R. Scott Bakker

**Richard Scott Bakker** (born February 2, 1967, Simcoe, Ontario) is a Canadian fantasy author. He also lectures in the South Western Ontario university community. He grew up on a tobacco farm in the Simcoe area. In 1986 he attended the University of Western Ontario and studied literature. He later completed an MA in theory and criticism.  After further study in philosophy at Vanderbilt University he returned to London, Ontario where he now lives with his wife and daughter. He spends his time writing fiction and study.

#### The Second Apocalypse

R. Scott Bakker's major work is a series known as _The Second Apocalypse,_ which he began developing in the 1980s. The series was first planned as series of three books. The first two books were to be _The Prince of Nothing_ and _The Aspect-Emperor_. The third book has been called _The Book That Shall Not Be Named_ by Bakker.  He thought the title of this book was a spoiler for the first two books.

Bakker began writing the books in the early 2000s. He found he needed to split each of the three books into its own sub-series to include all of the characters, themes and ideas he wished to explore. The first two books have now become trilogies, and the third book, which is currently two volumes, may expand to a third.

#### Neuropath

A science fiction novel about a serial killer whose knowledge allows them to control the human brain. Published in 2008.

#### The Disciple of the Dog

The story of a private investigator, Disciple Manning, who suffers from a condition like Hyperthymesia. Published in 2010.

### Philosophy

Bakker developed ideas which are the basis of his Blind Brain Theory and Heuristic Neglect Theory.

#### Blind Brain Hypothesis

A short essay about his Blind Brain Hypothesis_, _published 2008. It was based on ideas that were part of his novel, _Neuropath. _These ideas were about the limits of human consciousness, for example how the eye does not see all the colors because they are beyond our field of vision. We are only aware of a tiny part of all the information our brains process, and this means that what we experience is largely an illusion.

Bakker wrote that the scientific method and its progress would one day give us insights into human behavior that we could not imagine now. He argued in the future there would be some kind of brain–computer interface.

#### The Semantic Apocalypse

In 2008, Bakker presented _The End of the World As We Know It: Neuroscience and the Semantic Apocalypse_ at Western University's Centre for the Study of Theory and Criticism. This was based on ideas from _Neuropath, _a  fictional world where the technologies of neuroscience have reached technical and social maturity and prevalence.

Bakker says that science is now used to explain the natural world, rather than folk stories. He says that one day science will also explain how our brains work, and how that affects our behaviour. Human behaviour is not always rational, and society has ignored this cognitive bias. Bakker's Blind Brain Hypothesis is that we are only conscious of a tiny part of the information processed by our brains. Because of this we do not fully understand our thoughts and behaviours.

Bakker noted the amount of money now being spent to use neuroscience to improve marketing techniques.

#### Three Pound Brain

In May 2010, Bakker began a blog called _Three Pound Brain._ Bakker has used the blog to explore and write about his philosophical ideas. He also uses it for copies of his past academic work, speculative pieces, and samples and drafts of his fiction writing.

#### Back to Square One

An essay published on _Scientia Salon,_ November 2014.

#### Crash Space

Science fiction short story released in _Midwest Studies in Philosophy_.

#### From Scripture to Fantasy

A paper published in _Cosmos and History,_ January 2017.

#### On Alien Philosophy

_On Alien Philosophy_ was first published on _Three Pound Brain_, August 2015, it was later rewritten for the _Journal of Consciousness Studies_, Feb 2017.

### The Prince of Nothing

- _The Darkness That Comes Before_ (2004)
- _The Warrior-Prophet_ (2005)
- _The Thousandfold Thought_ (2006)

### The Aspect-Emperor

- _The Judging Eye_ (2009)
- _The White-Luck Warrior_ (2011)
- _The Great Ordeal_ (2016)
- _The Unholy Consult_ (2017)

### Atrocity Tales

- _The False Sun_, Three Pound Brain, published in 2017 in _The Unholy Consult_
- _The Four Revelations of Cinial'jin_, Three Pound Brain, published in 2017 in _The Unholy Consult_
- _The Knife of Many Hands_, published in two parts in Grimdark Magazine #2 & #3, 2015
- _The Carathayan_, published in _Evil is a Matter of Perspective_

### Short Stories

- _Light, Time, and Gravity_, Three Pound Brain
- _The Long Held Breath_, Three Pound Brain
- _Reinstalling Eden_, Nature (2013)
- _What Was...And What Will Never Be_, Three Pound Brain
- _Crash Space_, Midwest Studies in Philosophy (2015)
- _The Dime Spared_, Three Pound Brain

### Disciple Manning novels

- _Disciple of the Dog_ (2010)
- _The Enlightened Dead_ (forthcoming)

### Stand-alone novels

- _Neuropath_ (2008)

### Essay-collections

- _Through the Brain Darkly: The Blind Brain Theory of R Scott Bakker_ (2013)
- _The Digital Dionysus: Nietzsche & the Network-Centric Condition_ (2016)

## Other websites

- Official R. Scott Bakker website
- Bakker's blog
- Second Apocalypse Forum  Independently maintained fan forum endorsed by R. Scott Bakker.
- R. Scott Bakker's The Devil's Chirp (Ambrose Bierce homage)
- Bakkerfans Twitter
- R. Scott Bakker's old SFF Forum  at SFFWorld
- The Three-Seas Forum read-only archive
- Bakker Subreddit

## Infobox (writer)

- **name**: R. Scott Bakker
- **image**: R Scott Bakker 3 240409.jpg
- **birth place**: Simcoe, Ontario, Canada
- **occupation**: Philosopher/Novelist
- **genre**: Science Fiction/Fantasy