3 ms·

I've been thinking recently about how Buddhism and even some western philosophies are arguably sciences of the mind. You can't refute that ancient thinkers dedi

I've been thinking recently about how Buddhism and even some western philosophies are arguably sciences of the mind. You can't refute that ancient thinkers dedicated to contemplating reason, virtue, meditation, or otherwise were ahead of their time, so to speak. We are still proving out what they discovered, however subjectively they may have done it. It's sort of a marvel. I'm not sure people appreciate how incredible it is that thousands of years ago, with little more than paper and brains, these people recorded insights about psychological phenomena which we still struggle to understand. That's not to say people in the past have necessarily understood it. They experienced it and recorded it though, and the evidence of these collective experiences throughout time and space have turned out to be remarkably consistent. My favourite thread throughout eastern and western philosophies, as well as modern psychedelic research, is how crucial dissolution of the ego is to attain clear perception (at least what we consider to be clear) and ultimately, more virtuous action in the world. Buddhists did it, Taoism, Hinduism, Stoicism... I'm sure there are others, but I'm not that well-educated, just interested in this stuff. Many people will be strict about what qualifies as a science and exclude anything that appears to be religion or philosophy. I think it's worth taking seriously, though. I certainly wouldn't have 10 years ago.

ryandv 3y ago
As a younger and far more naive kid I was drawn to Aleister Crowley for the motto he espoused in his "magickal journal," The Equinox: The method of Science, the aim of Religion. Much of his writing proposes a few experiments you can try for yourself; the first line of "Liber E vel Exercitiorum" reads, "It is absolutely necessary that all experiments should be recorded in detail during, or immediately after, their performance." Crowley was interesting in that he tried to bring an empirical, albeit subjective (since the target of study is the mind, psychology, subjective experience itself) and non-objective, non-quantitative approach to techniques of mysticism - meditation, breath work, and ritual, in particular. Buddhism also contains some experimentation of its own - I am quite fond of Daniel M. Ingram's work with the "fire kasina" technique, in which clear steps for reproducing the result are given, and falsifiable claims are made about what (note: subjective!) phenomena will occur as a consequence of the experimental procedure. It is possible to reproduce such claims for one's self, given sufficient time and practice. In the sense that some spiritual traditions and philosophies have as their subject of study the mind, and employ empirical techniques to gain insights into it, yes, I would say they are arguably sciences of mind.

ryandv 3y ago

As a younger and far more naive kid I was drawn to Aleister Crowley for the motto he espoused in his "magickal journal," The Equinox: The method of Science, the aim of Religion. Much of his writing proposes a few experiments you can try for yourself; the first line of "Liber E vel Exercitiorum" reads, "It is absolutely necessary that all experiments should be recorded in detail during, or immediately after, their performance." Crowley was interesting in that he tried to bring an empirical, albeit subjective (since the target of study is the mind, psychology, subjective experience itself) and non-objective, non-quantitative approach to techniques of mysticism - meditation, breath work, and ritual, in particular. Buddhism also contains some experimentation of its own - I am quite fond of Daniel M. Ingram's work with the "fire kasina" technique, in which clear steps for reproducing the result are given, and falsifiable claims are made about what (note: subjective!) phenomena will occur as a consequence of the experimental procedure. It is possible to reproduce such claims for one's self, given sufficient time and practice. In the sense that some spiritual traditions and philosophies have as their subject of study the mind, and employ empirical techniques to gain insights into it, yes, I would say they are arguably sciences of mind.