THE FUSE

We've been taught to distrust our inner worlds. Scientific rigor demands external measurement, controlled experiments, objective instruments. Introspection seems subjective, unreliable—the antithesis of empirical observation. We trust microscopes over meditation, data over daydreams. Up front, this isn't about mysticism. It is about hard empiricism, positivistic to the quick. When one introspects—when we observe our own mental processes—we are engaging in the most direct empirical observation available to us. When we communicate with others, verbal and nonverbal language can create a shared, empirically-resonant space—mediated by neural and related processes.