Journal article
Realization experiences: a convergent account of insight and mystical experiences
Philosophical psychology, Vol.First online
18/01/2026
Appears in Recent Faculty of Health Publications
Metrics
3 Record Views
Abstract
We argue that the powerful transformative effects of mystical-type experiences can be understood using the same machinery that underlies insight problem solving, and that
both mystical experiences and insight are species of a genus of “realization experiences”: experiences wherein some phenomenon or piece of information becomes suddenly experienced as real or true. Specifically, we argue that understanding both in this way allows us to model mystical experiences through the same combination of behavioral
entropy and graph theory that have successfully been used to model insight problem solving. Starting from tension between novel information and prior representations, the
agent destabilizes its representational network to allow it to enter a state of altered salience and enhanced associations to update the network. After an environmentally sensitive restructuring process, the agent then forms new beliefs, or – given enough restructuring – revises its framework entirely. The phenomenology of such realization experiences is determined by the size and content of the updated representational network and the affordances present in the environment. While there are, naturally, open questions remaining to answer, we hope that this model affords a useful shared vocabulary to discuss the family of realization experiences.
Details
- Title
- Realization experiences: a convergent account of insight and mystical experiences
- Creators
- Juensung J. Kim - University of GroningenKadi Tulver - University of TartuJaan Aru - University of TartuK. Kristjan Kaup - University of TartuAmbra Pogliani - Southern Cross UniversityRuben E. Laukkonen - Southern Cross University
- Publication Details
- Philosophical psychology, Vol.First online
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Identifiers
- 991013345513202368
- Copyright
- © 2026 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
- Academic Unit
- Human Sciences; Faculty of Health
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article