We applied two advanced large‐language models—OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4o and GitHub Copilot—to evaluate the Drake–S Equation framework for postmortem survival of consciousness relative to eight previously specified evidentiary standards. ChatGPT-4o judged this equation approach a “Good” to “Very Good” fit on 75% of the criteria (23/32 points, 72% overall), whereas Copilot rated it a “Good” to “Very...
This paper critiques the strong “meme theory” advanced by Susan Blackmore, which claims that all mental phenomena like consciousness, agency, and selfhood can be reduced to the replication and competition of memes. While memetics offers valuable insights into cultural evolution, its explanatory power becomes limited when extended to the philosophy of mind. Two main challenges have developed....
ReligionsDecember 19, 2025Anamaria Filimon-Benea, Ioana Vid
This article examines how Internet technologies reconfigure human sensory experience and induce decorporation—the experiential dissociation of consciousness from the physical body. Drawing on Marshall McLuhan’s media theory and theological anthropology, the study demonstrates that digital immersion amplifies certain senses (vision, hearing) while anesthetizing others (touch, kinesthesia),...
AI and EthicsDecember 19, 2025Daniel Turillazzi Fornés, Angelo Trotta
This paper examines the algorithmic formalization of language through a phenomenological lens, engaging Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty in dialogue with contemporary large language models (LLMs) and related AI systems. Instead of treating computationally modeled language as a neutral medium for information transfer, we argue that both formal logic and data-driven models are...
The paper examines conceptualization of plants, trees, and the natural world as fundamental mediators between the sacred and the profane in Eliade's work, which are integral to the construction of cultural semiotics and mythic imagination.Mircea Eliade's extensive contributions to the phenomenology of religion and cultural semiotics encompass a sustained inquiry into the symbolic dimensions of...
A major symptom of “Derealization/Depersonalization Disorder” is derealization. People who experience derealization report a sense of unreality when it comes to their surroundings, yet they still perceive those surroundings. How can this possibly be accommodated by a naive realist theory of experience – a theory on which the real external world is central to explaining the phenomenology of...
Kahneman's dual-process theory, distinguishing between automatic processing (System 1) and deliberate processing (System 2), has profoundly shaped understanding of cognition and decision-making. This theoretical paper proposes that a third mode of engagement has received limited attention within this framework: one that involves neither automatic reaction nor deliberate construction, but rather...
This article discusses the plausibility of uploading the human mind onto a non-biological digital medium. The concept of mind uploading has gained significant momentum due to advances in digital technology and artificial intelligence. This question is highly relevant for theology and religion because it addresses key theological issues. Undoubtedly, mind uploading conflicts with religious and...
The purpose of this preliminary study is to explore whether application of consciousness-based procedures whose stated purpose is to influence the natural and social environment, referred to as Maharishi Technologies of Consciousness (MTC), can positively affect weather phenomena. The theoretical framework underlying these procedures is based on a field-theoretic view of consciousness derived...
This article examines a cultural reversal in the logic of escapism: whereas virtuality once served as a refuge from the burdens of reality, it is now increasingly experienced as the domain from which individuals seek escape. Practices such as digital detoxes, offline retreats, and slow living signal more than technological fatigue—they reveal a deeper existential longing. Through a...