Minds make things up and treat some of what they make up as real. A person invents a tune and knows it is an invention, yet the same person may hold that there is a god behind the sky and treat that not as a thing made but as a feature of the world. This paper asks why a mind of a certain architecture does this, and whether an artificial mind of the same architecture would. It applies an...
The study revealed theoretical and practical aspects of the influence of religious and psychological concepts of S. Freud, C.G. Jung, and V.E. Frankl on the psychological well-being of students in the education system of South Korea. S. Freud’s understanding of religion as a defence mechanism has been found to explain its ability to reduce anxiety and help students to cope with learning stress,...
This chapter explores the relationship between self-clarity and happiness among artisans in rural India, integrating theoretical foundations from positive psychology with empirical evidence from a comprehensive intervention study conducted in Manpura village, Rajasthan. Drawing on Seligman’s PERMA model, self-determination theory, and culturally adapted contemplative practices, we investigate...
There is a strong relationship between youth unemployment in Nigeria and psychosocial distress, anxiety, depression, and diminished resilience. Few opportunities for formal mental health services highlight the need for culturally sensitive, accessible, and cost-effective interventions. This systematic review aims to compile evidence on the benefits of mind-body medicine (MBM) interventions...
The authors of this chapter analyze the psychological mechanisms of esoteric traditions, combining research results in the field of symbolic cognition, consciousness and cultural psychology studies. The chapter provides an insight into the role of symbolism, intuition and altered states of awareness as cognitive mechanisms that contribute to individual meaning-making and cultural identity. It...
This chapter explores mystical experiences and esoteric belief systems by examining their influences in terms of cognition, emotion regulation, identity formation, and mental health. It also traces how historical marginalization of esotericism shaped thought processes through which individuals validate their mystical experiences. Within this context, mystical traditions are addressed as...
Abstract: The apparent conflict between consciousness science and consciousness-first metaphysics is largely an artifact of ontological packaging rather than of the empirical findings themselves. Contemporary theories of consciousness — IIT, Global Workspace, predictive processing, Higher-Order Theories, Recurrent Processing, Attention Schema Theory, Orch OR, and others — each package a...
Abstract: Analytic idealism individuates minds by dissociation: a perspective with a private interior is an alter, bounded off from mind-at-large. Kastrup marks where this happens with a metabolism criterion — life is the extrinsic image of a process with an inside. This essay asks whether metabolism is the only way to form an interior, or one instance of a more general condition. The...
Abstract Despite growing interest in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, research investigating the psychotherapeutic components is lacking. This leaves unanswered questions regarding the psychotherapy's necessity and form. This observational study addresses this gap by measuring the outcomes of a psilocybin truffle retreat, followed by the outcomes of two psychotherapy interventions that...
Introduction: Empathy research spans the social, natural, and clinical sciences, yet its translational impact has been limited by conflicting conceptual frameworks and incompatible methodologies. This paper addresses these barriers by introducing a transdisciplinary framework that consolidates predominant theories of empathy and integrates contemporary neuroscience findings. Methods: A...