Recent studies of non-conscious processing have indicated that visually processed non-conscious informationcan be used to influence behaviour after as much as 5000 ms. This study further explores the possibilities of nonconsciousvisual working memory retention. Twelve participants were in this study instructed to memorizemasked faces and then make decisions based on what they believe they saw or guess intuitively. Results indicatethat increased working memory load only affected conscious trials, suggesting non-conscious stimulus remainedunperceived. Since no consciousness effect was observed when measuring response times of congruent trials thisstudy do not support non-conscious working memory retention. / Nya studier av undermedvetet processande har indikerat att visuellt behandlad undermedveten information kananvändas för att påverka beteende efter så mycket som 5000 ms. Denna studie undersöker även möjligheternavad gäller undermedveten inlagring i det visuella arbetsminnet. Tolv deltagare fick i denna studie i uppdrag attmemorera maskade ansikten och sedan fatta beslut utifrån vad de tror att de såg eller gissa intuitivt. Resultatentyder på att ökad belastning av arbetsminnet påverkar endast medvetna försöksomgångarna, vilket tyder på ickemedvetnastimuli förblev osedda. Eftersom ingen medvetandeeffekt observerades vid svarstiderna underkongruenta försök stöder inte denna studien undermedveten lagring av arbetsminnet.

Thesis advisor: Janet E. Helms / African American parents engage in ethnic-racial socialization practices, which may foster their youths’ racial identity and critical consciousness development, each of which may decrease youths’ race-related stress. The few studies that have examined the relationships between African American youths’ perceived parental ethnic-racial socialization practices and their racial identity or critical consciousness have used inconsistent conceptualizations of racial identity. No studies have compared the effectiveness of different kinds of perceived parental socialization practices on critical consciousness development, nor has previous research demonstrated that critical consciousness is related to reduced stress. In the present study, the perceived parental strategies of Cultural Socialization and Preparation for Bias were investigated to determine how they were related to racial identity and critical consciousness development. Also, effects of racial identity and critical consciousness on racial stress were studied. African American youths, ages 18-24 years (N=139), completed a demographic questionnaire, perceived ethnic-racial socialization measures, a racial identity measure, critical consciousness measures and a measure of race-related stress. Multivariate multiple regression analyses revealed that parental Cultural Socialization was related to lower levels of Preencounter (conformity), Post-Encounter (confusion), and higher levels of Internalization (self-actualizing) racial identity statuses, and to critical consciousness dimensions of Critical Reflection and Political Efficacy, but lower levels of Critical Action. Parental Preparation for Bias only predicted Preencounter. Critical Reflection was related to high levels of Cultural Race-Related Stress, was negatively related to Institutional Race-Related Stress, and was not related to Individual Race-Related Stress. Each of the other critical consciousness dimensions was related to higher levels of at least one type of race-related stress, rather than lower levels. Immersion/Emersion was related to high levels of all three types of race-related stress. Implications of the findings are that (a) parental Cultural Socialization strategies may be most useful for promoting racial identity and critical consciousness, (b) parental strategies may encourage all aspects of critical consciousness except political action, and (c) with only a couple of exceptions, racial identity and critical consciousness were related to higher stress. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

Self-focused information processing has become a central aspect of cognitive explanations of social anxiety disorder. Indeed, Clark and Wells (1995) theorized that the key feature of the disorder is the processing of the self as a social object. It is proposed that when socially anxious individuals enter feared situations, they shift their attention to a detailed monitoring of themselves. Such self-focused attention triggers recollections of negative experiences from the past and directs attention towards signs of threat. This interferes with the processing of the situation and leads to misinterpretation of others' behaviours. Although there is now considerable support for the Clark and Wells' model from research on imagery, post-event and anticipatory processing, there is surprisingly little evidence for memory disturbance. Unlike mood disorders, to date, deficits in accessing autobiographical memories have not been found for social anxiety. In this thesis it is argued that a possible reason for the lack of evidence of memory deficits in social anxiety is that researchers have not attempted to manipulate participants' levels of self-focus in conducting research on autobiographical memory. The focus of this thesis was on the accessibility and quality of the autobiographical memories of socially anxious and non-socially anxious individuals obtained under conditions of self-focus in comparison to responses obtained when not self-focused. The present research utilized a two-phase quasi-experimental design with a sample of 144 adults taken from an initial pool of 203 volunteers. The final sample comprised 30 men and 114 women, ranging in age from 17 to 67 years (M = 26, SD = 11.91, median age = 20 years). The sample consisted of 292 undergraduates and community participants recruited via advertisements. Group membership was based on selection criteria from a measure of social anxiety, the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI; Turner, Beidel, Dancu & Stanley, 1989b), depression and general anxiety from the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995), and the anxiety disorder interview schedule (ADIS-IV-L; Di Nardo, Brown & Barlow, 1994). Initial respondents were allocated to socially anxious (SA), socially anxious depressed (SAD), and non-socially anxious (NSA) groups, with the SAD group forming a further control group of respondents with high scores in SPAI social anxiety and DASS depression. Approximately half of each group was primed to Self-focus, by making an impromptu speech which was videotaped and replayed to each participant individually, following an adaptation of a priming methodology by Perowne and Mansell (2002). The other half of the participants was not self-focused. Rather, they viewed video tape of a confederate giving a speech so as to Other-focus. The priming was prior to participants' provision of written responses to positive and negative (social anxiety) cue words using Williams' (2002) Autobiographical Memory Test. The quality of the memories was measured according to overgenerality for positive and negative cues. Reaction time was recorded for memories to the same valenced cues. The incidence of anxiety and depression content in the memories was determined using coding schemes devised by Gottschalk and Gleser (1969). As hypothesised, the results confirmed that greater levels of generality and longer reaction time to positive cues (not for negative cues) were evident when comparing self-focused SA with self-focused non-socially anxious (NSA) individuals, reflecting findings for other emotional disorders such as depression. Self-focused socially anxious (SA) individuals responded with greater levels of generality and longer reaction times for memories for valenced cues, particularly positive ones, than other-focused SA individuals. Further analysis for generality found that self-focused SA respondents were more general than other-focused socially anxious with comorbid depression (SAD) individuals for memories for positive cues. However, both groups were similar for negative memory cues. As confirmation for memory deficits as a function of the priming manipulation, greater generality and longer reaction times for memories for positive cues occurred when comparing self-focused SA individuals, to all control groups (NSA groups and other-focused SAD individuals). Without priming, SA individuals did not demonstrate autobiographical memory deficits in quality or accessibility compared to NSA controls. Exploration of the autobiographical memory content indicated that SA (compared to SAD and NSA) individuals, irrespective of focus, reported more depression than anxiety content in their memories. Additionally, self-focused SA in contrast to other-focused SA individuals, experienced heightened depression content in their memories, although none of the individual categories of depression was prominent. Predictions of SPAI social anxiety and DASS depression scores from the significant predictors associated with the memories, were undertaken separately for self- and other-focused individuals. Reaction time to positive cues was found to be the only stable predictor of both social anxiety and depression for the self-focused respondents. For the other-focused condition, only total anxiety content theme was found to predict social anxiety, albeit poorly. Overall, the present thesis established that the self-focusing manipulation unearthed a memory processing deficit in socially anxious individuals, similar to that found in most emotional disorders in terms of quality, accessibility, and content, of the memories. This result was particularly apparent in relation to responses to positive cues. The findings are consistent with the Clark and Wells' (1995) model of the disorder emphasising the role of the views of the self as the core element of the disorder. The results also show that the processing deficits of social anxious individuals are confined to the self-focus condition. It is suggested that more attention should be placed on the self-role in social anxiety and that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, efficacious in mood disorders by reducing the overgenerality effects, is also relevant to social anxiety disorder. Future longitudinal research should be conducted with clinical groups of socially anxious patients, using a self-focus manipulation, to ascertain if the results of the present can be replicated and extended. Pre- and post-treatment measurements of the autobiographical memories of socially anxious patients should be measured and compared, to ascertain whether the deficits can be repaired through the use of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT; Williams, Teasdale, Segal & Soulsby, 2000). Self-focus priming could also be used with other anxiety disordered individuals such as generalised anxiety disorder and panic individuals, as they too, appear to be likely candidates for the ruminative self-focus which has contributed to the memory processing deficits established in the autobiographical memories in social anxiety disorder.

The following dissertation consists of a study of an eighth century A.D. Sanskrit text dealing with the soteriological implications of the nature of "bhoga"- "mundane experience" or, more precisely, "empirical consciousness". The dissertation can be subdivided into two major sections. The first section consists of a critical discussion or the doctrine of bhoga in the Bhogakārikāvrtti; the second section consists of an English translation of the Sanskrit text. The following study of the Bhoga Kārikā and its commentary has as its major concern the explication of the idea of "bhoga" put forth in the text. According to the school of Śaivism to which the author of the Bhoga Kārikā belongs, souls are by nature possessed of the two "capacities" (śakti) of consciousness and agency. Existing in a beginningless condition in the soul, these two capacities are obfuscated by the defiling power of a cosmic principle described as "mala". Due to this defilement the soul is forced into experiencing things in a limited manner, i.e. solely as an ego-personality whose self-understanding is both defined by and limited to the empirical sphere of experience. In explicating the doctrine of bhoga expressed by Sadyojyoti and defending his commentator Aghora Śiva, the dissertation takes up a discussion on the various polemics against other systems, such as the Buddhists, Cārvāka, Nyāya and Sāmkhya. As well, an attempt is made to point out the particular manner in which Sadyojyoti's doctrine of "bhoga" shares close affiliations with the schools of Mīmāmsā and Sāmkhya-Yoga. The text was translated under the guidance of Dr. S. S. Janaki, the Director of Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute in Madras. The Sanskrit text of the Bhoga Kārikā consists of 146 verses by a renowned Śaivite author, Sadyojyoti (8th c. A. D.) and a brief commentary by another renowned Śaivite author, Aghora Śiva (14th c. A. D.). Although by themselves the verses are difficult to understand without the aid of the commentary, the commentary itself is written in simple Sanskrit prose. The Bhoga Kārikā is one of a host of Śaivite "manuals" that systematically define the essential teachings and particular themes of Agamic Śaivism. Aghora Śiva's commentary on the Bhoga Kārikā is typical of the commentaries accompanying most of these manuals: it is brief and polemical. Chapter I of the dissertation deals with the authors Sadyojyoti and Aghora Śiva in relation to the Śaivite tradition; as well, Chapter I treats the basic concepts of "bhoga" and "tattva" employed in the Bhoga Kārikā. Chapter II deals with the doctrine of the subtle and the gross elements, emphasizing the concern of the tattvic doctrine that each tattva is a sine qua non in the event of bhoga. Chapter III treats the sphere of the motor, sense and intellectual organs and the polemics against the Cārvākas and Nyāya concerning the role of "consciousness" in the sphere of empirical experience. The specific organs of the "antahkarana" , i.e. ,manas, buddhi and ahamkāra, are treated in Chapter IV. More epistemological issues are discussed in Chapter V, most notably the Śaivite doctrine that the soul has intrinsic to the dual capacities (śakti) of consciousness and agency. The last chapter, Chapter VI, deals with the trans-buddhi conditions governing empirical consciousness, and includes a discussion of the soteriological import of māyā and mala. Appendix I consists of the translation of the Bhoga Kārikā Vrtti while the transliteration of the text appears in Appendix II. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:39:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PCL - Marta Nora Oneto de Cesarotto.pdf: 676350 bytes, checksum: 09b84a07269b439dd741271423db62b6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-11-24 / This work focuses the place of conciousness in the freudian theory. Having the unconscious as the major concept in psycho-analysis, Freud did not neglect this essential phenomenon. For example, the three instances that divide the psychism were named by appointment. In Portuguese, the word conciousness means the atribute that alouds the knowledge about things, the mental representation that an aorganism has about his existence and the out-side world, and the faculty to difference good from bad, the sense of morality and duty. In German, the aceptions are discriminated, with the psychological conciousness refered as Bewusstsein, the clear and concrete knowledge. For the moral conciousness, looked as a superegoical function, Freud chosed the term Gewissen, a more abstract sense of knowledge. This theoretical research follows the development of the notions of coniousness and moral coniousness from 1895 to 1932, and was motivated by a quotation of Freud´s own words in his last years, about re-valuating the importance of conciousness, because of the diversity of concerning problems, and the complexity of explanations and definitions. In several times, he wrote about his intention to investigate more deeply in this particular matter, but never did it / Este trabalho focaliza a consciência na teoria freudiana. Destacando o inconsciente como objeto da psicanálise, Freud nunca deixou de considerá-la como um fenômeno essencial, basta lembrar que a nomeação das três instâncias que constituem o psiquismo foi feita levando em conta, especialmente, a sua relação com a consciência. Em português a palavra consciência alude tanto ao atributo que permite o conhecimento de uma coisa, a representação mental que um organismo tem da própria existência ou do mundo externo, assim como designa a faculdade de distinguir o bem do mal, ou seja, o sentimento da moralidade e do dever. Na língua alemã, ambas acepções se apresentam discriminadas, a consciência psicológica corresponde o termo Bewusstsein que aponta para o conhecimento claro e concreto, enquanto que para a consciência moral, entendida como função da subestrutura superegoica. Freud optou por reservar o termo Gewissen que denota um saber com certeza, mas com um sentido mais abstrato. Esta pesquisa teórica acompanha o desenvolvimento da noção de consciência conjuntamente com o de consciência moral, desde 1895 até 1932, e foi norteada por uma frase presente na que Freud manifesta a necessidade de reavaliar o valor da consciência. Para o criador da teoria psicanalítica, a diversidade dos problemas da consciência, a tornavam um fenômeno refratário a qualquer explicação e definição. Por diversas vezes ao longo da obra, expressou a intenção de fazer uma investigação mais profunda a respeito da consciência, mas nunca chegou a concretizá-la

This study examines transformative learning in the context of an annual First Nations journey in traditional cedar dugout canoes tracing ancestral trading routes between Western Washington and British Columbia. Transformative learning is a shift or change in perspective of self, life, and the world. The goal was: to illuminate the role of Indigenous cultures in facilitating transformative learning for Indigenous and non-Indigenous learners; to contribute to the development of transformative learning theory; to provide research that contributes convergent solutions to global issues and the development of interdisciplinary methodology, integrating Western and Indigenous worldviews; and to construct an integrated transformative program for participants to ensure that the results benefit them. To achieve these goals, an Integrated Voice Approach (IVA) was applied, piecing together different techniques, tools, methods, representations and interpretations to construct a multi-faceted reality. The IVA is constructed through the use of five “voices” strengthened by building on each other: Indigenous Voice, Grounded Theory Voice, Auto-ethnographic Voice, Ethno-ecological Voice, and Integrative Voice, harmonizing the previous four voices. Demonstrated here are an integration of interviews, researcher field notes, participation, observations and photographs, revealing that transformative learning in this context is dependent on the cultural landscape, cultural memory and somatic and embodied knowing, enacted in a repeating cycle of paddling, circling, dancing, singing, storytelling and drumming. The components of this learning process are measured through mental, emotional, spiritual and physical indicators and draw on traditional ecological knowledge and wisdom. The study develops guiding principles to provide a foundation for future curriculum development for transformative learning. / Graduate

Submitted by Liliane Ferreira (ljuvencia30@gmail.com) on 2018-12-12T14:33:55Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Luana Beatriz Silvéria - 2018.pdf: 2076570 bytes, checksum: 098bcb63a7ac7a2f3378a7bf767032b9 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-12-13T11:29:47Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Luana Beatriz Silvéria - 2018.pdf: 2076570 bytes, checksum: 098bcb63a7ac7a2f3378a7bf767032b9 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-13T11:29:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Luana Beatriz Silvéria - 2018.pdf: 2076570 bytes, checksum: 098bcb63a7ac7a2f3378a7bf767032b9 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-05-17 / In West Germany, between 1960 and 1970, due to a crisis of Historical Science and History Education, which no longer corresponded to the aspirations of German society, an intellectual movement emerged that culminated in the revision of the historicist tradition of historical thought. In this context, a field of study called History Didactics arose, which built its foundations under the aegis of the concept of historical consciousness. That is, the use of historical knowledge in practical life. For Rüsen, both the theory of history and the teaching of history can be conceived as the result of the same concern, the necessities of life. Within this perspective the present research fits into one of the pillars of the field of History Didatics: the analysis of the function of knowledge and historical explanation in public life which implies the investigation and relation of historical knowledge with the historical culture of a society, in the research proposal, the cinema. Starting from this premise, the hypothesis is that cinematographic narrative, as belonging to the historical culture of a society, can mobilize the historical consciousness of individuals. Based on this hypothesis, this paper presents the process of conducting an empirical investigation aimed at ascertaining the construct of historical consciousness about work activity from Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times cinematographic narrative, focusing on the categories of work, practical life and time. The individuals of this research are young and adult students of the National Program of Integration of Professional Education with Basic Education in the Mode of Education of Young and Adults (PROEJA), Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Goiás (IFG / GO). We defend the thesis that the interpretation that these individuals make of the history of humanity advances from a traditional historical consciousness to elements of a critical historical consciousness whose central axis is the idea of progress. In addition to the ideal of progress through which students produce a conception of traditional historical narrative, other subjects such as religion, slavery, women's work, quality of life, unemployment, education, and the sense of work are addressed in their speeches. / Na Alemanha Ocidental, entre o período de 1960 e 1970, devido a uma crise da Ciência Histórica e do Ensino de História, que já não mais correspondiam aos anseios da sociedade alemã, surgiu um movimento intelectual que culminou na revisão da tradição historicista de pensamento histórico. Neste contexto surgiu um campo de estudo denominado Didática da História, que construiu seus fundamentos sobre a égide do conceito de consciência histórica. Isto é, o emprego do saber histórico na vida prática. Para Rüsen, tanto a teoria da História como o ensino de história podem ser concebidos como fruto de uma mesma preocupação: as necessidades da vida. Dentro desta perspectiva a presente pesquisa se enquadra em um dos pilares do campo da Didática da História: a análise da função do conhecimento e da explicação histórica na vida pública, o que implica a investigação e relação do conhecimento histórico com a cultura histórica de uma sociedade, na proposta da pesquisa, o cinema. Partindo desta premissa, tem se a hipótese de que a narrativa cinematográfica, como pertencente à cultura histórica de uma sociedade, pode mobilizar a consciência histórica dos indivíduos. Com base nesta hipótese, este trabalho apresenta o processo de realização de uma investigação empírica que visou averiguar o constructo de uma consciência histórica sobre a atividade do trabalho, a partir da narrativa cinematográfica de Tempos Modernos de Charlie Chaplin, com enfoque nas categorias de: trabalho, vida prática e tempo. Os indivíduos desta pesquisa são jovens e adultos, estudantes do Programa Nacional de Integração da Educação Profissional com a Educação Básica na Modalidade de Educação de Jovens e Adultos (PROEJA), do Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Goiás (IFG/GO). Defendemos a tese de que a interpretação que estes indivíduos fazem da história da humanidade avança de uma consciência histórica tradicional para elementos de uma consciência histórica crítica, cujo eixo central é a ideia de progresso. Além do ideal de progresso, pelo qual os alunos produzem uma concepção de narrativa histórica tradicional, outros temas como a religião, a escravidão, o trabalho feminino, a qualidade de vida, o desemprego, a educação, o sentido do trabalho, são abordados em seus discursos.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T20:31:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 GlauciaHASS.pdf: 1246482 bytes, checksum: ce2509158e4246435e52fb77e9d842ab (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-03-10 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This investigation had as object the orientation way of historical sense from students in their relation with the language. The research has as theoretical fundament the studies of narrative and of historical consciousness by Paul Ricoeur and Jörn Rüsen. The study tried to answer the following questions: what are the representations of future revelead through the time articulations made by the historical consciousness manifested in the narratives of young students of fundamental and middle learning levels? In what degree can we identify in the narratives the attribution of historical sense to the experience as a way of practical life orientation of the students? The objective of this study is to identify the attribution of historical sense to the experience as a mean of practical life orientation of the students through the analysis of their visions of future described by them in written productions. For this purpose, a data search was made in two state schools in the city of Ponta Grossa, with primary and secondary level students that gave those informations through the construction of written and oral narratives. In all, five groups of informants were formed: three with written narratives and two with oral narratives, obtained through the technique of focal group. The research has qualitative nature and for the data treatment was followed the methodology of content analysis, as proposed by Laurence Bardin. As conclusions we presented the students difficulty in project themselves in time as caused above all by a grammatical difficulty in the application of the verbal times into action, lack of empathy capacity and, identity crisis and of the public power action related to consumerism conditions. / Esta investigação teve como objeto o modo de orientação de sentido histórico dos estudantes em sua relação com a linguagem. A pesquisa tem como fundamentação teórica os estudos acerca da narrativa e da consciência histórica de Paul Ricoeur e de Jörn Rüsen. O estudo buscou responder às seguintes questões: Quais as representações de futuro reveladas pelas articulações temporais realizadas pela consciência histórica manifestadas nas narrativas de jovens estudantes do ensino fundamental e médio? Em que medida podemos identificar nas narrativas a atribuição de sentido histórico à experiência como meio de orientação da vida prática dos estudantes? Como objetivo desse estudo tem-se identificar a atribuição de sentido histórico à experiência como meio de orientação da vida prática dos estudantes mediante a análise das visões de futuro por eles descritas nas produções textuais resultantes. Para tanto, um coleta de dados foi realizada em duas escolas estaduais da cidade de Ponta Grossa, junto a alunos de ensino fundamental e médio que forneceram os dados mediante elaboração de narrativas escritas e orais. No total foram cinco grupos de informantes: três de narrativas escritas e dois de narrativas orais obtidas a partir da técnica de grupo focal. A pesquisa é de natureza qualitativa e no tratamento dos dados procedemos segundo a metodologia de análise de conteúdo, conforme proposta por Laurence Bardin. Como conclusões apresentamos a dificuldade dos alunos de se projetarem no tempo como derivada sobretudo de uma dificuldade gramatical na aplicação dos tempos verbais à ação, falta da capacidade de empatia, e crise identitária e da atuação na esfera pública relacionadas a condições de consumo.

The return to body awareness, or embodiment, is necessary for individual and communal harmony. A reflection on the use of dance in tribal societies suggests their importance in creating community and identifies how they were prohibited during colonization and thereafter. Subsequently, an investigation into current American culture in the 21st century finds a disembodied culture, as defined by the lack of awareness to the body as a living entity. Embodiment practices are suggested for a return to individual harmony and communal dancing as the solution for community harmony. Lastly, a personal exploration into the making and creating of danced rituals suggests the power of dance to heal, transform, and unite humanity.

Thesis (MPhil (Information Science))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / This thesis explores phenomena surrounding the creation of knowledge, employing a multidisciplinary approach. To start with a view on the physical location of knowledge is discussed. This helps highlight the problem of defining knowledge and simultaneously introduces a set of fundamental and conceptual questions about the phenomena surrounding the creation of knowledge . The set of questions are then focussed on the process of knowledge creation. The investigation starts in the field of archaeology, in particular at the dawn of modern civilisation, with views on the earliest forms of knowledge creation. From there the investigation moves on to aspects of contemporary neurology. This allows for a comparison between humans from the ancient past with humans of today thereby identifying a neurological link between these periods. Based on current research within the field of behavioural neurology it is posed that knowledge creation is a process initiated by the impact of electromagnetic fields on the brain. A review of the medical research within the neurological sciences on the effects of electromagnetic field stimulation shows it to be effective as a treatment modality, a behavioural modifier, a suppressor and facilitator of cognition, as well as a sensory modulator. The interaction of the brain with electromagnetic fields is shown as a form of transduction similar to that of regular sensory transduction. Since the transduction of electromagnetic stimuli can functionally modulate sensory reception, cognition, behaviour and some neurological conditions, the creation of sensory perception, cognition, behaviour and neurological conditions (all phenomena surrounding knowledge creation) can be shown as functionally dependant on the electro-chemical process of ferromagnetic transduction (magneto reception). The ferromagnetic transduction model may then be seen as the sensory mechanism that initiates and modulates the process of knowledge creation. The modulation of this process is revealed cognitively in savants, behaviourally in some of the greatest thinkers in history and on a planetary scale as a force of nature. The implications of these findings is that if the keys to the creation of knowledge have been found, great care needs to be taken when deciding to implement any type of artificial or natural modulation to neural firing rates not only because of the total effect modulation can have on the individual but also because of the social consequences resulting from those who wish to socially discriminate according to the ability of and beliefs arising from the knowledge creating process.