RESEARCH BASE

Search 3,721 documents across 34 fields — every claim tier-rated by evidence

3,721 Documents 34 Sections 43,625 Citations 34,852 Keywords Indexed 4 Evidence Tiers

3,633 are the core, quality-scored corpus (34 lettered sections — see How We Work); the remaining 88 are cross-corpus synthesis documents (68 InterDocs, 12 Connections, 8 Theories) also indexed here.

774 results for "act utilitarianism" — page 13 of 39

Z_4_01 Verified Molecular Biology

Z_4_01 — Human Microbiome, Gut-Brain Axis, and the Holobiont Concept

The human microbiome — the ~38 trillion microbial cells (bacteria, archaea, fungi, viruses) inhabiting the human body — constitutes a co-evolved ecosystem that profoundly influences health, immunity, metabolism, developm

microbiome gut-brain axis holobiont microbiota bacteria gut flora
K_3_09 Credible Consciousness

K_3_09 — Minimal Consciousness and the Threshold of Sentience

Where does consciousness begin? This question — the problem of the threshold of sentience — is one of the most challenging in consciousness studies because it requires identifying what KIND of physical system is minimall

minimal consciousness sentience threshold consciousness markers biological consciousness single cell behavior bacterial cognition
K_3_02 Credible Consciousness

K_3_02 — Embodied Cognition

Embodied cognition is a broad research program challenging the classical cognitive science view that the mind is essentially a computer processing abstract symbols in the brain. Instead, embodied cognition holds that thi

embodied cognition 4E cognition embedded enacted extended embodied
K_3_05 Credible Consciousness

K_3_05 — Extended Mind and Cognitive Extension

The extended mind thesis (EMT), proposed by Andy Clark and David Chalmers in their landmark 1998 paper "The Extended Mind," argues that cognitive processes need not be confined within the skull — external objects, tools,

extended mind cognitive extension Clark and Chalmers parity principle Otto's notebook scaffolded cognition
K_3_08 Credible Consciousness

K_3_08 — Intention, Volition, and Motor Consciousness

The neural basis of voluntary action and the timing of conscious intention relative to brain activity has become one of the most productive — and philosophically consequential — research programs in consciousness studies

free will neuroscience volition Bereitschaftspotential readiness potential Libet experiment Benjamin Libet
K_1_03 Verified Consciousness

K_1_03 — Free Energy Principle and Predictive Processing

The Free Energy Principle (FEP), developed by neuroscientist Karl Friston (2006-present), is one of the most ambitious theoretical frameworks in 21st-century science: it attempts to explain the EXISTENCE, BEHAVIOR, and C

free energy principle FEP Karl Friston predictive processing predictive coding active inference
K_1_06 Credible Consciousness

K_1_06 — Predictive Processing and Consciousness

Predictive processing (PP) is a unifying framework in cognitive neuroscience proposing that the brain is fundamentally a prediction machine — it continuously generates top-down predictions of incoming sensory input and u

predictive processing predictive coding Bayesian brain Karl Friston Andy Clark Jakob Hohwy
K_1_11 Verified Consciousness

K_1_11 — Dualism: Mind-Body Problem Across Philosophy and Neuroscience

The mind-body problem — the question of how subjective mental experience (consciousness, thought, sensation, emotion) relates to the physical body (brain, nervous system, matter) — is arguably the oldest and most persist

dualism mind-body problem substance dualism property dualism Descartes Chalmers
K_4_13 Verified Consciousness

K_4_13 — Mirror Neurons and Social Cognition

Mirror neurons are a class of neurons, first discovered in the early 1990s in the premotor cortex (area F5) of macaque monkeys by Giacomo Rizzolatti, Vittorio Gallese, and colleagues at the University of Parma, that fire

mirror neuron social cognition empathy imitation action understanding premotor cortex
K_4_19 Verified Consciousness

K_4_19 — Plant Bioelectricity and Distributed Cognition

Plants generate, propagate, and respond to electrical signals via mechanisms that are biophysically homologous to neuronal action potentials, despite lacking a brain or central nervous system. Action potentials in Mimosa

plant electrophysiology action potentials in plants plant intelligence distributed cognition basal cognition mycorrhizal networks
K_4_01 Verified Consciousness

K_4_01 — Shamanism, Entheogens & Serpent Visions

Shamanism as a cross-cultural altered-state practice is Tier 1 anthropology (Eliade 1964, Winkelman 2010). Clinical psilocybin and DMT research is Tier 1 (Griffiths 2006/2019, Strassman 2001, Davis 2021). The consistent

shamanism DMT ayahuasca psilocybin Strassman Harner
K_2_03 Credible Consciousness

K_2_03 — Neural Correlates of Consciousness

The neural correlates of consciousness (NCC) are the minimal neuronal mechanisms jointly sufficient for any one specific conscious experience. The systematic search for NCCs was launched by Francis Crick and Christof Koc

neural correlates of consciousness NCC Francis Crick Christof Koch visual awareness binocular rivalry
K_2_22 Verified Consciousness

K_2_22 — Voltage-Gated Ion Channels and Neural Excitability

Voltage-gated ion channels are transmembrane proteins whose conformation depends on membrane potential, opening a selective pore for Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, or Cl⁻ when voltage thresholds are crossed. They are the molecular engin

ion channels voltage-gated sodium channel potassium channel calcium channel action potential
K_2_16 Verified Consciousness

K_2_16 — Optogenetics: Light-Controlled Neural Circuits

Optogenetics is a biological technique that uses genetically encoded light-sensitive proteins (opsins) to control the activity of specific neurons with millisecond precision using light. Developed primarily by Karl Deiss

optogenetics channelrhodopsin halorhodopsin archaerhodopsin ChR2 opsins
K_2_09 Verified Consciousness

K_2_09 — Neuroscience of Free Will

The neuroscience of free will centers on experiments testing whether conscious intention precedes or follows the neural preparation for action. Benjamin Libet's landmark 1983 experiments showed that the brain's "readines

free will Libet experiment readiness potential Bereitschaftspotential Benjamin Libet determinism
K_5_04 Credible Consciousness

K_5_04 — Neuroscience of Belief

Belief — the mental state of holding something to be true — is a cornerstone of conscious experience, shaping perception, memory, emotion, decision-making, and behavior. The neuroscience of belief has revealed that belie

belief neuroscience belief formation cognitive biases confirmation bias belief perseverance motivated reasoning
K_5_06 Verified Consciousness

K_5_06 — Dreaming and Consciousness: Why We Dream

Dreaming — the experience of structured hallucinatory consciousness during sleep — is one of the most remarkable features of the human mind and a central challenge for any theory of consciousness. Every night, for a tota

dream REM sleep consciousness lucid dream Hobson activation-synthesis
K_5_13 Credible Consciousness

K_5_13 — Integrated World Models: Bayesian Brain and Consciousness

The Bayesian brain hypothesis proposes that the brain is fundamentally a prediction machine — it constructs and maintains internal generative models of the world (including the body), uses these models to generate predic

Bayesian brain predictive processing predictive coding free energy principle Friston Helmholtz
K_5_01 Credible Consciousness

K_5_01 — Neurophenomenology and First-Person Science

Neurophenomenology — the research program proposed by Francisco Varela (1996) — seeks to bridge the "explanatory gap" between objective neuroscience and subjective experience by integrating rigorous first-person phenomen

neurophenomenology first-person methods Francisco Varela phenomenology Husserl lived experience
E_3_22 Verified Cataclysms & Chronology

E_3_22 — Historic Mega-Earthquakes: Cascadia, New Madrid, and the Seismic Record

The seismic record of North America reveals two mega-earthquake systems that challenge the common assumption that destructive earthquakes are confined to well-known plate boundaries like the San Andreas Fault: the Cascad

mega-earthquake Cascadia New Madrid seismology subduction zone paleoseismology