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The Future of the Body: Explorations Into the Further Evolution Of Human Nature
In the oral and written histories of every culture, there are countless records of men and women who have displayed extraordinary physical, mental, and spiritual capacities. In modern times, those records have been supplemented by scientific studies of exceptional functioning.
Are the limits of human growth fixed?
Are extraordinary abilities latent within everyone?
Is there evidence that humanity has unrealized capacities for self-transcendence?
Are there specific practices through which ordinary people can develop these abilities?
Michael Murphy has studied these questions for over thirty years.
In The Future of the Body, he presents evidence for metanormal perception, cognition, movement, vitality, and spiritual development from more than 3,000 sources. Surveying ancient and modern records in medical science, sports, anthropology, the arts, psychical research, comparative religious studies, and dozens of other disciplines, Murphy has created an encyclopedia of exceptional functioning of body, mind, and spirit. He paints a broad and convincing picture of the possibilities of further evolutionary development of human attributes.
By studying metanormal abilities under a wide range of conditions, Murphy suggests that we can identify those activities that typically evoke these capacities and assemble them into a coherent program of transformative practice.
A few of Murphy's central observations and proposal
Are the limits of human growth fixed?
Are extraordinary abilities latent within everyone?
Is there evidence that humanity has unrealized capacities for self-transcendence?
Are there specific practices through which ordinary people can develop these abilities?
Michael Murphy has studied these questions for over thirty years.
In The Future of the Body, he presents evidence for metanormal perception, cognition, movement, vitality, and spiritual development from more than 3,000 sources. Surveying ancient and modern records in medical science, sports, anthropology, the arts, psychical research, comparative religious studies, and dozens of other disciplines, Murphy has created an encyclopedia of exceptional functioning of body, mind, and spirit. He paints a broad and convincing picture of the possibilities of further evolutionary development of human attributes.
By studying metanormal abilities under a wide range of conditions, Murphy suggests that we can identify those activities that typically evoke these capacities and assemble them into a coherent program of transformative practice.
A few of Murphy's central observations and proposal
785 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
19 people are currently reading
634 people want to read
About the author
Michael Murphy
205 books54 followersBestselling author Michael Murphy has been called the father of the human potential movement, one of the most influential movements in twentieth-century American culture. His bestselling book Golf in the Kingdom (1972) inspired the creation of the Shivas Irons Society, a nonprofit group dedicated to finding beauty and discovery through the game of golf, and has recently been adapted into a movie starring Malcolm McDowell (2010). His other books include Jacob Atabet (1977), An End to Ordinary History (1982), In the Zone (1995), and The Kingdom of Shivas Irons (1997). He lives in California.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 19, 2015
This book is all over the place. It is presented as an overview of the extraordinary capacities exhibited by some humans and it does that, but it does it without much concern for the quality of the sources, the weight of the evidence of the plausibility of the claim. It is one thing to review research in parapsychology, quite another to accept medieval lives of the saints. Still, where else can one find an extended exposition of the "odor of sanctity" displayed by some corpses?
I was given this as a gift from the ever-generous Michael.
I was given this as a gift from the ever-generous Michael.
January 26, 2015
What we think we know about embodiment might usefully be enhanced by getting the full picture. Murphy's book will no doubt take many into spaces that make them feel uncomfortable. Others will find it liberating. I have more to say about this title on my blog: Sects and Violence in the Ancient World.
May 1, 2014
I've read this book multiple times since I was a child. It completely redefined how I thought of human evolution. I can't overstate the influence it had on my writing. It's also the reason I publish under the name M Joseph Murphy. There are too many Michael Joseph Murphys writing books. However, no one has written a book like this. An absolute must read for anyone interested in real superpowers.
January 17, 2024
The best book I've read in a long time. Gives me a different outlook on the mind-body ecology as a whole, and leads me to think more seriously on how our potentialities as humans can expand with the belief that we behold higher states within us.
Really inspiring stuff. It gets me quite excited to integrate these ideas into my eventual practice as a psychologist. If anyone has any recommendations on Sports Psychology reads, please let me know! Murphy did a brilliant job bringing a wide variety of phenomena related to the "perceived" limits of our potential and how we can continue to transcend these.
BRAVO!
Really inspiring stuff. It gets me quite excited to integrate these ideas into my eventual practice as a psychologist. If anyone has any recommendations on Sports Psychology reads, please let me know! Murphy did a brilliant job bringing a wide variety of phenomena related to the "perceived" limits of our potential and how we can continue to transcend these.
BRAVO!
October 19, 2023
Remarkable in its scope and ambition, this book provides an exhaustive (and perhaps occasionally exhausting) treatment of the case for "metanormal" functioning in human beings. It's hardly leisure reading, but I was surprised by how drawn into it I got after originally planning to sample only a few pages.
Currently reading
January 26, 2009 A review of the history and empirical data of metanormal human capacities. As well as a map for creating a transformative practice designed to encourage the growth of said metanormal capacities. A fore-runner to Ken Wilber's Integral Movement, Michael Murphy co-founder the Esalen institute in Big Sur, California.
March 26, 2013
At first I found the girth of the book more inspiring than daunting, but I must admit some intimidation in starting this huge tome. It's length is not regrettable in the slightest, though. It is positively brimming with information and anecdotes that are a wonder to have on hand.
August 7, 2007
Loved this book! Still reading it, and probably continue throughout my life. Very inspiring and increases the range of what I believed to be possible in this mysterious world.
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August 21, 2012very good
September 9, 2014
Greatly expands the current understanding of evolution.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews