Evolution Of Consciousness Research Articles

On the origins and evolution of qualia: An experience-space perspective.

This paper elaborates on a proposal for mapping a configuration space for selector circuits (SCs), defined as the subset of neural correlates of consciousness (NCCs) responsible for evoking particular qualia, to its experiential counterpart, experience-space (E-space), as part of an investigation into the nature of conscious experience as it first emerged in evolution. The dimensionality of E-space, meaning the degrees of freedom required to specify the properties of related sets of qualia, is at least two, but the utility of E-space as a hypothetical construct is much enhanced by assuming it is a large dimensional space, with at least several times as many dimensions as there are categories of qualia to occupy them. Phenomenal consciousness can then be represented as having originated as one or more multidimensional ur-experiences that combined multiple forms of experience together. Taking this as a starting point, questions concerning evolutionary sequence can be addressed, including how the quale best suited to a given sensory modality would have been extracted by evolution from a larger set of possibilities, a process referred to here as dimensional sorting, and how phenomenal consciousness would have been experienced in its earliest manifestations. There is a further question as to whether the E-space formulation is meaningful in analytical terms or simply a descriptive device in graphical form, but in either case it provides a more systematic way of thinking about early stages in the evolution of consciousness than relying on narrative and conjecture alone.

Исторический опыт народа в эпопее Зейтуна Толгурова «Большая медведица»

In this research area, interest is an epic - scale canvas by the Balkarian prose writer Z. Tolgurova “Big Dipper”. According to all structural and content parameters (large format, panoramic view, aim reflection and comprehension of historical events, the length of the narrative in time and space, during battle scenes, parallel developing storylines, the conjugation of the destinies of the people and the main characters of the work) it is classified as an epic novel. Nationality is singled out as a defining feature. The purpose of the study is to identify the epic features of the novel and reflection degree in it of the historical experience of the people (the process of planting Soviet ideology, the tragic consequences of breaking the old patriarchal world, the denial of the former moral and ethical norms, the difficulties of coexistence of people in society, human adaptation to a spontaneously changing reality. The result of the dramatic events was not the achievement of universal equality or freedom of choice, but alienation and disunity in the ethnic environment, mutual hostility based on class. The reality of the period of the October Revolution is considered by Tolgurov in the evolution's context of individual consciousness. The study of the conceptual layers of the literary text made it possible to trace the transformation of the characters, to deter-mine the spiritual and moral potential of each image, to determine the level of awareness and in-volvement of the characters in the historical process. The author’s evaluation line contributed to the realization of humanistic concepts and ideas. The work gradually reveals the ideological atti-tudes of representatives of different social strata, subjective ways of translating the mental com-ponent of the people (using the example of the ideological antipodes of the Nuh and the Cossack). All these provisions confirm the scale of the writer’s reflection of the specifics of the era, the rel-evance and artistic and aesthetic value of the novel.ts, the length of the narrative in time and space, the presence of battle scenes, parallel developing storylines, the conjugation of the desti-nies of the people and the main characters of the work) it is classified as an epic novel. Nationality is singled out as a defining feature. The purpose of the study is to identify the epic features of the novel and the degree of reflection in it of the historical experience of the people (the process of planting Soviet ideology, the tragic consequences of breaking the old patriarchal world, the denial of the former moral and ethical norms, the difficulties of coexistence of people in society, human adaptation to a spontaneously changing reality. The result of the dramatic events was not the achievement of universal equality or freedom of choice, but alienation and disunity in the ethnic environment, mutual hostility based on class. The reality of the period of the October Revolution is considered by Tolgurov in the context of the evolution of individual consciousness. The study of the conceptual layers of the literary text made it possible to trace the transformation of the characters, to determine the spiritual and moral potential of each image, to determine the level of awareness and the degree of involvement of the characters in the historical process. The author's evaluation line contributed to the realization of humanistic concepts and ideas. The work gradual-ly reveals the ideological attitudes of representatives of different social strata, subjective ways of translating the mental component of the people (using the example of the ideological antipodes of the Nuh and the Cossack). All these provisions confirm the scale of the writer's reflection of the specifics of the era, the relevance and artistic and aesthetic value of the novel.

Ukrainian Literary Naturalism in the Ideological and Aesthetic Reception of Lesia Ukrainka

The article deals with the study of the problem of Lesia Ukrainka's reception of the literary phenomenon of naturalism and the philosophy of positivism as its ideological basis. It also studies the way the poetess evaluated and looked at the achievements of European and Ukrainian writers representing this literary movement in the context of world and Ukrainian literary and cultural processes. The research also singles out the significance, national and individual-author features of the naturalism professed by I. Franko, A. Krymsky, E. Zola, Goncourt brothers, and F.Norris. The article focuses on the ideological and aesthetic importance of the postulates of naturalistic art for the development of the Ukrainian literary process. It also analyses different stages of the ideological and aesthetic reception of the naturalism doctrine in the perception of different generations of Ukrainian literary critics; it deals with Lesya Ukrainka's attitude to the naturalistic concept of a man and her reasoning about the compatibility of naturalism with certain genres and movements of literature. The article drives to the conclusion that Lesia Ukrainka recognizes the very fact of the existence of Ukrainian naturalism. It provides Lesia's vision on the usage of naturalistic elements in generally unnaturalist works and their combination with other elememts, sometimes representative of opposite to naturalism in their ideological and aesthetic postulates, such as romanticism, decadence, neo-romanticism, realism, etc. The article also provides an insight of Lesia Ukrainka's attitude to the problems of zoomorphic imagery, social involvement, physiological scientism in the literature of naturalism. It draws attention to the problem of the evolution of aesthetic consciousness of E. Zola, I. Franko, A. Krymsky, and Lesia Ukrainka herself. There is also place for the comparative analysis of the perception of naturalism in the literary-critical reception of different generations of Ukrainian and foreign writers.

Heartfulness Meditation: A Yogic and Neuroscientific Perspective.

Today, as research into the contemplative sciences is being widely referenced, the research community would benefit from an understanding of the Heartfulness method of meditation. Heartfulness offers an in-depth experiential practice focused on the evolution of human consciousness using the ancient technique of Pranahuti (yogic Transmission) during Meditation, in combination with the more active mental practice of “Cleaning.” Both are enabled by initiation into the Heartfulness practices. These unique features distinguish Heartfulness from other paths that have been described in the scientific literature thus far. In this introductory paper, we present the Heartfulness practices, the philosophy upon which the practices are based, and we reflect on the putative mechanisms through which Heartfulness could exert its effects on the human body and mind in the light of scientific research that has been done in other meditation systems. We conclude with suggestions for future research on the Heartfulness way of meditation.

The evolution and development of consciousness: the subject-object emergence hypothesis

A strategy for investigating consciousness that has proven very productive has focused on comparing brain processes that are accompanied by consciousness with processes that are not. But comparatively little attention has been given to a related strategy that promises to be even more fertile. This strategy exploits the fact that as individuals develop, new classes of brain processes can transition from operating ‘in the dark’ to becoming conscious. It has been suggested that these transitions occur when a new class of brain processes becomes object to a new, emergent, higher-level subject. Similar transitions are likely to have occurred during evolution. An evolutionary/developmental research strategy sets out to identify the nature of the transitions in brain processes that shift them from operating in the dark to ‘lighting up’. The paper begins the application of this strategy by extrapolating the sequence of transitions back towards its origin. The goal is to reconstruct a minimally-complex, subject-object subsystem that would be capable of giving rise to consciousness and providing adaptive benefits. By focusing on reconstructing a subsystem that is simple and understandable, this approach avoids the homunculus fallacy. The reconstruction suggests that the emergence of such a minimally-complex subsystem was driven by its capacity to coordinate body-environment interactions in real time e.g. hand-eye coordination. Conscious processing emerged initially because of its central role in organising real-time sensorimotor coordination. The paper goes on to identify and examine a number of subsequent major transitions in consciousness, including the emergence of capacities for conscious mental modelling. Each transition is driven by its potential to solve adaptive challenges that cannot be overcome at lower levels. The paper argues that mental modelling arose out of a pre-existing capacity to use simulations of motor actions to anticipate the consequences of the actions. As the capacity developed, elements of the simulations could be changed, and the consequences of these changes could be ‘thought through’ consciously. This enabled alternative motor responses to be evaluated. The paper goes on to predict significant new major transitions in consciousness.

A conceptual framework for consciousness

This article argues that consciousness has a logically sound, explanatory framework, different from typical accounts that suffer from hidden mysticism. The article has three main parts. The first describes background principles concerning information processing in the brain, from which one can deduce a general, rational framework for explaining consciousness. The second part describes a specific theory that embodies those background principles, the Attention Schema Theory. In the past several years, a growing body of experimental evidence—behavioral evidence, brain imaging evidence, and computational modeling—has addressed aspects of the theory. The final part discusses the evolution of consciousness. By emphasizing the specific role of consciousness in cognition and behavior, the present approach leads to a proposed account of how consciousness may have evolved over millions of years, from fish to humans. The goal of this article is to present a comprehensive, overarching framework in which we can understand scientifically what consciousness is and what key adaptive roles it plays in brain function.

A Theoretical Analysis of Managerial Growth in the Context of Organizational Change

In analyzing the theoretical literature on managerial growth in the context of organizational change, an absence of research has been observed, especially that which comprehensively analyzes growth prospects and opportunities at the micro (individual), meso (group), and macro (organizational) levels, which considers organizational, social, emotional, and spiritual aspects. Therefore, one of the outstanding problems of this research was to select the relevant scientific literature to synthesize the theory and create a conceptual theoretical model based on it. The aim of this paper is to explore the context and preconditions for managerial growth during an organizational change at different levels and aspects of organizations. Therefore, six theoretical approaches from the fields of management, psychology, and education were chosen (Hiatt, Kotter, Kübler-Ross, Goleman, Mezirow, and Marcia). Conclusions provide insights into the context, aims, and directions of managerial growth within organizational change. First, the context of organizational change is understood as an educational environment that creates incentives for managerial growth at the macro, meso, and micro levels and encompasses the development of personal and professional skills and the conscious evolution of inner perceptions related to work. Second, managerial growth in the context of organizational change is targeted toward three objectives at the organizational, group, and individual levels: productivity, connection, and self-realization. Third, managerial growth in the context of organizational change is directed toward three dimensions: (1) the strategic-operational dimension overlaps with the development of leadership skills to ensure successful change implementation in the organization; (2) the social-emotional dimension overlaps with the development of psychosocial skills, enabling coping with challenges through relationships and an emotionally supportive workplace environment; and (3) the perceptual-spiritual dimension overlaps with the development of personal maturity and professional motivation, disclosing authentic performance during organizational change. These findings become a framework for further research but also provide practical guidelines for managers, HR specialists, and organizational leaders.

The mushroom, the frog, and the rainbow of desire: A participatory-psychedelic spiritual emergence.

This article will explore a spiritual emergency through a myth or fairy tale that emerged at the same time I had a frightening brush with death. Two days before the accident I had ingested psilocybin mushrooms. Michael Washburn, among other transpersonal theorists, will be used to interpret, amplify and re-frame this potential ‘psychotic episode’ with ‘borderline features’ into something more, perhaps, on the threshold of a shamanic initiation in a liminal state. The mythic sequence in my story anticipates the death-rebirth (perinatal pattern) and evolution of consciousness in the LSD research of Stanislav Grof; an evolution given epic participatory elucidation by Richard Tarnas; and an evolution consummated in the erotic desire for nature found in the panpsychism of Freya Mathews.

SHĪʿĪ READINGS OF HUMAN EVOLUTION: ṬABĀṬABĀʾĪ TO ḤAYDARĪ

AbstractWithin the context of Islamic discourse about evolution, this is the first study that focuses exclusively on the views of Kamāl al‐Ḥaydarī (b. 1957), a prominent Shīʿī thinker of the contemporary period. Ḥaydarī develops his views from Muḥammad Ḥusayn al‐Ṭabāṭabāʾī (1904–1981), the author of the seminal exegesis The Balance in Interpreting the Qurʾān (Al‐Mīzān fī Tafsīr al‐Qurʾān). Ṭabāṭabāʾī is very hesitant about accepting whether the Qurʾān can be read to indicate evolution and ultimately refuses it because of a lack of scientific evidence in his eyes. However, Ḥaydarī challenges the hesitation in Ṭabāṭabāʾī’s hermeneutics while nonetheless agreeing with him on the lack of hard scientific proof for macroevolution. Instead, Ḥaydarī proposes a novel, theological reading of evolution understood in a nonscientific sense. The article examines Ḥaydarī’s views on evolution, his creationist conclusions, his suggestion of multiple “Adams” in human and Prophetic origins, and his attempt to link evolution of consciousness with the Shīʿī belief in the Parousia of the Mahdī. His unique reading of scripture marks him as being radically different to any of the currently available opinions in the discourse of Islam and evolution.

The Profound Impact On Human Society of the Development of Social (Home) Service Robot and Their Industries

This paper discusses the inevitability of the birth and industry formation of social (family) service robots from the background that the human social communication, information exchange and control into the era of real-time high-speed, big data and highly artificial intelligence; Two kinds of robots, educational robots (network) and family service robots, how do their influence on human social education and family life, especially on human sexual needs; possible ways of influencing human life extension and human evolution by; and the corresponding change of the moral concept of human society. Key words Social (family) service robots, educational robots (network) and family service robots, the impact on human education, the impact on sexual needs, the change of human fertility model, the possibility of conscious evolution, the change of social ethics and moral concepts

An Adaptational Theory of Consciousness

The adaptational theory of consciousness is a new electromagnetic (EM) field theory of consciousness. It differs from other EM theories by integrating arguments about the mechanism, function, and evolution of consciousness. The development of awareness in the individual is also explained. New hypotheses proposed include (1) a specific resonance of the EM field can open sodium channels, making a strong supervision of neurons possible; and (2) coincidentally, harmonic sounds can produce similar patterns in the EM field. An argument then suggests that the pleasing nature of harmonic sounds reveals something about the physical nature of pleasure as a type of EM pattern. This idea is then linked to free will and to the construction of meaning by the conscious self.

DOES AN INKLING BELONG IN SCIENCE AND RELIGION? HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS, EPISTEMOLOGY AND THE IMAGINATION

AbstractHow do we come to know things, and how are such epistemological questions treated in the field of science and religion? Recent critiques of science and religion methodology argue for an anti‐essentialist approach to science and religion that acknowledges their different epistemic territories and promotes interdisciplinarity. This article operates in such a vein, considering the contributions of Owen Barfield, member of the Inklings, an Oxford literary group, to the study of human consciousness, epistemology and metaphysics, and apologetics, all topics with particular relevance to science and religion. Barfield's understanding of the evolution of human consciousness as revealed by the history of language has scientific import, and may be developed by more intentional cross‐disciplinary collaborations between psychological and cognitive scientists and humanities scholars. His approach to mythopoesis and the imagination resists scientific reductionism, and can inform epistemological dialogue between science and religion, as well as contemporary apologetics.

Earrings Culture of Ancient Chinese Han Nationality and Its Aesthetic Evolution

This paper takes the typical earrings shape system of ancient Chinese Han nationality as the starting point, briefly analyzes the development situation and characteristics of earrings in successive dynasties, and discusses the evolution of aesthetic consciousness in ancient Chinese society. It can be seen that the earrings culture of ancient Chinese Han nationality has continued up to now and gone through five stages of origin, development, silence, revival and prosperity, which reflects the aesthetic consciousness of ancient Chinese society gradually developing from the original religious belief to the royal power aesthetics as the center, and then to the secular aesthetics as the center.

Secondary Somatic Nominations in Media Texts Covering Economy, Business and Politics Spheres

The article set out to reveal the specific features of secondary somatic nominations in media texts in the spheres of economy, business, and politics. The significance of the problem under study is implied by a need for elucidating the evolution of language consciousness by shedding light on how corporeal lexis in the Russian language is involved in verbalization of reality in the spheres in question. The study demonstrated that secondary somatic nominations evolve due to transformation of the meaning of a linguistic unit, whose primary meaning is associated with various aspects of the human body existence. This transformation of the meaning seems to be a common way of denotating reality in the texts under investigation. We specified the sources of somatic expansion, whose semantic content is most frequently redefined in the thematic fields in question. We also identified the denotation areas (conceptual fields) where corporeal lexis is used in their secondary meanings. Our research demonstrated considerable pragmatic potential of the texts including somatic linguistic units. We established that their evaluative content results from axiological connotations associated with various corporeal concepts in the Russian linguoculture. Their expressiveness is achieved due to imagery created by unusual contextualization of somatic linguistic units. The results of the current study made it possible to establish the ways of transforming the meanings of somatic linguistic units in the investigated spheres in the Russian language. Transformation of the meanings of somatic lexis occurs by using metaphors, metonymy, similes, irony, epithets, oxymoron, gradation, language game, etc.

“ХАЙЯТ ТАХРИР АШ-ШАМ” В СИРИЙСКОМ КОНФЛИКТЕ: МЕТАМОРФОЗЫ ТЕРРОРИСТИЧЕСКОЙ ГРУППИРОВКИ

One of the actors in the armed conflict in Syria is the extremist group “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” (HTS), which controls the territory of Idlib province in coordination with a number of other armed groups. Originally emerging as closely associated with the al-Qaeda terrorist network as “al-Nusra Front”, this organization has undergone a number of transformations in recent years as a result of both external and internal factors. Consistently loyal to jihadist principles, “al-Nusra Front” (and its incarnations, such as “Jabhat Fatah al-Sham” and “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham”) has demonstrated a certain flexibility throughout its history, which manifested in its attempts to adapt to changes and the wide use of soft power tools. The article analyzes the reasons for the rebranding of the group, which is trying to get rid of the odious image not only in the eyes of the Syrians, but also in the international arena. In particular, the author concludes that HTS is guided by the example of the Afghani Taliban movement in its attempts to obtain the status of a legitimate and negotiable participant in the conflict. There are signs that the strategy chosen by HTS is partly working with its message received in the Western expert community. It calls for a revision of the United States’ and its allies’ policies in relation to the HTS group, which has allegedly “severed ties with transnational jihadist networks and now seeks to enter the sphere of political participation in the future of Syria”. The article maintains that there are doubts about both the possibility of a conscious evolution of HTS into a more moderate movement, and the sincerity of their rejection of the “global jihad” agenda as declared by the group’s leaders. There is reason to believe that the group is not going to completely abandon terrorist activities outside the zone of the Syrian conflict.

Compassion

Compassion is an ancient concept but novel hot topic across the social sciences, from psychology, to sociology, to health, to communication and media, to politics and beyond. Burgeoning research has demonstrated the benefits of compassion for mental health and emotion regulation (e.g., MacBeth & Gumley, 2012; Matos et al., 2022), physiological health (e.g., Fredrickson et al., 2013; Kim et al., 2020; Klimecki et al., 2014), and interpersonal and social relationships (e.g., Crocker & Canevello, 2012; Yarnell & Neff, 2013). In particular, self-compassion has been shown to be a protective factor, increasing resilience to common mental health issues (e.g., shame, self-criticism; MacBeth & Gumley, 2012; Muris & Petrocchi, 2017) and promoting wellbeing (Zessin et al., 2015). In addition to compassion offering wellbeing benefits, compassion and self-compassion can also be cultivated and enhanced through interventions, in diverse populations and contexts, where they have been shown to promote well-being and to diminish mental health difficulties (e.g., depression, anxiety, stress, shame, self-criticism) (e.g., Craig et al., 2020; Ferrari et al., 2019; Kirby et al., 2017). Given the global challenges facing our world and the need for collective action, and inspired by the notion in evolutionary science that a conscious evolution toward a more compassionate world is possible (see Wilson, 2020), this special issue of the journal Psychologica presents research, applications and multi-cultural considerations related to compassion. In this special issue, several researchers and clinicians, including prominent names in the field and history of compassion, such as Prof. Paul Gilbert, made valuable contributions to expand the science of compassion and disseminate this knowledge into community, educational, clinical and public health settings. These studies are focused on different cultures (Portuguese, Australian, Singaporean), populations (clinical and nonclinical), age groups (adolescents and adults), clinical conditions (Borderline Personality Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder Hoarding Disorder), and applications (compassion-based programs for adolescents and adults, for distinct clinical conditions and with different formats). Let us give you a short-guided tour through the headlines of this special issue. (...)

Radical Humanism and Re-Mything: Honoring Experiencers of Extreme States as the Carriers of Wisdom for Consciousness Evolution and Collective Transformation

As transmitters of the New Paradigm and psychospiritual templates that the planet needs in this time of transformation, extreme-state experiencers are the key to our evolution, and thus we need to honor them as such. Radical humanism is an expansion and deepening of our empathy, a call-to-action, and a way of telling the story differently. We are asked as therapists to be nothing less than liaisons to the oracular. We look to Jung, Laing, Rogers, and contemporary lineage holders in these synergistic and co-catalytic ways of holding and working with extreme states to shine light upon the potent and often misunderstood or pathologized realms of the chaotic and ecstatic, the devastating, blissful, and the overwhelming contact with the gnosis, beings, and energies that lie therein. We carry forth the work in our sessions that are part confessional, part energy transmission, and always opportunities for us to expand what we think we know about what is happening and how we feel about ourselves, these times, and our role in healing on all levels that is being offered in each moment that we are in our role as Sacred Witness and midwife to soul rebirth.

Agent-based modelling to simulate farmers’ sustainable decisions: Farmers’ interaction and resulting green consciousness evolution

Agent-based models (ABMs) have been adopted to simulate different kinds of complex systems, from biological systems to complex coupled human-natural systems (CHANS). In particular, when used to simulate man-managed systems, they allow considering human behavioural aspects within the modelling framework. On the other hand, environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has become an acknowledged tool in research, industry and policy to assess systems’ environmental sustainability. More recently, LCA is being applied to assess the potential environmental impacts of large scale policy actions (e.g., actions to combat climate change). This paper describes the application of a coupled ABM-LCA model to simulate cropping activities in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The ABM considers farmers’ proneness to risk, which was assessed via a naïve Bayesian model trained with the results of a survey distributed to the farmers of the study region. The goal of the study is to assess the effects of the agents’ interactions, that can take place in a farmers’ social network, on the agricultural activities. Geographic Information System (GIS) information, national statistics and naïve Bayesian model are used to parameterize agents’ behaviour and interaction rules. We believe such assessment is necessary for the successful design of public adaptation strategies and subsidy schemes since governmental adaptation actions are needed to reduce emissions due to agricultural activities. Two scenarios (with different levels of farmers’ environmental awareness) were simulated. The results show that the mean and variance of the distribution of farmers’ environmental awareness change due to the effect of the interactions and, as a consequence, farmers’ long-term decisions concerning agricultural activities are affected. This is reflected in the environmental impacts generated by such activities.

La fonction symbolique chez Trần Đức Thảo

The following study will discuss the notion of symbolic function in Trần Đức Thảo’s (1917-1993) Phenomenology and Dialectical Materialism (1951). According to the author, the symbolic function is an important step in the evolution of animal consciousness: the lived experience of the organism is no longer felt in the internal flow of consciousness, but rather is communicated to others by the behavior. After briefly describing how the symbolic function results from a particular physiological mechanism of outlined actions and nervous sketches, we will deal with the semiotic structure of symbols: the repressed sketched act becomes the expression of the outline of the whole uncompleted behavior that has been inhibited at the level of the nervous system (which Trần Đức Thảo calls “meaning”). This work also interprets Trần Đức Thảo’s semiology in the context of the scientific and philosophical debates of the 1930s and 1940s.

A Framework for Evolution and Consciousness: Panpsychism Without Tears?

Giving an account of the relation between evolution and consciousness is painted as posing a dilemma between panpsychism, with minimal consciousness in every grain of matter, and radical emergence, with consciousness appearing as from nowhere in living structures. Panpsychism has been seen as suffering from a combination problem and radical emergence as unjustified in physics. The underpinning of physics now lies in field theory, which may provide a way out on both sides. Only, and always, in a field theory account do influences at different points in space-time combine in the same indivisible event. Radical emergence is also inherent to field theory. Moreover, by providing rich patterns of influence involving both discrete identities and quantitative values, field theory might provide a basis for sensed propositional meaning with subjects and predicates. Ordered condensed matter within living tissue may support unusual emergent dynamic units uniquely suited to building representations of the world with sensed meaning. The evolution of consciousness may then be seen as a tractable biological problem centred on increasingly sophisticated ways for external world dynamics to be mirrored by internal representations with semantic content, based in field relations within condensed matter with genetically encoded complex order.