A thread through the archive
Essays tagged “meditation”. Follow an idea across the archive.
Scott Alexander reports on a 1990s Buddhist sun miracle in Bangkok that closely resembles the famous 1917 Fatima miracle, suggesting sun miracles may be a specific psychological phenomenon related to meditation practices rather than divine intervention.
Scott explains the Buddhist claim that 'life is suffering' through a temperature analogy: just as cold is merely the absence of heat, joy is merely less suffering, with nirvana being 'absolute zero suffering' rather than a neutral state.
Scott explores reader responses to his Fatima miracle post, finding the most promising explanation in Buddhist fire kasina meditation practices that produce similar visual phenomena, while remaining uncertain about how 70,000 untrained people could achieve advanced meditative states instantly.
Scott analyzes misophonia through new research and personal experience, suggesting it might be maintained by complex emotional and social networks rather than pure sound sensitivity.
Daniel Böttger proposes a new theory of consciousness as recursive reflections of neural oscillations, explaining qualia and suggesting experimental tests.
Scott Alexander explores various explanations for why some people don't respond to 'woo' practices, questioning whether non-responders are defective or if woo itself might be ineffective or even harmful.
Scott Alexander explores whether people can be honestly mistaken about their own experiences, presenting counterexamples and attempting to reconcile them with the idea that we can't be wrong about our immediate subjective experiences.
Scott Alexander summarizes comments debating the reality and implications of jhanas, a meditative state of extreme bliss.
Scott Alexander examines the Buddhist concept of jhana, a blissful meditative state, through Nick Cammarata's experiences, exploring its implications for understanding pleasure and reinforcement.
Scott reviews 'Rhythms Of The Brain', exploring the nature and potential significance of brain waves in neuroscience and consciousness.
Scott explores the connection between the Dark Room Problem in neuroscience, meditative jhanas, and theories of beauty, suggesting that intense focus on regular stimuli can produce extreme bliss.
Scott Alexander announces the ACX Reader Research Survey, inviting researchers to submit questions for the blog's readership by July 10.
The review critically examines and then steelmans Robert Wright's claims about meditation and enlightenment in 'Why Buddhism Is True', concluding with personal reflections on meditation's effects.
Scott Alexander examines a theory proposing that depression, anxiety, and trauma are characterized by low precision of sensory evidence, leading to overreliance on negative priors.
Scott Alexander examines skeptical and supportive comments on claims of enlightenment, arguing that evidence for such states is comparable to other accepted mental phenomena.
Scott Alexander reviews a study on 'enlightenment', finding it involves internal changes in self-perception and cognition, often without noticeable external effects.
Scott Alexander examines the compatibility of enlightenment with sex scandals, using recent Buddhist teacher scandals as a starting point for broader questions about consciousness and social conditioning.
Scott reviews a paper proposing that psychedelics work by relaxing priors in the brain, potentially treating mental illness but also risking side effects.
Scott Alexander reviews 'The Mind Illuminated', a Buddhist meditation guide by Culadasa, praising its clarity while questioning some of its optimistic claims about meditation progress and risks.
Scott Alexander uses the Jewish legend of the Chamber of Guf as a metaphor for subconscious thoughts, exploring its implications for behavior, OCD, and self-defeating thoughts.
Scott Alexander examines Vinay Gupta's ideas on enlightenment, comparing them with other sources and discussing the challenges of interpreting mystical experiences from a scientific viewpoint.
Scott Alexander explores meditative states as feedback loops, discussing jhanas from Buddhist practice and why most people don't experience runaway emotional feedback in everyday life.
Scott Alexander reviews 'Mastering The Core Teachings Of The Buddha', a practical guide to Buddhist meditation that details the stages of insight and debunks common myths about enlightenment.
Scott Alexander hypothesizes that mystical experiences, hallucinations, and paranoia might be linked to an overactive pattern-matching faculty in the brain.