Turn on, tune in, drop out
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Image:Leary.jpg "Turn on, tune in, drop out" is a counterculture phrase coined by Timothy Leary in the 1960s. It is an excerpt from a prepared speech he delivered at the opening of a press conference in New York City in September 1966. This phrase urged hippies to initiate cultural changes through the use of psychedelics and by removing themselves from the existing society. The phrase was derided by conservative critics.
The phrase is derived from this part of Leary's speech: "Like every great religion of the past we seek to find the divinity within and to express this revelation in a life of glorification and the worship of God. These ancient goals we define in the metaphor of the present—turn on, tune in, drop out."
Leary later explained: "'Turn on' meant activating your neural and genetic equipment. 'Tune in' meant interacting harmoniously with the world around you. 'Drop out' meant a voluntary detachment from involuntary commitments like school, the military, and corporate employment."
Turn on, tune in, drop out is also the title of a book (ISBN: 1579510094) of essays by Timothy Leary, covering topics ranging from religion, education and politics to Aldous Huxley, neurology and psychedelic drugs.