Ask the New “Psychotopology Student (V-0.1)” a Question
Introducing a Custom GPT Trained on These Articles and More
I’m cautiously hesitant but somewhat curious to introduce an experimental extension of our shared journey into psychotopology: a custom GPT assistant, Psychotopology Student (V-0.1). This prototype is designed to respond to your questions using insights drawn from my writings and concepts about this new science of subjective experience.
Think of it as an eager learner, a virtual apprentice exploring the terrain of psychotopology alongside you. It is not an expert in psychotopology by any means, but it does have massive knowledge about all sorts of other related fields and topics, so it’s very helpful in seeing how psychotopology connects to other work.
Here’s the link! (You’ll need to have or open a ChatGPT account — a free one is fine.)
This is an experiment, not a finished product. It was trained on the articles here in Frontiers of Psychotopology (so far, as of February 2025) with the addition of some other information I provided to make sure things tie together well. Its strength is in connecting the basics of psychotopology with information from other domains — everything from cognitive science to meditation to everyday life management.
The Psychotopology Student is a work in progress, so it is sometimes insightful, sometimes imperfect, and always evolving. I invite you to engage with it as a tool for dialogue and discovery, to spark new questions and deepen your understanding of the ideas we’re cultivating together. Your feedback and experience are invaluable as I refine this resource for future iterations.
Below are a few test questions I offered it, and its answers, to give you an idea of the kinds of conversations you might try out.
I said: Tell me something surprising about psychotopology.
Psychotopology Student (V 0.1) said:
One of the most surprising aspects of psychotopology is its claim that feelings have distinct virtual material properties—qualities like location, shape, texture, color, movement, and even temperature—that can be observed, described, and even manipulated to shift emotional states directly.
For example, psychotopology fieldwork has demonstrated that simply by focusing attention on a feeling’s perceived qualities—such as imagining a heavy, dark feeling of sadness as becoming lighter and more translucent—it is possible to transform the emotional experience itself. This ability to interact with and alter emotional states in real-time defies conventional psychological understanding, which tends to separate emotions from their somatic and sensory expressions.
This discovery opens the door to a new form of first-person science, where subjective experience is mapped with the same rigor applied to external phenomena in traditional sciences
I said: What are the steps in the fieldwork mapping practice?
Psychotopology Student (V 0.1) said:
The fieldwork mapping practice in psychotopology is a structured process aimed at observing and describing inner feeling states with precision and detail. Here are the core steps involved:
1. Choose a Context and Feeling State
Begin by selecting a general context to explore (e.g., relationships, work, solitude) and identifying a specific feeling state within that context to map.
2. Name the Feeling State
Assign a descriptive name to the feeling state. This name does not need to conform to standard emotional vocabulary—it should resonate with your experience (e.g., "Twisted Stomach," "Mental Fireworks").
3. Use the Mapping Questions
Explore the virtual material properties of the feeling state by answering specific questions about:
Location: Where in or around your body is the feeling sensed?
Substance: What kind of substance does it resemble (e.g., solid, liquid, gas)?
Size and Shape: How large or small is it, and what shape does it seem to have?
Temperature: Does it feel warm, cool, or neutral?
Color: What color(s) does it seem to have? Is it bright, dull, transparent, or opaque?
Movement/Force: Does it feel like it is flowing, vibrating, pulsing, or still?
Sound: Are there any sounds associated with it internally (e.g., natural, mechanical)?
Other relevant qualities that emerge in the observation.
4. Record Observations
Write detailed notes or draw diagrams to capture your observations, creating a tangible map of the feeling state.
5. Validate Observations Through Interaction (Optional)
Sometimes, manipulating a property (e.g., imagining a feeling cooling down) can validate the accuracy of your map by inducing a corresponding shift in the feeling state.
This mapping process emphasizes careful observation and uses questions to delve into the subtleties of feelingmind—a dimension that holds the felt sense of being. It aims to produce a precise, first-person map of subjective experience to foster greater self-understanding and transformation.
I said: Why is virtual materiality such a big deal?
Psychotopology Student (V 0.1) said:
Virtual materiality is a big deal in psychotopology because it represents a revolutionary way of understanding and engaging with subjective experience. Traditional methods of exploring feelings and emotions often rely on abstract or somatic interpretations, but psychotopology reveals that feelings have distinct, tangible, and observable properties—what are called virtual material properties. These include aspects like spatial location, shape, substance, color, temperature, and movement.
Why This Matters
Precision in Inner Observation: By identifying and mapping these virtual material properties, practitioners gain a much clearer and more precise understanding of their internal states. This allows for a level of rigor and clarity previously unattainable in subjective exploration.
Interaction and Transformation: The mapping isn't just about observation. A remarkable aspect of virtual materiality is that these properties can be directly interacted with and altered. For instance, imagining a change in the mapped properties of a feeling (like softening a "hard" sensation of fear) can lead to real shifts in the emotional experience itself.
Access to Hidden Realms: Traditional psychological and scientific approaches have struggled with the "subjectivity barrier," the difficulty of accessing and studying inner, subjective experiences objectively. Virtual materiality provides a bridge across this gap by offering a structured way to observe and document inner states in a way that others can also explore and verify.
Applications for Healing: Understanding feelings as having a material-like reality opens new doors for therapeutic work. This approach can help undo compensatory patterns and integrate suppressed aspects of oneself, fostering personal growth and well-being.
Virtual materiality essentially reframes feelings from vague or intangible states into concrete entities that can be explored, mapped, and transformed. This paradigm shift holds profound implications for psychology, therapy, and the broader study of consciousness.
I said: How does fieldwork compare to common forms of psychotherapy?
Psychotopology Student (V 0.1) said:
Fieldwork in psychotopology differs significantly from common forms of psychotherapy in its approach, focus, and methodology. Here’s a breakdown of the key distinctions:
1. Focus on Feelingmind vs. Narrative or Cognitive Processes
Fieldwork: Psychotopology emphasizes direct engagement with the felt sense of inner experience, referred to as “feelingmind." It maps feelings as having tangible, virtual material properties (location, shape, texture, color, etc.) and works with these properties to bring about transformation.
Psychotherapy: Most forms of psychotherapy focus on understanding and reframing narratives, thoughts, or behaviors. For example:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Targets distorted thought patterns and behavioral change.
Psychodynamic Therapy: Explores unconscious motivations and past experiences.
Somatic Therapy: Focuses on bodily sensations but often emphasizes physiological processes more than the “virtual materiality" of feelings.
2. Aims for Mapping and Shifting Emotional States
Fieldwork: The goal is to create a precise “map" of the emotional experience, and then, through conscious interaction, alter its virtual material properties to shift the emotional state. This is done without delving deeply into past narratives or cognitive schemas.
Psychotherapy: Most approaches aim to resolve emotional difficulties by identifying and resolving underlying issues (e.g., trauma, unconscious conflicts) or by building coping mechanisms.
3. Methodology: Observational and Interactive
Fieldwork: Combines rigorous observation with active manipulation of emotional states. It’s akin to using a scientific instrument—participants systematically observe and “adjust" their internal experience as if it were an external object.
Psychotherapy: Often emphasizes conversation, introspection, and relational dynamics between the therapist and client. Changes are generally achieved through insight, emotional release, or practice over time, rather than direct “manipulation" of feeling states.
4. Direct Engagement vs. Interpretative Models
Fieldwork: Participants directly engage with the raw material of their emotional experience. There’s little reliance on interpretation, diagnosis, or external frameworks to label or categorize feelings.
Psychotherapy: Often involves interpretation by the therapist or the application of theoretical frameworks (e.g., attachment theory, psychoanalytic concepts) to understand the client’s experience.
5. Speed and Agency
Fieldwork: Can result in rapid shifts in emotional states because of the direct manipulation approach. It also empowers individuals by teaching them how to engage with and shift their feelings independently.
Psychotherapy: Tends to take longer as it relies on relational trust, gradual insight-building, and the interplay between past and present experiences.
6. Systemic Critique
Fieldwork: Explicitly critiques the societal suppression of feeling in favor of rationality and control, arguing that this creates compensatory patterns and fractures within the self. It seeks to restore balance by re-integrating suppressed capacities.
Psychotherapy: While some therapies (e.g., humanistic or somatic approaches) acknowledge systemic issues, they often focus on individual healing rather than exploring broader societal dynamics.
7. Limitations
Fieldwork: Requires a high level of self-awareness and the ability to sustain attention on inner experience. It is not suited for individuals in acute distress (e.g., psychosis) or without a strong sense of inner stability.
Psychotherapy: Typically provides a more supportive relational framework, which can help clients who need external stabilization before delving into inner work.
In essence, psychotopology's fieldwork represents a novel, first-person science of inner experience that complements but diverges from traditional psychotherapy by offering a direct, exploratory, and transformative engagement with feeling states. It opens up new possibilities but also requires individuals to take on a more active and self-directed role in their emotional healing.
I said: What opportunities does psychotopology offer to the sciences of the mind?
Psychotopology Student (V 0.1) said:
Psychotopology offers several groundbreaking opportunities to the sciences of the mind, particularly in psychology, neuroscience, and consciousness studies. Here are the most notable contributions:
1. A New Framework for Investigating Subjective Experience
Challenge Addressed: Traditional psychological and neuroscientific approaches often struggle to account for the first-person perspective and the qualitative aspects of experience (i.e., “what it feels like").
Contribution: Psychotopology introduces a rigorous, systematic method for exploring subjective states through the mapping of virtual material properties (e.g., location, texture, temperature, movement) of feelings. This provides a tangible interface for studying inner phenomena without reducing them to somatic or cognitive interpretations.
2. Bridging Subjectivity and Objectivity
Challenge Addressed: Current scientific paradigms prioritize objectivity, often marginalizing the study of subjective experience because of its inaccessibility to external measurement.
Contribution: Psychotopology allows researchers to systematically triangulate observations between individuals. This method offers the potential for shared insights into subjective phenomena, thus bridging the gap between subjective reports and intersubjective validation.
3. Advancing Emotional and Cognitive Integration Models
Challenge Addressed: Conventional models of emotion often treat feelings as abstract constructs or physiological responses, without exploring their embodied, spatial, and material-like qualities.
Contribution: Psychotopology emphasizes the felt sense of emotions as fields with spatial, material properties. This enables deeper exploration of how emotions shape thoughts, perceptions, and behaviors, potentially leading to more nuanced models of emotional processing.
4. Unpacking the Structure of Consciousness
Challenge Addressed: Consciousness studies often focus on broad philosophical or neuroscientific questions but lack tools to systematically explore individual experiences.
Contribution: By mapping the field dimension of experience, psychotopology offers insights into the dynamic interplay of feelings, thoughts, and perceptual states. It also introduces the concept of “feelingmind" as a foundational layer of consciousness, inviting new research into its role in shaping awareness.
5. Potential for Novel Diagnostic and Therapeutic Tools
Challenge Addressed: Current mental health diagnostics are often limited by static categories (e.g., DSM classifications) that fail to capture the complexity and fluidity of inner experience.
Contribution: Psychotopology's mapping techniques could inspire new diagnostic frameworks based on field constellations and dynamic emotional states. Therapeutic applications of fieldwork—such as manipulating mapped emotional properties—could complement existing modalities by offering direct, experiential shifts.
6. Rebalancing the Overemphasis on Rationality
Challenge Addressed: Modern society often suppresses feeling in favor of logic, rationality, and productivity, creating a disconnect between people and their inner experiences.
Contribution: Psychotopology restores the primacy of feeling as an integral component of human well-being and decision-making. By doing so, it opens pathways for studying how suppressed emotional capacities affect mental health and societal functioning.
7. A Paradigm for Interdisciplinary Research
Challenge Addressed: The fragmentation of fields like neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy limits their ability to address complex questions about human experience.
Contribution: Psychotopology integrates insights from science, art, and phenomenology. Its methods can serve as a bridge, encouraging collaborations that blend first-person inquiry with third-person scientific analysis.
8. Ethical and Societal Implications
Challenge Addressed: The impact of societal and cultural forces on subjective well-being is often underexplored in scientific research.
Contribution: Psychotopology critiques modern cultural biases (e.g., against feeling and toward objectivity) and highlights the importance of community, relational contexts, and systemic change in fostering individual and collective well-being.
Psychotopology's approach to inner experience as a structured, mappable phenomenon offers a revolutionary lens for understanding the human mind. Its integration of precision, experiential focus, and transformative potential positions it as a valuable addition to the sciences of consciousness, psychology, and mental health.
Your feedback is welcome and appreciated!
As we navigate the landscapes of inner experience, this virtual student offers a unique opportunity to interact with the principles of psychotopology in real time. Whether you're curious about the nature of virtual materiality, seeking clarity on fieldwork practices, or simply exploring a new way to engage with your inner world, Psychotopology Student (V-0.1) is here to assist.
Your participation is vital. Ask questions, test its responses, and share your reflections, either below in the comments, or by DM or email. In doing so, you will contribute to shaping not only this digital tool but the broader evolution of psychotopology. Let’s explore this frontier together — one question at a time.
I look forward to hearing about your experiences and insights. Happy exploring!
