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Announcing the publication of my new book Essays on the Future of Psychology and Consciousness.

The book is available in paperback and can be purchased at Amazon:

Spanning over twenty years of inquiry, teaching, and writing in futures studies, psychology, philosophy, and science fiction these essays comprehensively address a critically important issue regarding the future of humanity. How may human psychology and human consciousness transform and evolve in the future? Of special significance, what are the preferable and desirable directions for our psychological and conscious evolution? The broad array of topics covered in these essays include: Psychological growth versus stagnation; coping with rapid and accelerative social and technological change; developing a globally- expansive and fluid sense of self-identity; Western and Eastern views of the human self and human society; the primacy and mystery of consciousness; the technological augmentation of the human mind; men and women and masculine and feminist mindsets; education for the mind of the future; the evolution of the science of psychology; pop psychology and the ongoing transformation of mental health and mental illness; technological immersion, virtual reality, and wise cyborgs; emotion, thinking, imagination, creativity, and human virtues with an eye on the future; ethics, evil, and disasters in the future; creating wisdom narratives for the future; the wise society; the centrality of consciousness of the future in the future evolution of consciousness; science fiction visions of the future of the human mind; and ecological and cosmic consciousness.

Advance Praise for Essays on the Future of Psychology and Consciousness:

“The interesting thing about Tom Lombardo is his ability to combine a futurist perspective with knowledge and wisdom from different professions. This collection of outstanding essays address nothing less than the future of human psychology. Overwhelmed by the richness of perspectives and insights combined with a futures approach, you feel honored and grateful at the same time. Just simply a brilliant collection of essays by one of the world leading futurists!”

Dr. Erik F. Øverland, President, World Futures Studies Federation

“Essays on the Future of Psychology and Consciousness, together with the other contributions in Tom Lombardo’s wide-ranging oeuvre, stands head and shoulders above most writings by more conventional professional futurists. It is well worthwhile.”

Oliver Markley, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus and former Chair, Graduate Program in Studies of the Future, University of Houston- Clear Lake

“Since the pandemic, the issue of mental health has erupted in businesses, schools, and the healthcare system. At the same time, digitalization, the transformation of work and family, social networks, and the Alien Gen all point to profound changes in the human mind. This new and brilliant book by Professor Lombardo, therefore, arrives at the right time to structure this reflection and it should meet a very large audience, well beyond the thinkers of the future, his usual aficionados.”

Fabienne Goux-Baudiment, CEO of proGective, Research Centre for Futures Studies, Former President of the World Futures Studies Federation

“A superbly written encyclopedia of futures studies approached from the lens of psychology, which opens your mind to the fascinating mystery of consciousness and the epic story of cosmic evolution.”

Victor V. Motti, President and CEO, Alternative Planetary Futures Institute (APFI), Washington DC, and Executive Director of the World Futures Studies Federation

Victor Motti (Advisory Board Member of the Center for Future Consciousness and Lee Beaumont (Coordinator of The Wisdom Page), both regular contributors to past issues of the Wisdom and the Future newsletter, have recently created new initiatives highly resonant with the mission and vision of the Center for Future Consciousness.

First, I will highlight Victor's current work, and then second, Lee's newest Wikiversity course.

Victor Motti, co-founder of the think-tank Alternative Planetary Future Institute, has created a new seven point Mission and Advocacy statement:

These seven goals align with the three major programs of the Institute:

The Institute has recently initiated a fund raising drive and donations to the Institute, a non-profit, non-commercial organization, can be made at the Website.

As part of his extensive Applied Wisdom Curriculum on Wikiversity, Lee Beaumont has created a very fascinating and thought provoking new online course on Intentional Evolution. To quote Lee's introduction and stated objectives of the course:

"Do today’s humans represent the endpoint of evolution, or are we on the threshold of the next big thing? This course, based primarily on the Evolutionary Manifesto, written by John Stewart, proposes that humans are at a historic and decisive crossroads in all of history. This course explores the hypothesis that we can choose to cooperate and allow the next level of organization to emerge, or the evolution project will end in the failure of humanity.

Because this course describes a vision of the future it necessarily includes predictions that are uncertain. However, the course is based on a substantial compilation of factual material including the mechanisms of evolution, developmental processes, human evolution, human nature, history, extinction events, and the status of our world cultures.

The objectives of this course are to:

John Stewart's ideas on intentional evolution are to a significant degree similar and resonant with my ideas on "purposeful evolution." If the reader finds the ideas in this course intriguing and wants to explore the topic further, an extensive set of links to articles by John Stewart is available at: The Evolutionary Manifesto Home.

https://cfc-school.thinkific.com/

"It is unmistakably the best webinar presentation, consecutively viewed or singly viewed, that I have ever spent as a participant or a viewer. Ever!" Cedar Sarilo Leverett, MFA, Society of Consciousness Studies

Having completing in May, 2022 the three-part webinar on "The 1980s: From Star Wars through Cyberpunk - How Science Fiction Conquered the World," the entire Evolution of Science Fiction Webinar series produced thus far from ancient myth and fantasy up through the 1980s, and concluding with Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash and The Diamond Age, is now available for viewing--as roughly 20 individual video presentations--on the Center for Future Consciousness Video School website.

For those unfamiliar with the Evolution of Science Fiction webinars, here's an introduction to the entire series:

"Combining colorful slide presentations and in-depth analysis, in these webinars, based on my book series Science Fiction: The Evolutionary Mythology of the Future, I examine the evolutionary history of science fiction from ancient to contemporary times. I delve into the mythological origins and dimensions of science fiction; fantasy versus science fiction; the rise of the modern scientific world view; utopias and dystopias through the ages; the Enlightenment, Romanticism, and Gothic horror; the impact of evolutionary theory on science fiction; Wells, Stapledon, and the integration of futures studies and science fiction; robots, techno-intelligence, and aliens; time travel and alternate realities; fantastical adventures, space exploration, and the emergence of Space Operas; the Golden Age, the Silver Age, the New Wave, Feminist Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Steampunk, and the "New Weird;" social, psychological, and religious science fiction; and numerous other key themes and dimensions of science fiction. Covering science fiction literature, art, cinema, and comics, I discuss in depth the appeal, value, and influence of science fiction on the modern world and the impact of intellectual and cultural trends on the evolution of science fiction."

After taking a summer break, this fall the science fiction webinar series will continue, beginning with "The 1990s: The Farthest Reaches of Space, Time, and Mind."

Here's an introduction to the forthcoming webinar this fall on the 1990s:

"In the 1990s science fiction literature expands outward into the farthest reaches of space, time, and mind. The depth and breadth of science fiction novels ascends to new levels in world-building and universe-building. In a trend that began in the 1980s, novels get bigger, and more intellectually intricate and mind-stretching. Setting new literary and imaginary standards along such lines, Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos—modeled on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales—delves into the “future of everything” a thousand years from now. Vernor Vinge, who first popularized the concept of the “technological singularity,” won Hugo awards for his space adventures in the Milky Way and his fantastical aliens in A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky. In Queen of Angels and Darwin’s Radio Greg Bear dives into the foundations of consciousness and the evolutionary transcendence of contemporary humanity. Kim Stanley Robinson, in his Mars trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars, & Blue Mars), writes the best books ever on the settlement of Mars--comprehensive, highly realistic utopian visions of the terraforming of another world. And Greg Egan—a powerhouse scientific-mathematical intellect—creates virtual minds, virtual universes, and virtual gods in his Permutation City and Diaspora.

There were numerous other engaging, thought-provoking authors of the era creating award winning stories, such as Octavia Butler (Parable of the Talents), Lois McMaster Bujold (the Vorkosigan Saga), and Nancy Kress (Beggars in Spain). Also during this time, Steampunk—a multi-faceted new cultural movement—emerged and began to rewrite history and redesign reality. Science fiction continued to dominate the cinema, with such notable films as The Matrix, Jurassic Park, Independence Day, The Fifth Element, Contact, Twelve Monkeys, and Terminator: Judgment Day. Programmed entirely with science fiction movies and series, the Sci-Fi Channel appeared in the 1990s. Finally, building on the great success of Akira, Sandman, and the phenomenal Watchmen, science fiction graphic novels exploded in popularity. Without question, science fiction significantly evolved in the 1990s."

Science Fiction: The Evolutionary Mythology of the Future