philosophy – LIBERTY PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION

Understanding Religious or Ideological Absolutism:

Religious absolutism and ideological absolutism are close cousins—different costumes, same nervous system. The core issue in both is certainty fused with identity.

Here’s a clean way to distinguish and connect them:

Religious Absolutism

Definition:
The belief that one sacred doctrine (God, scripture, revelation, prophet) holds total and final truth, beyond question or revision.

Psychological markers:

Truth is revealed, not discovered
Doubt = moral failure or spiritual danger
Authority is external (God, scripture, clergy)
Identity = “I am right because God says so”

Function:
Provides existential safety, moral clarity, and group cohesion—especially under threat.

Shadow side:

Suppression of inquiry
Moralization of disagreement
Justification of harm “for a higher good”

Ideological Absolutism

Definition:
The belief that one explanatory framework (political, scientific, moral, social) fully accounts for reality and must be universally applied.

Psychological markers:

Truth is derived, but treated as unquestionable
Dissent = ignorance, pathology, or evil
Authority is abstract (Reason, Science, History, Progress)
Identity = “I am right because reality demands it”

Function:
Offers predictability, control, and moral certainty in complex systems.

Shadow side:

Reduction of humans to categories
Dehumanization of dissenters
Dogmatism disguised as rationality

The Shared Core (This is the key)

Both are expressions of epistemic closure under threat.

When:

uncertainty is intolerable
identity is fused to belief
social belonging depends on agreement

…absolutism emerges.

It is less about what is believed and more about how the belief is held.

A Simple Litmus Test

Ask one question:

“What would count as evidence that I might be wrong?”

If the answer is “nothing” → absolutism
If the answer is “only my side can define that” → absolutism
If the answer is specific, revisable, and dialogical → not absolutism

Developmental Lens (important)

Absolutism often corresponds to:

Early-stage meaning systems
Trauma-based threat regulation
High shame or fear of chaos

It’s not stupidity or evil—it’s a safety strategy.

Healthy Alternative (in one line)

Conviction without closure.
Strong values, open epistemology.

Shervan K Shahhian

Hypnagogia vs Dissociative Imagery vs Intuition, explained:

Here’s a clean differential framework that separates hypnagogia, dissociative imagery, and intuition across state of consciousness, control, phenomenology, and clinical/psi relevance.

1. Hypnagogic Imagery

(Sleep–wake threshold phenomena)

State

Transitional: waking → sleep (theta-dominant)
Reduced executive control
Time distortion common

Phenomenology

Vivid images, faces, scenes, symbols
Often cinematic or fragmentary
Can include voices, geometric patterns, flashes
Emotionally neutral or mildly uncanny

Agency

Passive reception
Images arise without intention
Attempts to control often collapse the imagery

Temporal Quality

Ephemeral, unstable
Shifts rapidly unless sleep deepens

Meaning Structure

Associative, symbolic, non-linear
Not reliably accurate or actionable without later interpretation

Clinical / Psi Notes

Normal, universal phenomenon
Can serve as a raw signal source in creative or psi contexts
High noise-to-signal ratio

Key Marker

“It’s happening to me as I’m drifting.”

2. Dissociative Imagery

(Protective or fragment-based internal imagery)

State

Altered waking consciousness
Often linked to trauma, attachment injury, or defensive withdrawal
Can occur fully awake

Phenomenology

Repetitive scenes, archetypal figures, inner landscapes
Strong affect (fear, longing, shame, threat)
May feel immersive or “other than me”

Agency

Semi-autonomous
Imagery may feel intrusive or compelling
Often resistant to voluntary modification

Temporal Quality

Persistent, looping, sticky
Trigger-linked

Meaning Structure

Self-referential
Encodes memory, affect, survival strategy
Often symbolic of unmet needs or threats

Clinical / Psi Notes

Commonly misidentified as intuition or psychic input
Accuracy is internally coherent, not externally predictive
Responds to grounding, IFS, titration

Key Marker

“This image feels emotionally charged and won’t let go.”

3. Intuition

(Non-imagistic knowing / perception)

State

Fully awake, regulated nervous system
Clear executive function
Often arises in calm or focused states

Phenomenology

Minimal imagery or none
Felt sense, certainty, “just knowing”
Somatic markers (gut, chest, orientation shifts)

Agency

Neither forced nor intrusive
Appears spontaneously, then recedes
Does not demand attention

Temporal Quality

Brief, clean, stable
Leaves a residue of clarity

Meaning Structure

Non-symbolic
Direct, contextual, often actionable
Low emotional charge

Clinical / Psi Notes

Easily obscured by imagery
Strengthens with nervous system regulation
Compatible with both psychological and psi frameworks

Key Marker

“There’s no picture — just clarity.”

Side-by-Side Snapshot

Feature Hypnagogia Dissociative Imagery Intuition Consciousness Sleep threshold Altered waking Fully awake Imagery Vivid, unstable Repetitive, charged Minimal or none Emotional Load Low–moderate High Low Control Passive Semi-autonomous Neutral Reference Point Associative Self/trauma-linked Contextual/external Reliability Low Internally coherent High

Common Confusions (Very Important)

Hypnagogia ≠ intuition
Hypnagogia produces content; intuition produces knowing.
Dissociative imagery ≠ psi perception
Trauma imagery can feel “other” but is still self-referential.
More imagery ≠ more accuracy
In both CRV and clinical intuition, less imagery often means cleaner signal.

Practical Discernment Questions

Ask in the moment:

Am I drifting or fully awake?
→ drifting = hypnagogia

Is this emotionally charged or looping?
→ charged = dissociative imagery

Is there an image, or just certainty?
→ certainty = intuition

Does it demand attention, or quietly inform?
→ demands = imagery
→ informs = intuition

Shervan K Shahhian

Non-Ordinary Perception, What is it:

Non-ordinary perception refers to ways of perceiving that fall outside everyday, consensus sensory experience — yet are recognized across psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, and consciousness studies.

What “Non-Ordinary Perception” Means

It describes perceptual experiences that arise when the nervous system operates outside its default predictive mode.

These experiences may involve:

Altered sensory integration

Expanded internal imagery

Reduced filtering of subtle signals

Changes in time, space, or self-boundaries

They are state-dependent, not inherently pathological.

Common Forms

1. Imaginal / Symbolic Perception

Vivid inner imagery

Archetypal or symbolic content

Hypnagogic or hypnopompic visions

Active imagination states (Jung)

➡ Often mediated by right-hemisphere and default mode network shifts

2. Somatic-Perceptual Knowing

“Knowing” through the body

Sensations preceding conscious thought

Felt sense, vibrations, pressure, or movement

➡ Linked to interoception and subcortical processing

3. Intuitive or Non-Linear Cognition

Sudden insights without step-by-step reasoning

Pattern recognition beyond conscious awareness

Time-independent knowing

➡ Seen in expert intuition, trauma adaptations, and contemplative states

4. Altered Sensory Thresholds

Heightened sound, light, or energy sensitivity

Synesthetic overlap

Blurred internal/external boundaries

➡ Often emerges during stress, meditation, psychedelics, or liminal states

5. Transpersonal or Anomalous Perception

Perception beyond the individual self

Experiences of guidance, presence, or contact

Remote or nonlocal impressions

➡ Studied in parapsychology, CRV, and transpersonal psychology

Clinical Distinction (Important)

Non-ordinary perception is not psychosis when:

✔ Insight is preserved

✔ Meaning is flexible, not rigid

✔ Functioning is intact

✔ Experience is state-dependent

✔ There is no compulsory belief enforcement

Pathology begins when threat-based interpretations dominate perception.

Trauma & Survival Context

From a trauma lens:

Non-ordinary perception can be a survival intelligence

The system learns to detect subtle cues when overt cues were unsafe

Heightened pattern detection ≠ delusion

This aligns with protective dissociation and adaptive hypervigilance.

CRV & Structured Access

In Controlled Remote Viewing:

Non-ordinary perception is trained, bracketed, and disciplined

Emphasis is on signal vs. analytic overlay

The nervous system learns regulated access rather than flooding

This is a key distinction between skillful access and destabilization.

Integrative View

Non-ordinary perception is best understood as:

A spectrum of human perceptual capacity, shaped by state, training, trauma, and culture — requiring regulation, context, and meaning-making.

Shervan K Shahhian

Understanding Risk Intelligence:

Risk intelligence is the ability to accurately identify, interpret, and respond to risks — not just by gathering data, but by making sound judgments under uncertainty. It blends psychology, critical thinking, and strategic awareness.

Here’s a clear, practical breakdown:

What Risk Intelligence Actually Means

Risk intelligence is your capacity to answer two questions accurately:

What is going on?
(Perception: noticing signals, patterns, early warnings)

What should I do about it?
(Decision-making: choosing actions under uncertainty)

High risk intelligence means your judgments about danger, opportunity, and probability are calibrated to reality.

Core Components of Risk Intelligence

1. Threat Perception (Detection)

Recognizing early cues of danger or change:

Behavioral anomalies
Emotional/physiological signals
Environmental shifts
Pattern recognition

People with high RI detect weak signals before they become crises.

2. Cognitive Calibration (Thinking Clearly)

This is the psychological skill of aligning your beliefs with actual probabilities:

You don’t overreact
You don’t underreact
You adjust as new information comes in

Calibration is what separates intuition from wishful thinking.

3. Emotional Regulation (Staying Grounded)

Fear, anger, or desire can distort risk perception.
High RI requires:

Staying calm under stress
Not letting hope or fear hijack judgment
Using emotions as data, not commands

4. Scenario Thinking (Strategic Foresight)

Generating realistic “what if” paths:

Best-case / worst-case
Most likely scenario
Red-team thinking (how could this go wrong?)

This builds psychological resilience and reduces surprise.

5. Decision Architecture (Taking the Right Action)

Risk intelligence is useless unless you can act:

Choosing options with the best risk-reward balance
Creating buffers and contingencies
Avoiding escalation traps
Knowing when not to act

6. Sensemaking (Integrating Multiple Signals)

You combine:

Data
Intuition
Experience
Environmental feedback

Sensemaking turns noise into insight.

Why Risk Intelligence Matters

High RI increases:

Personal safety
Strategic judgment
Emotional stability
Performance in crises
Leadership effectiveness
Ability to navigate uncertainty and complex systems

This is why military strategists, intelligence analysts, psychologists, and high-level decision makers train it deliberately.

A Simple 5-Step Framework to Build Risk Intelligence

Here’s a practical self-training method:

Notice
Write down early signals you observe each day (behavioral, emotional, environmental).

Interpret
Ask: What might this mean? What else could it mean?

Estimate
Assign a rough probability to each interpretation (10%, 50%, 80%).

Act
Choose the lowest-regret action.

Review
After the fact, check how accurate your estimate was.
This step is what improves calibration.

Shervan K Shahhian

Understanding Intuitive Data Interpretation:

Intuitive data interpretation refers to using non-analytical, pattern-recognizing, often subconscious capacities to make sense of information. It’s not about guessing, it’s about using rapid, experience-driven pattern detection that your mind performs beneath conscious awareness. Psychologist and some who are deeply involved in CRV, altered states, and symbolic analysis, might recognize that intuitive interpretation blends cognitive, perceptual, and sometimes archetypal processes.

Here’s a clear breakdown:

1. What Is Intuitive Data Interpretation?

It is the ability to extract meaning from complex or ambiguous information without relying exclusively on linear, step-by-step reasoning. Instead, the brain uses:

Implicit memory
Heuristics
Pattern recognition
Emotional resonance (affect-as-information)
Somatic markers
Symbolic/archetypal associations

Essentially, intuition is fast, automatic, and associative, compared to analytical reasoning, which is slow and deliberate.

2. Where It Comes From (Psychological Mechanisms)

a. The “Thin Slice” Effect

Your brain can evaluate large amounts of data instantly from small cues.
Example: clinicians intuitively sensing the direction a case is going from tone, posture, or micro-patterns.

b. The Somatic Marker Hypothesis

Your body gives a “felt sense” that guides choices before you consciously understand why.
This is the bodily version of pattern recognition.

c. Implicit Knowledge Integration

Years of experience accumulate into unconscious rules. Psychologists, remote viewers, analysts, and investigators often draw on this.

3. Types of Data Where Intuition Helps

Ambiguous or incomplete data
Human behavior, motives, or emotional states
Symbolic, archetypal, or mythic material
Geopolitical or strategic scenarios (analysts often use intuitive “sensemaking”)
CRV Stage 1–3 signals (immediate impressions before AOL kicks in)

4. In CRV and Altered States

You can see intuitive interpretation as the “natural mode” of low-beta, alpha, and theta states, where the mind is:

less filtering
more open to subtle impressions
more integrative
less constrained by linear logic

This is why remote viewers and sensitives often receive “data bursts” that feel like impressions rather than thoughts.

5. Psychological Applications

a. Clinical Settings

Intuitive interpretation helps with:

case formulation
tracking emotional undercurrents
identifying unspoken client themes
predicting relational patterns

b. Threat Assessment / Strategic Psychology

Intuition identifies:

anomalies
dishonesty
escalation signals
hidden motives
inconsistencies

c. Symbolic/Archetypal Work

Intuitive interpretation is essential for:

dreams
metaphors
mythic narratives
personal symbolism
synchronicities

6. How to Strengthen It (Professional Methods)

1. Quiet Cognitive Noise

Meditation, breathwork, pre-session centering.

2. Suspension of Premature Interpretation

Hold data lightly before concluding.

3. Somatic Tracking

Notice micro-shifts in chest, gut, or hands.

4. Pattern Journaling

Record impressions → check them against outcomes.

5. Dual-Process Awareness Training

Move deliberately between “slow brain” and “fast brain.”

6. Using CRV Protocols

CRV teaches disciplined intuition:
data → sketch → descriptor → analysis (later stage).

7. How to Know When It’s Accurate

Indicators that intuition is functioning (not bias):

Neutral emotional tone
Comes quickly and quietly
No need to justify it
Symbolic rather than narrative
Somatic clarity rather than tension
Repeats itself subtly

Shervan K Shahhian

We should , Have Hope in Humanity, why:

That’s a profound question — and one that cuts right to the heart of psychology, philosophy, and even spirituality.

We should have hope in humanity not because humanity is perfect, but because it is capable of growth, reflection, and renewal. Here are several perspectives that explain why:

1. The Capacity for Compassion

Even in the darkest times, people consistently show acts of kindness — rescuing strangers, helping the poor, protecting the environment, or standing up for justice. Across cultures and history, compassion persists as a fundamental human impulse.

“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.” — Oscar Wilde

2. The Drive to Evolve

Human beings are learning organisms. Psychologically, every generation has improved its understanding of trauma, empathy, and mental health. As knowledge deepens, so does our capacity to act with wisdom rather than impulse.

In this sense, hope in humanity is hope in our ability to learn from suffering — to transform mistakes into insight.

3. Creative and Spiritual Potential

Art, science, and spirituality reveal humanity’s higher nature. From music and literature to the exploration of space, these pursuits express a yearning to connect with something larger than ourselves — truth, beauty, or divinity.

This creative impulse suggests that there is something inherently luminous within human consciousness.

4. Resilience in Crisis

History shows that after every collapse — wars, pandemics, disasters — people rebuild. Hope is not naive optimism; it’s the recognition that the human spirit, though wounded, always seeks to heal and rebuild.

5. The Ripple Effect of Goodness

Psychologically, acts of hope and goodness are contagious. One person choosing integrity, forgiveness, or courage can influence dozens more. This collective ripple can shift the tone of communities, nations, even civilizations.

6. Hope as a Moral Act

To have hope in humanity is itself a moral choice — a refusal to surrender to cynicism. It keeps the inner world aligned with possibility, which strengthens the outer world through our actions and words.

Hope is a discipline. — Mariame Kaba

Shervan K Shahhian

Have Hope in Humanity, why:

That’s a profound statement and one that cuts right to the heart of psychology, philosophy, and even spirituality.

We should have hope in humanity not because humanity is perfect, but because it is capable of growth, reflection, and renewal. Here are several perspectives that explain why:

1. The Capacity for Compassion

“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.” — Oscar Wilde

2. The Drive to Evolve

In this sense, hope in humanity is hope in our ability to learn from suffering — to transform mistakes into insight.

3. Creative and Spiritual Potential

This creative impulse suggests that there is something inherently luminous within human consciousness.

4. Resilience in Crisis

History shows that after every collapse — wars, pandemics, disasters — people rebuild. Hope is not naive optimism; it’s the recognition that the human spirit, though wounded, always seeks to heal and rebuild.

5. The Ripple Effect of Goodness

6. Hope as a Moral Act

Shervan K Shahhian

Understanding Hysteria:

Hysteria:

“Hysteria” is an old psychological and medical term, no longer used today, but historically very influential.

Origins

Ancient Greece: The word comes from the Greek hystera (meaning “womb”). Hippocrates and later physicians thought symptoms of hysteria came from a “wandering uterus” inside women’s bodies.
Middle Ages / Renaissance: It was linked to witchcraft, demonic possession, or spiritual weakness.
19th century medicine: Doctors described hysteria as a disorder — mostly in women — causing fainting, paralysis, seizures, emotional outbursts, or strange bodily symptoms without clear physical cause.

In Psychology & Psychiatry

Jean-Martin Charcot (1800s, Paris): Studied hysterical seizures, showing they were psychological, not neurological.
Sigmund Freud & Josef Breuer: Treated hysteria with hypnosis and developed the “talking cure,” which laid the foundation for psychoanalysis. Freud proposed that hysteria came from repressed traumatic memories.
20th century: The concept evolved into what we now call somatic symptom disorders, conversion disorder, or sometimes dissociative disorders.

Today

The term “hysteria” is no longer a clinical diagnosis (it was officially dropped in DSM-III, 1980).
Modern psychology recognizes that the symptoms once called “hysterical” often come from trauma, stress, or unconscious processes.

In psychology, the idea of hysteria has gone through a major transformation.

1. Classical View (1800s — early 1900s)

Jean-Martin Charcot (Paris neurologist) studied patients with dramatic paralysis, fainting, seizures, and loss of speech without medical cause. He treated them with hypnosis, showing symptoms could be influenced psychologically.
Sigmund Freud & Josef Breuer: Saw hysteria as rooted in unconscious conflict and repressed trauma. Their case studies (like Anna O.) became the foundation of psychoanalysis. They described hysteria as the “conversion” of emotional distress into bodily symptoms.

2. Mid-20th Century

Hysteria became an umbrella label for puzzling symptoms with no physical explanation.
It carried heavy gender bias (diagnosed mostly in women, often dismissed as “emotional” or “irrational”).
Critics in psychology and psychiatry pushed for more precise, less stigmatizing diagnoses.

3. Modern Psychology (since DSM-III, 1980)

The term hysteria was dropped, replaced with more specific categories:

Conversion Disorder → psychological stress manifests as neurological symptoms (e.g., paralysis, blindness, seizures without medical basis).
Somatic Symptom Disorder → excessive distress about physical symptoms.
Dissociative Disorders → when trauma or stress causes disruptions in memory, identity, or consciousness.

4. Psychological Understanding Today

What used to be called “hysteria” is now seen as the mind-body connection under stress and trauma.
Symptoms are not “faked” but are real expressions of psychological distress.
Modern therapy focuses on trauma-informed care, stress regulation, and integration rather than labeling someone as “hysterical.”

Shervan K Shahhian

“Hypnotism” comes from Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep:

“Hypnotism” comes from Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep.

Here’s the lineage:
In the mid-1800s, Scottish surgeon James Braid coined the term “neuro-hypnotism” (from the Greek Hypnos, meaning sleep) to describe the peculiar trance-like state he was observing in patients.
Later he shortened it to “hypnotism.”
Braid originally thought this state was a form of artificial sleep, which is why he borrowed from the name of the sleep god.
However, he later realized hypnosis is not actually sleep but a special state of focused attention and suggestibility.

So the word “hypnotism” has its root in Hypnos, but the practice itself is closer to a waking state than to real sleep.

Here’s the connection between Hypnos in mythology and hypnotism:

Hypnos in Greek Mythology

Hypnos = god of sleep.
Son of Nyx (Night), twin brother of Thanatos (Death).
Lived in a dark cave where the sun never shone, surrounded by poppies (a symbol of sleep/dreams).
His touch or words could calm gods and mortals alike, sending them into deep rest.
He was gentle, unlike his brother Thanatos - his power was about relaxation, release, and altered states, not finality.

Why Braid Chose “Hypnotism”

When James Braid saw patients in trance states, their relaxed appearance, closed eyes, and dream-like quality reminded him of sleep → so he linked it to Hypnos.
The metaphor fit well: just as Hypnos could lull even Zeus to sleep, the hypnotist seemed to have power to shift consciousness and bypass resistance.

Symbolic Parallels

Entrance to another state → Hypnos guided mortals into dreams, hypnosis guides the mind into trance.
Suggestibility → In myths, Hypnos influences behavior by softening consciousness; in hypnosis, suggestions bypass ordinary awareness.
Between waking and death → Hypnos stands between alert life and Thanatos (death), just as hypnosis stands between wakefulness and unconscious sleep.

Later Misunderstanding

Because of the name, many thought hypnosis was literally sleep (even today people say “you look asleep in hypnosis”).
But modern science shows hypnosis is a focused waking state, not true sleep - though it shares the same imagery of rest, surrender, and altered awareness that Hypnos embodied.

So: Hypnotism inherits both the imagery and the mystery of Hypnos - a gentle power to lead the mind across the threshold of ordinary awareness.
Shervan K Shahhian

Animal Magnetism, and the early theory of Hypnosis:

“Animal Magnetism” :

“Animal Magnetism” was one of the earliest theories of hypnosis.

It was proposed in the late 18th century by Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1815), a German physician. Mesmer believed that:

All living beings were influenced by a universal fluid or energy, which he called “animal magnetism.”
Illness arose when this fluid was blocked or out of balance.
Healing could occur by restoring its natural flow, often through gestures, passes of the hands, or the use of magnets.

Mesmer’s dramatic “magnetic” sessions often put patients into trance-like states, with convulsions, fainting, or calm relaxation. While his theory of an invisible magnetic fluid was eventually discredited, the altered states of consciousness he induced laid the foundation for later study of hypnosis.

Over time, James Braid (1795–1860) reframed these phenomena scientifically, coining the term hypnotism in the 1840s, moving the field away from “animal magnetism” toward psychology and suggestion.

Here’s a clear timeline showing how Mesmer’s animal magnetism evolved into modern hypnosis:

18th Century — Mesmer and Animal Magnetism

1770s–1780s — Franz Anton Mesmer proposes animal magnetism, a universal life force.
He uses magnets and hand passes to “realign” this force.
Patients often enter trance-like states, some showing dramatic reactions.
1784 — A French Royal Commission (including Benjamin Franklin) investigates and concludes the effects are due to imagination and suggestion, not magnetic fluid

19th Century — Hypnotism Emerges

1810s–1830s — Marquis de Puységur (Mesmer’s student) notices patients can enter a calm, suggestible sleep-like state (he calls it artificial somnambulism).
1840s — James Braid, a Scottish surgeon, studies these states scientifically.
Rejects Mesmer’s “magnetic fluid.”
Coins the term “hypnotism” (from Hypnos, Greek god of sleep).
Defines hypnosis as a psychological state involving focused attention and heightened suggestibility.
Mid-1800s — Hypnosis used for anesthesia in surgery before chemical anesthetics become widespread.

Late 19th — Early 20th Century — Psychology & Therapy

Jean-Martin Charcot (Paris) studies hypnosis in hysteria patients; treats it as a neurological condition.
Hippolyte Bernheim & the Nancy School emphasize suggestion as the key therapeutic factor.
Sigmund Freud experiments with hypnosis before developing psychoanalysis.

Mid-20th Century — Ericksonian Revolution

Milton H. Erickson (1901–1980) transforms hypnosis into a flexible therapeutic tool.
Moves away from authoritarian commands toward indirect suggestion, storytelling, and metaphor.
Develops Ericksonian Hypnosis, influencing psychotherapy, family therapy, and NLP.

Modern Day

Hypnosis is seen as a natural altered state of consciousness involving focused attention, relaxation, and openness to suggestion.
Widely used in clinical psychology, medicine, dentistry, trauma recovery, pain management, and habit change.
Scientific research focuses on brain imaging, attention, and the mechanisms of suggestibility.

In short:
Mesmer (mystical energy) → Braid (scientific hypnotism) → Charcot/Bernheim (medical & psychological study) → Erickson (therapeutic art) → modern evidence-based hypnosis.

Shervan K Shahhian