1980/Ferguson

==Ideas==
==Parts==
==Views==
; Amazon
A Wonderful Overview of the Human Potential, November 11, 2011
By Tor S. Thidesen "torsrthidesen" (Oslo, Norway) 
What can be said about this books that hasn't been said in the many already existing reviews?
This book succeeds in explaining a 'third path' in the human evolution. Not the path of organized religion, nor the path of objective science; Both have proven worthless through the course of history. Instead what Fergurson suggests is the path of integrating Eastern philosophy with the discovery of quantum physics. The parallel of Eastern philosophy, more accurately Vedanta, to quantum mechanics is not necessarily a new discovery, but Fergurson manages to put words and meaning behind the connection that for so long has been nothing more than a novel notion.
What personally struck me as rewarding with the book was the description of the stages an individual goes through when being transformed according to quantum spirituality (my choice of denominator). Having studied, in detail, accounts of such transformation, Fergurson manages to put the levels or stages of transformation into a handy check-list.
What more, a chapter dealing with the research into memory is especially enlightening. And as the aforementioned issues, Fergurson manages to make a valid and strong argument for an holistic approach, to medicine, economy, vocation and philosophy. What I had always seen as a mere notion or intuition, is now grounded with words and empiric evidence. Also, it should be said, Fergurson claims, quite fairly, that that very feeling, intuition, should play a much more vital role in our "transformation". Why do we ignore our own true understanding and wait for science to explain reality to us, when we have all the tools necessary to get All the answers.
One small drawback should be noted: Fergurson is a little bit cocksure in her description of this massive transformation; There really isn't any evidence for this transformation happening any time soon. Fergurson talks as if capitalism is close to being dismantled and corporate businesses are voluntarily marching out of the workplace... This is not the case. There are severe stumbling blocks to this transformation, and it could have enriched the book to hold back on the optimism, and instead face reality; We are not there, and incredible changes must be faced if we are to ever get close to this transformation in consciousness.
Other than that, this book really is a must have. I can't believe I didn't read it until 2011. I have already ordered the other books by Fergurson, and am awaiting them with anticipation.
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Are you a star child?, March 12, 2010
By Mr (University Park, MD, United States) 
Thesis: Carlos Castenada, Teilhard de Chardin, Herman Hesse, Carl Jung, J. Krishnamurti, and a hundred others are part of a new, evolutionary consciousness, and we can be too!
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Social Engineering for New Age Whitebreads!, December 3, 2009
By Cwn_Annwn (Copenhagen, Denmark) 
This book was published in the early 1980s. It claimed that there was a grass roots movement that was going to change society in what I would call a very new agey liberal type way but on the other hand a few times in this book it hails "captains of industry and finance, foundation officials and university programmers, tv producers and scions of old American wealth" as being a driving force behind this "grass roots" movement. Sounds like social engineering from the highest levels of society to me.
These types that adopt many of these ideas are what the Communists called "useful idiots" The type of people that would champion this book and the ideas in it are the types that love (from their armchair or as a detached fashionable accessory of course) globalism, Obama, pseudo environmentalism, new age religions and ideas, they love the idea of multi-culturalism and the global village, but yet they are the most isolated of white people. This species is most common in the pacific northwest and California.
Reading this book made me feel like I was being talked to for hours on end by a babbling new ager. Enjoy your new world order!
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Mind blowingly amazing!, October 30, 2009
By M. Renee Orth (Panama)
I'm only half way through this book, but I'm so excited to share it with my friends and family that I just bought some copies to give out so they don't have to wait until I'm finished.
I was astounded to see that this book has 3.5 stars - then I saw the reason, the poor souls who have created a terrifying reality filled with satanic conspirators have been sharing their delusions. I think they unwittingly prove a major tenet of the Aquarians: we don't see the world as it is, we see the world as we are.
Ferguson's insight into the power of networks three decades ago is particularly impressive - Twitter's role in the Iranian uprising is a clear example of this potential being used to transform the world.
The title's reference to the 1980s is a lesson in itself - this is a process with no beginning and no end, and change always take longer than we want it to. That being said, we have come a long way in past three decades. Obama is our leader! He sees that in order to create a future with less violence and more love (which, BTW, is what Jesus would do) we have to be less violent and more compassionate. As Ferguson says, the Aquarians realize that there are only means, no ends. Secret prisons in which human beings are tortured are inconsistent with the ideals of our forefathers (who were certainly early Aquarians) that all men are endowed by their creator with the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. When we act inconsistently with this ideal we are doing more to destroy our country than any terrorist ever could.
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Twenty Years Later and Still Illuminating, August 20, 2009
By Stephen C. Pile (New York) 
So here we are in the age of networks, nexus, connection, tipping points, change by bifurcation--all tantalizingly pointed toward by this book. I first read it the year it came out, and it fundamentally changed my thinking as a manager and change agent.
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Great New Age Summary, June 22, 2009
By Ann Laird "Ann" (Fort Collins, CO USA) 
I purchased this book as a gift for a retired college professor friend. My own copy was so worn out and marked up, I didn't feel I could lend it to a friend, and I wanted to keep my own. I consider it a wonderful interpretation and source-book of the philosophical strivings of the boom generation. It is comprehensive, well-written, and full of fascinating real-life details and stories. I wish it had contained more biographical information about its author, Marilyn Feguson, however. It seems she has read everything in the world, but knowing her academic credentials would have helped me cite her as an authority. I am sorry it is out of print.
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The New Age Movement and Service to the Plan organized by the Rockefeller's, December 1, 2008
By P. quintel "gatekeeper96740" (Kailua-kona) 
The New Age Movement and Service to the Plan organized by the Rockefeller's and the Club of Rome.The connection between Jewish Kabala /the Zohar and the religion practiced in ancient Babylon is the worship of the Baphomet.This is also the religion of the Masons i e skull and bones.
The New World Order as envisioned by the Elite is hardly a recent undertaking. Their's is a philosophy rooted in ancient occult traditions. Success is near, and the infiltration of society by New Age occultism is the reason for this success. The New World Order has never been solely about world government, rather, from the beginning its proponents have been privy to secret doctrines and it is a spiritual plan more than anything.
If one failed to take into account the occult nature of the New World Order, they would be remiss. The UN and the New Age have been bed-fellows since the beginning. America's secret destiny is the product of Rosicrucian and Freemason forefathers. The New Atlantis as proposed in Francis Bacon's work is almost at hand. The Ancient Mysteries are being studied for illumination and enlightenment by the New World Order's elite. Not to mention the New Age gurus -- dutifully recruiting on behalf of the Secret Brotherhood.
In 1980, Marylin Ferguson compiled and espoused a synthesis involving the theories of transformation and the secret plan of the Aquarian Age. In her studies of the scientific advancements of this age involving entropy and syntropy, holism, holographs, paradigm shifts, the uncertainty principle and evolution, she discovered that, "for the first time an American renaissance is taking place in all disciplines, breaking the boundaries between them, transforming them at their farthest reaches -- where they all converge." (The Aquarian Conspiracy p.12) BOUGHT AND PAID FOR BY ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION This is how mind control is done.This is how public opinion is created from the top down.Get some goofy professor and pay for what you want..
Update 2012
These rent a gurus meet every year in Hawaii, quite the exclusive club to organize strategy and Barbara Marx Hubbard wants to join the OWS this coming March 18 2012 on the equinox to usher in the transformation.You should read this woman's trash. Most new agers believe the earth must be covered in blood and fire to transition from the old Picean age to Aquarius.
[...]
...Jack Canfield slapped together some of his rent-a-gurus, so he could get some cross-promo for his Chicken Soup books with them. Its clear now that Jack Canfield is the one behind The Secret, as I suspected. It was clearly his idea, and he put all the people together from his Transformational Leadership Council, including Rhonda Byrne, and set this entire thing up.
Its nothing less than a new Chicken Soul franchise.
In bookstores, there is an entire separate rack of Chicken Soup books.
Now Jack Canfield wants to add another series...
The Secret series.
Books from all the Gurus on The Secret. That's about 30 books to start.
Now I also believe that Oprah company Harpo probably also has a development deal with Jack Canfield and is taking a cut of the action. Its probable that Oprah and Jack have cut a deal for The Secret series, which they plan on being as big as Chicken Soup. Rhonda Byrne is just a PR flack, with movie skills. 
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Not the same author, not the same book as I recall, July 4, 2007
By Bradley O'brien "Knight of the Woeful Contenance" (Fort Jackson SC) 
While I was attending Eastfield College (one of 7 county colleges in the Dallas County College District) way back in the early 80s [ and still trying to find a purpose/vocation/calling in life...which few if any universities are qualified, competent at or called to do for us anyway..] I had the opp to hear Marilyn Ferguson in a school-sponsored "Quality of Life" lecture.
I recall her more as someone who catalogued things happening in our society and culture and not at all as an instigator with a manifesto for what changes SHOULD be happening but merely what changes were happening whether we wanted it or not. Its the old thermometer vs thermostat role here folks.
And of many of the societal changes one can only say "and your point is...?"
For instance to name but one.."flattened managemt hierarchies"
Well yes, having a fat layer of intermediate middle managers is quite costly. Lots of white collar professionals were booted out of superfluous jobs so managemt and leadership has been shoved downward further and further. We have flatter hierarchies now mainly because the old top heavy bureaucracies (patterned perhaps after the military or govt civil service bureaucracy) cost too damned much and put an even greater disadvantage on usa in the globalized economy. All the money saved by eliminating midlevel jobs apparently went to pay outrageous salaries to men like Kenny Boy Lay, Jeffrey Skilling, Andrew Fastow etc etc.
I am a Christian. Perhaps I didnt read the book with the profound spiritual discernmt many here have. Again form the book and from the lecture she gave (little more than a glorified book promotion tour) I saw her more as a chronicler of what she saw happening with her explanations as to why it was happening. To that end this book is a glorified MEGATRENDS. Megatrends was a good book because the author relied more on statistics to depict things we could expect to see in the later 80s early 90s.
But neither Ferguson or Naisbitt were frontline leaders hoping to win over converts to their vision of what changes needed to be made in our way of thinking, working etc. They were as I said mere chroniclers of new ways of thinking, working relating etc.
It would have been nice had Marilyn had any sort of internal core guiding principles to say stuff like "I'm heartened by trend X but I personally oppose or find distressing trend Y since it runs counter to my belief in ABC"
I think what a lot of New Ager folks hate most of all is the political ramifications of their big "small is beautiful" power-to-the-people paradigm shift is that it lends itself to the politics most often advanced by folks like Harry Browne, Ron Paul and other Libertarian free marketeers who want to radically scale back the size and scope of government and to truly empower individuals.
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More Relevant Now Than When First Written, May 14, 2005
By Bugs "Patrick" (Pasadena, Ca.) 
A quick word about the effects of the title to this fine book before the review. As can be seen by a few negative reviews amongst the mostly glowing ones, the title is misleading and there is no "conspiracy" within the pages of this most uplifting and informing book.
For those folks preoccupied with discovering where the devil lurks instead of seeking knowledge of God and truth, you will be disappointed because the devil ain't here. You would be well informed to ignore the title and dive in to the content.
If your concern for life is such that you seek answers to some of the most confounding problems facing humanity, however, you will be delighted. No offense to Ms Ferguson or her publisher, but the title was poorly chosen and does not fit the beautiful content, but that's water under the bridge now. The assessment of the human condition along with the positive answers for unification of the human family with the rest of life is inspiring!
That said, this beautiful book exploded on the scene in 1980 and described where humanity was at in it's perception of reality, social structure, economics, politics and environment. It also clearly delineated where we should be headed for a more inclusive, rewarding and healthy future and almost every chapter concludes with a comparison list to show where a "Paradigm Shift" or change, is needed in our collective perception of reality on a broad range of topics.
The information and resources are as relevant today as when the book was first published- only more urgent because a good number of the changes needed then have not occurred and time marches on waiting for no one. Written as a "Why" and "How-to" guide for personal and societal transformation, it has an appendix full of network groups that offer guidance for change- all that list needs now is e-mail and website updates not available in 1980.
To point out the relevancy of this work in today's world, we can take a look at a subject heading: "The Way Of Avoidance" (p 74). Consider all of the big ticket issues that are intentionally being swept aside and ignored by society and government alike such as global warming, population pressure, pollution, disparity of wealth, etc., and we have:
"At the level of ordinary consciousness, we deny pain and paradox. We doctor them with Valium, dull them with alcohol, or distract them with television. Denial is a way of life. More accurately, it is a way of diminishing life, of making it seem more manageable. Denial is the alternative to transformation."
"Personal denial, mutual denial, collective denial. Denial of facts and feelings. Denial of experience, a deliberate forgetting what we see and hear. Denial of our capacities. Politicians deny problems, parents deny their vulnerability, teachers deny their biases, children deny their intentions. Most of all, we deny what we know in our bones."
"We are caught between two different evolutionary mechanisms: denial and transformation." And this is the essence of this fine book: to point out the current states of denial and to offer realistic, immediate alternatives for a positive transformation to an existence that we would rather have and can obtain with a little effort.
This book is a predecessor and now a fine companion to Duane Elgin's books, "Awakening Earth" "Voluntary Simplicity" and "Promise Ahead" where the need for "Paradigm Shifts" in thinking and relating to our world are expertly and thoroughly expounded upon. I also recommend Theodore Roszak's, "The Voice of the Earth". These are potent books with immediate, practical answers to uplift humanity.
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not 666, March 6, 2005
By Jesse M. 
This isn't a real review, I just wanted to respond to those zany reviews below which claim the symbol on the cover is a disguised 666. Actually, if you look up an introduction to the mathematical field of "knot theory" (a branch of topology) online, you'll find that it's a picture of the simplest non-trivial knot, known as the "trefoil knot" (the only simpler knot is the trivial case of the 'unknot', which is just an unknotted loop). Do an internet search using the terms "trefoil knot" and you'll see what I'm talking about (but maybe topologists are in league with Satan too, just like evolutionary biologists, geologists, astrophysicists, and other no-goods). The mathematically-inclined artist M.C. Escher drew a nicely rendered picture of three trefoil knots in 1965, titled "Knots" (the original Dutch title was 'Knopen'); the one on the cover of Aquarian Conspiracy looks a bit like a ripoff of Escher's version (which you can see at britton.disted.camosun.bc.ca/escher/knots.jpg ).
Oh yeah, and don't listen to anything Ferguson says on the subject of science, it's pretty much all nonsense. Read the book for entertainment only!
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Well meaning, but naive., August 19, 2004
By S. Plowright (Sydney, NSW Australia) 
Most either love it or hate it. It has been hailed as the handbook of the New Age. Most New Agers have a well thumbed copy on their shelf. Fundies decry it as the Devil's work. It is still selling in the "crystal dolphin" bookshops.
There are many laudable sentiments and good intentions in this book. There are reasonable positions passionately argued for. There is even a lot of truth. However, it does suffer from a typical New Age problem. In her optimism, the author paints a very rosy picture. Although she may not say it, the impression one is left with is that one can gain enlightenment on a weekend workshop, or on an acid trip.
Countless conspirators have ended up either becoming disillusioned with the pervasive New Age charlatanry, or have gone "off with the fairies" after too many unguided excursions into "alternative realities".
The book is intellectually either dishonest or naive. It promotes the philosophical relativism that makes the most absurd delusions merely different "realities". It really provides the popular culture in which the Post-Modernist lunatic fringe can be given some credence. In short, it is a recipe for escapism. One need only spend some time in New Age circles to see how far they are from the superior beings they tend to believe they are.
The constant invocation of Kuhn's magical mantra "paradigm shift", lulls the reader into thinking that there is something scientific about the alchemical transformation implied. She further abuses science by claiming that there are two kinds of science, old & new, linear & non-linear. She uses science to give credence to her ideas, while at the same time discrediting science as a vision of a dead mechanistic universe. Her treatment of science, apart from being hypocritical, paints a very inaccurate picture of what science is actually about.
As compelling and well written as this book is, it is seriously flawed. It does point out things that we could do better, but it has helped spawn an industry of self delusion. For anyone really interested in self development or spiritual exploration, I would strongly recommend Chogyam Trungpa's "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism" as an antidote to the less healthy aspects of the Aquarian Conspiracy.
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don't start your movement before reading this book, August 7, 2004
By aries1 (Riverside, CA, USA) 
The Aquarian Conspiracy is an excellent read! Why didn't I give it 5 stars?! Well, because I was disconcerted by the mention of LSD trips in this book. Other than that, this book is excellent learning material and a great way to expand your consciousness. I appreciate this book because it focuses on the idea of paradigm shifts and not on cults or large humanitarian movements. The Aquarian Conspiracy emphasizes that people need to shift their essential train of thought before any large social movement can be successful. In other words, if a society embarks on any given worldwide humanitarian movement but still works into the plan its old prejudices, then the movement will surely fail and the people that were supposed to be helped become the victims of that given movement.
The Aquarian Conspiracy exemplifies how a paradigm shift can be used to ease the tension that is inherent in several of our societies main institutions such as education, health care, politics, religion, careers, and marriage. The reader is warned several times that a personal paradigm shift will likely disrupt their lives. This shift may result in a major career change and a divorce. But the book also encourages the reader to move past this personal loss and realize that this pain is necessary for achieving self-actualization or better yet, SELF-LOVE!
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New Agers are Wolf in Sheep's Clothing., April 4, 2003
By john muncher (UK)
Dear Oh Dear... Another paganistic and beastly concoction disguised as spiritual awakening. Obviously influenced by the likes of A A Bailey, H P Blavatsky, Aleister Crowley and other Beastly doers of deception. Notice the 666 slightly camouflaged but still blatantly obvious on the front cover? I urge you to read this but to be analytical and on your guard as many of the buzzwords and phrases have alternative meanings. Good people DO NOT be fooled by this ungodly attempt at corrupting the hearts and minds of vulnerable people. May the true God (not some spirit of the earth or a LSD-trip) bless you all.
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Just a Good, Solid Book, January 22, 2003
By M.L. Clark "Melody" 
In my early 20s, this book set my mind on fire because it cleared away the doom-encrusted blindness of a prosaic protestant Christian (aka "dead spirituality") upbringing. Having read in the fields of perceptual door-cleansing for many years, I now see it as a good generalist overview with a lot of heart. I recommend it highly to anyone just starting their search.
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mark of the beast, September 2, 2002
By A Customer
Have you noticed the symbol on the cover of the book? It is disguised cleverly. It is the mark of the beast 666. The same symbol as the Trilateral commission, and other organizations. Open your eyes people and see what you are reading. This is a perfect example of the War between God and Satan. Please study what this woman stands for before you read this book, so you will be more prepared to understand what is going on.
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Introduction to New Age thinking; philosophically flawed, January 21, 2002
By Douglas Groothuis "Douglas Groothuis" (VINE VOICE) 
This book was a kind of manifesto for the New Age movement (now more often called the new spirituality) of the 1980s. Ferguson was a breathless chronicaler of mostly fringe ideas in psychology, science, and social science. She rallied the troops and dreamed big dreams.
I interact in-depth with the essential worldview--pantheistic monism--of this book in my several books on the New Age movement. It deifies the self while uprooting it from its proper mooring in the personal Creator and Redeemer of the universe. It is relativistic morally and unable to provide objective standards for human conduct. It denies the darkner side of human nature and opts for a utopianism of post-dated checks.
The New Age has become mainstrain in many ways today. Now we have Deepak Chopra, James Redfield, and others. Ferguson is no longer a key player. Nevertheless, the flaws and unkept promises of this worldview and spirituality should alert the wise to follow another path.
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Good book, not great, lots of interesting points, October 21, 1999
By A Customer
Originally published in 1980, this tome is a celebration of new ways of thinking about vocation, spirituality, and society in general. It is similar to Roszak's "Making of a Counter- Culture" in that it takes a broadly-defined movement and claims to present its principles and possibilities. Not fluff, and full of quotes and examples, but not too dry to be interesting.
Ferguson's idea was that the children of the '60's would introduce new ways of relating to different issues, challenging the old heirarchies of work, church, and home life. This would come about as the result of a kind of accidental conspiracy - different people in different walks of life individually pursuing the same philosophies. The result would be a new age defined by 'Transpersonal philosophy' and 'holism'.
While there have indeed been many social changes in the past 20 years none of them are historically revolutionary, and the old heirarchies remain, together with some new ones! I'd also say there's been an aggressive counter - counter-cultural movement! Not a work of prophecy, maybe, but a book with its finger on the pulse of something that is still alive. 
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This Book is a Definitive for Understanding the New Age, April 27, 1999
By evan7176@earthlink.net (Southeasten USA) 
This work is not anything that you do not already you do not know. It is the way the book is assembled that will change the way you think and feel towards the world we live in today. Social transformation must first come from an interpersonal level and then at a group level is essential for the change that is needed to bring Humanity into the next millennium and beyond. This written blueprint contains all vital information to help us to change the institutions bringing us closer to a true world harmony.
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Pure soul shake, January 26, 1997
By A Customer
I have been reading this book continuously since 88. I estimate I have given at least 20 copies away. I`m thankful to have come across this book. This book should be mandatory reading for any one considering the teaching profession
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