Most of our technology is designed to capture attention. A growing field asks whether it could cultivate presence, connection and wonder instead. In this session, Dr. Omer Tzuk (physicist, consciousness researcher at the University of Haifa, and founder of Spirit Tech Hub IL) traces the line from the psychedelic and cyberdelic visions of the 1960s to today’s biofeedback, neurofeedback, transformative games and tools for group synchrony. We’ll then turn to an open question: drawing on recent neuroscience, how might transformative technologies help groups change together, in body as well as mind, and address the psychological drivers of the metacrisis?
This sound exciting. I will try to join on Friday.
Recently had a paper peer reviewed for ‘Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience’. Unfortunately it didnt have sufficient empirical evidence. Guess I need a lab.
Manuscript: Piloerection as an Index of Salience: An Integrative Framework Linking Autonomic Activation, Pattern Recognition, and Social Synchronization” (1843896) - Review Forum
Abstract
Piloerection (goosebumps) is traditionally understood as a thermoregulatory or defensive reflex mediated by the sympathetic nervous system. However, converging evidence from affective neuroscience suggests that piloerection is also reliably elicited by emotionally salient stimuli, including music, narrative, and socially meaningful experiences. This paper advances a theoretically grounded and empirically testable framework in which piloerection functions as a measurable index of salience. Drawing on research in autonomic physiology, interoception, predictive processing, and aesthetic chills, the framework proposes that goosebumps emerge from the convergence of autonomic activation, perceptual pattern recognition, and social-emotional processing. Crucially, piloerection is reconceptualized as a spatial–temporal phenomenon with quantifiable structure, enabling new experimental approaches. A multimodal methodological framework is outlined, integrating high-resolution imaging, electrodermal activity, and heart rate variability. Finally, speculative extensions are explicitly bounded and framed as testable hypotheses, including the role of piloerection in interpersonal synchronization. The paper aims to establish piloerection as a tractable and underutilized interface between physiology, perception, and meaning.