SENSEmaking: A Symposium on Contemplative Technologies
SENSEmaking: A Symposium on Contemplative Technologies was held by the Contemplative Sciences Center and its Contemplative Innovation + Research Co-Lab (CIRCL) on October 9 and 10. Contemplative practices in esoteric and religious traditions have long sought to explore the horizon of human cognition and sensorium. How can these traditions inform the ways we make sense of our worlds? And can modern innovations in design and technology help enrich, expand, and empirically understand this relationship between contemplation and the human capacity for sensemaking?
The symposium addressed these questions to a dazzling array of artists, scholars of religion, philosophers, social scientists, engineers, astronomers, medical researchers, and contemplative practitioners who gathered to discuss cutting-edge research on the triangulation of technology, contemplative practices, and the human senses. Discussion ranged from psychedelic-assisted contemplation and sensory deprivation to the creation of imaginary interlocuters, the embodied origin of emotions, and the potential of grief for transforming one’s perception.
In exploring how immersive technologies can support the transformation of ordinary habits of perception, the symposium also explored the ways that contemplation can cultivate community and well-being. In studying how contemplation and technology can expand the horizons of human cognition beyond normal perception, SENSEmaking allowed the notion of the individual to dilate a size or two bigger. View the program.
Video of all panels will be available on this page in the coming weeks.
