Annual Conferences that Explore the Nature of Consciousness
SCS conferences reflects the values and goals of The Society for Consciousness Studies, a professional scholarly organization that honors work of quality from all authentic scholarly traditions, including philosophical, psychological, sociological, and other scientific understandings of consciousness.
Within this broad framework the society explores potential advances beyond the classical and postmodern knowledge paradigms that have dominated science and scholarship during the past century.
Everyone (including members of the public) is welcome to join SCS’s conferences, and learn about the cutting edge of consciousness science!
This year’s conference will be held on Zoom, and can be viewed from anywhere in the world.
YouTube videos from the 2022 conference can be found here.
Speakers and Schedule for the
December 17 & 18, 2022 SCS Conference
December 17th Schedule
December 18th Schedule
Marcus Anthony
Beijing Institute of Technology
Cultivating Digital Wisdom in the Age of Digital Dumbness
How can we use our experience in negotiating online worlds and technological devices to facilitate an awakening or wisdom process across broader humanity? This presentation is the culmination of three years of research entailed in the Power and Presence project (Anthony, 2023). The prime argument of this presentation is that there can be no Mindful Metaverse without Digital Wisdom, one of the five pillars of the Authentic Self (Anthony, 2012, 2023). Our species needs to inculcate a greater capacity for Digital Wisdom in order to safely navigate the future digital society and create a Deep Future. There has been much bad press given to the rise of digital technologies and Web 2.0, and it may be argued that the advent of surveillance capitalism, mass distraction and the pervasive emotional dramas of media/social are facilitating general psychological immaturity and degrading wisdom. It would thus be tempting to assume that the digital society is incompatible with the interceptive awakening traditions, which emphasize mindfulness and cognitive responsibility. Yet there are ways that current technologies and online spaces can help facilitate self-awareness and wisdom (Anthony 2022, 2023). The key question is then, can we respectfully instill higher order consciousness structures throughout populations, while avoiding the pitfalls of the religious, moral and authoritarian mindset? This paper introduces the idea of Digital Wisdom (Anthony, 2023) and how it can be part of a broader psychological and spiritual awakening. Digital Wisdom comprises three parts.
- Know yourself is understanding how the mind functions. It includes being conscious of our trigger points, including bringing awareness to our psychological issues and residual trauma. Of great importance is being able to attain mindful attention at will, which establishes the ability to assume an internal locus of power.
- Know the humans is understanding how we human beings function cognitively, physiologically and culturally. It includes understanding our tendency towards projection, confrontational binaries and tribalism; and key concepts like cognitive dissonance, negativity bias and the primary attribution error. Helpful also, is being attentive to bad faith discourse. In coming to better understand relevant human biology and cultures, we can be better prepared to deal with darker side of others; while also taking things less personally, and being more compassionate to others’ faults.
- Know the machines is the knowledge of how the internet and commonly used technologies function in relation to human cognition. This includes understanding essential concepts like echo chambers, surveillance capitalism, algorithmic behaviour, audience capture, information feeds, techgiant profit models and so on.
The drama and projections commonly experienced online can be seen as a kind of amplification of the ego, and that gives us an opportunity to more deeply understand the mind at a practical level. The web is thus a place where we can facilitate a deepening into presence and even awakening, by being mindful to our own behavior, and that of others we encounter online. The facilitation of Digital Wisdom requires genuine intentionality and the honouring of our Authentic Selves and those we encounter online. It requires a commitment beyond personal and tribal identities.
References
- Anthony, M.T. (2023). Power and Presence: Reclaiming Your Authentic Self in a Weaponized World, 2023 (upcoming).
- Anthony, M.T. (2022). “A Critical Futures Studies Perspective on Embodiment and the Crisis in Sensemaking in the Digital Society.” Crisis Management, Principles, Roles and Application. IntechOpen. Sept. 2022.
- Anthony, M.T. (2012). “Deep Futures: Transcending the Boundaries of ‘Money and Machines’ Paradigm. Foresight & STI Governance (Moscow, in Russian). Nov. 2012.
- Inayutullah, S. (2021). “Futures Studies: Theories and Methods.” OpenMind. Retrieved 24-11-2021 from, https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/articles/futures-studies-theories-and-methods.
Bio: Marcus T Anthony is a futurist and Associate Professor of Foresight and Strategy at the Beijing Institute of Technology, Zhuhai, China. There he teaches courses in Futures Studies, including: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of the Mind; and Making Sense of the Digital Society. He has published over 50 academic articles, books and book chapters, and is a regular keynote presenter at international conferences in China and abroad.
Imants Baruss
Department of Psychology, King’s University College at Western University
Death as an Altered State of Consciousness
Abstract: Death is an altered state of consciousness. The question is, is it a trivial state or something more interesting? The survival hypothesis is the contention that consciousness continues after death in some form at least for a while. Is there evidence for survival? We can consider a range of phenomena associated with death, namely, deathbed phenomena, apparent afterdeath communication, mediumship, instrumental transcommunication, poltergeist activity, near-death experiences, and past-life experiences. We can think of explanations for these phenomena ranging along a dial from materialism, through living agent psi (LAP), to survival. The dial moves easily to LAP. But it turns out to be much more difficult to get it to move from LAP to survival than it seems that it should. I will give a report of where I think this discussion sits today.
Bio: Imants Barušs PhD is a professor of psychology at King’s University College at Western University where he teaches courses about consciousness. He is an author of 7 books, over 50 papers, and over 100 presentations. He is a cofounder of the Society for Consciousness Studies.
William Bengston
St. Joseph’s University
Problems and Prospects of Transitioning Anomalous Healing into the Mainstream
Abstract: Two conditions must occur in order to move healing into the mainstream: healing must move from one on one applications (healer/healee) and be made both storable and scalable. There are innumerable experiments demonstrating the storability component using both organic and inorganic materials, but the scalability of healing has remained somewhat elusive.
This talk will briefly summarize some work on storability, and then transition to questions of scalability. Several recent clinical studies on hospitalized Covid 19 patients illustrate some possibilities of developing scalable therapies.
Bio: Dr. Bengston is an emeritus professor of statistics and research methods at St. Joseph’s University in New York, and the past President (2010-2022) of the Society for Scientific Exploration, an international group of scientists who study anomalies. Dr. Bengston has been doing research into anomalous healing for over forty years, and has numerous academic publications. His memoir, The Energy Cure, is published by Sounds True Publishers. He has also lectured widely in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
His research has produced the first successful full cures of transplanted mammary cancer and methylcholanthrene induced sarcomas in mice by energy healing techniques that he helped to develop. He has also investigated assorted correlates to healing such as EEG and fMRI entrainment, and geomagnetic micropulsation anomalies in healing space. His current work involves the attempt to reverse engineer healing and reproduce healing without the healer, and to develop therapies that can be scaled.
Thomas Brophy
California Institute for Human Science
President, Society for Consciousness Studies
Annual Address of the President of the Society
Bio: Dr. Brophy is President of California Institute for Human Science, CIHS. CIHS is a mind-body-consciousness based university with programs in Clinical Psychology, Integral Health, and Comparative Religion and Philosophy. As well as being chief executive officer, he teaches Foundations of Integral Studies, and forefront issues of mind-body cosmology at CIHS. He earned a Ph.D. in physics at University of Colorado, Boulder, working with LASP (Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics) and NASA interplanetary spacecraft projects, and was a National Science Foundation exchange scientist to the Japan Space Program, University of Tokyo. Through partnership with Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama, founder of CIHS, he has developed science-consciousness integrative research and teaching programs. He has published several books, peer reviewed scientific articles in premier journals, been a featured presenter at scientific conferences, television documentaries, and Integral spirituality meetings around the world.
Dawson Church
National Institute for Integrative Healthcare
EcoMeditation, Transcendence, and Brain Change
Abstract: EcoMeditation is a novel meditation method that combines heart coherence, neurofeedback, vagal regulation, acupressure, and self-hypnosis to induce both relaxation and transcendent states. Studies have identified its practice with both reductions in dysphoric conditions such as anxiety, depression and stress, and increases in positive experiences such as happiness, flow, and self-transcendence. In a randomized controlled trial using fMRI, a month of practicing EcoMeditation for 22 minutes a day was associated with stable functional connectivity changes in the brains of non-meditators. Activity decreased in the mid-prefrontal cortex, a region implicated in self-rumination and suffering, while activity increased in the insula, a primary region for the processing of compassion, gratitude and prosocial emotions. This presentation reviews the existing literature on EcoMeditation, new applications of the method within the context of relational spirituality, and the development of a new assessment, the Transcendent Experiences Scale, to measure change using just five items.
Bio: Dawson Church, PhD, is an award-winning science writer with three best-selling books to his credit. The Genie in Your Genes was the first book to demonstrate that emotions drive gene expression. Mind to Matter showed that the brain creates much of what we think of as “objective reality.” Bliss Brain demonstrates that peak mental states rapidly remodel the brain for happiness.
Dr. Church did his undergraduate and graduate work at Baylor University, and obtained his doctorate at Holos University under the supervision of Harvard-trained neurosurgeon Norm Shealey, MD, PhD, founder of the American Holistic Medical Association.
Dr. Church has conducted dozens of clinical trials and founded the National Institute for Integrative Healthcare to study and implement promising evidence-based psychological and medical techniques. Its largest program, the Veterans Stress Project, has offered free treatment to over 20,000 veterans with PTSD over the past decade.
His groundbreaking research has been published in many prestigious scientific journals. Dawson Church is the editor of Energy Psychology: Theory, Research, & Treatment, a peer-reviewed professional journal.
Deepak Chopra
Founder, The Chopra Foundation and Chopra Global
Bio: Dr. Chopra is the founder of The Chopra Foundation, a non-profit entity for research on well-being and humanitarianism, and Chopra Global, a modern-day health company at the intersection of science and spirituality, is a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation. Chopra is a Clinical Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, San Diego and serves as a senior scientist with Gallup Organization. He is the author of over 90 books translated into over forty-three languages, including numerous New York Times bestsellers. For the last thirty years, Chopra has been at the forefront of the meditation revolution and his 92nd book, Abundance (Harmony Books) provides an enlightening guide to success, fulfillment, wholeness, and plenty, offering practical advice on how to cultivate a sense of abundance in times of fear and insecurity. TIME magazine has described Dr. Chopra as “one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century.” www.deepakchopra.com
Allan Combs
California Institute of Integral Studies
Education in Consciousness Studies
Abstract: The topic of consciousness has burgeoned in recent years from footnotes in paperbacks on philosophy to significant discussions in scholarly fields as widely dissimilar as neurology, robotics, medicine, psychotherapy, cognitive psychology, animal intelligence, and many others. And it is an increasingly sought-after topic in college curricula. The presenter of this workshop has much experience with the challenges, successful techniques, and rewards of teaching about consciousness. Here he shares his experience through lecture, images, and open dialogue, exploring the topic of education for consciousness studies.
Bio: Dr. Combs is a neuropsychologist, system theorist, and consciousness researcher at the California Institute of Integral Studies where he directs the Center for Consciousness Studies. He is also Professor Emeritus of psychology at the University of North Carolina. Dr. Combs is the author of over 200 publications on consciousness and the brain. His books include “Consciousness Explained Better,” “The Radiance of Being,” and “Mind in Time: The Dynamics of Thought, Reality, and Consciousness” with Ben Goertzel and Mark Germine. He was also the winner of the 2002-2003 National Teaching Award of the Graduate Liberal Studies Association. Dr. Combs is the Doshi Professor of Consciousness Studies; CIIS Director: Center for Consciousness Studies CCS @CIIS.EDU
Mathew Chandrankunnel
Geothirbhavan
Prof. Fr. Dr. Mathew Chandrankunnel CMI taught at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram (DVK), Philosophy of Science, Science and Religion etc and as well at Christ University, Bangalore. He was visiting professor at Cochin University of Science and Technology, University of Leuven, Belgium, University of Vladimir, Russia, Vietnamese Institute for Indian and South Asian Studies, Hanoi, Vietnam and professor of Indian Studies on Scholarship a globetrotting vessel with international students etc. After completing studies in physics and philosophy in various Indian Universities, Prof. Chandrankunnel received his doctorate from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Leuven, Belgium for successfully defending the thesis “In Search of a Causal Quantum Mechanics”, comparing two interpretations in Quantum Mechanics. For this research he had interacted with Nobel Prize winners like Friedrich von Weizsaecker, Aage Bohr, Ilya Prigogine and Physicists like Abraham Pias, Peter Hodgeson, Basil Hiely etc. Prof. Chandrankunnel did his post doctoral research studies at Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Boston under the famous astronomer and historian of science Prof. Dr. Owen Gingerich while staying at the Holy Cross Cathedral, Boston. Philosophy of Physics, Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics, The Condemnation and Rehabilitation of Galileo Galilei, The Ascent to Truth: The Physics, Philosophy and Religion of Galileo Galilei, Navajeeva Sadhana, Cosmosophy-Physics and Philosophy of the Cosmos are some of his published works. Recently he has given a TEDx lecture at IIT, Roorkee. Prof. Chandrankunnel is the Associate director of the Geothirbhavan, a Counseling Centre at Chethimtom, Pala, Kerala, India. He also gives lectures at many institutes in India like Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and as well as Universities abroad on various topics. He is the Editor in Chief of the International Journal for Transformation of Consciousness, of which Dr. Ernest Rossi is the Patron. It is published from the Global Institute of Transformation, (Gift) Geothirbhavan, Pala, Kerala.
Prof. Chandrankunnel served as the Registrar of DVK (1999-2006) and was Director of the Licentiate Programme and Director of the Centre for the study of World Religions and conducted successfully the course “Religions in Contemporary India”— for the exchange students from the universities abroad. At times there were more than 40 students for this internationally recognized programme. He was the Vice Chairman for the Press and Publicity Committee for the Kristu Jayanti programmes conducted in Bangalore. He was also the chief editor of the souvenir committee. Received the CTNS Templeton award in 2000 and consecutively excellence award as Chairman of the Bangalore Forum for Science and Religion and at present the Director of the Science and Religion Centre at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram. In 2013, Navajeevasadhana received the best spiritual book award – Mgr mankuzhikary Atma Vidya Award. Prof. Chandrankunnel is also a trained journalist of Deepika News Paper and worked as its science editor, Chennai and Bangalore correspondent. Belongs to the Congregation of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, Syro Malabar Church. He was the Director of Ecumenical Christian Centre, Whitefield, Bangalore for a five year term 2016-2021 spearheading its integral growth. At resent based in Bangalore Prof. Chandrankunnel is involved in as a Development Consultant for various agencies and institutions in engineering social transformation through science and technology for the integral development of humanity.
Nesin Mathew
CHRIST University
Bio: Dr Nesin Mathew earned her PhD in Neurophysiology from National Institute of Mental health and Neuroscience (NIMHANS), Bangalore. Before her doctoral work, she completed her Master’s degree in Biotechnology with CSIR- UGC Fellowship. Following her doctorate, she joined CHRIST Deemed to be University as Assistant professor in Neurophysiology. Her primary research interest is understanding the neural basis of Consciousness. She is a member of Indian Association of Neuroscience.
Awareness As an Evolving Phenomena of Consciousness
Abstract: The multiple dimensions of consciousness are enigmatic from the beginning of human history and it remains the same today. Marvin Minsky once expressed that “consciousness” is a big suitcase word. As situation changes, the meaning of the word consciousness varies. When we try to establish the connections between the multiple facets or dimensions of consciousness, the “awareness of self”, occupies an intersecting position. In this paper we try to understand the converging and diverging factors of “awareness” in a single cell and awareness of an individual. We try to explain it with the help of Bacteria and Volvox (a multicellular algae). Also, we can see how the evolution of chemoreceptors, photoreceptors and movements are present in these lower life forms as well as in higher life forms that emerged with the Cambrian explosion. To continue the enigma, we can find converging factors of awareness in volvox with daughter colonies and a pregnant female. The morphogenic process has striking resemblance to animal gastrulation phase (of foetus). This opens a new debate on the state of awareness of volvox. By doing so, we can observe how self-awareness of primordial life evolve to the self-awareness of mammals which will have definitely impact on the human consciousness.
Arnaud Delorme
University of California – San Diego and Institute of Noetic ScienceONS
What if consciousness is not an emergent property of the brain?
Abstract:
“You are a machine made of meat.” (Marvin Minsky)
“You are nothing but a pack of neurons.” (Francis Crick)
These quotes represent the prevailing views in science, which are based on 17th-century views on physics. Physicalist theories purport that consciousness originates from physical substrates like neurons that have evolved to be more and more complex over time through adaptation, leading to the emergence of consciousness. Non-physical models do not assume that a physical substrate generates consciousness, and many even propose that consciousness is as fundamental, or more so, than matter and spacetime. This perspective underly many ancient, esoteric, and Eastern cultures. Perhaps such a non-physicalist framework would provide a better explanation for the full range of reported human phenomenology. Scholars and scientists have debated these topics for thousands of years, with no clear resolution in sight. New experiments and scientific data are needed to move forward on this question in order to advance our understanding of Consciousness.
Bio: Arnaud Delorme, PhD, is a CNRS principal investigator in Toulouse, France, a member faculty at the University of California, San Diego, and a Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences. In 2000, Dr. Delorme completed his PhD thesis on visual categorization in humans, monkeys, and machines. Dr. Delorme then moved to the Salk Institute for a postdoc in Terry Sejnowski and Francis Crick’s laboratory where he focused on statistical analysis of electroencephalographic (EEG) signals recorded during various cognitive tasks. He developed the free EEGLAB software for advanced analysis of EEG signals in collaboration with Scott Makeig, software which is now amongst the most used in EEG research worldwide. He was awarded a Brettencourt-Schueller young investigator award and a 10-year anniversary ANT young investigator award for his contributions to the field of EEG research.
Dr. Delorme has a keen interest in the scientific study of consciousness and spirituality. He is a long-time Zen meditator, and has taught in India on the neural correlates of conscious experience in a Master’s degree program for the Birla Institute of Technology. Starting in 2002, he started to look at brain dynamical changes underlying extraordinary states of consciousness, including meditation, psycho-active agents, and mediumship.
The author of over 160 publications, Delorme’s work on mediumship is of particular interest — even with the mainstream. His paper on evidential mediumship and the brain activity of mediums is among the top 1% of articles viewed on the Research Gate platform. Backed by research that spans a decade, Delorme has made a compelling argument that the topic of mediumship is worthy of scientific investigation. Dr. Delorme is also investigating the means by which technology, in particular multi-channel neurofeedback, could be used to assist meditation practice.
Debby Flickinger
Union Institute & University
Bio: Debby Flickinger, Ph.D. is an affiliated faculty at Union Institute and University (UIU) teaching doctoral courses on social justice, engaging differences, and sustainability through a caring science lens. She facilitates workshops, participates in panels, and does presentations on Caring Sustainability, Caring Science Theory, Critical Race Theory, and Social Justice around the globe. Also, a Ph.D. Enrollment and Engagement Specialist at UIU.
She has contributed a chapter in Miracles and Mysteries Witnessed by Nurses, a collection of stories edited by Jean Watson, Ph.D. Dr. Flickinger has collaborated on a book chapter for a book, Innovative Strategic Planning and International Collaboration for the Mitigation for Global Crisis published in January 2022. In addition, she is certified as a Caritas, an Eco-therapist, and a Sustainability Coach.
She received her Ph.D. from the California Institute of Integral Studies in Transformative Studies with a concentration in Consciousness Studies, a MA in Consciousness and Transformative Studies, and BA in Philosophy and Religion from John F. Kennedy University.
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Martha Brumbaugh
Independent Scholar
Bio: Martha Brumbaugh, PhD. is an educator, writer, artist, and shaman, who has been practicing Cross-Cultural Shamanism and Earth-based Spirituality for more than five decades. She is a virtual writing, coach, mentoring theses and dissertation students by focusing on the juncture of writing and spirit. Martha received her doctorate in Transformative Learning and Change from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in 2006. Her doctoral dissertation, Out of the Mists: An Organic Inquiry into Sacred Ways of Knowing and the Shaping of Reality, focused on the impact of cross-cultural Shamanic practices on middle-aged, middle-class women of Celtic descent. More recently, she has published articles on her own lived experience of shamanic states of consciousness. Martha taught at John F. Kennedy University, Heald College, and served on dissertation committees at CIIS. She has presented workshops at CIIS and San Francisco State University. She currently teaches in the private sector and presents at conferences throughout the United States and online globally.
Abstract: All stories are connected. Martha Brumbaugh and Debby Flickinger were brought together through the Transformative Studies Program at the California Insitute of Integral Studies, but it was not until Martha left CIIS and Debby began her doctoral dissertation work that they began to work as a team. Together they discovered, in a cosmic aha moment, that Debby’s work with Caring Sustainability, and Martha’s focus on cross-cultural shamanic practices and the shaping of reality were grounded in both Earth-Based Spirituality and Consciousness Studies. They never imagined how intricately connected their work would become and how shifts in consciousness would occur as they began to wend their way through the next seven years.
Today, their expanded vision recognizes how the cruciality of feminine consciousness and the divine feminine are linked to all they teach and all that they do. Drs. Flickinger and Brumbaugh have created an anagram for A.R.T.S which is Alter Reality [to] Transform [our] Stories. Through research, writing, and conference presentations, they offer up their discoveries about how the arts can lead to a shift in consciousness and onward to transformation.
In this twenty-minute presentation Debby and Martha will intertwine their narrative to unique, and individual experience with art as a sacred process and their research experiences. They will reveal how our stories are transformed by altering our realities through the lens of feminine consciousness with the goal of encouraging the audience to engage in storytelling as a call to action for personal and social change, as well as enlightenment.
Ben Goertzel
SingularityNET
The Coming Consciousness Explosion
Bio: Dr. Ben Goertzel is a cross-disciplinary scientist, entrepreneur and author. Born in Brazil to American parents, in 2020 after a long stretch living in Hong Kong he relocated his primary base of operations to the rural Seattle area. He leads the SingularityNET Foundation, the OpenCog Foundation, and the AGI Society which runs the annual Artificial General Intelligence conference.
Dr. Goertzel also chairs the futurist nonprofit Humanity+, and serves as Chief Scientist of AI firms Singularity Studio, Rejuve, SingularityDAO and Xccelerando Media, all parts of the SingularityNET ecosystem. As Chief Scientist of robotics firm Hanson Robotics, he led the software team behind the Sophia robot; as Chief AI Scientist of Awakening Health he leads the team crafting the mind behind Sophia’s little sister Grace.
Dr. Goertzel’s research work encompasses multiple areas including artificial general intelligence, natural language processing, cognitive science, machine learning, computational finance, bioinformatics, virtual worlds, gaming, parapsychology, theoretical physics and more. He has published 25+ scientific books, ~150 technical papers, and numerous journalistic articles, and given talks at a vast number of events of all sorts around the globe.
Before entering the software industry Dr. Goertzel obtained his PhD in mathematics from Temple University in 1989, and served as a university faculty in several departments of mathematics, computer science and cognitive science, in the US, Australia and New Zealand.
Martin Hilbert
University of California – Davis
Digital Immunity: consciousness as antidote to digital harms
Abstract: We hypothesize that individuals with psychological traits typical for self-transcended individuals show natural resistance to psychological harms from online social media. We theorize that this ‘digital immunity’ is a manifestation of people’s consciousness development. We tested this hypothesis in two experiments involving over 4,000 subjects in extensive online experiments. We can explain over 80% of the variance in social media harms with three consciousness variables that reflect self-transcendence, namely ‘self-acceptance’, ‘self-awareness’, and ‘equanimity’. More: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4228106
Background: Social media’s persuasive technologies rely on the predictability of an un-reflective or automatic reaction to a previously identified digital stimulus. Tailor-made triggers of predictable responses are often identified with machine learning based on big data traces. This mechanism works best when the user unconsciously follows the stimulus-response chain. The psychological concept of self-transcendence characterizes a later stage in the developmental evolution of human consciousness that is thought to be highly correlated with the exhibition of self-reflection/self-knowing, the realization of interconnectedness of the self and other complex adaptive systems, an expansion of personal boundaries through a nondual understanding of reality, and a present moment awareness that provides cognitive space (less dependence) with causal event sequences in time. We hypothesized that this autonomy lessens conditioning on unconscious stimuli-response pairing. In other words, we hypothesized that individuals who started to transcend the self-identification with their own mind (self-identified thoughts and emotions) have evolved a natural immunity to digital manipulations. After finding a model and confirming its accuracy with a statistical hold-out sample, we ran a pre-registered replication study and confirmed our findings.
Bio: Martin Hilbert is Professor at the University of California, Davis, where he tries to better understand the role of digitalization and algorithmification in the development of complex social systems. He holds doctorates in Economics and Social Sciences (2006) and in Communication (2012), is associated with Communication and Computer Science at UCD, chairs the campus’s designated emphasis in Computational Social Science, and currently teaches over 50,000 students on computational methods on Coursera. During the first half of his career, he researched as a tenured United Nations Economic Affairs Officer at the UN Secretariat, where he spearheaded the creation of the first Digital Action Plan for Latin America and the Caribbean. He has provided hands-on technical assistance in the field of digital development to dozens of governments and large corporations. The more he studies the role of our digital extensions of the mind, the more he get intrigued by the role of the human mind itself, and how different stages of consciousness interact, shape, and can potentially guide our cognitive fusion with the evolving metaverse.
Michael Jawer
Emotion Gateway Research Center
Animals’ Perceptions: from Sentience to Spirituality
Abstract: Just as animals have their own personalities, some may share a capacity for perceptions we would recognize as spiritual. Consider: if mammals at least possess the equipment needed to feel, then the sense of connection with nature and with one another that forms the foundation of soul is experienced by other beings. I will suggest a way to gauge soulfulness based on biology and on emotion. Rather than viewed in a religious context, “soul” and “soulfulness” can be reinterpreted as reflecting a common capacity (and neurobiological underpinning) for many creatures to have felt experiences and, indeed, valued lives.
Bio: Michael Jawer is a Washington, DC-based writer, speaker and researcher. His focus is the nexus of personality development, body/mind, emotion, and spirituality. He has authored 3 books: Sensitive Soul (Park Street Press, 2021), Your Emotional Type (Healing Arts Press, 2011), and The Spiritual Anatomy of Emotion (Park Street Press, 2009) the latter two coauthored with Marc Micozzi, MD, PhD. He also blogs for Psychology Today.
Jawer’s papers have appeared in Frontiers in Psychology-Consciousness Research, Journal of Interpersonal Neurobiology Studies, Science & Consciousness Review, Explore, Seminars in Integrative Medicine, and the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, while his feature articles, interviews and op-eds have run in Psychology Today, Spirituality & Health, Aeon, Nautilus, Minding Nature, Advances in Mind-Body Medicine, Edge Science, Noetic Now, The Psychologist (British Psychological Society), PsychCentral, Scientific American, the Boston Globe and Baltimore Sun.
Jawer has spoken to organizations including the American Psychological Association, the Society for Humanistic Psychology (APA Division 32), the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology, and the Jung Society of DC and has guest lectured at Georgetown University, the University of Maryland, Drexel University, George Mason University, and the University of Virginia.
Bernado Kastrup
Essentia Foundation
How analytic idealism is providing a new basis for objective science
Bio: Bernardo Kastrup is the executive director of Essentia Foundation. His work has been leading the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism, the notion that reality is essentially mental. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another Ph.D. in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, Bernardo has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured on ‘Scientific American,’ the ‘Institute of Art and Ideas,’ the ‘Blog of the American Philosophical Association’ and ‘Big Think,’ among others.
Leila Kincaid
California Institute for Integral Studies
Abstract: Planetary destruction of ecosystems, environmental collapse, war, famine, racial and sexual inequality, racial and sexual violence, the maldistribution of resources, lack of access to subsistence needs, and all manifestations of oppression stem from a malformed state of human consciousness that I call the Bully Archetype. This state of consciousness, faced with radical thanatophobia, emerged and evolved as a survival capacity in human evolution. It expresses itself through acts of control and dominance in order to gain power and experience a sense of conquering death. Unaware of its self-destructive processes, the Bully Archetype will destroy us all if we do not take steps to face it, satisfy its need (through confronting death), and transform its power into life-affirming expressions of human being.
To the extent that we are living on Earth in a way that is destroying the planet and all living systems on it, we must ask, “how did we get here and what are we going to do about it?” What has created this dystopian reality? The Bully Archetype is an investigation into the origins and nature of this manifestation of a malformed consciousness with a lens focused on methods of healing and transformation. Looking at theories of the evolution of and types of consciousness from Tibetan Buddhism, Carl Jung, James Hillman, Jean Gebser, Hannah Arendt, Allan Leslie Combs, Iain McGilchrist and others, I map patterns and expressions of the Bully Archetype through human history in cultural, socio-economic, religious, and political movements and organizations, and seek for key wisdom points toward processes of transformation.
Bio: Leila Kincaid is an MA student and consciousness researcher at the California Institute of Integral Studies and a voting member of Film Independent. She leads creative writing workshops, called Writing Elixir, based on the steps of the heroic journey, and is developing a documentary film about rape.
Stanley Krippner
California Institute for Integral Studies
Identifying Spiritual Content in Dream and Ayahuasca Reports
Bio: Stanley Krippner, PhD, has held faculty appointments at Akamai University, Fordham University, Kent State University, New York University, Saybrook University, Sofia University, the Universidade Holistica Internacional (Brasilia), the Instituto de Medicina y Tecnología Avanzada de la Conducta (Ciudad Juárez), and the California Institute for Integral Studies, where he holds the position of Affiliated Distinguished Faculty. He is a Fellow in five divisions of the American Psychological Association, and the past-president of two divisions (the Society of Psychological Hypnosis and the Society of Humanistic Psychology). Formerly, he was director of the Maimonides Medical Center Dream Research Laboratory, in Brooklyn, New York, and (earlier) the director of the Kent State University Child Center in Kent, Ohio.
Dr. Krippner is a pioneer in the study of consciousness, having conducted research for over 50 years in the areas of dreams, hypnosis, shamanism, and dissociation, often from a cross-cultural perspective, and with an emphasis on anomalous phenomena that seem to question mainstream paradigms. He is co-editor of Holistic Treatment in Mental Health (McFarland, 2020), Integrated Care for the Traumatized (Roman & Littlefield, 2019), The Shamanic Powers of Rolling Thunder (Bear/Inner Traditions, 2016), Working with Dreams and PTSD Nightmares (Praeger, 2016), Varieties of Anomalous Experience: Examining the Scientific Evidence, 2nd ed. (APA, 2014), Mysterious Minds (Praeger, 2010), Debating Psychic Experience (Praeger, 2010), Perchance to Dream (Nova Science, 2009), and co-author of The Voice of Rolling Thunder (Bear/Inner Traditions, 2012), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Biography of a Disease (ABC-CLIO, 2012), Demystifying Shamans and Their World (Imprint Academic, 2011), Extraordinary Dreams and How to Work with Them (SUNY, 2002), Personal Mythology (Tarcher, 1988), and many other books. He has written over 1,200 scholarly articles, chapters, papers, and publications.
Dr. Krippner has conducted workshops and seminars on dreams and/or hypnosis in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, Cyprus, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, the Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Venezuela, and at several congresses of the Interamerican Psychological Association. He is a member of the editorial or advisory board for Revista Argentina de Psicología Paranormal, the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, and the Humanistic Psychologist. He has given invited addresses to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, and the School for Diplomatic Studies, Montevideo, Uruguay. He is a Fellow of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, and of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality.
In 2002, the American Psychological Association granted him its Award for Distinguished Contributions to the International Development of Psychology, and the same year he received the Society for Psychological Hypnosis’ Award for Distinguished Contributions to Professional Hypnosis. Krippner has received Lifetime Contributions Awards from the Society for Humanistic Psychology, the International Association for the Study of Dreams, the Parapsychological Association, and the International Network on Personal Meaning.
Dr. Jeffery A. Martin
Center for the Study of Non-Symbolic Consciousness, California Institute for Human Science, & Stanford University
Initial Lessons from a Ketamine Microdose, Meditation, and Positive Psychology Pilot
Presentation Abstract: Since 2014 the Center for the Study of Non-Symbolic Consciousness has conducted research with a protocol that has averaged a 65%-75% rate in transitioning people to Fundamental Wellbeing (i.e.: enlightenment, nonduaity, persistent mystical experience, persistent awakening, etc.). In late 2021 we allowed individuals who had previously used the protocol but were not in Fundamental Wellbeing to reuse it. Some of these individuals also independently enrolled in a clinical microdosing program that was designed to help people with depression and anxiety. This presentation will examine the early data from the combination of microdosed ketamine with this well-proven protocol in this transition resistant population.
Bio: Dr. Martin specializes in bringing rigorous empirical research and testing to transformational techniques and theories that have previously been supported anecdotally. Dr. Martin is a leading expert on non-symbolic consciousness (enlightenment, nonduality, mystical experience, union with God/nature, etc.). He holds several graduate degrees and specializes academically in technology, psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, and transformative studies. A bestselling author and award winning educator, Dr. Martin has co-edited, authored, or co-authored over 20 books and numerous other publications; appeared in a wide variety of media; and lectured broadly in both academic and public forums. Dr. Martin is currently the director of the Center for the Study of Non-Symbolic Consciousness; Dean of Research at CIHS where he directs the Laboratory for Consciousness Science; and a Lecturer and Adjunct Professor at Stanford University.
Sharon G. Mijares
Core Faculty, California Institute for Human Science
Movies and App Series Reflect Changing Consciousness
Abstract: Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell validated the presence of a Collective Unconscious including shared motifs amongst all cultures. Stories are changing as reflected in movies and several new series shared on various applications. Many reflect other realities, multiverses, other dimensions, and intergalactic communications. This presentation will provide examples and discussion.
Bio: Dr. Sharon G. Mijares is a psychologist and core faculty member of the California Institute for Human Science. She is a professor at National University and the University of Massachusetts Global. She authored and co-authored seven books focused on psychological and spiritual development, including The revelation of the breath: A tribute to its wisdom, power, and beauty, published in 2009. Her 2013 edited book, A Force Such As the World Has Never Known: Women Creating Change, brings women together from many cultures, and many areas of work. Her 7th book, The Power of the Feminine: Facing Shadow/Evoking Light, co-authored with an Egyptian Sufi leader, a Tibetan feminist, an environmentalist from Ghana, and a U.S. professor. Sharon has presented workshops in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Mexico, Scotland, Uganda, United States and Venezuela. She is a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother living in Silver City, NM.
Andrew Newberg
Thomas Jefferson University
Neurotheology and the Exploration of Consciousness: 2022 Update
Abstract: This presentation will consider the relationship between the brain and religious and spiritual experiences, a field sometimes referred to as neurotheology. Since many religious and spiritual experiences are associated with altered states of consciousness, we will explore this overall relationship with the latest findings from brain scan studies, psychedelics, and other studies.
Bio: Andrew Newberg is an American neuroscientist who is a Professor in the Department of Integrative Medicine and Nutritional Sciences and the Director of Research at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital,[1] previously an Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies and a Lecturer in Psychology in the Biological Basis of Behavior Program at the University of Pennsylvania.[2]
He has been a prominent researcher in the field of nuclear medical brain imaging and neurotheology. In particular, his research has focused on the development of neurotransmitter tracers for the evaluation of religiosity as well as neurological and psychiatric disorders including clinical depression, head injury, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.
His 2010 book Principles of Neurotheology gives a basic understanding on the research done so far on neurotheology.
Dean Radin
Institute of Noetic Sciences
Quantum mind and its consequences
Abstract: If all aspects of the mind-brain relationship were adequately explained by classical physics, then there would be no need to propose alternatives. But faced with possibly unresolvable puzzles like qualia and free will, other approaches are required. In alignment with a suggestion by Heisenberg in 1958, we propose a model whereby the world consists of two elements: Ontologically real Possibles that do not obey Aristotle’s law of the excluded middle, and ontologically real Actuals that do. Based on this view, which bears resemblance to von Neumann’s 1955 proposal, and more recently by Stapp and others, measurement that is registered by an observer’s mind converts Possibles into Actuals. This quantum-oriented approach raises the intriguing prospect that some aspects of mind may be quantum, and that mind may play an active role in the physical world. A body of empirical evidence supports these possibilities, strengthening our proposal that the mind-brain relationship may be partially quantum.
Bio: Dean Radin is Chief Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), Associated Distinguished Professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), and chairman of the biotech company, Cognigenics. He earned an MS (electrical engineering) and a PhD (psychology) from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and in 2022 was awarded an Honorary DSc (doctor of science) from the Swami Vivekananda University in Bangalore, India (an institution of higher learning accredited by the Indian government and specializing in yoga practice and research).
Before joining the IONS research staff in 2001, Radin worked at AT&T Bell Labs, Princeton University, University of Edinburgh, and SRI International. He has given over 670 talks and interviews worldwide, and he is author or coauthor of some 300 scientific and popular articles, four dozen book chapters, and nine books, four of which have been translated into 15 foreign languages: The Conscious Universe (1997, HarperCollins), Entangled Minds (2006, Simon & Schuster), Supernormal (2013, RandomHouse), and Real Magic (2018, PenguinRandomHouse).
Dr. John Steven Torday
University of California- Los Angeles
Consciousness as Quantum Entanglement
Abstract: We have systematically misconstrued the nature of consciousness by overlooking our own physiology as that awareness. The following is a way to rectify this error through a deep understanding of what life ‘means’ in order to further advance our knowledge of who and what we are. The evolution of consciousness from the cell membrane to physiology is revealed by the effect of microgravity on phenotypic identity, revealing the two levels of consciousness experimentally. As does the classic Double-Slit experiment, exposing the dual way in which consciousness functions as both the day-to-day of the cell membrane and the transcendent property of our physiology. These observations link Symbiogenesis as the mechanism of physiologic evolution with Quantum Entanglement as homologs for homeostatic control. As such they resolve the ‘explanatory gap’ for the connection between Classical and Quantum Mechanics, providing the basis for consciousness, both awake and in dreams, mindfulness, meditation, etc.
Bio: John S. Torday, MSc, PhD
Born- Budapest, Hungary; Raised in New York, New York
Education- BA in Biology/English, Boston University; Master’s Degree, PhD, McGill University, Montreal, Canada in Experimental Medicine
Faculty Positions- Harvard Medical School, Departments of Pediatrics and Physiology (1976-91); University of Maryland Medical School, Department of Pediatrics (1991-98);UCLA, Departments of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Evolutionary Medicine (1998-present)
Publications- 200+ peer-reviewed Biomedical Research Journal articles; 6 books on the Evolution of Physiology
Expertise- physiology, endocrinology, cell biology, molecular biology, evolutionary biology
Fellow, The European Academy of Science and Arts
Frederick Travis
Center for Brain, Consciousness and Cognition, Maharishi International University
Brain Patterns of HIgher States of Consciousness
Bio: Dr. Frederick Travis received his PhD in Psychology at Maharishi International University in 1988. After a two-year post-doctoral position in basic sleep research at the University of California Davis, Dr. Travis returned to Maharishi University of Management as Director of the Center for Brain, Consciousness, and Cognition. His work has focused on brain development from birth to adulthood, effects of stress on brain functioning, effects of meditation on the brain during and after meditation practice (state and trait effects), subjective and objective markers of higher states of consciousness, brain patterns of peak performance and effects of other technologies from the Vedic tradition of India such as yoga asana practice, listening to Vedic recitation, and effects of the built environment on an individual. Fred has published 92 papers and book chapters, and has authored or co-authored four books. He teaches on the under-graduate, master’s, and doctoral levels and lectures globally on brain and consciousness. To contact Dr. Travis and for further information, please visit www.drfredtravis.com.
Dr. Gino Yu
Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Abstract: Throughout history to the present day, reports exist of individuals with intuitive capabilities, interesting abilities, and inner experiences whose abilities and experiences do not have a rational explanation within today’s mainstream scientific perspective. Over the past fifteen years, I have met with people who have demonstrable “realized” abilities as well as researchers to discuss challenges that they face in their work. In our discussions with people with “realized” abilities, many common biographical traits emerge. For many, their “realized” abilities emerged after some form of awakening experience, near-death experience, the use of psychoactive substances, or preserved from childhood.
Project Phusikoi will develop a database of people with unique abilities that modern science does not yet have explanations for and a global network of academics and independent researchers that investigate such phenomena. Our objective is to foster greater collaborations and develop new research methodologies that will lead to new understandings of the mind-body relationship to advance our collective understanding in this area.
The purpose of this project is not to challenge the beliefs of those who have not had a direct experience of non-ordinary states of consciousness. Rather, we would like to bring together and build a community of people who have had experiences, are grounded, and may have new insights to share. By organizing a database of individuals and with a greater sample population, we can develop a better understanding and more robust experiments. We can also develop methods for vetting individuals and develop communities for mentorship.
Bio: Dr. Gino Yu received his BS and PhD at the University of California at Berkeley in 1987 and 1993 respectively. After receiving his PhD, he taught at the University of Southern California and worked to establish multimedia initiatives including the Integrated Media Systems Center. From 1995 to 1997, he taught at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology where he helped to establish the Center for Enhanced Learning Technologies. In 1999, he established the Multimedia Innovation Centre at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), a leading edge think tank and research centre on digital entertainment. He is currently an Associate Professor and Director of Digital Entertainment and Game Development in the School of Design at PolyU where he founded M-Lab, a commercial digital entertainment entity that provides consulting, research, instruction and new ideas for the industry. His main area research interests involve the application of media technologies to cultivate creativity and promote enlightened consciousness. Dr. Yu also founded the Hong Kong Digital Entertainment Association, the Consciousness, Science, Technology Conference, and Society and Asia Consciousness Festival. He hosted many events including TEDxHongKong, Wikimania, Toward a Science of Consciousness, and Meaningful Media..
Tobi Zausner
C. G. Jung Foundation for Analytical Psychology
Altered States of Consciousness Across Creative Domains
Abstract: In addition to the waking consciousness of daily living, we have the capacity for multiple altered states of consciousness that arise naturally during the creative process. They manifest across domains in the sciences, the arts, sports, and methods of self-transformation, arising in daydreams, visualizations, meditations, night dreams, focused attention, immersion, absorption, and flow. Collectively, these states of consciousness are aspects of a creative trance, a state common to all humanity appearing across cultures and throughout time. From Nobel Prize winning scientists, such as Albert Einstein, Barbara McClintock, and James Black to indigenous peoples including Australian Aborigines and the Benin people in Africa, creativity occurs during an altered state of consciousness. In addition to being an altered state, creativity may also encompass the subjective experience of multiple distinct locations of creative consciousness.
Bio: Tobi Zausner, PhD, LCSW, is a research psychologist, a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, a clinician in private practice, and a visual artist with works in major museums and private collections. Dr. Zausner, who investigates creativity, consciousness, nonlinear dynamics, and cognitive neuroscience, is on the Advisory Board for the Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research and an officer on the Board of A.C.T.S (Arts, Crafts, and Theatre Safety), a nonprofit organization investigating health hazards in the arts. Dr. Zausner has taught at the C. G. Jung Foundation for Analytical Psychology, Saybrook University, Long Island University, and The New School. Her 2016 book, When Walls Become Doorways: Creativity and the Transforming Illness, examines the positive influence of physical illness on the creativity of visual artists. Her 2022 book, The Creative Trance; Altered States of Consciousness and the Creative Process, published by Cambridge University Press, explores the creative process across domains, demonstrating that it contains multiple types of altered states of consciousness.
Past Conferences
The list of speakers from the 2021 Conference can be found here.
YouTube videos of the 2021 SCS Conference can be found here.
The list of speakers from the 2020 Conference can be found here.
YouTube videos of 2020 SCS Conference be found here.
YouTube videos of 2017 SCS Conference can be found here.
Sponsors
The Society for Consciousness Studies
California Institute for Human Science
Center for the Study of Non-Symbolic Consciousness
Transformative Technology Lab
CIIS Center for Consciousness Studies