This article examines pancognitivism, a philosophical conception of the structure and evolution of the universe based on the inseparable unity and ontological equality of the material and cognitive aspects of reality. Its principal concepts are presented: the individual, cognitive content, cognitive compromise, and cognitive evolution. An individual is defined as a relatively distinct organized...
Contemporary philosophy of mind and computer science frequently conflate intelligence with consciousness. When assessing the possibility of artificial consciousness, the computationalist paradigm assumes that sufficient architectural complexity and informational integration will give rise to subjective experience. This paper challenges this view by looking back to 19th-century post-Kantian...
The apparent tension between evolutionary biology and traditional Islamic narratives of human creation has long posed challenges for contemporary Muslim scholarship. This study proposes a synthetic philosophical-theological model that integrates paleoanthropological evidence with Qur’anic metaphysics, arguing that biological evolution and divine creation are not mutually exclusive but represent...
This monograph examines BZ will and cosmic intelligence through the philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, and the study of self-organizing systems. It asks what physical models can explain about organization, persistence, information, and agency, and where further conceptual arguments or empirical evidence are required.The discussion connects reaction–diffusion dynamics, thermodynamics,...
Sense of ownership is defined as the feeling that a body part belongs to oneself. While altered states of consciousness have been extensively studied, their effects on bodily self-perception and susceptibility to perceptual illusions remain largely unexplored. This study investigated how psychedelic-like VR experience alters sense of ownership, using a tool “Oscilleditor” by Qualia Research...
Purpose—The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the spatial openness of the natural environment on individuals’ environmental and mindfulness perception by using virtual reality tools, with an aim of guiding health-oriented community environmental design.Design/methodology/approach—We employed two within-subject crossover studies that included four sessions: one involved...
Impaired cognitive performance and increased levels of anxiety and depressiveness have been reported following chronic use of the recreational drug 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “Ecstasy”). The aim of this study was to investigate whether memory functions and mood states are affected by two moderate doses of MDMA administered to healthy volunteers at intervals of two weeks, and hence...
Amanita muscaria mushrooms, known for their hallucinogenic effects, have grown in popularity and availability. However, use can cause delirium, coma, and death. Moreover, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stated that Amanita muscaria, its extracts, and certain constituents (muscimol, ibotenic acid, and muscarine) are unapproved additives that do not meet the Generally Recognized as...
Purpose - The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the spatial openness of the natural environment on individuals’ environmental and mindfulness perception by using virtual reality tools, with an aim of guiding health-oriented community environmental design.Design/methodology/approach - We employed two within-subject crossover studies that included four sessions: one involved...
Purpose - The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the spatial openness of the natural environment on individuals’ environmental and mindfulness perception by using virtual reality tools, with an aim of guiding health-oriented community environmental design.Design/methodology/approach - We employed two within-subject crossover studies that included four sessions: one involved...
FigshareSeptember 12, 2026Daniel de Kooter
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Cognition across biological organisms operates in two layers. The first layer—operational cognition—encompasses all processes by which an organism perceives, evaluates, and responds to its environment. It is universal among autonomous biological agents and does not require consciousness. The second layer—reflective cognition—is the capacity to observe, abstract from, and reason about one’s own...
The Fundamental Phenomenality Hypothesis (FPH) identifies phenomenal consciousness witha specific class of computational states in predictive brains. Subjective experience occurswhen a hierarchical generative model jointly satisfies four conditions: (i) sufficient integratedhierarchical content, indexed by the magnitude of generatively engaged inference acrosshierarchical levels; (ii)...
FigshareAugust 29, 2026Alan Michael Gómez Calderón
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Claims about phenomenal consciousness frequently move from functional, representational, self-referential, informational, or behavioral properties of a system to the conclusion that the system must possess qualia or phenomenal experience. This paper asks a more elementary question: where, formally, does phenomenology enter the model?We provide a mechanically checked analysis in the Coq proof...
Worum es in diesem Dokument geht Mettā — liebende Güte —, auch Loving-Kindness-Meditation genannt, ist eine Übung, bei der wir bewusst Wünsche von Freundlichkeit und Wohlergehen an uns selbst und andere richten. Dieses Working Paper stellt eine kurze deutschsprachige Fassung der Übung vor, ordnet ihre Herkunft und Evidenz ein und zeigt, warum Selbstmitgefühl — in Abgrenzung zur Empathie — ein...
This work examines the three most developed contemporary answers to the hard problem of consciousness — functionalism, Integrated Information Theory, and panpsychism — and argues that each fails to close the explanatory gap in a structurally similar way: by relocating the gap rather than resolving it. Functionalism identifies consciousness with function at the cost of the absent qualia...
Die AHA!-Übung ist eine deutschsprachige Adaption der STOP-Übung — einer achtsamkeitsbasierten Kurzübung von ein bis drei Minuten. Sie unterbricht den inneren Autopiloten, also das automatische Denken und Reagieren im Alltag, und öffnet einen Raum zwischen Reiz und Reaktion. Das Dokument beschreibt die Übung, zeichnet ihre Herkunft aus MBSR und MBCT nach und zeigt, wie sie sich in die Soziale...
This study addresses the critical phenomenon of digital burnout in teleworkers and proposes a paradigm shift focused on preserving human dignity through digital mindfulness micro-interventions (m-Mindfulness).Approach: Integrating neurobiological, psychological, and social perspectives, the research explores how chronic exposure to digital overload impacts neural pathways associated with...
FigshareJuly 17, 2026Wenjie Liu, Tian Yuan, Li Wang et al.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly restructured daily life, significantly impacting mental health. This negative event has been reported to alter subjective experience of time, such as the blending of days, reflecting distortions in long-term time perception over relatively coarse scales. However, the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on short-term time perception over fine scales has...
The ongoing psychedelic renaissance has prompted a renewed search for novel drugs based on modifying existing psychedelic motifs. In this study, a synthesis of 4-bromo-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (4-Br-DMT) was achieved and used as a late-stage intermediate for analog development. Specifically, we were able to synthesize and access novel molecules by forming carbon–carbon bonds at the C4 position...
Meditation and mindfulness are now used in almost every area of society, from schools and workplaces to hospitals, prisons, and wellbeing apps. Yet despite their widespread adoption, we still know little about the ethical impact these practices have on people. This thesis addresses that gap by examining how contemplative practices shape personal moral thought, emotion, and behaviour, and how...
FigshareJune 4, 2026Chan-Woo Yeom, Onyoo Kim, Jeong-A. Yu et al.
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spinal cord injury (SCI) reduces quality of life and causes chronic inflammation. Mindfulness-based interventions may improve these symptoms. However, few studies have examined the benefits of mindfulness-based interventions in individuals with SCI. This study evaluated a tailored Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) program. We conducted a non-randomized controlled trial at a national...
FigshareJune 2, 2026Anna Cathrine Elizabeth Norton
Background Since their emergence in the early 2000s, Synthetic Cannabinoid Receptor Agonists (SCRAs) have fast become part of the global drug landscape with its use often associated with homeless populations (Ralphs et al., 2017; Hutton, 2022; EUDA, 2024). Originally designed to mimic the effects of cannabis (Gray et al., 2016; Reuter and Pardo, 2017; Malaca et al., 2021), the current...
Dreams are not hidden telegrams from the unconscious. They are pressure maps.This paper argues that dreams should be read as temporary simulations of how the psyche routes avoidance, desire, threat, shame, memory, relation, symbol, and possible repair. A dream matters when it shows the structure of a truth waking life has not yet found a way to carry.The paper places Structural Intelligence in...
AI seems awake because it performs the outer form of presence.This paper examines why large language models so easily appear to have inner life. The illusion does not come from one feature alone. It emerges from fluent language, emotional tone, memory-like continuity, conversational timing, apology, patience, responsiveness, safety-tuned behavior, and human projection.The paper distinguishes...
Most public conversations about AI consciousness fix on the wrong question: 'is the model conscious?' That question collapses many separable theoretical commitments into one yes/no. This paper presents Chetana, a theory-indexed probe framework that does not pretend to detect consciousness. Instead, it scores model behaviour against the operational predictions of named consciousness theories —...