.
Best Wishes,
Dr Simon Baron - Cohen Authority on the role of steroids in autism and male brain development

Tony,
thanks for sending along the prcis of your work. It adds another interesting piece to the puzzle of hominid brain expansion.
I'm going to keep your email in a file I am building for a near-future expansion/change of the SAC web site. We hope to be able to post such mini-articles as yours so that others can access them and we can begin to exchange ideas. Don't worry, I will not post anything without contacting you again and explicitly asking your permission. And that way, you'll know when we have gotten that far.
For now, thanks, and all the best!
John Baker - Professor of Anthropology (President, Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness)

Dear Tony,
I am delighted to hear that your experiment is coming up. Thank you for the invite to observe the experiment and run tests: that's a very interesting proposition. I would be interested to consider my participation very seriously, provided that there were enough resources to run a real study. In other words, I think that it is also in your interest to monitor the attempt as seriously and soundly as possible. One drawback is that there is not much time left to prepare a sound and complete study. Is the May 15th start date firm, or is there any chance this might be postponed to allow more time for preparing a sound study?
Please send as much info as you can,
Thanks
Claudio Stampi - Neurologist and world authority on sleep

Dear Tony Wright,
Thank you for this information! The email had been delayed within the university's electronic filtering system. I concur with your consternation about the abject absence of this critical biochemical information. However, you may wish to read Kurup and Kurup's article in the International Journal of Neuroscience (noted below). I have also listed references from a recent paper I wrote regarding asymmetry in temperature within the brain and the sensed presence. Not surprisingly, an increase of only 1 deg C in the right temporal lobe compared to the left resulted in reports of a sensed presence within optimal settings. You may find some of the references of interest.
Dr. Michael Persinger - Researcher into latent neural function

At last - an innovative work of science which transcends scientific gobbledegook. LEFT IN THE DARK is a persuasive, profound breakthrough in our understanding of the human mind from our earliest beginnings to the present day and possibly beyond. The authors deliver a clear, original and stunning message, which is of inestimable importance to every man, woman and child on this planet.
Two earth-shattering hypotheses currently hold monumental, practical implications for the human race. Global Warming is the first, Quantum Physics, the second. If only a fraction of its conclusions prove to be true, LEFT IN THE DARK could easily be the third.
John Machin - international writer on nutrition, author and TV scriptwriter.

Dear Tony
Thank you for your email. We have just hired an expert on TMS but are yet to conduct controlled tests.
Your ideas are fascinating. Please keep in touch ...
Sincere regards
Professor Allan Snyder, FRS. Director, Centre for the Mind, Australia.

As an expert in the theory and practice of sustainability issues, I feel that the LEFT IN THE DARK hypothesis holds enormous significance. The current state of the world, the state of western health and the state of our societies can only be a reflection of the state of human consciousness. Other respected writers and researchers such as Capra and Koestler indicate a crisis in human perception and consciousness, but this is the only book to give the mechanisms through which we have arrived at this point, and a practical pathway to improve our situation. The questions posed by Left in the Dark, and the integrated framework of answers offered, have profound ramifications for both the scientific community and the public at large, as well as for the sustainability and cliamte change agendas. I firmly believe that if this book and the hypotheses it contains are able to develop the momentum they deserves, then this could not only be 'the biggest thing since sliced bread', but has the potential to parallel the Darwinian, Einsteinian and Copernican revolutions, fundamentally changing our perception and understanding of ourselves, and the past, present and future evolution of the human species in the process.
Steve Charter - Director of SC2 Sustainability Consultancy, Founding Planning and Research Director of Somerset Trust for Sustainable Development (2000-2003) and author of Sustainability, Consciousness and Climate Change, and Eat More Raw.

Dear Tony
Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you. I have had to finish another film and it has taken all my time. It is done now and I am catching up on the large correspondence that Soul Searching generated. Thank you for your very interesting letter. The hypothesis you suggest is certainly what we were suggesting in Programme two of Soul Searching. But as you noted we really only pointed towards it. Like you, I am convinced there is a whole alternative function within the mind that, as you say, is visible in religious practices and possibly much more a part of us in the past than today.
I to believe that there is at least one further film that should explore this whole area. I have done quite a lot of research for this. So you may regard me as a rival. On the other hand I am also an interested collaborator.
I would love to hear from you, if you would like to correspond. I suspect we think broadly along similar lines and may have read some of the same works. I have not heard of Alan Snyder. Thank you for alerting me to him.. I shall seek his work. Please keep in touch in one way or another
David Malone - Documentary producer

Tony,
This is an interesting hypothesis. If this were the case how might one account for the "extraordinariness" of these skills? This argument, however, applies equally to the "dominance" theory. I am not entirely sure the ideas are mutually exclusive - either way these persons don't have the dominance of language. Could you clarify for me what you mean by "long-term" do you mean permanent?
Dr Robyn Young (Autism researcher, Flinders University, Australia)

Dear Mr Wright,
Thank you for your letter and the enclosed CD. I'm sorry I have not got back to you earlier: partly I have been away, and then very busy on my return, and partly I wanted to finish reading your work before writing.
My reactions are that this is an interesting piece of work, in many ways original. As you may also predict, I feel that there are many aspects that require further substantiation.
I know very little about the nutritional aspects. But I repeat that I think it is an interesting piece of work, and I hope you will carry on with your researches. There's no doubt that your ideas are intriguing, and surely the world has enough drearily predictable papers and books in it already. So more power to your elbow!
Best wishes,
Dr Iain McGilchrist - Neurology researcher All Souls College, Oxford

If the primordial diet was rich in monoamine oxidase inhibitors, that would profoundly affect the evolution of the gut. The lining of the bowel is rich in monoamine oxidase and the cells can take up serotonin so that monoamine oxidase and other enzymes can inactivate it.
Dr Michael Gershon Neuro-gut researcher author of The Second Brain

Dear Tony,
It was a hot contender for some years, and if you came up with it of your own accord you must be very bright. . Stephen Jay Gould argued that neoteny could explain traits like the flatter face and the naked skin, and rapid brain growth, because they were characteristic of young or unborn chimpanzees. It failed to command a consensus though and has not been heard of for a long time. That may be partly, as with AAT, because they were all so convinced that the savannah was the answer that wouldn't look at anything else. Presumably that could now change.
Yes, the other guy you might quote is Robert Martin. He was the one who first introduced nutrition as a possible factor in brain growth.
He also pointed out as you do that in the apes the brain is already larger than in other mammals of similar size. Most of us tend to leave that fact out once we start dealing with the unique scale of its expansion in humans. But if you are thinking of forest fruits it would fit back in again.
Regards

Elaine Morgan (Author and researcher, Written books on human evolution including Scars of Evolution, The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis)


Left in the Dark provides answers to many of the questions that science has so far failed to satisfactorily address. It does so by challenging one previously unchallenged assumption - that we are now at the peak of human cognitive ability. By showing how our brain function may have actually deteriorated over the last 200,000 years, ECR research also provides us with clues as to how we may return to the peak of our human potential. His model draws together the work of many other renowned scientists in consciousness research into a complex, but perfectly formed whole. Since first hearing Tony's ideas ten years ago, I have taken part in ongoing experiments to help ground his theories into actual experience. During this time I have discovered & enhanced sensory abilities that I didn't previously realise I had & my latest amazing experience on a recent ECR retreat took me to even greater levels. Now I understand just why Tony thinks this work is so important; because I feel that I have now had the briefest of glimpses of what our human potential ought to be.
David Austin (Physics BSc) - Consciousness Researcher, Permaculture Diploma Tutor, Designer & Teacher also served on the Permaculture association council 2000-2005


I just happened to stumble across your web site and am absolutely intrigued with the ideas presented. However, while I realize you need major funding, I am only an individual. It boggles my mind that SOMEONE with the means has not jumped at the chance to help you in your research. When I read the material, I thought to myself THIS is the theory I've been looking for! Anything that has the potential to bring together science and religion and calm the insanity the rift has caused SHOULD be what we all are focusing our attentions on! It amazes me what DOES get published out there while work as crucial as yours goes unnoticed. It's painfully obvious sometimes that we've stopped evolving! I wish you all the luck in the world in finding the capital to continue your work. I agree that it's some of the most intriguing, important work I've ever encountered.
Michael LaPoint (Professional musician U.S.A)

Left in the Dark is beginning to reach a wider general audience. Here are a few additional comments:

Superb human evolution, diet, brainwaves and sleep, drugs and super powers.... fascinating read...
Bogdan Ravaru


As I was reading this book I said to my husband this is one of the best books I have read and I read a lot! I finished the book and still feel this way. It just made so much common sense!
It is well written, easy to follow and hard to put down. A Damn good read. I have passed the book on and hope that the message it has to give is spread far and wide so that further research can be done. Thank you Tony and Graeme for all your valuable work - I wish you well in continuing to help us all make sense of "life" so that our world can only be a better place for future generations.
Janet New Zealand

Stunning - And Simple What an incredible book. Literally, mind-blowing. The central idea explains everything about people that ever puzzled me or niggled the back of my mind.
If you have any unease about 'progress' - any concern for the ecological future of the world - if you care about the next generation - if you wonder what it means to have a moment of intuition, or a 'spiritual experience', or 'know' that someone is looking at you - if you are wondering where humanity went wrong - read this book. If this idea is right, the mess that we are in is not our fault, but we still desperately need to fix it.
In our lifetimes we will probably never know for sure if the theory contained here is right or wrong. But just realizing that this MIGHT be true, changes everything for me. I can see what I was doing right, what was wrong, what is important and what needs to be dropped.
The description may make this book sound academic and perhaps difficult - but it is NOT. The idea is very well explained in simple terms, all the supporting arguments are clear and the scientific theory is there if you want it. Any reasonably intelligent person could follow it easily.
Most of us are floundering through our lives, trying to act for the best without ever knowing exactly what the best is. We are always half-conscious of something lacking but we either have no idea what it is or we chase after things that, when we get them, turn out not to fill the gap after all. Other people seem to be complete - but to ourselves, we don't - and we never quite feel we fit in. Want to know why? Expand your universe - read Wright & Gynn's explanation. I only wish this was more widely distributed. It should be in Amazon etc. Listen to interview with Tony Wright about the book on New Zealand radio.
Part 1 here: part one.mp3
Part 2 here: part two.mp3
Rosie Cottis

A truly seminal piece of writing . . . ties together very succinctly diverse esoteric ideologies with a solid underpinning of factual observations from the fields of neurophysiology, psychology and much more.
I look forward to seeing where practical application of some of the ideas mentioned can lead us.
Tim Varley


EXTRAORDINARY. I would have rated this book ****** if I could work out how to do it!
Function. Diet. Chemistry. Psychology. Sociology. Anthropology. Creativity. Ecology.
This book manages to explain the link between all of these and more and the effects our tragic inherited loss of function has and is increasingly having on us. It takes us to the edge of our potentiality and exposes the inherent key for profound and sustainable change from the inside out.
It is fascinating and engaging reading, written in digestible sections with a balance of scientific information, explanation, personal experience and the odd lacing of dry humour to highlight the message.
It gave me a real sense and explanation of hunches I've had in my work and life, with lots of new ground as 'food for thought'.
With deep thanks,
Ruth Boulton Music Therapist

Left in the Dark sheds LIGHT on what can only be described as perfect sense about our human nature. The ideas are cutting edge and could transform society if were were to implement them in our day to day lives. It provides hope that humanity isn't destined for disaster. The choice, however, is always ours. Will we seek to honour our biological needs or go on suppressing them? I fully endorse the authors' intentions, research and conclusions, and can't recommend the book highly enough. It should be mandatory reading for anyone involved in medicine, psychology, biology and nutrition. EXCELLENT and gripping.
Veronika Robinson, Editor The Mother magazine

When I first read left in the dark I was awe-struck. Through a true piece of right brain inspiration he has possibly stumbled on the single most important discovery ever made: that our left brains are a damaged counterpart of the right. Not only that but he explores in detail the possible biological causes as well as consequences theological, social and individual. He also poses some enthralling ideas to remedy the situation.
As a supposedly rational atheist I have often had trouble reconciling my 'spiritual' experiences with my world view. Tony's book gave me a way through this. A year on from my first reading of left in the dark I am still grateful for the insight it has given me into the human condition. I hope and suspect that this is the starting point for a revolution in the way we think about ourselves - not as the pinnacle of evolution but simply as a species that made it this far (and by the skin of our teeth at that).
Oh and did I mention it is beautifully and entertainingly written? Good luck guys:-)
Robert Kay

I have read many books, and done lots of research in the realms of, spirituality, and human physics... How we and the universe works, left in the dark is one of the best books I have read. It is full of riveting content and is hard to put down, the fresh ideas and conclusions speak loudly, and "ring true" the book is also superbly written and very accessible.
A must read book.
Paul Jackson


I have never come across a paradigm that fitted so many others into its context.
Not only is it the most comprehensive, science-based understanding of current human nature, but it is also the most reverential.
Offering the highest degree of credible research from numerous fields it shows why Humans are the most inventive of creatures, and cites us with great powers beyond our current knowledge, but also, why we are the most destructive, and in the most stupid of ways.
Fields of research as diverse as these typically do not meet, but Tony's work is forcing a new era, whereby all sciences must find grounds upon which to agree if we are to survive the current epoch.
Ahead of his time, but not a moment to soon. It is time to ask why Humans are so disconnected, greedy and harbouring, to the point of mass genocide.
If we are indeed nature's greatest achievement, then where is the evidence of our abundance and wisdom?
The starving millions, standing in mounds of recyclable plastic, doesn't seem to show such a rosy picture as we would like, so we just ignore it. Why ?
Or are we really, as the book suggests, in the greatest mass dillusion of all time. That actually, what we see as the peaks of our intellectual abilities are driven by our insatiable needs, created in turn by our unprecedented sense of disconnection and loneliness.
Tony's book not only highlights the most terrible depth of our situation, but also brings to bare the great hope that exists from understanding the problem.
The most encompassing, traumatic and yet hopeful book I have even read.
Dao Earl

If the theory is correct, and it is highly highly plausible and backed by a good deal of research, then there is a very bright light being shed onto the human story. Not only a new theory of evolution , but an explanation of the utter madness that prevails in the human condition.
Beyond all this there is a possible solution that can lead is from the dark and return us to a state of grace.
The research in the tradition of all great research and insights leads to a stream of highly intriguing questions, which n deserve global attention. If we follow this book and regard its contents as a true perspective on reality then it must surely inspire us to change how we live as individuals and as a society.
Get hold of a copy. Read it, read it again pass it on get your friends to buy it.
Then when you have accepted it, use it as a stepping stone on a journey of transformation and add a drop of sanity to the world.
Phil Warsop

Surprised not to find this in the top sellers list! I Give it a five star rating! and encourage anyone interested in living life alive in joy and conscious awareness to Order it.
This is a book for those of us seriously interested in our potential, our expression in the world and with each other. The book covers in depths study into human potential conscious awareness, through varying channels of discussion too numerous to mention.
Anyone who 'knows there is more' deserves to read this book. Its a wonderful experience, and a great gift for those we love and cherish! This is cutting edge information! cutting edge potential. What is it all about. Well just order it and read, you will be blown away. Your heart will sing in resonance. I know it will. Mine did! I felt a true sense of commitment and dedication from Tony.
Did you know!? he has just completed an 11 day quest into exploring consciousness without sleeping.
How amazing is that! Breaking a world record and evoking global attention and much media coverage - Tonys work is more than record breaking! Its a life commitment and dedication to get information out there for us all. Supported and cherished by his family and friends Tony is blasting through barriers. He is doing the work and sharing the treasure. Do read the book, I feel so excited and I want for you to be touched too. The content is too orgasmically precious to talk about, You dont need reasons, just trust your heart, go with the flow and order it. In ordering the book I was blessed with learning and at the same time the joy that comes from supporting a pioneering endeavour. Enjoy it, let us know what you think about it.
Lets get this book into the top sellers list. WHY - cause we care and we deserve! to read it.
In vibrant love to all those who feel the light and attune with the wisdom - I know you will want to order this book.In love and joy.
Ruth.