Tony Wright is an author and consciousness researcher from Penzance, Cornwall. He claims to hold the world record for sleep deprivation.
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Wright claimed the world sleep deprivation record in May 2007.[1] He based his record-breaking attempt on the belief that Randy Gardner was officially recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as holding the deprivation record of 264 hours.[1] Others believe that the previous Guinness record was for 11½ days, or 276 hours, and was set by Toimi Soini in Hamina, Finland, between February 5 to 15, 1964, and that Wright did not in fact break any record. Wright's friend Graham Gynn asserts that the Gardner record is the accepted record in the sleep research community.[2] Wright's record claim was not credited by The Guinness Book of Records, since it no longer accepts records related to sleep deprivation due to the possible health risks.[2]
Wright claims that by reverting to a biochemically complex diet of raw foods approximating that eaten by our forest dwelling ancestors, he is able to perform such feats of deliberate insomnia.[3] He also asserts that his motivation for breaking the world sleep deprivation record was neither fame nor fortune. Rather, he claims his intention was to promote his radical theories of human neurological degeneration that are proposed in his self published book, Left In The Dark, which he says are revolutionising mankind's ability to comprehend its own largely dysfunctional behaviour.
Wright and Graham Gynn co-wrote Left in the Dark,[2] in May 2007. A self-published book, it presents an outline of his theory that, due to the consequences of cerebral dominance, humans are unavoidably governed and constrained by the brain's left hemisphere, which he says requires significantly more sleep than the right.
It is Wright's theory that the left hemisphere is actually a hormonally retarded version of the right hemisphere. As evidence for this, Wright points to autism researcher Prof. S. Baron-Cohen's work implicating high levels of uterine testosterone in the development of autistic tendencies.[notes 1] These are tendencies which he says are merely a stronger manifestation of our species-wide neurological condition - a damaged, yet dominant, left hemisphere.
Wright claims the current classification of autism is actually just a small part of a spectrum of dysfunction that should include us all. According to his theories, everybody has a neurologically damaged left hemisphere that is more dominant (and more damaged) than it was in our more functional evolutionary past.
In the case of some autistic savants, who sometimes display genius abilities in specific areas, Wright's theory states that, due to the extent of the damage to the left hemisphere, it is less able to suppress the amazing abilities of the right. Wright asserts that the fact that these individuals frequently face social challenges is explained by understanding that the left hemisphere still retains overall dominance in many of the areas that compose the various facets of our personality.
In his self published book, Wright further questions the widespread assumption that we are indeed at the pinnacle of our evolution. Instead, Wright proposes that the shift away from our evolutionary diets, and the knock-on hormonal effects on the development of our brains, has resulted in species-wide neurological dysfunction with profound effects on the integrity of our perception. Wright points to unprecedented levels of systemic dysfunction, degenerative disease, depression, societal problems, and many other indicators of compromised human function as evidence.
Wright proposes that once we strayed from tropical fruit diets, the biochemistry was simply no longer present to support optimal neurological development. According to Wright's theories, this eventually led indirectly to increased left hemisphere dominance and damage, a compromised and deluded perception, and to us exhibiting a profoundly dysfunctional psychology. Critically, Wright proposes that the neurological degeneration took place mainly in the left hemisphere while the right hemisphere remained comparatively functional, although it was still hugely suppressed by the more dominant (and dysfunctional) left.
Wright also proposes that the ancient Ages of Man mythology accurately describes the onset and progression of a neurological condition that correlates with the end of the rapid expansion of the human brain. He also proposes that the origins of ‘religious’ techniques and practices were palliative attempts at treating the condition.
Furthermore, Wright claims that, through the use of specific techniques, it may be possible to transcend the dysfunction of the left hemisphere and access more of our superior right hemisphere function. This, he claims, would lead to a much more functional experience of life, for us as individuals and as a society. Wright's research ultimately aims to elucidate a specific protocol for accessing superior brain function, for which he believes the primary mechanisms are reducing left hemisphere dominance, and activating right hemisphere function. Wright also claims that preventing the condition in the first place may be feasible by simply restoring the hormonal environment that prevailed during the rapid expansion of our brain during foetal development.[4]
Wright's radical ideas have been endorsed by academics such as Richard Heinberg, Prof. Colin Groves, Prof. Ashok Gangadean, Prof. Robert Greenway,[notes 2] Dr. Michael Winkelman,[notes 3] and the psychiatrist Darold Treffert.[5] Non-academic supporters for Wright's theories include the founder of the Eden Project, Tim Smit; former Police Superintendent Peter Bennett;[notes 4] and author and raw foodist, David Wolfe.[6] A second edition of Wright's book was published in February 2008 by Lulu.com. It includes a foreword by Dr. Dennis McKenna that offers further support for Wright's theory.[7]
Wright is a member of Courvoisier's 'The Future 500', which is "an exclusive network of pioneers, entrepreneurs and revolutionary spirits from the arts, social enterprise, business, science, gastronomy, fashion and beyond".[8]