A history of psychogeography and psychocosmology: Humankind's evolving orientation on Earth and in space

From Angels to Aliens: Humankind's Ongoing Encounters With, and Evolving Interpretations Of, the Genuine Celestial Unknown

“…This first part explores reports of anomalous celestial phenomena that occurred before our contemporary era. We begin by setting the epistemological context for such reports, namely: earlier ages developed highly sophisticated astronomical knowledge, which was embedded within cosmologies that included actions of divine intelligences, as we have discussed elsewhere (Lomas and Case 2023); however, despite such knowledge, phenomena occurred that were truly extraordinary and hard to explain. We then explore how such observations were often interpreted using a special class of explanations involving ideas like angels.…”

“…(1) engaged in scientific activity and analysis-though of course we also recognize that these endeavors have been refined and improved over the centuries-includingregarding the cosmos (see Lomas and Case 2023);…”

“…This article explores the continuities and discontinuities between these two classes of interpretation (angels versus aliens). In terms of continuities, we contend that, throughout history, humankind has continually: (1) engaged in scientific activity and analysis—though of course we also recognize that these endeavors have been refined and improved over the centuries—includingregarding the cosmos (see Lomas and Case 2023); (2) interpreted scientific observations through the prism of prevailing beliefs, traditions, and mythologies; and (3) encountered aerial phenomena that were anomalous in the context of prevailing scientific theories and knowledge at the given time, and more relevantly, might still be deemed anomalous even in light of current scientific technology and understanding. However, there are also apparent discontinuities between the interpretations: earlier ages tended to appraise these extraordinary phenomena through ideas which modern people might regard as explicitly religious, such as angels; by contrast, in our contemporary “space age,” people are more likely to invoke seemingly secular notions like extraterrestrial agents.…”

A provisional global comparison framework: One hundred psychologically salient ways of conceptualizing and evaluating the world

“…The East-West distinction is arguably one of the oldest conceptual markers by which humans have differentiated themselves. As outlined in Lomas and Case (2023), this distinction emerged in pre-history (i.e., before written documents), of which traces still remain in the etymological roots of these terms, where East and West -and comparable labels in many languages -refer to the rising and setting of the sun. Thus, initially these referred to cardinal directions, rather than peoples per se, with most cultures regarding themselves as at the centre of the world (and other cultures at the periphery).…”