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Out of Our Minds? Toward a New Science of Cognitive Companion Construction

Submitted to Program Units
1: Cognitive Science of Religion Unit

Wesley J. Wildman, Boston University, Presiding

Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)

Approaches to formalize CCC include neuroimaging studies, computational modeling, phenomenological analysis, and ethnographic research. Each approach aims to identify cognitive capabilities involved, understand cultural influences, and integrate findings into a biocultural theory of CCC. The proposed panel, comprising diverse studies on demonic presences, tulpamancy, alien encounters, and shamanic guides, seeks to synthesize these insights. It aims to delineate variations in experiences and their underlying neurocognitive mechanisms while considering cultural dynamics. The panel also intends to engage in discussions with attendees, potentially leading to a collaborative book on a comprehensive theory of CCC phenomena.

Papers

  • Ari Brouwer, University of Wisconsin - Madison

    On Demons: Spiritual, Psychedelic and Psychotic Experiences of Malevolent Agency

    Abstract

    How is the subjective experience of demons different from the experience of benevolent spirit companions? This presentation explores how negative emotional valence, lack of control, and high-arousal characterize malevolent agent encounters. Moreover, the ways we respond to malevolent spirits, both spontaneously and in religious/therapeutic contexts, resemble strategies for responding to (e.g., resisting or reconciling with) hostile agents in real life. Benevolent spiritual companions, much like friends in real life, diminish the perception of hostile spiritual forces, and can be summoned as allies in spiritual struggles. The dynamics of Cognitive Companion Construction (CCC), both hostile and benevolent, reflect an amplified imaginative process of social-cognitive simulation – in which the mind synthesizes negative and positive agent encounters into a symbolic (generalized) form, so as to update and generalize our responses to social actors (including the self) in real life.

  • Elizabeth Hale, University of California Santa Barbara

    Agents in Space: Alien Interfacings as Cognitive Companion Constructions

    Abstract

    This paper explores the phenomenon of alien abductions and other sustained personal relationships with aliens—what I term “alien interfacings”—through the lens of Cognitive Companion Construction (CCC), an approach which seeks to understand the cognitive underpinnings allowing the human mind to construct and perceive an ostensibly external agent through internal mechanisms. Aliens are one such type of constructed companion. Through combined factors of expectation, cultural priors, and sensory deprivation through hypnosis or meditation, experiencers generate dense narratives of alien interfacings which often bear powerful transformative results in their lives. These narratives, and the alien interlocuters with whom experiencers build relationships, are created by a combination of cultural and cognitive mechanisms. This paper seeks to better understand the internal narration mechanism, the mental vocabulary upon which it draws, and what such a narrative says about the culture in which it is generated.

  • Luca Del Deo, Harvard University

    Tulpamancy as Agent Cognition in Cognitive Companion Construction

    Abstract

    Cognitive Companion Construction (CCC), as a provisional model, suggests the examination of the preceding factors in encounters with immaterial beings or agents often deemed supernatural. A meditation tradition rising out of the internet in the past decade offers a seemingly novel exposition of how one might create a persistent encounter with an immaterial being or supernatural agent. Tulpamancy prescribes a training curriculum of visualization and narrative development that is equal parts excogitation and phenomenological creation of the imagined agent. Through the lens of CCC, the agents encountered in Tulpamancy are situated as cognitive constructs. The emic terminology and prescriptive practices of Tulpamancy resemble an experiential model supported by the CCC framing, in which a Tavesian building blocks approach and predictive coding theory structure the agent encounter as trainable, repeatable, and companionate as a result of cultural priors both inherent and explicit in Tulpamancy practice.

  • F. LeRon Shults, University of Agder

    The Cognitive Construction of Companions in Shamanism

    Abstract

    The presentation discusses Cognitive Companion Construction (CCC) within shamanism, drawing on insights from CSR and addressing traditional and neo-shamanic practices. Methodological challenges in studying shamanism cross-culturally are acknowledged, emphasizing the need for multidisciplinary approaches. Cognitive capacities observed in shamanism include altered states of consciousness, symbolic thought, narrative construction, and the search for meaning. Research suggests that such experiences are facilitated by cognitive processes like hyperactive agency detection and theory of mind. Cultural contexts significantly shape the expression of shamanic practices, with variations reflecting societal understandings of the cosmos and social cohesion mechanisms. Distinguishing between collective and distributive modes of effervescence on a continuum, the paper theorizes the mechanisms that contribute to the emergence and expansion of novel practices like contemporary neo-shamanisms. The conclusion emphasizes the interplay between cognitive capacities and cultural contexts in shaping CCC within shamanism, contributing to a deeper understanding of religious beliefs and practices within CSR.

Business Meeting
Jed Forman, University of California, Berkeley, Presiding
Paul Robertson, University of New Hampshire, Presiding
Audiovisual Requirements

Resources

LCD Projector and Screen
Podium microphone

Full Papers Available

No
Program Unit Options

Session Length

2 Hours

Schedule Preference Other

A 90 minute session would also work
Schedule Info

Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

Session Identifier

A25-207