In special collective situations like ecstatic rituals (e.g., Sufi whirling) and formation of superorganisms in nature, “higher” collective traits, such as group synchronization appear. Our goal is to develop a mathematical model of situations in which consciousness changes during collective rituals with components of self-organization, when the connection of consciousness is linked to the synchronic physical connection occurring in the ritual.
In the context of a new mathematical branch that we have developed called “Soft logic”, in combination with Grassman’s algebra' and following Bohm's concept of holomovements, we will construct a model of what occurs in the physical space during rituals as well as in the participants’ consciousness. We will validate the mathematical model also with analyzing recording using computational vision, spectral voice analysis, network analysis, and biologic measures.
We will also integrate this with in-depth interviews and phenomenology, so that we will have access to the experience of the transition to a collective consciousness. We will demonstrate the significant contribution of collective ecstatic rituals to both the welfare of the individual and the formation of a community.
Project Description:
In light of the rising challenges related to emotional distress, nature deficit, alienation and loneliness, we are seeking to go beyond individualism. In a superorganism there are phenomena that cause numerous members to self-organize into an efficient situation of synchronization, which is one of the most common impulses in nature.
There is a large body of evidences demonstrating that the synchronization of musical rhythms, movement, and dance that occurs in collective religious rituals arouses emotions and motivations such as belonging, empathy, and connection and creates a group solidarity with effective cooperation, even among strangers. Some researchers see in religion and rituals the axis that binds the social system into a kind of superorganism through synchronized group activities.
According to the “hive switch” hypothesis, people can shift during ecstatic group rituals from a state of consciousness of individualism into a state of conscious of being part of a group. Other researchers have called this an “Identity Fusion.” We are inspired by the social cohesion, meshing with nature, effective self-organization and collective intelligence of beehives. While corresponding with new evolutionary, sociological and ecological theories that recognize phenomena in which individuals are part of social organisms. Beehives and ecstatic collective rituals provide us a model for new kind of thinking, with numerous implications on welfare and ways of constructing organizations from the bottom-up through self-organization.
We are developing a new mathematical branch called “Soft logic” and demonstrating it through phenomena that have several correct possibilities. Our new mathematics support this and enable a new language of direct observation. Accordingly, we are developing a new system of coordinates that describes this mathematics and consequently creates special geometric shapes that have a twist and an incomplete dimension, such as the Möbius strip. These shapes are sometimes called “sacred geometry” (though here they are derived directly from our axioms and fundamental theorems). Soft logic includes the development of a new system of coordinates of individual and collectives.
Using Soft logic in combination with Grassman’s dynamical algebra, which attempts to represent processes of consciousness, we will construct a model of what occurs in the physical space during rituals as well as in the participants’ consciousness. We conceive that the transition from individual consciousness to group consciousness can be represented in Soft Logic as a “twist point”. The mathematical twist in collective consciousness during rituals is related to the physical synchronization that occurs simultaneously at the level of the group.
We are looking also at Bohm’s holomovement model. We will attempt to express mathematically the emergent and holographic relations that occur during rituals between the individual zero (represent in Soft Logic individual consciousness) and one axes and the zero (represent in Soft Logic collective consciousness) and one axes of the group.
During the process of examining the model, we will investigate synchronization situations that occur in superorganisms in nature and ecstatic collective rituals that have a self-organization component. For example, we will examine if in the Sufi dance, the various dancers’ rates of spinning and the physical movements are synchronized. Finally, we will examine if synchronization is related to feelings of connection with others, causing happiness and bliss.
We will analyze multi-sensoric input by using a large amount of knowledge of our Laboratory regarding the analysis of multi-spectral data and the creation of new analytical tools and advanced algorithms, such as measures of entropy in a picture. We will combine this with in-depth interviews and phenomenology so that we will have access to the experience of the transition to a collective consciousness.