Astral Codex Ten

Gurdjieff

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Gurdjieff

Article

Gurdjieff is a recurring person in the Astral Codex Ten archive, appearing 2 times across 2 issues between August 31, 2023 and January 16, 2026. The archive places it in contexts such as “Tell people (as Gurdjieff did) that they are sheep-like automata drifting through life”; “Gurdjieff keeps first place by a hair”. It most often appears alongside Wall Street, Adams, Against Automaticity.

Metadata

  • Category: People
  • Mention count: 2
  • Issue count: 2
  • First seen: August 31, 2023
  • Last seen: January 16, 2026

Appears In

Source Context

Recovered passages from the original issue text. When the raw archive preserved outbound links inside the source passage, they are listed directly under the quote.

Here's Why Automaticity Is Real Actually
August 31, 2023 · Original source
It’s most obvious in the teachings of George Gurdijieff, the early 20th century mystic who made it a centerpoint of his cult. Wikipedia says:
Inline links: George Gurdijieff
Gurdjieff taught that people are not conscious of themselves . . .He asserted that people in their ordinary waking state function as unconscious automatons, but that a person can "wake up" and become what a human being ought to be.
These questions, taken seriously, will drive you insane. Plato and the Buddha are old enough to be safe, but this is prime cult recruitment material here. Tell people (as Gurdjieff did) that they are sheep-like automata drifting through life without conscious thought, and they’ll notice it’s basically true, freak out, and become easy prey for whatever grift you promise will right the situation.
The Dilbert Afterlife
January 16, 2026 · Original source
The result was God’s Debris. This is not a good book. On some level, Adams (of course) seemed to realize this, but (of course) his self-awareness only made things worse. In the second-worst introduction to a work of spiritual wisdom I’ve ever read (Gurdjieff keeps first place by a hair), he explains that this is JUST A THOUGHT EXPERIMENT and IF YOU TAKE IT SERIOUSLY, YOU FAIL. But also, it really makes you think, and it’s going to blow your mind, and you’ll spend the rest of your life secretly wondering whether it was true, but it won’t be, because IT’S JUST A THOUGHT EXPERIMENT, and IF YOU TAKE IT SERIOUSLY, YOU FAIL. Later, in a Bloomberg interview, he would say that this book - and not Dilbert - would be his “ultimate legacy” to the world. But remember, IT’S JUST A THOUGHT EXPERIMENT, and IF YOU TAKE IT SERIOUSLY YOU FAIL.
Inline links: God’s Debris, Gurdjieff keeps first place by a hair, a Bloomberg interview