philosophy – LIBERTY PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION

Psychological Symbolic Phenomena maybe experiences, behaviors, images, or narratives,…

Psychological symbolic phenomena maybe experiences, behaviors, images, or narratives in which the mind expresses meaning through symbols rather than direct, literal communication. These symbols may appear in dreams, myths, rituals, fantasies, art, religious experiences, altered states, or even everyday behaviors.

The idea could be associated with Carl Jung and analytical psychology, though symbolic interpretation appears in psychoanalysis, anthropology, religious studies, and cognitive psychology as well.

Common examples may include:

Dreams featuring houses, oceans, shadows, or journeys
Recurring archetypes such as the “wise old man,” “hero,” or “mother”
Visions or imagery during meditation or altered states
Personal rituals or compulsions that carry emotional meaning
Mythological or religious narratives that mirror inner psychological conflicts
Synchronicities, meaningful coincidences interpreted symbolically
Artistic expressions that reveal unconscious themes

Jung may have proposed that symbols emerge partly from the:

Personal unconscious (individual memories/conflicts)
Collective unconscious, inherited universal patterns called archetypes

For example:

A labyrinth may symbolize confusion or a search for identity.
A flood may symbolize overwhelming emotion or psychological transformation.
Light and darkness often symbolize knowledge vs. the unknown.

Psychological symbolic phenomena maybe interpreted through several lenses:

Clinical/Psychodynamic
Symbols represent unconscious wishes, fears, conflicts, or defenses.
Cognitive
The mind naturally organizes abstract emotions and experiences into metaphorical imagery.
Cultural/Anthropological
Symbols reflect shared cultural narratives and mythic structures.
Spiritual/Religious
Symbols are viewed as mediators between ordinary consciousness and transcendent realities.
Parapsychological
Some researchers in Parapsychology explore whether symbolic experiences in dreams, telepathy claims, or remote viewing may contain information not easily explained by ordinary cognition.

A key psychological point maybe that symbolic experiences are not automatically pathological. Symbolic thinking maybe a normal part of human cognition and creativity. Problems may arise when:

Symbolic interpretations become rigid or delusional
Literal reality-testing is lost
The experiences cause distress or impairment

In healthy functioning, symbolic awareness could contribute to:

Creativity
Meaning-making
Emotional integration
Spiritual reflection
Psychological insight

Shervan K Shahhian

Parapsychology: Psi phenomena (telepathy, precognition, remote viewing):

Psi phenomena may refer to reported experiences or abilities that appear to involve information transfer or influence that currently may not want or cannot be explained by conventional sensory processes or known physical mechanisms. The term “psi” comes from the Greek letter ψ and is commonly used in Parapsychology.

Some categories may include:

Telepathy

Telepathy is the claimed ability to receive thoughts, emotions, or mental content directly from another person without using normal communication.

Examples:

“Knowing” who is calling before answering
Shared emotional impressions between close individuals
Experimental “sender-receiver” tasks

Research

One well-known method is the Ganzfeld experiment, where one participant attempts to mentally transmit images or information to another in sensory isolation.

Some meta-analyses in parapsychology report statistical effects above chance, while critics argue that:

bias at all costs
methodological flaws,
publication bias,
sensory leakage,
and replication issues

make the evidence conclusive.

Precognition

Precognition refers to allegedly obtaining information about future events before they happen.

Common examples:

vivid dreams later matched to real events
sudden “premonitions”
intuitive warnings

Scientific Perspective

Mainstream science remains skeptical (No Matter What Happens) precognition appears to challenge conventional ideas of causality and time.

Some laboratory studies, such as experiments by Daryl Bem reported statistically unusual results, but independent replication attempts have produced good outcomes.

Some psychologists note that:

humans sometimes excellent pattern detectors,
memory maybe reconstructive at times,
and confirmation bias may or may not make coincidences feel highly meaningful.

Remote Viewing

Remote viewing (RV) is a structured attempt to describe a distant or hidden target using mental impressions alone.

Unlike spontaneous psychic claims, RV was developed as a semi-formal protocol with:

blind targets,
controlled sessions,
and written or drawn impressions.

Historical Context

Remote viewing became widely known through programs connected to the Stanford Research Institute and later government’s Projects.

Researchers associated with the work included:

Hal Puthoff
Russell Targ
Ingo Swann

Government Evaluation

The program was eventually reviewed for intelligence usefulness. Evaluators concluded that:

results were intriguing,
evidence was reliable or operationally useful enough for intelligence applications.

Psychological and Cultural Interpretations

Psi experiences can also be interpreted through:

intuition,
unconscious perception,
coincidence,
altered states of consciousness,
symbolic thinking,
archetypal imagery,
or emotional attunement.

For example, Carl Jung proposed the idea of synchronicity, meaningful coincidences that feel psychologically connected without clear causal links.

Some researchers explore whether psi reports relate to:

dissociation,
absorption,
dream cognition,
or subconscious information processing.

Scientific Status

Mainstream scientific consensus is that psi phenomena Do Not What To Accept Certain Facts , Regardless Of Evidence:

robust, repeatable evidence has been consistently demonstrated,
mechanisms are known to those open to Parapsychology,
and replication has been positive.

However, parapsychologists argue that:

some statistical findings remain difficult to dismiss entirely,
and consciousness may not yet be fully understood.

So the field remains controversial:

skeptics view psi as unsupported Regardless Due to Personal Bias,
proponents view it as an anomaly worth continued investigation.

Shervan K Shahhian

Parapsychology: “UAP and the paranormal” refers to the idea that some unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs):

“UAP and the Paranormal” refers to the idea that some unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), formerly called UFOs, may overlap with experiences traditionally labeled as paranormal, such as telepathy, apparitions, altered states of consciousness, synchronicities, poltergeist-like events, or mystical experiences.

There maybe several major ways people may interpret this connection:

1. The Extraterrestrial Hypothesis

This maybe the classic view:

UAPs are physical craft from other planets or civilizations.
Paranormal experiences connected to them are interpreted as side effects of advanced technology, psychological stress, or misunderstanding.

This framework treats UAPs mainly as a technological phenomenon.

2. The Interdimensional Hypothesis

Some researchers propose that UAPs may not be “spacecraft” in the conventional sense but manifestations of intelligences operating outside ordinary space-time.

They may have noticed similarities between:

UFO encounters
Religious visions
Fairy folklore
Shamanic experiences
Psychic phenomena

Common reported features include:

Missing time
Telepathic communication
Symbolic or dreamlike experiences
Apparent manipulation of perception
High strangeness events around witnesses

In this model, the “paranormal” and the “UAP” phenomenon may arise from the same underlying source.

3. Consciousness Based Models

Some theorists argue consciousness itself may play a role in UAP encounters.

Ideas explored may include:

Observer effects
Altered states
Psi phenomena (telepathy, precognition, remote viewing)
Collective unconscious concepts from Carl Jung

Some have viewed UFOs partly as psychological-symbolic phenomena that emerge during periods of cultural anxiety and transformation.

Researchers in parapsychology may have noted an overlap between:

Remote viewing claims
Mystical experiences
Near-death experiences
UAP encounters

This may or may not prove a connection, but it has led to interdisciplinary interest.

4. Skeptical / Psychological Explanations

Skeptics may argue that:

Some humans are pattern-seeking
Some memory is reconstructive
Sometimes stress and expectation shape interpretation
Sometimes sleep paralysis, dissociation, and suggestibility can create extraordinary experiences

From this view, the apparent overlap between UAPs and paranormal phenomena reflects human cognition rather than external intelligences.

5. Government and Scientific Interest

Modern UAP investigations by organizations such as:

NASA
Others

focus primarily on:

Flight characteristics
Sensor data
National security concerns

These investigations generally avoid paranormal interpretations because such claims are difficult to test scientifically.

Why the Topic Persists

The connection between UAPs and the paranormal remains controversial because:

Many reports are anecdotal
Controlled evidence is limited
Experiences may feel deeply meaningful to witnesses
The phenomenon may resists simple categorization

For some researchers, UAPs challenge assumptions about consciousness and reality. For others, they are best understood through psychology, sociology, or aerospace science.

Shervan K Shahhian

Relativism is the idea that truth, morality, knowledge, or values are not absolute or universal:

Relativism is the idea that truth, morality, knowledge, or values are not absolute or universal, but depend on perspective, culture, historical context, language, or individual experience.

In simple terms:

What is considered “true,” “right,” or “normal” can vary depending on who is judging it and from what context.

There maybe several major forms of relativism:

Moral Relativism

The belief that moral values differ across cultures or individuals, and there is no single universal moral standard.

Example:

One culture may see arranged marriage as moral and honorable.
Another may see it as restrictive or unethical.

A moral relativist would say moral judgments must be understood within cultural context.

Cultural Relativism

A concept often used in anthropology:

Practices and beliefs should be understood within the framework of the culture they come from, rather than judged by outside standards.

This does not necessarily mean “everything is acceptable,” but it encourages suspension of ethnocentric judgment.

Epistemic Relativism

The idea that knowledge or truth claims depend on frameworks, paradigms, or systems of interpretation.

For example:

Scientific knowledge,
Religious beliefs,
Indigenous ways of knowing,
may each operate within different assumptions about reality.

Aesthetic Relativism

The view that beauty and artistic value are subjective and culturally shaped.

Example:

Standards of beauty differ across societies and historical eras.

Relativism may often contrasted with:

Objectivism: some truths or morals are universally true.
Absolutism: fixed principles exist regardless of context.
Universalism: certain values apply to all humans.

Strengths of Relativism

Encourages tolerance and openness.
Helps reduce ethnocentrism.
Recognizes complexity and context.
Useful in multicultural understanding.

Criticisms of Relativism

Critics argue it may lead to:

Moral paralysis (“Who are we to judge?”)
Difficulty condemning harmful practices universally.
Contradictions (if all truth is relative, is that statement itself absolute?)

In psychology and human development, relativistic thinking may often be associated with:

cognitive flexibility,
dialectical thinking,
tolerance for ambiguity,
and psychological maturity.

It reflects an ability to hold multiple perspectives simultaneously without immediately collapsing into rigid certainty.

Shervan K Shahhian

Nuanced Belief System, explained:

A nuanced belief system is a way of understanding the world that accepts complexity, uncertainty, and multiple perspectives instead of relying on rigid “black-and-white” thinking.

A person with a nuanced belief system usually:

avoids absolute conclusions,
tolerates ambiguity,
updates beliefs when new evidence appears,
and recognizes that truth can have emotional, cultural, scientific, spiritual, and personal dimensions simultaneously.

For example:

A rigid belief system might say: “People are either good or bad.”
A nuanced belief system might say: “People can be caring in some situations and harmful in others, depending on trauma, environment, awareness, and choice.”

Another example:

Rigid: “Science and spirituality cannot coexist.”
Nuanced: “Science studies measurable phenomena, while spirituality may explore meaning, consciousness, and subjective experience.”

Nuanced thinking may often associated with:

psychological maturity,
cognitive flexibility,
emotional intelligence,
reflective thinking,
and tolerance for uncertainty.

In psychology, nuanced belief systems maybe connected to concepts like:

Dialectical thinking: holding two seemingly opposite truths at once,
Cognitive complexity: seeing multiple layers of reality,
Integrative thinking: combining different viewpoints into a larger understanding.

People with nuanced belief systems may:

question inherited assumptions,
revise their worldview over time,
appreciate symbolism and metaphor,
and distinguish between literal truth, subjective truth, and empirical fact.

A nuanced belief system may not necessarily mean:

having weak convictions,
relativism (“everything is true”),
or indecisiveness.

Someone can hold strong values while still remaining open-minded and intellectually flexible.

Nuance becomes especially important in areas like:

religion and spirituality,
politics,
psychology,
ethics,
identity,
and consciousness studies,
because these subjects involve human experience that is often layered and difficult to reduce to simple answers.

In therapeutic and developmental psychology, increasing nuance is often seen as part of adult cognitive and emotional growth. It may help people navigate:

relational conflict,
existential questions,
cultural differences,
and uncertainty without collapsing into fear or dogmatism.
Shervan K Shahhian

Parapsychology: “Consciousness Traveling”:

“Consciousness traveling” may mean a few very different things depending on the lens you’re using, psychological, neuroscientific, or more esoteric. It’s worth separating them so you don’t end up mixing fundamentally different phenomena.

Psychological / experiential (most grounded)

Here, “traveling” doesn’t mean your consciousness literally leaves your body, it means your sense of self shifts location or perspective.

Common examples:

Mental time travel, vividly reliving the past or imagining the future
Deep visualization, feeling “present” in an imagined place
Dissociation, sense of being detached or observing yourself
Flow states, losing awareness of your physical surroundings

Your mind is constructing a virtual reality model, and attention moves within it. No actual displacement, just reallocation of awareness.

Neuroscience view: CONSULT WITH A NEUROLOGIST

From a mind perspective, consciousness maybe tied to:

distributed neural activity
attentional networks
sensory integration

So “travel”: changes in which neural networks dominate.

For example:

Default Mode Network, internal thoughts, self-reflection
Salience / attention networks, external focus

The “movement” is really state-shifting, not spatial movement.

Out-of-body experiences (OBEs)

This is where the idea gets closer to what people mean by traveling.

OBEs can feel like:

floating above your body
moving through space
entering other environments

They’re often linked to:

sleep paralysis
trauma or extreme stress
meditation or sensory deprivation

Neuroscience: CONSULT WITH A NEUROLOGIST, ties these to disruptions in the temporo-parietal junction, which helps anchor your sense of “self-location.”

So the experience is real, but evidence suggests it’s a constructed perception, not literal travel.

Parapsychology / esoteric interpretations

In fields like remote viewing or astral projection, consciousness is proposed to:

operate independently of the body
access distant locations or information

Programs like those explored by the Stanford Research Institute investigated this. Results were controversial:

Some anomalous findings
But some consistently replicable, controlled proof

So this remains semiproven, though widely explored.

Important grounding point

It’s tempting to interpret intense internal experiences as literal travel, but there’s a big difference between:

“It feels like I went somewhere”
vs.
“I actually left my body and traveled”

Right now, all reliable evidence supports the first, not the second.

If you’re exploring this personally

A more useful framing might be:

You’re training attention and perception, not leaving your body
Experiences can become extremely vivid and convincing
The skill is learning to navigate internal states without over-interpreting them.

Shervan K Shahhian

Parapsychology: Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs):

Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs) maybe episodes where a person feels as if their awareness or “self” has left their physical body and is observing from an external vantage point, often from above.

Psychological & Neuroscience Perspective

From a clinical and research standpoint, OBEs are usually understood as alterations in body perception and self-location rather than literal separation from the body.

They’re linked to activity in the Temporoparietal Junction: ( CONSULT WITH A NEUROLOGIST) , a region that integrates sensory information (vision, touch, balance).
Disruptions here can create the sensation of “being outside” your body.
OBEs can occur during:
- Trauma or extreme stress
- Sleep states (especially sleep paralysis)
- Meditation or dissociative states
- Neurological conditions (e.g., epilepsy)

Some neurologist, may even induced OBE-like sensations in lab settings by electrically stimulating the TPJ.

Psychological Interpretation

In psychology, OBEs are often associated with:

Dissociation: (a temporary split between awareness and bodily experience)
Defense mechanisms under overwhelming stress
Altered states of consciousness (similar to deep meditation or trance)

They can feel very real, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the mind has literally left the body.

Parapsychology / Spiritual View

In fields like parapsychology, OBEs may sometimes interpreted as:

The “astral body” separating from the physical body
A form of consciousness traveling
Related to practices like remote viewing or lucid dreaming

Some researchers, like Charles Tart, studied OBEs to test whether perception can occur independently of the body, but strong, repeatable evidence remains limited.

What Does the Evidence Say?

OBEs are real experiences psychologically (people genuinely feel them).
But there’s no solid scientific proof or materialist researchers do not want to admit to its existence? that consciousness actually leaves the body or perceives distant physical reality during OBEs.
Most evidence points to mind based mechanisms.

Balanced Take

It’s useful to separate two things:

The experience itself: valid, often intense, meaningful
The interpretation of it: still debated (mind-based vs. non-local consciousness)

Interesting Overlap

OBEs share features with:

Lucid dreaming
Near-death experiences (NDEs)
Deep meditation states
Psychedelic experiences

All involve shifts in how the mind constructs self and space.

Shervan K Shahhian

Salience Filtering is the mind’s way of deciding what matters right now and what can be ignored:

Salience filtering is the mind’s way of deciding what matters right now and what can be ignored.

At any given moment, your senses are flooded with far more information than you can consciously process, sounds, sights, thoughts, bodily sensations. Salience filtering is the mechanism that selects a small subset of that input and flags it as important (salient) so it enters awareness and guides behavior.

How it works

(CONSULT WITH A NEUROLOGIST)

It’s largely governed by the mind’s salience network, especially:

Anterior insula: (CONSULT WITH A NEUROLOGIST)
Anterior cingulate cortex: (CONSULT WITH A NEUROLOGIST)

This system continuously evaluates incoming stimuli based on:

Relevance to goals: (“Does this help me?”)
Emotional significance: (“Is this threatening or rewarding?”)
Novelty: (“Is this new or unexpected?”)

Only what passes this filter becomes the focus of attention.

Simple example

Imagine you’re at a loud party:

You ignore dozens of conversations (filtered out)
Suddenly, someone says your name across the room, it instantly grabs your attention

Your mind tagged that sound as salient, overriding everything else.

Why it matters

Salience filtering shapes:

Attention: (what you focus on)
Perception: (what you even notice exists)
Memory formation: (what gets stored)
Behavioral responses: (what you react to)

When it goes off balance

Distorted salience filtering is linked to several psychological states:

Anxiety: neutral stimuli feel threatening (over-tagging danger)
Depression: reduced salience of rewarding stimuli
Psychosis (schizophrenia): aberrant salience (random things feel deeply meaningful)

In your domain (psychology & mental training)

Salience filtering is tightly connected to:

Attentional control
Neural priming
Visualization / mental rehearsal

You may train it:

Focus repeatedly on certain cues, they become more salient
Use emotional intensity, increases tagging strength
Pair attention with intention, biases future perception

This maybe why practices like visualization or hypnotic suggestion can feel powerful, they reprogram what your mind flags as important.

One important reality check

It may feel like salience is revealing hidden truths or external signals, but neurologically: (CONSULT WITH A NEUROLOGIST), it’s a selection and weighting system, not a detection of objective importance in the environment. It tells you what your mind prioritizes, not necessarily what is inherently meaningful.

Shervan K Shahhian

Targeting Mechanism of Awareness, explained:

The targeting mechanism of awareness may refer to how your mind selects, locks onto, and stabilizes specific information out of the overwhelming stream of internal and external input. In psychology and neuroscience, this could sit at the intersection of attention, salience detection, and executive control.

Think of awareness not as a passive spotlight, but as a guided targeting system.

Core Components of the Targeting Mechanism

1. Salience Detection (What gets flagged)

Your mind may constantly scan for what is important or meaningful.

Driven by emotional relevance (fear, desire, novelty)
Involves the salience network (especially anterior insula & ACC)
Filters millions of stimuli, selects a few candidates for awareness

This is why your name in a noisy room instantly grabs your attention.

2. Attentional Orientation (Where awareness moves)

Once something is flagged, attention shifts toward it.

Bottom-up: automatic (loud noise, sudden movement)
Top-down: intentional (you decide to focus)

Key system: dorsal attention network

3. Selection & Amplification (What gets “lit up”)

The mind may enhance the selected target and suppresses competing inputs.

Involves selective attention
Neural gain increases for the chosen stimulus

Awareness becomes clearer, sharper, more vivid for that target.

4. Stabilization (Holding awareness on target)

This is sustained attention, keeping awareness from drifting.

Managed by executive control (prefrontal cortex)
Vulnerable to distraction, fatigue, emotional interference

5. Meta-Awareness (Awareness of targeting itself)

The highest layer, observing where your awareness is pointed.

Linked to metacognition
Allows you to redirect attention intentionally

The Whole System (Simple Flow)

Input flood , Salience filter, Target selection, Amplification, Stabilization, Monitoring (meta-awareness)

A Deeper Psychological Insight

Your targeting mechanism may not neutral, it could be shaped by:

Past conditioning (trauma, learning history)
Belief systems
Motivational states
Unresolved emotional material

This could mean:
Two people in the same environment may target completely different realities.

Clinical & Applied Angle

In therapy and cognitive work, dysfunction in this system may show up as:

Attentional bias (threat fixation in anxiety)
Rumination loops (over-targeting internal narratives)
Dissociation (targeting breakdown or fragmentation)
Addiction (hyper-targeting reward cues)

Advanced Framing

We may extend this into parapsychology or expanded models of consciousness:

Awareness behaves less like a byproduct and more like a directive operator
The “targeting mechanism” becomes analogous to intentional tuning
In frameworks like CRV, targeting is trained as a skill, decoupling from sensory input and directing awareness toward non-local information

Practical Takeaway

You may strengthen this mechanism by training:

Precision, narrowing what you attend to
Stability, holding attention longer
Flexibility, shifting targets deliberately
Meta-awareness, noticing drift instantly
Shervan K Shahhian

Experimental Research in Telepathy, Psychokinesis, and Skin Vision, what is it:

Experimental research into telepathy, psychokinesis (PK), and “skin vision” sits within the broader field of Parapsychology, a controversial area that tries to test whether mind-to-mind or mind-over-matter effects exist under controlled conditions. Here’s a grounded overview of this phenomena research.

1. Telepathy Research
Telepathy: direct mind-to-mind information transfer without sensory channels.

Key Experimental Approaches
Ganzfeld Experiments
Participants are placed in sensory-reduced environments (soft lighting, white noise).

A “sender” views an image/video; a “receiver” reports impressions.

Later, the receiver chooses which target matches their experience.

Findings:

Some meta-analyses report small but above-chance “hit rates.”

Critics argue methodological flaws, publication bias, and replication issues.

Dream Telepathy Studies
Conducted at the Maimonides Medical Center in the 1960s.

Sleeping participants attempted to “receive” target images.

Led by Montague Ullman.

Results:

Some striking anecdotal matches.

But inconsistent replication limits acceptance.

2. Psychokinesis (PK) Research
Psychokinesis: influencing physical systems with the mind.

Experimental Models
Random Number Generator (RNG) Studies
Participants attempt to mentally bias random systems.

Conducted extensively at the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab.

Directed by Robert G. Jahn.

Findings:

Very small statistical deviations reported.

Effects are subtle and difficult to replicate reliably.

Micro-PK Experiments
Focus on tiny systems (electronic noise, quantum-level randomness).

Suggest that if PK exists, it operates at extremely small scales.

Macro-PK Claims
Includes dramatic effects (bending metal, moving objects).

Popularized by Uri Geller.

Scientific status:

Generally attributed to illusion, fraud, or lack of controls.

3. Skin Vision (Dermal Perception)
Skin vision: perceiving visual information through the skin (often fingertips).

Soviet-Era Experiments
Studied in the USSR during the Cold War.

Subjects claimed to read colors or text blindfolded.

Associated with Rosa Kuleshova.

Experimental setup:

Eyes fully covered.

Objects placed under hands.

Findings:

Some positive results reported.

Later critiques suggested:

Light leakage

Subtle sensory cues

Inadequate controls

Methodological Challenges Across All Three

Replication Problem
Results are often not consistently reproducible, a core requirement of science.
Small Effect Sizes
When effects appear, they are usually very weak statistically.
Experimenter Effects
Researcher expectations may influence outcomes (consciously or unconsciously).
Sensory Leakage
Tiny, unnoticed cues can explain “psi” results.
Publication Bias
Positive findings are more likely to be published than null results.

That said, research continues at the margins, often reframed in terms of:

Consciousness studies

Anomalous cognition

Mind–matter interaction

A Nuanced Take
It’s worth separating three layers:

Phenomenological reality
People do report meaningful telepathic or PK-like experiences

Experimental signal
Weak, inconsistent statistical anomalies sometimes appear

Established mechanism
Still absent in accepted science

Shervan K Shahhian