Understanding Spiritual Awareness in Terms of Anomalous Information Access

Abstract

In this paper I identify a link between the problem of explaining anomalous access to information ('psi' or 'psychic ability') and the problem of giving an account of the nature of consciousness ('the mind-body problem'). I argue that progress with understanding psi requires selecting a suitable ontological model for dealing with the mind-body problem. I review alternatives and argue, on philosophical and empirical grounds, for the viability and suitability of a model I call Naturalistic Structural Dualism, in which minds are spatially extended substances, as a working hypothesis for further analysis. I conclude that in such a dualistic model psychic ability is best conceptualised as mediated by sensori-motor channels of the mind. I predict, from this, the existence of further sensory channels that engage with purely mental aspects of reality. I show that there is empirical support for this theoretical proposal, and argue that this sensory capacity, which I name axionesis, underpins both ordinary perceptiveness and our capacity for deep spiritual experiences. The outcome is an expansion of the concept of psi to reference two distinct groups of sensori-motor channels of the mind, one group relating to the classical concept of psychic ability (and reflecting the mind's direct engagement with physical aspects of reality) and one group relating to the classical concept of spirituality (and reflecting the mind's direct engagement with mental aspects of reality). By establishing a relationship between spiritual perception and sensory channels of the mind, a framework is created that enables the study of spirituality in terms of information theory.