The Embodied Cognitive Science Unit (ECSU) investigates how the alignment of subjective and objective factors gives rise to intelligent behavior. We start from the premise that mattering matters: values, experiences, and intentions make a measurable difference to what bodies and brains do in the world. Our research spans multiple scales, from the origins of life and the mind–body problem to how individuals, technologies, and cultures co-shape thought, experience, and behavior.
Our work is anchored by irruption theory, a framework developed in the unit for understanding mental causation as structured unpredictability. Rather than reducing mind to matter or vice versa, irruption theory treats their coupling as bidirectional: mind introduces new variability into material processes (irruption) while matter constrains experience (absorption). This framework places phenomena such as agency, consciousness, and creativity on a firmer scientific footing without explaining them away.
Our research is organized in accordance with Multi-Scale Alignment, with four interconnected themes: Value–Behavior Alignment (origins of life, self-optimization, and mind–body coupling), Human–Technology Alignment (sensory substitution and human–computer incorporation), Inter-Personal Alignment (real-time social interaction and hyperscanning), and Socio-Cultural Alignment (collective intelligence, ritual dynamics, and the origins of social complexity).
We combine conceptual analysis with a diverse methodological toolkit — agent-based modeling, artificial neural networks, time-series analysis, virtual reality, sensory substitution interfaces, and human subjects research. Alongside our basic research, we pursue applications in social cognition, mental health, and the design of cognitive technologies.
