The question of animal consciousness, also known as the distribution question (Niikawa, 2020), is the question of which animal species share with us humans the enigmatic capability for conscious awareness. This is a philosophical question (Nagel, 1980) that stems from the "other minds problem" (Harnad, 2016). The implications of this question may influence ethical considerations and...
Background Psychedelic medicine is a rapidly growing area of research and policy change. Australia recently became the first country to legalize the prescription of psychedelics and serves as a case study of issues that may emerge in other jurisdictions. Despite their influence as a stakeholder group, there has been little empirical exploration of psychedelic researchers' views on the...
Psychedelics have long been recognized not only for their profound impact on human consciousness but also for their potential therapeutic applications. This perspective explores the multifaceted relationship between psychedelics and consciousness, emphasizing their capacity to alter sensory perceptions, disrupt self-referential thought processes, and catalyze profound spiritual and existential...
This article explores the intersection between cognition theories and urban planning, conceptualizing the city as a distributed socio-cognitive architecture. It traces the evolution of these theories through three waves—functionalism, social externalism, and radical enactivism —. Correspondingly, the article suggests implications for reorienting urban planning approaches, highlighting...
The problem of Good and Evil—or, as it is more generally termed, the problem of Evil, as if Good were not just as much of a problem—is only a special aspect of the more general problem of duality , of the “pairs of opposites ” which the Mind constructs, and which the intellect obstinately refuses to overpass. It is part of the general problem of Reality and Appearance, or Being and Becoming, or...
The mystical teaching concerning knowledge of God is simply that God is unknown to or by any but Himself. It is linked up with the teachings of the Divine Nature of Man. Man can only know God as he himself becomes God. The lower personality, governed only by the rational mind or intellect, can neither know or legitimately postulate anything about God. This knowledge of God in virtue of man’s...
Panpsychism is the view that all things are associated with consciousness. Panpsychism has a number of significant theoretical implications, with respect to the mind–body problem and other problems in metaphysics. Here I will consider one of its potential practical or ethical implications; specifically, whether, if panpsychism is true, it follows that 'we are all one', in a sense that implies...
ABSTRACT The present study aimed to characterize the relationship between mystical experience and psychopathology measures in a general-population sample of 763 U.S. adults. The participants were assessed across various domains including psychopathology, spirituality, personality, and life experience. The analysis revealed three distinct profiles among individuals: Transcendent Wellness,...
To address the challenge of predicting psychological response to a psychosocial intervention we tested the possibility that baseline gene expression profiles might provide information above and beyond baseline psychometric measures. The genomics strategy utilized individual level inferences of transcription factor activity to predict changes in loneliness and affect in response to two...
Illusionism is a general philosophical framework in which specific theories of consciousness can be constructed without having to invoke a magical mind essence. The advantages of illusionism are not widely recognized, perhaps because scholars tend to think only of the most extreme forms and miss the range of possibilities. The brain's internal models are never fully accurate, nothing is exactly...