Peter Russell - Definition

This article is about present day futurist Peter Russell, not Canadian historic figure Peter Russell.

Peter Russell is an author of speculative futurology and a proponent of speculative theories about consciousness. He has degrees in physics and psychology and has studied eastern and western philosophies of the mind.

In The Global Brain Awakens, Russell's most popular book, he opens with part one on the Gaia Hypothesis. In part two, he discusses orders of evolution going from the evolution of the early universe during the Big Bang, through biological evolution, and finishing with "the emerging social superorganism." In part three, he discusses "inner evolution" and the "high-synergy society". In some ways, this 2000 book echoes the optimistic dot-com zeitgeist.

In From Science to God, Russell evokes Thomas Kuhn's paradigm shift to argue that science is on the threshold of a new superparadigm. Russell disputes scientific materialism and says science will come to "embrace spirit and -- dare we say it -- God".¹ He likens current efforts to explain consciousness (such as neuropsychology) to the convoluted epicycles before the Copernican revolution in astronomy. Russell's views are in sharp contrast to materialists like Daniel Dennett, author of Consciousness Explained. Depending on one's point of view, Russell's perspective could be argued as either protoscientific or pseudoscientific.

In the field of creativity enhancement, Russell has advocated the use of mind maps.

In politics, Russell has pacifist tendencies and sides with left-leaning activist protesters against the Bush administration's approach to the War on Terrorism.²

Books by Peter Russell

• The TM Technique (1976) -- on Transcendental Meditation.
• The Upanishads (illustrated 1978), (2003), with Alistair Shearer. Translation and commentary on the Upanishads.
• The Brain Book (1979)
• The Creative Manager (1992)
• Waking Up in Time: Finding Inner Peace in Times of Accelerating Change (http://www.peterussell.com/WUIT/index.html) (1992). Updated edition of The White Hole in Time (1992).
• The Global Brain Awakens: Our Next Evolutionary Leap (http://www.peterussell.com/GB/globalbrain.html), (1995). Updated version of The Global Brain (1983) which was published as The Awakening Earth (1982) in the UK.
• The Consciousness Revolution (http://www.peterussell.com/CR/index.html) (1999), with Stanislav Grof and Ervin Laszlo.
• From Science to God: A Physicist's Journey into the Mystery of Consciousness (http://www.peterussell.com/SG/index.html), (2002).

External Links

• Peter Russell's home page (http://www.peterussell.com/index2.html)
• ¹ A New Superparadigm? (http://www.peterussell.com/SCG/SPD.html) - arguing for a new spiritual basis for reality to supersede current scientific materialism
• ² Responses to Terrorist Attacks (http://www.peterussell.com/WTC/index.html) - annotated links of initial pacifist reactions to the attack, including links to material by Michael Moore, Deepak Chopra, and Martin Luther King