Informace o publikaci
Esoteric experiences in the lab? Introduction to experimental induction of sensed presences
| Autoři | |
|---|---|
| Rok publikování | 2025 |
| Druh | Další prezentace na konferencích |
| Fakulta / Pracoviště MU | |
| Citace | |
| Popis | Throughout cultures and centuries, feelings of presence of various spiritual, demonic, religious, and other entities have been part of esoteric experiences. Be it for the sake of gaining knowledge, healing, control, or any other cause, people are engaging in practices invoking spiritual presences using various means of perceptual distortion, working with various types of uncertainty. However, can such practices actually induce subjectively real experiences of presence, or are they merely a matter of narrative transmission and language? In the talk, I will present the results and research designs of three experimental studies focused on the induction of feelings of presence by means of perceptual uncertainty to show how manipulation of sensory data, strong expectations, and cultural learning can lead to subjectively real experiences of presence. I will also describe the advantages of experimental methodology in esoteric experiences research and illustrate how appreciating the roles of general human cognitive capabilities and their interactions with cultural learning can help understand specific types of esoteric phenomena. |
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