Unblinding consciousness
Cardeña, Etzel LU
(2026)
In Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice
13(1).
p.1-3
- Abstract
- In this editorial, the author states that the importance of casting off blinders applies to topics and disciplines as much as to individuals. There is no disagreement in psychology that we are mostly ignorant of the various neurophysiological and cognitive substrates and limitations of our conscious experience, but there are other background processes that determine what, how, and even whether we experience something. They include species sensory blinders, which determine the range and type of sensory information available to human beings, as well as species cognitive blinders, which regulate the amount and type of information we apprehend at any one point and how we interpret it. The study of consciousness suffers from disciplinary... (More)
- In this editorial, the author states that the importance of casting off blinders applies to topics and disciplines as much as to individuals. There is no disagreement in psychology that we are mostly ignorant of the various neurophysiological and cognitive substrates and limitations of our conscious experience, but there are other background processes that determine what, how, and even whether we experience something. They include species sensory blinders, which determine the range and type of sensory information available to human beings, as well as species cognitive blinders, which regulate the amount and type of information we apprehend at any one point and how we interpret it. The study of consciousness suffers from disciplinary blinders that include the ingrained belief that a particular discipline or approach is the only or at least the best way to study consciousness. Closely related are methodological blinders, in which a method or research paradigm is assumed to be the best or most sophisticated one, often ignoring how any method limits the scope and nature of what is studied. And lest we forget, disciplines and journal do not occur in a cultural vacuum or eternal time but in particular circumstances that provide historical blinders, including presentism (judging a past event only according to current standards). There are also sociocultural blinders, including the assumption that a particular socioeconomic or cultural group (and its metaphysical and epistemological axioms) offers the most advanced or valid perspective on consciousness, instead of but one (at best) reasonable explanatory framework. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved) (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/bcc09312-8214-4929-9cbb-ca15b328b7fd
- author
- Cardeña, Etzel
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- consciousness, epistemological bias
- in
- Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice
- volume
- 13
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 3 pages
- publisher
- American Psychological Association (APA)
- ISSN
- 2326-5523
- DOI
- 10.1037/cns0000467
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- bcc09312-8214-4929-9cbb-ca15b328b7fd
- date added to LUP
- 2026-04-20 16:24:16
- date last changed
- 2026-04-28 16:14:22
@misc{bcc09312-8214-4929-9cbb-ca15b328b7fd,
abstract = {{In this editorial, the author states that the importance of casting off blinders applies to topics and disciplines as much as to individuals. There is no disagreement in psychology that we are mostly ignorant of the various neurophysiological and cognitive substrates and limitations of our conscious experience, but there are other background processes that determine what, how, and even whether we experience something. They include species sensory blinders, which determine the range and type of sensory information available to human beings, as well as species cognitive blinders, which regulate the amount and type of information we apprehend at any one point and how we interpret it. The study of consciousness suffers from disciplinary blinders that include the ingrained belief that a particular discipline or approach is the only or at least the best way to study consciousness. Closely related are methodological blinders, in which a method or research paradigm is assumed to be the best or most sophisticated one, often ignoring how any method limits the scope and nature of what is studied. And lest we forget, disciplines and journal do not occur in a cultural vacuum or eternal time but in particular circumstances that provide historical blinders, including presentism (judging a past event only according to current standards). There are also sociocultural blinders, including the assumption that a particular socioeconomic or cultural group (and its metaphysical and epistemological axioms) offers the most advanced or valid perspective on consciousness, instead of but one (at best) reasonable explanatory framework. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)}},
author = {{Cardeña, Etzel}},
issn = {{2326-5523}},
keywords = {{consciousness; epistemological bias}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{1--3}},
publisher = {{American Psychological Association (APA)}},
series = {{Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice}},
title = {{Unblinding consciousness}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cns0000467}},
doi = {{10.1037/cns0000467}},
volume = {{13}},
year = {{2026}},
}