Understanding Spiritual Awareness in Terms of Anomalous Information Access

Abstract

In this paper I identify a link between the problem of explaining anomalous access to information ('psi' or 'psychic ability') and the problem of giving an account of the nature of consciousness ('the mind-body problem'). I argue that progress with understanding psi requires selecting a suitable ontological model for dealing with the mind-body prob- lem. I review alternatives and argue, on philosophical and empirical grounds, for the viability and suitability of a model I call Naturalistic Structural Dualism, in which minds are spatially extended substances, as a working hypothesis for further analysis. I conclude that in such a dualistic model psychic ability is best conceptualised as mediated by sensori-motor channels of the mind. I predict, from this, the existence of further sensory channels that engage with purely mental aspects of reality. I show that there is empirical support for this theoretical proposal, and argue that this sensory capacity, which I name axionesis, underpins both ordinary perceptiveness and our capacity for deep spiritual experiences. The outcome is an expansion of the concept of psi to reference two distinct groups of sensori-motor channels of the mind, one group relat- ing to the classical concept of psychic ability (and reflecting the mind's direct engagement with physical aspects of real- ity) and one group relating to the classical concept of spirituality (and reflecting the mind's direct engagement with mental aspects of reality). By establishing a relationship between spiritual perception and sensory channels of the mind, a frame- work is created that enables the study of spirituality in terms of information theory.