Consciousness
Meditating on qualia of thought
Is thought an experience?
One of the advantages of Consciousness Studies as an academic field is that the scientific argument of Consciousness Studies translates into one’s internal practice. For example, the central topic of Cognitive Phenomenology, qualia of thought, benefits serious seekers by positing a question: is thought an experience that has its’ own “what is it like” to think, or is thought is mere symbolic process devoid of the subjectively recognized sense? If there is a specific sense of thought, or a sense of particular thought? is it the same as experience of somatic/ sensory awareness, or is it something else?
In IIn Islamic philosophy of Illumination ( e.g. Mulla Sadra), thought is specific experience, not less “tangible” than any other experience, with the difference that this experience is not sensory. In Husserl’s or Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology, thought is phenomenal, i.e., has specific representation in experience. Looritz (2014)summarized the ideas concerning the qualia of thought in “Structural qualia: a solution to the hard problem of consciousness. Frontiers in psychology, 5, n.237. 1-9.doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00237”.
One of the advantages of Consciousness Studies as an academic field is that the scientific argument of Consciousness Studies translates into one’s internal practice. For example, the central topic of Cognitive Phenomenology, qualia of thought, benefits serious seekers by positing a question: is thought an experience that has its’ own “what is it like” to think, or is thought is mere symbolic process devoid of the subjectively recognized sense? If there is a specific sense of thought, or a sense of particular thought? is it the same as experience of somatic/ sensory awareness, or is it something else?
In IIn Islamic philosophy of Illumination ( e.g. Mulla Sadra), thought is specific experience, not less “tangible” than any other experience, with the difference that this experience is not sensory. In Husserl’s or Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology, thought is phenomenal, i.e., has specific representation in experience. Looritz (2014)summarized the ideas concerning the qualia of thought in “Structural qualia: a solution to the hard problem of consciousness. Frontiers in psychology, 5, n.237. 1-9.doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00237”.
Debate on the qualia of thought makes an excellent meditation: try to identify the non-phenomenal (non-sensory, non-bodily) qualia of thought in your own experience Turn it into a consistent meditation. If you do not find an answer to the question posited in cognitive phenomenology, you will rip another positive fruit: your self-awareness will be refined by the effort of unusual focusing. When the neuroplasticity processes kick in, this meditation will turn into a training for your brain and will help the intuition of what is really real.
Debate on the qualia of thought makes an excellent meditation: try to identify the non-phenomenal (non-sensory, non-bodily) qualia of thought in your own experience Turn it into a consistent meditation. If you do not find an answer to the question posited in cognitive phenomenology, you will rip another positive fruit: your self-awareness will be refined by the effort of unusual focusing. When the neuroplasticity processes kick in, this meditation will turn into a training for your brain and will help the intuition of what is really real.
Current Research:
Exploration of Shifts between Symbolic and Non-Symbolic Consciousness during Conscious Activation of the Idea of God in Christian Theophanic Prayer and Hindu Atmavicara
Investigators and Institutions
Principal Investigator: Olg Olga Louchakova-Schwartz, Sofia University
Co-Principle Investigator: Ted Peters, Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences,
Consultant: Victor Petrenko, Moscow State University of M. Lomonosov, Director of the Lab of Communication Psychology and Psychosemantics; Russian Academy of Sciences, Corresponding Member, Director, Laboratory of Cognitive Research at the Institute of Systems Analysis.
Mathematics: Binoy Jacob, Ph.D.
Research Assistance: Doctorial students at GTU and Sofia University
Exploration of Shifts between Symbolic and Non-Symbolic Consciousness during Conscious Activation of the Idea of God in Christian Theophanic Prayer and Hindu Atmavicara
Investigators and Institutions
Principal Investigator: Olg Olga Louchakova-Schwartz, Sofia University
Co-Principle Investigator: Ted Peters, Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences,
Consultant: Victor Petrenko, Moscow State University of M. Lomonosov, Director of the Lab of Communication Psychology and Psychosemantics; Russian Academy of Sciences, Corresponding Member, Director, Laboratory of Cognitive Research at the Institute of Systems Analysis.
Mathematics: Binoy Jacob, Ph.D.
Research Assistance: Doctorial students at GTU and Sofia University