RESEARCH BASE
Search 3,721 documents across 34 fields — every claim tier-rated by evidence
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.
2,509 results for "sacred and profane" — page 26 of 126
L_5_15 — Genetic Genealogy: DNA Ancestry Testing and Population History
Genetic genealogy — the use of DNA testing to determine relationships and ancestry — has revolutionized both personal genealogy and population genetics since the early 2000s. Three types of DNA analysis provide different
L_5_04 — Ancient Microbiome and Paleomicrobiology
Paleomicrobiology — the study of ancient microorganisms through the application of molecular techniques (ancient DNA extraction, metagenomics, proteomics) to archaeological and paleontological material — has revolutioniz
L_5_11 — Genetics of Altitude Adaptation: Tibet, Andes, Ethiopia
High-altitude adaptation represents one of the most dramatic and best-studied examples of natural selection in contemporary human populations. More than 140 million people worldwide live at elevations above 2,500 meters,
Y_4_08 — Sleep Science — REM, NREM, and the Ancient Understanding of Sleep
Sleep science has undergone a revolution in the 21st century, fundamentally altering our understanding of why humans sleep. The landmark 2012 discovery of the glymphatic system by Maiken Nedergaard revealed that the brai
Y_4_06 — Synesthesia and Cross-Modal Perception
Synesthesia — the involuntary, consistent experience of one sensory modality triggering perception in another (e.g., hearing colors, tasting shapes) — affects roughly 4% of the general population when broad subtype defin
Y_4_02 — Savant Syndrome and Acquired Genius
Savant syndrome — extraordinary ability coexisting with significant cognitive disability — affects roughly 1 in 10 people with autism and ~1 in 2,000 people with other developmental disabilities or brain injuries. What m
Y_4_14 — Virtual Reality, Immersive Technology, and Altered Perception
Virtual reality (VR) and immersive technologies create genuine altered states of perception — not merely visual illusions but deep modifications of body ownership, spatial awareness, self-identity, and emotional processi
Y_5_05 — Psychic Phenomena: Meta-Analyses and Scientific Evaluation
Parapsychology — the scientific study of purported psychic (psi) phenomena including telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and psychokinesis — occupies a unique and contested position in science. Over 130+ years, thousa
Y_5_03 — Pineal Gland / Third Eye Across Cultures
The pineal gland sits at the geometric center of the brain and has been called "the third eye" across cultures for millennia. Ancient pine cone motifs appear at the Vatican (Cortile della Pigna), Assyrian reliefs (winged
Y_5_11 — Endurance Exercise and Runner's High: Movement-Induced Altered States
Endurance exercise — sustained aerobic physical activity such as distance running, cycling, swimming, or cross-country skiing — is one of the most reliable, accessible, and physiologically well-understood pathways to alt
Y_5_12 — Dark Retreat: Extended Light Deprivation and Endogenous Visionary States
The dark retreat (yangti nagpo or mun mtshams in Tibetan) is an advanced contemplative practice — primarily within the Dzogchen (Great Perfection) tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and the closely related Bön tradition — in
Y_3_09 — Prayer, Contemplation, and the Neuroscience of Religious Experience
The neuroscientific study of prayer and religious experience — sometimes termed neurotheology (d'Aquili & Newberg, 1999) — has moved from philosophical speculation to empirical investigation using neuroimaging, EEG, and
Y_1_09 — Toxins, Venoms, and Altered States
Several animal toxins and plant poisons produce dramatic altered states of consciousness, and their use in ritual, medicine, and folklore constitutes a significant chapter in the relationship between humans and psychoact
Y_1_08 — Cannabis: History, Ethnobotany, and Pharmacology
Cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) is one of humanity's oldest cultivated plants, with a relationship spanning at least 12,000 years based on archaeological evidence. Its use as fiber (hemp), food (seeds), medicine, and psych
H_1_04 — Ancient Libraries — Destruction and Knowledge Loss
Throughout human history, major repositories of knowledge have been destroyed by fire, war, religious persecution, conquest, and deliberate suppression — resulting in incalculable losses to the accumulated learning of an
H_1_12 — Iconoclasm — Systematic Destruction of Sacred Images
Iconoclasm — the deliberate destruction of religious images, statues, and sacred art — is one of the most recurrent and cross-cultural forms of knowledge suppression in human history. Far from random vandalism, iconoclas
H_1_08 — Destruction of Nalanda and Asian Knowledge Centers
The destruction of Nalanda — the world's first residential university, operating continuously for approximately 700 years (5th–12th centuries CE) in what is now Bihar, India — represents one of the most consequential epi
H_1_02 — Burning of Maya Codices and Mesoamerican Knowledge Destruction
The systematic destruction of Maya manuscripts represents one of history's most devastating losses of accumulated knowledge. Bishop Diego de Landa's 1562 auto-da-fé at Maní destroyed thousands of Maya texts, leaving only
H_1_07 — Nazi Cultural Theft and Book Burning
The Nazi regime conducted two parallel campaigns of cultural destruction and theft between 1933 and 1945: the public burning and censorship of books deemed "un-German" (undeutsch) beginning with the May 10, 1933 book bur
H_1_18 — Library of Alexandria: Destruction and the Knowledge-Loss Question
The Library of Alexandria was the most ambitious knowledge-collection project of antiquity, founded under Ptolemy I Soter (~290s BCE) and developed by Ptolemy II Philadelphus as part of the Mouseion — a state-funded rese
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