Phenomenological Descriptions

Creativity  arises from unique combinations of knowledge , reasoning , imaginations , experiences , and perceptions . To be creative is to go beyond the obvious, exploring new perspectives and finding unexpected solutions. It is the ability to generate new, original, and/or useful ideas — at least for the person who conceives them at that moment. Even if the idea has already been conceived and developed by someone else before, if it's new to the person creating it now — meaning they have no prior knowledge of it — they are still engaging their creativity. As mentioned in the description of this blog , what truly matters here is not so much the content of the idea (or of any experience) — whether it is good or not, whether it is absolutely original or not — but rather the experience of the process itself — in this case, the creative process. Creativity is everywhere Creativity manifests itself in a wide range of fields — such as the arts, philosophy, science, everyday problem-solvi...

Surprise , in my view, is also an experience that is difficult to capture phenomenologically — as is, for example, the state of flow or joy as plenitude — but for different reasons. Flow and joy as plenitude are difficult to access because they are rare states, and flow , in particular, tends to dissolve the moment we try to observe it. Surprise , in turn, is not necessarily rare, but depends on a stimulus that is difficult to evoke voluntarily, making its occurrence unpredictable and hard to isolate for an investigative self-observation. The startle reflex — which can be seen as a reaction similar to surprise , though not identical — also depends on something unexpected, but it is easier to elicit, as it can be triggered by sudden, simple sensory stimuli, such as a loud sound or a quick movement. Even when we know a sound is about to occur, if we don't know exactly when it will happen, we can still experience the startle . Thus, surprise is different from other emotions that I ...

  Invariants In phenomenology ( see here ) , invariants are the essential characteristics of phenomena — those aspects that remain unchanged even when the experience is observed from different viewpoints. They are the fundamental elements that make a particular experience what it is, rather than something else. For these invariants to become apparent to consciousness, the phenomenon must be examined from multiple perspectives. This movement is known as eidetic variation. By imaginatively varying the appearances of a phenomenon, we attempt to reduce the experience to that which is irreducible — its essence ( eidos,  from the Greek εἶδος ). This is the gesture of eidetic reduction . Let us take a simple example: what does it mean to experience a triangle ? A triangle may be scalene, isosceles, or equilateral; it may be large or small, colored or monochrome; it may be drawn on paper, cut from fabric, projected on a screen, and oriented in different directions in space. Despite a...

 Envy, Jealousy, Guilt, Pride and Admiration How do you feel emotions such as envy, jealousy, guilt, pride, and admiration? Before moving on to my phenomenological description of these experiences, I invite you to investigate for yourself: how do these emotions manifest in you? 〰 Description In general, my perception of so-called complex emotions is that many of them do not exhibit expressive characteristics or bodily sensations as clearly defined as those found in the so-called “ basic emotions .” However, some exceptions stand out. Shame , for example — considered by some theories to be a complex emotion — has a very clear and recognizable expressive configuration and bodily sensations ( see here ). Envy and Jealousy In my experience, envy and jealousy do not have phenomenological features distinct enough to differentiate them from basic emotions based solely on bodily sensation or expression. What seems to distinguish them are the cognitive appraisals involved and the contexts ...

How to provoke experiences, observe them, emphasize certain aspects, and which questions to keep in mind Choose a perceptual, cognitive, or affective experience that you can deliberately provoke in a relatively controllable situation. For example, a thought (recollection or projection of a situation) that evokes a specific emotion, a perceptual experience such as an optical illusion, or playing a game at a difficulty level above your usual comfort zone—potentially triggering emotions like anger, frustration, or anxiety. Instead of simply being carried away by the experience, allow yourself to closely follow it: observe how it arises, how it transforms, and how it becomes embodied. Try to catch the exact moment when the experience begins to emerge—perhaps subtly, perhaps abruptly—and track its unfolding moment by moment. You may try to suppress the emotional expression for a few moments and carefully observe how you do it and what internal pressure arises to express it. Then, remain sti...

Flow is a concept developed by psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi to describe a state of deep concentration in which a person is fully immersed in the activity they are performing. For this state to occur, the task cannot be so easy that it leads to boredom, nor so difficult that it causes stress. It needs to be at a point of balance: challenging enough to demand sustained attention, but still within the person's capabilities. In this moment, it’s as if the individual enters a flow — a fluid, immersive movement — where everything is directed toward the action. The person becomes, so to speak, the activity itself. Have you ever experienced something like this? Can you remember what situation and activity brought it about? And what was it like to be in that state? Before I continue with my phenomenological description of this experience, try to explore how it manifests in you. 〰 Note: The experience of flow is relatively rare for me. Still, I can recall a few situations in which ...