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The Mosaic Effect

Forewordby Finn Lau Some observers nickname the United Front “Xi’s secret weapon.” In this foreword, I hope to provide readers with an understanding of the genesis, objectives and techniques of the United Front before you enter the world of counter-espionage and intelligence. The author’s boots-on-the-ground investigation and various roles within law enforcement, military intelligence, and […]

Lexical Priming Applications and advances

Ideas are like people. They have direct ancestors and share genes with their sib‑ lings. Sometimes they are lucky enough to have children; often their influence is more indirect, like that of a benign uncle or aunt sharing an interest with their near relatives. If they are lucky, they can grow old surrounded by ideas […]

Sunyata

Śūnyatā (/ʃuːnˈjɑːtɑː/ shoon-YAH-tah; Sanskrit: शून्यता, romanized: śūnyatā; Pali: suññatā), translated most often as “emptiness“, “vacuity“, and sometimes “voidness”, or “nothingness” is an Indian philosophical concept. Within Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and other philosophical strands, the concept has multiple meanings depending on its doctrinal context. It is either an ontological feature of reality, a meditative state, or a […]

The evolutionary roots of suffering.

There are few experiences more universal than suffering. It transcends species, cultures, and individual circumstances, manifesting uniquely in entities capable of complex behaviors and emotional states. Yet, despite its universality, understanding the nature and nuances of suffering remains a complex endeavor. This invites us to explore the intricate web of life that led to the […]

Toxic positive psychology

What is toxic positivity? It is a “pressure to stay upbeat no matter how dire one’s circumstance is”, which may prevent emotional coping by feeling otherwise natural emotions. Toxic positivity happens when people believe that negative thoughts about anything should be avoided. Even in response to events which normally would evoke sadness, such as loss […]

What can Instagram tell us about narcissists? A bit, actually.

Two different kinds of narcissists use Instagram. That’s the main takeaway from recent research out of the University of Swinburne. You might not be surprised to hear that given how popular selfies are right now, but this is one of the few studies to look for narcissism on a social media platform other than Facebook […]

Short Definitions

Abhidharma Literally meaning “higher knowledge,” Abhidharma refers to a collection of Buddhist scriptures that pertain to psychology, phenomenology, and cosmology. anatman Literally meaning “no-self,” anatman refers to an important Buddhist teaching according to which any notion of an eternal principle that is thought to constitute the real self of our existence is rejected. arhat Literally “foe destroyer,” arhat […]

The Chinese Room Argument

The argument and thought-experiment now generally known as the Chinese Room Argument was first published in a 1980 article by American philosopher John Searle (1932– ). It has become one of the best-known arguments in recent philosophy. Searle imagines himself alone in a room following a computer program for responding to Chinese characters slipped under […]

Absurdism

This article is about the philosophy. For an extremely unreasonable, silly, or foolish thing, see Absurdity. For absurdist humour, see surreal humour. For the literary genre, see Absurdist fiction. Sisyphus, the symbol of the absurdity of existence, painting by Franz Stuck (1920). Absurdism is the philosophical theory that existence in general is absurd. This implies […]

Eight Verses on Training the Mind

n essence, the short text entitled Eight Verses on Training the Mind presents the practices of cultivating both conventional bodhicitta, or the altruistic aspiration to attain buddhahood for the benefit of all beings, and ultimate bodhicitta, the profound insight into the ultimate nature of reality or “the ultimate mind of enlightenment.” The first seven stanzas […]