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Awareness and consciousness are often used interchangeably, yet they represent distinct cognitive phenomena. While consciousness is commonly perceived as a state of mind encompassing one’s environment and self, awareness is the subjective experience derived from objective mental processes. This transformation converts sensation into perception, knowledge into knowing, emotion into feeling, and memory into remembering. Despite its undeniable importance, awareness challenges the current physical framework of brain function, sparking debates about its nature. Some scholars argue that awareness is an illusion—an interpretative process of the brain adapted to reality—while others equate it to the immaterial and immortal concept of the soul. This article examines awareness as a cognitive construct within the Trilogy Theory of Consciousness (TTC) and explores its role in processes such as awareness-based choice selection (ABCS). It further differentiates awareness from illusion—a dysfunctional cognitive process—and from the metaphysical notion of the immaterial soul. Finally, it underscores the critical role of awareness in self-reflection and decision-making.

Structuralism analyzes underlying structural patterns of human recognition-behaviors. Systems theory is a transdisciplinary study of a meta-model system integrating interrelated and interdependent functional single-models. The human recognition-behavioral adaptation system maintains the homeostasis of Human Intelligence, the recognition-behavioral SELF, and the recognition-behavioral WORLD. The recognition-behavioral adaptation system was systematically analyzed with the methodologies of Structuralism and Systems theory in the present study. The recognition-behavioral adaptation system of Human Intelligence was analogized from the substance-metabolism system. Human Intelligence was considered to be the language-metabolism system working via the modeling-codes formed in the Neuronal Network empirically. Human thinking patterns are induced via the modeling-codes; however, Human Intelligence economically and stubbornly uses the modeling-codes. The recognition-behavioral adaptation system of the SELF was considered to be the meta-model system complex-networking the functional single-models defined in the neurological and the psychological frames. The meta-model system maintains homeostasis via the cybernetic feedback system involved in the single-model circuits. The Intelligence-module, the core of Human Intelligence, constructs the WORLD by developing the SELF. The recognition-behavioral adaptation system of the Intelligence-module was considered to be the self-reference system distinguishing the selfness and the otherness, like the immune system. The Intelligence-module copes with neurological and psychological stresses shaking the homeostasis of the WORLD with the cybernetic feedback system and the self-reference system. Finally, it was comprehended that the human recognition-behavioral adaptation system is a language modeling system to maintain homeostasis by emergently working like the other biological systems.

The uncanny valley phenomenon has been widely discussed in relation to human-like entities, but some studies suggest it also applies to inanimate stimuli. Recently, Sasaki et al.[1] used abstract figures as stimuli and argued that categorization failure, rather than difficulty, underlies the uncanny valley phenomenon. While we appreciate their interesting proposal, we clarify that categorization difficulty and failure are not mutually exclusive accounts. We critically examine the findings of Sasaki et al.[1], questioning the lack of direct evidence for categorization failure and their reliance on non-significant results. Furthermore, we propose that the (difficulty-originated) "stranger-avoidance" hypothesis remains a viable alternative, suggesting that categorization difficulty leads to negative responses. Future research should integrate these perspectives to achieve a more comprehensive understanding. Our commentary highlights the need for collaboration and theoretical refinement in uncanny valley research.

This paper discusses a case of collective pareidolia where a group of people perceived non-existent petroglyphs on undecorated rock surfaces, leading to an investigation into the mechanics of shared perception. A university team had recorded thousands of what were believed to be petroglyphs. An invited team of three rock art specialists found no actual grooves corresponding to the recorded intricate images. The study suggests that the visual system’s expectation of seeing certain patterns, influenced by social and cognitive factors, can lead to collective pareidolia, reinforced by peer pressure. This case highlights the limitations of the human visual system and persistence of pareidolic perceptions, which can even become shared beliefs among groups despite evidence to the contrary. It also brings into focus the need of scepticism towards all attempted rock art motif identifications by cultural aliens, as they are always derived via pareidolia.

This paper explores several etymological, semantic, sociolinguistic, and methodological issues that have, in my opinion, impeded the progress of consciousness research and discourse; and I offer some suggestions that are hopefully worthy of consideration and further discussion.I review the historical and extant conflation of terms in the literature; a plethora of published definitions and types of consciousness; and I call for greater “semantic lucidity”. I critique the rationale underpinning the search for the neural correlates of consciousness; advocate for greater adherence to the requirements of an operational definition in research; and discuss the notion of consciousness as a ‘process’ versus the premise of consciousness as a tangible ‘thing’ that can somehow be found in a particular locus within the material substrate of the nervous system.

Intelligence is by far the most important human trait. This holds true at the level of individuals as well as at the level of nations. The average cognitive performance of their inhabitants is the most important determinant of the social, cultural, and economic development of nations. The article considers cognitive ability of nations from the perspective of psychometric intelligence research, international student assessment studies, and Piaget’s developmental psychology. Based on up-to-date data, the national IQ of 205 countries is estimated. Then it is shown that national IQs are closely related to a wide range of variables from different domains of life. Overall, it is demonstrated that the central findings of psychometric intelligence research hold unchanged. A special feature is the consideration of non-linear relationships. Using a specific threshold model derived from Piagetian developmental psychology, it is shown that the importance of national IQs is greater than previously known.

In an online experiment, more than 6,000 volunteers rated women’s faces according to their likeability The women were either extraordinarily attractive or of medium to low attractiveness. The background of the website was either Black, Blue, Green, Gray, Red or Yellow. Following the likeability assessments, the participants were asked to assess their own current mood using the PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule). The study was conducted in a German-language and an English-language version. An exploratory factor analysis with Oblimin rotation shows perfect orthogonality for the Positive Affects and Negative Affects (r =.01) and a reliability analysis shows excellent reliability for both scales (Positive Affects: Cronbach’s α =.87, McDonald’s ω =.88; Negative Affects: α =.88, ω =.89). In the case of Negative Affects, the scores show an extreme concentration at the lower end of the scale. The attractiveness of the stimulus persons has a significant but weak effect on Negative Affects (Cohen’s d = 0.06). The background color of the website shows an effect on Positive Affects, but not on Negative Affects. The clear favorite is Green (for Green/Blue d = 0.15). The participants in the English-language version score higher on Negative Affects (d = 0.25). On Positive Affects, males score higher than women (d = 0.07). The older subjects score better on both scales than the younger ones (for age group comparisons, d values up to 0.46). Screen color has no notable effect on the assessment of likeability of the women’s faces.