Rupert Sheldrake

Who is Rupert Sheldrake?

Alfred Rupert Sheldrake is an English author, lecturer, and researcher in the field of parapsychology, best known for advocating his "morphic resonance" concept. Prior to this, he was a biochemist and cell biologist at Cambridge University from 1967 to 1973 and principal plant physiologist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics until 1978. Since leaving research biology, he has primarily worked on promoting and defending morphic resonance in books, articles, and public appearances.

Conceived during Sheldrake's time at Cambridge, morphic resonance posits that "memory is inherent in nature" and "natural systems, such as termite colonies, or pigeons, or orchid plants, or insulin molecules, inherit a collective memory from all previous things of their kind". He believes that morphic resonance helps explain telepathy, which he claims is common in animals and people. His advocacy of the idea encompasses paranormal subjects such as telepathy and "the sense of being stared at" as well as unconventional explanations of standard subjects in biology such as development, inheritance, and memory.

The scientific community considers morphic resonance to be pseudoscience. Critics cite a lack of evidence for morphic resonance and an inconsistency of the idea with data from genetics and embryology, and also express concern that popular attention from Sheldrake's books and public appearances undermines the public's understanding of science. Despite the negative reception Sheldrake's ideas have received from the scientific community, they have found support in the New Age movement, such as from New Age guru Deepak Chopra. Sheldrake argues science should incorporate alternative medicine, psychic phenomena, and a greater focus on holistic thinking.

Famous Quotes:

• Over the course of fifteen years of research on plant development, I came to the conclusion that for understanding the development of plants, their morphogenesis, genes and gene products are not enough.