Realization experiences: a convergent account of insight and mystical experiences
Juensung J. Kim, Kadi Tulver, Jaan Aru, Karl Kristjan Kaup, Ambra Pogliani, Ruben Laukkonen
Philosophical Psychology 2026 DOI: 10.1080/09515089.2026.2613030 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mystical experience |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key points | Argues that mystical experiences and insight problem solving can be understood as species of a genus of 'realization experiences' modeled through behavioral entropy and graph theory. |
Abstract
We argue that the powerful transformative effects of mystical-type experiences can be understood using the same machinery that underlies insight problem solving, and that both mystical experiences and insight are species of a genus of “realization experiences”: experiences wherein some phenomenon or piece of information becomes suddenly experienced as real or true. Specifically, we argue that understanding both in this way allows us to model mystical experiences through the same combination of behavioral entropy and graph theory that have successfully been used to model insight problem solving. Starting from tension between novel information and prior representations, the agent destabilizes its representational network to allow it to enter a state of altered salience and enhanced associations to update the network. After an environmentally sensitive restructuring process, the agent then forms new beliefs, or – given enough restructuring – revises its framework entirely. The phenomenology of such realization experiences is determined by the size and content of the updated representational network and the affordances present in the environment. While there are, naturally, open questions remaining to answer, we hope that this model affords a useful shared vocabulary to discuss the family of realization experiences.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mystical experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis | 1983 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Psychedelic Mystical Experience in the Human Encounter with Death | 1969 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Vectorial Cerebral Hemisphericity as Differential Sources for the Sensed Presence, Mystical Experiences and Religious Conversions | 1993 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The epistemic innocence of psychedelic states. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mystical Experience and Religious Doctrine | 1982 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 47
- Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer: A randomized double-blind trial Journal of Psychopharmacology November 30, 2016
- Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance Psychopharmacology July 7, 2006
- The entropic brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2014
- REBUS and the Anarchic Brain: Toward a Unified Model of the Brain Action of Psychedelics Pharmacological Reviews June 20, 2019
- Mystical experiences occasioned by the hallucinogen psilocybin lead to increases in the personality domain of openness Journal of Psychopharmacology September 28, 2011
and 42 more in the library