How have fault zones and interrelated electromagnetic systems influenced belief systems?
Shaping Faults | 4.2
Causation 2: Bioelectric Effects on Belief Systems
“Perceptions are controlled hallucinations”
- Anil Seth
If you are just joining us, here is the core thesis of this series in one sentence:
The combination of large, interrelated planetary systems result in the formation of electromagnetic (EM) systems, especially around fault zones, which couple with biological systems, in this case humans, through bioelectric mechanisms, and in doing so influence organismic-wide development across a range of cognitive scales.
I have noted throughout this series how fault zones seem to be superficially correlated to certain “human markers”:
cultural and technological (cult-tech) innovation (Part 4.1)
belief systems (Part 4.2 - now)
war and conflict (Part 4.3 - final part)
The main intention here is to ascertain a) how EM systems have (and still do influence) the development of belief systems, from molecular to group level cognition, and b) map the through-line between belief systems and EM (or EM-adjacent) fields “all the way down” and “all the way up”.
No, I do not think I will accomplish all of this in this series alone; that is outside my current experimental and theoretical capacity. I do, however, think that this series can serve as the tip of a curious weathered digit, pointing in the direction of interesting connections and possible coordinates for future search grids.
Regarding belief systems specifically: In Part 1.2 evidence of superficial stylistic similarities were pointed out with regard to the shared symbology relating to natural disasters and earthquakes from global cultures situated along fault zones. See the original article for more details on this. Instead we now turn to exploring some causal EM links to biological systems across various cognitive scales and certain geographic locations. No time like the present.
Developing Cognitive Structures
When it comes to belief systems let’s wade waste-deep through the weeds and start as upstream as possible. Separating us from other species seems to be, in a reductionist sense, our ability to create mental models and attribute causal factors to abstract forces.1 Of course there is more to the story, but let’s stick with these two for now.
Mental models are one thing. Monkeys have mental models. I mean, rats may even have ones. But the scaling complexity of mental modelling is a core difference between us and that rat you are never more than fifty meters away from. Yes, the monkey and the rat can cognitively map their environment. But, limited to mostly experiencing their environment, this cognitive map, as far as we know, does not lead to them to think: ahh, I see that we need to get from a — b, let’s build a combustion engine to help us get there. Of course this is oversimplified, but done so to make the following point: When these mental models are scaled, human models seem to result in pockets of emergent complexity2 and novelty3 that other species simply do not (or cannot) match.4
More important is the ability to use said mental model and do something like, feel the wind on your face and think: hmmm, there must be something causing this sensation. I know! A great, omnipresent, omnipotent person exists somewhere up above us! Or we get hit on the head by an apple and think: hmmm, there must be something causing this apple to fall downwards. I know! An invisible force pulling everything towards the Earth, based on complex dynamics involving matter, mass, space and time! But wait a minute. We go much further than that. Not only do we attribute causal factors to abstract forces, we collectively do it at scale. So much so that entire religions, myths, sacred practices, scientific paradigms, laws of nature—belief systems—are born, raised and live to be thousands of years old based on certain abstract attributions.
A core component at the base of this unique cognitive ability is our memory. Being able to internally sort through large amounts of information, at varying rates (faster does not always equal more efficient), no doubt enabled the construction of more complex world models. But weighing the chicken and egg for a minute, blending both the weakly-objective and strongly-subjective, the immediate and long-term tacit, experiential knowledge with knowledge extracted and recorded from different observers from different times across different spaces, perhaps it is more suitable to think of mental models and attribution to abstract forces as not simply presupposed by memory, but the cognitive, neuronal, ultimately bioelectric pressures driving these features co-created the adaptations necessary in our species memory to run these emerging cognitive programmes.
In a metaphysical essence, these increasingly complex, yet both highly subjective yet somewhat objective world models, are in part generated by our complex memory, itself a complex phenomenon generated by increasingly complex mental models and abstract attribution. In classical traditions, this relation could be described as ouroborotic. In modern paradigms, it could be explained through system theoretic concepts like holarchies.5 In my own jargon, large scale structures consisting of nested systems within systems, coupled to one another through multi-way, embedded feedback (or, in a cybernetic sense “OODA”) loops. In Arthur Koestler’s jargon, (the person who actually coined the phrase) a holarchy is “something that is simultaneously a whole and a part”.6 Memory, at least in this world model, is that.
A visually appealing schematic of a “holarchy” depicting the “organismic hierarchy (Koestler 1979, pp. 28-9)”. Taken from: Storyality.
In a constructivist sense, more complex models and their compacted debris fields provide the solid base necessary for the foundations for belief systems to be set. Interestingly, some of the oldest recorded examples of belief systems are found in mythology. At an etymological level, the Latin word “mythos” is derived from the Greek word “mûthos”, meaning story or report. To report on something, or to record a story, means there is something to report and make a story about. That is why myth is connected so intricately to meaning. Quickly the connection between mythology and memory should also become apparent. Memory is indeed necessary for mythology. But, once again, almost synergistically so, mythology helps structure and develop memory, whether that be cultural or individual. Myth survives on memory, and memory survives through myth.
Following this line of reasoning, we could conjecture that anything that helps improve our memory, especially during the early developmental stages of our species, would have played a foundational role in nurturing the development of the cognitive structure necessary to form such mythological belief systems in the first place. In terms of age, then, what are some of the oldest examples of belief systems we can evidently draw from?7
Fortunately for us, early people began painting their beliefs, what we now classify as “art”, in the inner sanctums of Indonesian jungle caves roundabout 51,200 years ago. Hypothesised to relate to scenic narratives, these depictions of anthropomorphs (human-like figures) and animals at the very least suggest a clear mental model surrounding the human-animal/environment relationship.
Equally (I am less inclined to say fortunately) so, people began burying their dead in deliberate and meaningful practices over 100,000 years ago in sites around Israel. Clearly, even at early developmental stages, our species exhibited signs of constructing complex mental models (forming abstract relations of identity and concepts of an afterlife) and attributing causal factors to abstract forces (metaphysical meaning in the connection between human and animal/environment and some form of journey after death).
Interestingly—because remember the bigger picture here: thinking about how Earth’s fault zones have shaped the development of belief systems—the general location of both of these sites: Indonesia and Israel, are situated along active fault zones, conductive regions of planetary space where EM energy flows more readily than the average. That is not actually the most interesting part. Researchers in 2016 found that a form of EM interaction with biological systems, in this case “rTMS stimulation” around the 10 hz frequency, can improve our working memory.8 Whilst admittedly a a bit of a conceptual leap (but nonetheless a fun one) the notion that EM fields generated by fault-based events like episodic tremors and slip (ETS) around these regions, over evolutionary timescales, could influence the development of human cognitive mechanisms, including memory thus belief systems thus mythology, gains a little more traction when we realise that these natural seismic and EM events do take place within an overlapping frequency range, specifically 0.005-10 hz.
Given that a well functioning working memory is essential for cognitive model making, in the context that in the preceding hundreds of thousands of years leading up to these cognitive developments EM systems have been intertwined to fault zones, and given experimentation suggesting EM stimulation does improve cognitive components like working memory, is it too outlandish to hypothesise that the natural EM energy generated in and around the geographic spaces themselves contributed to this cognitive development? In holarchical terms, the space may have influenced cognition as much as cognition influenced the space. In my terms, conductive planetary regions may enable a form of hyper-geographic determinism, the space itself, including the underlying EM features, helping stimulate the formation of the mental architecture necessary to even think about these things in the first place. Let us avoid jumping to any conclusions right away, but the connection is certainly intriguing.
Altered Perceptions
Another interesting case study is the connection between Japan and a unique piece of cognitive architecture perhaps overlooked when thinking about the genesis of belief systems, but a piece that appears delicately woven to both complex cognitive processes and EM systems.
Before we get into it, it has already been noted that Japan’s island chain is one of the most seismically active regions on Earth. Situated along the north-western crest of the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire”, frequent earthquakes and tectonic activity pockmark the land of Nippon. Integral to the underlying thesis of this series, such naturally occuring fault zone-based activity is interrelated with other planetary systems9 and can, perhaps quite “frequently” (over evolutionary time periods), produce localised EM effects relative to the geographic location, time and dynamics of other interrelated planetary systems.
What has not been noted is that Japan has evidence for some of the oldest known belief systems in the world, centred around the mysterious Jōmon period dating back to 15,000 YBP. Jōmon belief systems are seen to be rather complex, based around animism, perhaps proto-shamanism and even reincarnation. Clearly, in the context of understanding how seismically dense zones have influenced the evolution of belief systems, Japan is a suitable place to look.
Scaling this back down, growing evidence suggests that localised EM effects like low-frequency EM fields can influence neuronal activity, synaptic plasticity, and overall brain connectivity. With regard to what we have already looked at with bioelectric mechanisms of cognition, the idea that low-frequency and extremely low-frequency (ELF) fields can change the way cellular features like ion channels and gap junctions function across cellular networks relates to the evolution of belief systems in a few intriguing ways. Scaling this up, we have already expounded on how such EM effects can shape cognition across the cellular, individual and group-level scales, largely based around the pioneering work of Dr Michael Levin and his colleagues.
To set the stage, zooming-in on individual cognition for a minute, it is well known that during foetal and early postnatal development the human brain is highly sensitive to external EM influences.10 Small, sustained changes in EM field exposure could affect how neurons form connections, potentially altering sensory processing pathways.11 Over evolutionary timescales, populations exposed to consistent EM fields might undergo epigenetic changes that influence gene expression. Given that EM activity, because of the certain arrangement and interrelations of planetary systems, can be more prevalent around conductive fault zones, if EM activity is affecting the local populations in these locations as well as other geomagnetically active regions of our biosphere, we should, in theory, see those populations express novel neurological conditions. Japan, being the most seismically active region on Earth, seems the logical place to look.
Synesthesia is a hard-to-spell neurological phenomenon that affects around 1 in 2,000 people. It primarily causes a “blending” of different sensory pathways. One of the most prevalent types of synesthesia, “grapheme-colour synesthesia”,12 involves the association of a colour with a word—when you hear a word you see (or feel) a colour. Other manifestations include hearing colours (including tone-colour synesthesia13) or seeing words and physically feeling a sensation of temperature change. Simply put: the stimulation in one sense triggers a stimulation in another.14 Theories suggesting how this phenomenon came to be range from learning-based models to genetic mechanisms.15 Whilst modern “cultural adaptations” are widely understood, the earlier evolutionary advantages of synesthesia have yet to be explored in any significant detail.16
Hypothetically, we could infer that individuals with synesthesia may experience heightened memory retention due to the creation of multisensory associations, allowing them to better recall important information like locations, people, or survival-related events. In early human societies, synaesthesia might have improved pattern recognition, boosting skills in hunting, navigation, or social interaction, in theory adding to the likelihood of becoming what has been labelled throughout this series: a “cult-tech architect”. Additionally, individuals with synaesthetic traits may have been more adept at forming symbolic thinking, contributing to the development of language, art, and cultural expression, enabling the assemblage of mental models and deeper abstraction necessary for constructing belief systems. Another speculative leap? Time to acclimatise to the height.
Continuing the speculation, hyperconnectivity in the brain,17 as is associated with synesthesia,18 could enhance sensory processing or adaptation to dynamic environments, giving rise to both a higher cultural and genetic incidence of synesthesia in zones where more of this behaviour is required—such as frenetic, seismically dense areas. The problem with conducting such an analysis is the clear lack of data regarding specific locational conductivity, as well as specific locational rates of synesthesia.
The former can be worked around without too much hassle. By using Alekseev et al’s (2015) 3D global conductivity model, then integrating remaining data points from the USGS world map, a fairly reliable group of conductive regions can be defined.19 Then distinct conductive properties such as seawater depth, sediment thickness, crustal composition, and lithospheric properties are taken into account are combined to form a “Combined Geo Index”. The higher the index, the higher the predicted conductivity.
The main problem comes from the lack of reliable data for global rates of synesthesia. Because certain countries produce more synesthesia data than others, but no country outside of the west has produced a lot, there is an imbalance in the synesthesia dataset and thus an imposed constraint on what locations can have their Combined Geo Index and Synesthesia Prevalence reliably compared. Whilst synesthesia data is more sparse thus less reliable, technology is such that by using the latest publically available predictive AI model (Chat GPT 4.5), we can project future data using the available albeit limited synesthesia datasets. Due to the available data and constraints, and factoring out western synesthesia results (to combat further sample bias), we are left with four locations that have comparable synesthesia and conductivity rates: Japan, Indonesia, China and Iran.
See Appendix 1-3 for breakdown and accompanying charts.
Indeed, when we conduct a statistical analytic comparison between spaces with high rates of Synesthesia Prevalence and spaces with a high Combined Geo Index, it is observed that there is a weakly positive correlation: 0.25%.
Now your first instinct may be to dismiss the 0.25% correlation because it falls within the “weakly correlated” bracket. But hang on a minute. History quickly reminds us that initially weak correlations, especially correlations drawn from limited (or manipulated) datasets can quickly snowball into strong correlations, if not outrightly confirmed causation. Just think of smoking and lung cancer, or lead and cognitive impairment, or greenhouse gasses and global warming. Correlation is not causation but, as the old saying goes: it is rare to have smoke and no fire.
With this in mind, despite the low sample size surrounding both variables (synesthesia and geomagnetically and seismically active regions), by looking at the structure of the data itself we notice that from our sample set a higher than average—the highest, in fact—number of Japanese people experience synaesthesia.20 That is not projected. That is a true statistic. In fact, when we begin to explore the data available to us regarding Japan and rates of synesthesia, the results seem to suggest a strong correlation between Japan and both variables.21 And, when compared to the other geo indexed locations, we notice that Japan scores second highest (8.50) in terms of geomagnetic activity and conductivity.
Given this last point, we arrive back to the problem of the chicken and the egg. Synesthesia could be influenced by the structure of language. Semantic structure requires memory, and memory requires mental models and causal attribution to abstract forces.22 Experimentation has verified cognition is influenced by bioelectric mechanisms. Bioelectric mechanisms are influenced at a developmental level by EM forces. Thus we are left with what came first: synesthesia as a result of increased cognitive load and cultural factors, or synesthesia as a result of EM activity in the surrounding environment interacting with bioelectric mechanisms across evolutionary timescales. Again, this correlation could just be down to the sample bias I tried to factor for, or it could be something to do with the extensive Japanese lexicon, but given the lack of data nothing is yet conclusive, so nothing can be ruled out either.
Another point to note is that when we look at the location scoring highest on the geo index: Indonesia (9)—we notice two important things: first, Indonesia is still in its infancy with regard to synesthesia studies, and second, recent studies seem to suggest that the structure of the Indonesian language shares certain promising features that suggest the Indonesian population may have significant rates of synesthesia.23 The implication is such that the results of future studies could trend towards Indonesia expressing higher rates of synesthesia, much like its geomagnetically active counterpart, Japan.
In a regular geographic determinist sense, the correlation between high seismic and conductive regions and synesthesia is not outlandish. As mentioned a moment ago, in an evolutionary sense synesthesia might have benefited those living in a highly frenetic environment. Japan, with its 1,500 earthquakes a year, is one of the most seismically dense, frenetic locations on Earth. But, given what we have looked at over this series, most notably the generation and coupling of EM energy and biological systems around fault zones, the implicit exposure to low-frequency EM fields around locations like Japan and Indonesia may also have affected the developmental cognition that acts as a prerequisite for synesthesiac conditions. Speculating, such EM stimulation might enhance or even trigger such hyperconnectivity in the brain as is the case in the brains of synesthesiac ends with a particularly ironic coincidence: occurrences of synesthesia are called concurrents.
Running with the theme of concurrents in synesthesia, studies have also found a direct link between artificial EM stimulation from tDCS and the promotion of both grapheme-colour24 and mirror-touch synaesthesia.25 In the previous article (Part 4.1) the correlation between EM stimulation and traits that encourage the formation of team work—labelled as “cult-tech organisations”—was mentioned. Coincidentally, concurrents of mirror-touch synaesthesia are also positively associated with empathy and more evolved social behaviour.26 Having already speculated upon the influential role of EM stimulation on enhanced group cognition in a body-wide cellular scale with regard to bioelectric mechanisms coupling EM fields and biological systems, note that mirror-touch synaesthesia involves cells along the entire nervous system, not simply the neurons of the brain. Another holarchic example of bioelectric mechanisms, cognitive architecture, and external (environmental) EM stimulation is found.
Anyway, to test such a hypothesis, future comparative studies would need to examine populations in other tectonically active regions to see if there is a higher prevalence of synesthesia compared to other less seismic zones. Curiously, whilst originally factored out to decrease a suspected sample bias in the data regarding rates of synesthesia, North America—another hotbed of seismic activity— exhibits a higher than average rate of synesthesia per capita - around 3-5%, compared to the global average 1-2%.27
Thus, three of the hottest fault beds: Japan, Indonesia and North America, all exhibit interesting correlations to synesthesia, albeit when taken from a constrained sample. Further studies into rates of synaesthesia within other active seismic and EM conductive spaces should focus around Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, China and Turkey could provide more valuable insight into this currently weak yet potentially significant correlation. In doing so we might even unpick the intricate connections between hyperconnective states like synesthesia and the development of belief systems across the world.
Shared Illusionary Responses
Considering that pretty much all major and minor religions feature some form of spiritual component or another, the connection between belief systems and spirituality is widely recognised. But let’s get a bit more spooky with it.
Focussing on religiosity for a minute, Vilayanur Ramachandran's research into temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE)—most notably his 1998 cult-classic entitled “Phantoms in the Brain”—highlighted the link between epilepsy and heightened religious experiences.28 Patients with TLE often exhibit what has been described as hyper-religiosity, a condition where individuals become deeply involved with religious or philosophical thoughts. Ramachandran found that this hyper-religious behaviour correlates with increased electrical activity in the temporal lobes, which are linked to the processing of emotions and complex cognitive functions, such as those involved in spiritual or existential contemplation.29 Heightened religious experiences—current cases of hyper-religiosity—causally linked to the human bioelectric circuit, often involve hallucinations of some kind or another.
Since the 1980’s researchers have posited that “transient and very localized geophysical forces are hypothesized to be a major source of phenomena that have been traditionally labelled as haunts and poltergeists.”30 Basically, systems within the environment effect our cognitive state in such a way we see apparitions—in some cases, hallucinate. Whilst instances of “hauntings” are inherently subjective, they no doubt have core spiritual elements. And this spirituality derives from one belief system or another.
As I showed earlier in the series, at their most fundamental layer, belief systems and the symbology used to record them—to co-create them—often appear abstract yet remain similar across the expanse of space and time, especially across fault zones. There are many possible explanations for this, syncretism perhaps the most popular of materialist, reductionist interpretations. It would be hard to deny that some chunks of disparate belief systems and religious views were merged into one another, stuck in sets of recursive feedback loops as cultures spread and empires expanded out, towards the Sun.
More metaphysically, the Jungian construct, a model I frequently love to play with, evokes the collective unconscious. Perhaps these archetypal forms of belief are genetically encoded into our localised memory instead of being subject to personal experiences. A sort of spiritually embedded Platonic form, hence the existence across vast amounts of time and space. These explanations are all legitimate and I would not be surprised if they were all in-part responsible in their own way for the correlation of forms we see across belief systems correlated across fault zones. I am simply here to throw explanation another into the mix.
When we heard earlier that EM stimulation can cause illusions manifesting in test subjects,31 the question of why various groups of people across the world recorded similar things during natural disasters and seismic events pushes us one step closer to another potential fault line mechanism influencing the human experience.
An experiment (of contested validity) conducted by Persinger and Koren (in)famously tested whether experiences of apparitions and fear, typically reported in haunted spaces,32 could be replicated in a controlled laboratory setting using electromagnetic fields. As the story goes: a 45-year-old journalist who had previously experienced a haunting was exposed to a complex magnetic field of 1µT over the right hemisphere of his brain. Within 10 minutes, he reported experiencing intense fear that led to the perception of an apparition nearby. This apparition was deemed as similar to the previous, unellicited haunting experience.
Clearly, ethical concerns being left at the door, the experiment was highly-subjective in the sense that only the subject himself could verify the experience. However, the argument put forward by idealism, especially Bernado Kastrup’s analytic idealism, suggests such subjective experiences may constitute a very real part of the very fabric of space and time. Whatsmore, whilst it does not need to be, we can also view this experiment as moderately-objective. Persinger and Koren utilised electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings which showed significant spikes at 15 Hz corresponding with the subjects feelings of fear. Given that we are thinking about how the natural EM systems in various planetary spaces affect our cognitive experience, this result adds a material data stamp to the otherwise completely subjective experience. Consequently, first this suggests that if the story of the experiment is valid, both an idealistic and realistic occurrence was recorded. Second, this would then suggest EM stimulation is a means of bridging the environment to the observer's generation of reality, let alone cognitive states, implying an outwards-in chain of causation.
In 2006, another experiment attempted to create a “haunted room” to test whether or not EMF and infrasound can induce feelings of being haunted. Whilst the conclusions were inconclusive with regard to the role of infrasound, the researchers noted that participants felt a range of anomalous activity, including “out of body” experiences (feeling like they were somewhere else or detached from their body) and felt an unknown “presence” nearby. Of interest, the researchers went on to recommend that the EMF component of the experiment be the subject of future studies. There must have been something that they felt deserved more attention, some bead of intuition that left more questions than answers.
Back in 2003, a study by Hoffman et al. found that some patients reported altered sensory perceptions during rTMS stimulation of 1hz, and these we labelled as transient hallucinatory experiences. This finding suggests that rTMS systems can influence auditory processing to the extent of inducing temporary hallucinations in some individuals. Similarly, in 2011 Bolognini et al found that direct electrical stimulation via tDCS “can affect audiovisual processing”, changing what the observer saw and experienced under specific conditions.33 Both rTMS and tDCS can, under certain conditions, may induce not only illusionary but hallucinatory experiences also.34
Early on it was believed that “these results are commensurate with the hypothesis that ELF fields, generated within the earth-ionospheric cavity but disrupted by geomagnetic disturbances, may influence some human behavior.”35 Whilst it is still an open area of investigation, hypothesising as to what the primary mechanism behind this hypothetical shared conscious experience—whether it be haunted spaces or emergent pockets of the collective unconscious—is interesting in the context of what we are exploring in this series.
Could it be the periodic EM pulses and geomagnetic anomalies generated along conductive fault zones affect the cognitive states of people living in these areas? Of course, as we have seen, this hypothetical effect would no doubt vary depending on the intensity, frequency and duration of the EM activity, as well as the material geomagnetic properties of the space itself, the expanse of time it occurred over, and perhaps nowadays the advent of artificial EM fields already present in modern times.
I know it is tentative, but imagine the following scenario:
During periods of increased tectonic activity, over the time scale of belief systems—tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of years—the space around fault zones, through high conductivity and interrelated planetary systems, encourages EM systems to permeate the surrounding environment. These emissions create localised resonance fields that interact with the magnetoreception capabilities of nearby biological systems, in this case, local human (or hominin) populations. Individuals exposed to these fields experience altered states of consciousness due to the effect of ultra-low frequency (ULF) and ELF waves on the temporal lobes and other areas of neuronal and cellular activity in the brain and the body. The result is a hyper-associative state in which what we now describe as archetypal images—like serpents, dragons, and birds—emerge more readily in collective narratives, possibly under some form of collective unconscious. The specific topology of the EM fields produced by fault lines (which tend to form complex, fractal-like patterns) might resonate with certain visual or symbolic archetypes embedded in the human neural architecture. These archetypes could be represented symbolically as serpent-like coils, spirals, and feathered forms, which correspond with the recurring mythological motifs in these regions, as seen in Figure 1 in Part 1.2.
Yes, the speculation is rolling, but let it continue. Continuous exposure to low-level EM fields in these regions may have induced a low-frequency trance state among early inhabitants. This state would lead to shared visionary experiences, especially during high-stress periods like aftershocks or seismic precursors. (We have ourselves a giant recursive feedback loop forming.) In these altered states, individuals would have heightened sensitivity to visual, auditory, and even olfactory hallucinations. Serpentine and dragon motifs shared across fault zones might emerge from a convergence of visual phosphenes (e.g. actually seeing sinuous, wave-like patterns during altered consciousness) and the association of ground movement with snake-like undulations from surface-born Rayleigh waves. From this foundational building block, partially influenced by differentiated EM activity along fault zones, belief systems were then constructed upon, leading to correlations of spiritual and mythological symbolism across seismically and geomagnetically active global zones.
Far fetched? Perhaps. Take it or leave, it is speculation at the end of the day. But speculation that, given the right methodology, tools, experimental know-how, could be tested, and more so could be profound to understanding how we, as a species, operates across all scales. The interesting nature of such an interconnective quality is still left open to think about, especially under the very real context of EM stimulation on bioelectric pathways.
Shamanic Centres
Taking this thread even further still, because my curiosity proceeds me, and my original field of interest was adjacent to ancient cultures, we do often observe these built ceremonial sites on or near fault lines (as suggested with the previously noted megalithic correlation). When foundation mythology more often than not relates these sites to “power centres”, it does bare the question: Could the foundation of mythos at these sacred locations have been based on an intuition—a spatial intuition (perhaps now dulled in modern societies due to an overabundance of artificial EM fields)—that ancient shamans—the wisdom-keepers—understood to be physiological and psychological interrelated to the natural planetary systems? It would have been quite an intuition. But at the end of the day, that is what tends to be: intuition-maximisers.
And, whilst superficially far-fetched, Michael Levin, mentioned earlier as a leading expert in the effects of bioelectricity in what he calls “scale-free cognition” is now looking into the mechanisms behind what Jung referred to as “meaningful coincidences that cannot be explained by cause and effect” aka an “acausal connecting principle” aka a synchronicity. Levin is literally looking into molecular mechanisms behind the phenomenon of synchronicity. A phenomenon that for the longest time has been demoted to the realm of metaphysics and the paranormal.
All of this leads us to the following scenario:
Imagine a period between 5,000–10,000 years ago, when tectonic activity along several major fault zones—including the Anatolian Fault (Turkey), the Cascadia Subduction Zone (North America), and the Mesoamerican fault system—experienced synchronous heightened activity. The result is a global period of geomagnetic disruption, during which the affected regions may have experienced shared vivid dreams, hallucinations, and visions, seeing images of serpents rising from the earth, feathered dragons descending from the sky, and thunderbirds tearing the sky open. Priests, shamans, and rulers, interpreting these shared experiences as messages from the gods, begin to weave these visions into the foundational mythologies of their cultures. They create ritual spaces—temples, pyramids, and megalithic structures—akin to what experimentally have been labelled as haunted spaces—aligned, whether deliberately or by coincidence, with the geophysical patterns of local fault zones. Over generations, the serpent, dragon, and bird motifs become integrated into art, architecture, and language, symbolising not just the power of the gods but the earth’s “living” lines of force. Each new tectonic event reinforces the symbols, embedding them deeper into the cultural psyche. Such a scenario suggests that the EM systems along conductive fault zones could have acted as an invisible network, synchronising the symbolic lexicon of geographically separated cultures.
A stretch, I know. But now the next step would be to break this vast hypothesis down into manageable chunks, extracting the individual holons from the expansive holarchy this theory implies, and begin to test the pieces for validity. Even if nothing comes of it, that would imply something.
However, several critical questions remain:
What is the threshold intensity of EM fields required to induce shared cognitive states, and could these fields genuinely account for complex symbolic systems?
Would all cultures along fault lines be equally affected, or would individual genetic and cultural predispositions, along with topographical differences, modulate the experience?
Could natural materials like quartz or magnetite in the local geology have amplified the geomagnetic effects, thereby enhancing or modulating the symbolic experiences and explaining the choice of material composition around sacred and megalithic architecture?
Whatever the case, as is always the case, we are met with more questions than answers. Join me next time in the final installment of this series. Warning: It will get darker before we see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Appendix
Appendix 1
Projected rates of synesthesia per capita:
Appendix 2
Conditions and values used within the Combined Geo Index:
1. Crustal Conductivity Index
Scale: Estimated on a simplified scale of 1 (lowest conductivity) to 10 (highest conductivity).
Conditions considered:
Geological composition (metallic ores, saline fluids)
Fault lines and tectonic activity
Subsurface moisture and temperature variations
2. Geomagnetic Field (GMF) Intensity Index
Scale: Estimated on a simplified scale of 1 (lowest GMF intensity) to 10 (highest GMF intensity).
Conditions considered:
Local geomagnetic anomalies (e.g., iron-rich formations)
Proximity to geomagnetic poles or anomalies
Regional variations in geomagnetic field intensity (e.g., South Atlantic anomaly, regions of intense volcanic or tectonic activity)
Appendix 3
Combined Geo Index Calculation
The Combined Geo Index is calculated as the average of the two indices above:
e.g.
For Japan:
Crustal Conductivity: 9
GMF Intensity: 8
Combined Geo Index = (9 + 8) / 2 = 8.5
This was eloquently described in Francis Fukuyama’s “The Origins of Political Order”.
In a recent conversation between Ian McGhilcrist and Michael Levin, I now think of emergent complexity less as the sum total of all components of a system equates to more than the sum of the individual parts themselves, and in a “holarchical” sense, where each individual part of the overall system equates to the sum total of the system. In other words, each nested component of a holarchy features equal amounts of complexity when compared to the entire holarchy itself.
As succinctly described by Michael Levin as the “sum amount of total surprise generated by a system”.
I am not implying speciesism. I am not claiming one species is somehow “better” than another (whatever that would even mean in a moral or ethical sense). Humans are not “better” than monkeys nor rats because we have this emergent feature. I am just saying, evidently, such novelty generation and connection to emergent complexity, not simply in human-markers (e.g. technology, society and politics) but at the scale of trying to make meaning of and understand reality, manipulate said reality, and in doing so affect massive changes in our surrounding environment, at least suggests these features emerge at the level of the conscious agent—at least cognition—predominantly taking place through the biological medium of our species.
Or the total organisation of a given set of panarchies.
Koestler, 1967, P. 48
Not including any oral traditions that leave no physical trace.
See also: Luber & Lisanby, 2015 & Sandrini et al, 2019.
Most notably described previously in the Five Spheres Model:
Geosphere
Hydrosphere
Biosphere
Atmosphere
(Geo)Magnetosphere
As was the case with the famous artist Wassily Kandisnsky.
Notably different to the definition of “hyper-connectivity” I created for my article series “Connect to Check”, which explored the ways in which social technology may become a very viable means for citizens to check the power of the state and gain back sovereignty when lost.
Projected “Top 5” most condutive regions on Earth:
Mid-Ocean Ridges: Iceland, Portugal (Azores), and Chile (Easter Island region)
Subduction Zones: Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, and Chile
Continental Rift Zones: Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania (East African Rift)
Sedimentary Basins: United States (Gulf of Mexico), Mexico
Cratonic Margins: Australia (Western Australia), Canada (Canadian Shield)
Taylor et al, 2017, P. 224.
For example, the anecdotal yet interesting idea that much of the traditional Japanese culture appears to be formed within a synesthetic framework (see: Fuh-Mi, 2023).
Professor Diana Pasula (2024) also mentions high how Japan has the highest rates of synesthesia in the world, interestingly connecting this to their widely-recognised innovative success with regards to technological advancements (Pp. 103-104).
At least according to the Causal Theory of Memory.
See also: Maister et al, 2013
Referring to the specific type of synesthesia “grapheme-colour” which is the most common form of synesthesia (see: Murray, 2021)
See also: Johnstone et al, 2016.
Ramachandran, 1998, P. 126 & 167,
An “illusion” being an altered perception of stimuli (e.g. objects) that is objectively present (e.g. seeing a green apple that is objectively green as red) as compared to a “hallucination” which is a perception of something not actually present (e.g. seeing a green apple when there is not one). Most work focuses on EM stimulation (notably tDCS) causing illusions rather than hallucinations. That is not to say EM stimulation cannot create hallucinations, however - something explored in the following paragraphs.
Defined here as spaces in which absurd, unexplainable, illogical or super-natural events and experiences occur. I place no distinction between method of observation, context of observation or scale of observation.
It must be noted that tDCS requires direct contact between an electrode (cathode or anode) and the scalp. Conversely, seismically produced EM stimulation does not have such direct contact. The implications of this will be discussed in the concluding paragraph in the last part of this series.
The exact nature and intensity of these hallucinations depend on the brain region targeted, the stimulation parameters, and individual differences in susceptibility.