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Christine Jones's avatar

That’s an incisive observation yes, phenomenology lays the metaphysical groundwork for mystical manipulation precisely because it relocates the locus of reality into internal experience, which can then be shaped, simulated, and steered. This is not accidental. It’s the metaphysical foundation of behavioral conditioning disguised as depth. We have to be increasingly vigilant to this because as digital experiences increasingly mimic or displace embodied encounters, phenomenology’s framework becomes the perfect host for virtual manipulation:

Metaphysical realism is displaced, so there’s no objective order to compare virtuality against.

Digital constructs become the dominant horizon, shaping perception, emotion, identity.

Mood and affect replace law and reason as the primary forces of judgment.

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Zoe's avatar

In a nutshell, phenomenology lays the groundwork for mystical manipulation.

If metaphysical outlook is based on experience as the most significant deciding factor in viewpoint and opinion then contrived experiences can be used to guide a person's behavior.

What effect virtual experiences will have as people become more and more acclimated and saturated with digital interfaces?

I'm wondering if the mystical manipulation can be can be successful without a narrative arc.

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Tim West's avatar

https://open.substack.com/pub/beyondcertainty/p/what-if-belief-is-always-a-problem

The last of my essays on the two worlds of knowledge

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Van's avatar

"...In the work of Husserl and Heidegger, what Millerman calls a return to Being is, in fact, in operational terms (ontologically and teleologically) a severance from it. Phenomenology replaces Logos as intelligible order with ‘Erlebnis’ (lived experience). It displaces metaphysical substance with mystified interior perception..." Yes. They use Action as a means of ignoring (and denying) the What that acts. And with what Actually Is out of their way, it's deuces wild in whatever they desire to propose and impose.

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Christine Jones's avatar

Yes - strategic and tactical. It’s so vital that people develop the capability to recognize these tactics and not get bemused by the surface rhetorical masking.

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Bruce Voris's avatar

I didn't have the patience to listen to the whole podcast. My BS meter started to vibrate. How you manage to have the patience to deal with this is beyond me.

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