Calculation and Collapse: How Parametric Introspection Enables Minimal-Dual Breakthrough

Abstract

Contemporary accounts of mystical “non-dual” or minimal-dual consciousness often describe a state beyond the ordinary subject–object framework. In this paper we propose a novel parametric introspection framework, according to which such a breakthrough is not achieved by doctrinal affirmation or mere insight into metaphysics, but by driving specific introspective parameters to critical values. We identify three core variables – Intensity of attentional engagement, Cycle Frequency of introspective process, and total Duration of practice – and propose a simple model (I × F × D ≥ T) for when a stable reduction of the subject–object structure (“groundless” awareness) becomes likely. We situate this theory at the confluence of phenomenology, analytic philosophy of mind, contemplative science, and cognitive neuroscience. We draw on Husserl and Merleau-Ponty on intentionality and embodiment, James and Zen analyses of “pure experience,” and analytic critiques of introspection (Dennett, Metzinger) to clarify the status of the proposed framework. We also review empirical meditation research (default-mode network suppression, EEG complexity, neurophenomenology) that maps onto these parameters. We contrast our process-based, functional approach to traditional mystical metaphysics. The formal I × F × D ≥ T model is examined for its conceptual utility and limitations, and its relation to dynamical systems (attractor landscapes, complexity theory) is explored. Finally, we discuss implications for theories of selfhood, the practice of contemplation (e.g. meditation pedagogy), and the role of introspection in philosophy. In sum, we advocate a scientifically disciplined model of practical minimal-dual insight as a self-organizing cognitive event, rather than an ontological revelation.