That someone like Russell subscribed to a form of protopanpsychism is not a proof that his position is right. It does indicate, on the other hand, that it could be a kind of metaphysical position that's more serious than you believe it is, serious enough that vaguely recognizing a few words in a few sentences on wikipedia is not enough to actually understand it. Not only that but it's had actual scientific productivity through ergonomics (eg "How the cockpit remembers its speed"), biology (biosemiotics), sociology (actor network theory), and even arguably in physics through Ernst Mach and information theory.