The Addicted Self in the Age of Information Technology

The Addicted Self in the Age of Information Technology:
Exploring the Mind’s Propensity for Habitual and Compulsive Interactions

Peter Wall Research Roundtable   |   August 24-27, 2022   |   Vancouver, British Columbia

 

About

The Addicted Self in the Age of Information Technology will be a multi-day event bringing together interdisciplinary experts from psychiatry, psychology, philosophy, computer science and other fields to discuss philosophy, technology/process addiction, and the concept of the “self” through an enactivist framework.

Conference Schedule

August 24th, Wednesday

  • 13:00 – 14:00  Meet and Greet at Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies
  • 14:00 – 17:00   (Optional) Guided visit to Museum of Anthropology
  • 18:00   Dinner at Coast

August 25th, Thursday

  • 09:00 – 12:00   Topic #1: The Mind and Self

The aim of this session is to set the overall conceptual framework of the roundtable. Presenters will introduce some concepts of self, particularly within enactive cognitive science. Some of the questions to be addressed are: What is the self? How to overcome mind-body dualism in our conception of the self? What, if any, is the role of intersubjectivity and culture in the constitution of the self?

      • Presenter: Daniel Hutto
      • Presenter: Michelle Maiese
  • 12:00 – 13:00    Lunch
  • 13:00 – 16:00   Topic #2: Technology, habits and addictions

In this session, we will focus on tool use and habits as potentially constituting the self. We will address questions such as: How could the environment be incorporated into the self? What makes the self vulnerable to addictions? What are the conditions that enable tool use and habits to become addictions?

      • Presenter: Tom Froese
      • Presenter: Susana Ramírez-Vizcaya
  • 19:00 – 21:00   Public Event at Science World

Short presentations and discussions will specifically explore the how digital reality can reframe our notion of self-identity and other aspects of our mind, as well as how digital reality can support or harm mental health.

      • Trisha Chakrabarty: Ethical questions concerning gaming addiction treatment
      • Lucy Osler: sociality of physical and digital worlds 
      • Tom Froese: the metaverse and the mind
      • UBC ESports Association: personal experiences

August 26th, Friday

  • 09:00 – 12:00   Topic #3: Repetitive mental patterns in health and disease

This session will deal with neuroscientific clinical aspects of addiction. We will address questions such as: Do daily thinking patterns influence the onset and maintenance of addiction? What are some of the most promising treatments for addiction?

      • Presenter: Kalina Christoff
      • Presenter: Christian Schütz
  • 12:00 – 13:00    Lunch
  • 13:00 – 16:00   Topic #4: Self, affectivity and affordances in online spaces

This session will concentrate on some of the ways in which the self could be transformed through internet-mediated engagement with the world. Some of the questions to be addressed are: What possibilities for action and interaction are opened up (and/or shut down) in online space? Do we need the materiality of the physical world and others for having meaningful, interaffective experiences? How is the feeling of presence experienced when interacting in AR and VR ecosystems? Are there any special conditions in the digital world that could foster addictions?

      • Presenter: Lucy Osler
      • Presenter: Erik Rietveld

August 27th, Saturday

  • 9:00 – 12:00   Topic #5: Wrap up and Future Directions
      • Presenters: Christian Schütz and Tom Froese

 

Public Event

Join us as we discuss emerging technologies, the self, and mental health.   Fully immersive VR equipment will also be available for everyone to enjoy!

Registration is free. Visit: your-self-in-cyberspace.eventbrite.ca/

Participants

Dr. Christian Schuetz

  • About: Practicing psychiatrist, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia, and the Research and Education Medical Manager at Red Fish Healing Centre for Mental Health & Addiction
  • Research:
    • Psychological and pharmacological interventions for individuals with substance use disorders, psychoneurobiological aspects of impulsive decision making, and substance use and concurrent disorders

Dr. Tom Froese

  • About: Assistant Professor at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology
  • Research:
    • Interactive basis of life and mind with a variety of methods, including evolutionary robotics, agent-based modeling, sensory substitution interfaces, artificial neural networks, and virtual reality
  • Website: https://groups.oist.jp/ecsu/tom-froese

Dr. Susana Ramirez-Vizcaya

Dr. Daniel Hutto

  • About: American philosopher and Professor of Philosophical Psychology jointly at the University of Wollongong and University of Hertfordshire
  • Research:
    • Issues in philosophy of mind, psychology and cognitive science
  • Website: https://philpeople.org/profiles/daniel-d-hutto-1

Dr. Erik Rietveld

  • About: Philosophy Professor at the University of Amsterdam
  • Research:
    • Philosophy of Embodied Cognition, Psychiatry, Deep Brain Stimulation, Ecological Psychology, Ecological Dynamics, Neurodynamics, Theoretical Neurobiology, Visual Art, Philosophy of Affordances
  • Website: https://erikrietveld.com/

Dr. Kalina Christoff

  • About: Professor of Psychology at the University of British Columbia and Interim Director to the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies
  • Research:
    • Understanding human thought, using a combination of functional neuroimaging (fMRI), behavioral testing, and theoretical work
    • Investigations of introspection, meta-cognition, boredom, meditation, dreams, and different forms of self-experience.
    • Interests also include full spectrum of thought processes: from spontaneous thought, including phenomena such as mind-wandering and daydreaming; to goal-directed thought, including deliberate reasoning and problem solving; to creative thought, which combines deliberate and spontaneous modes of thought in a dynamic and interactive fashion
  • Website: https://psych.ubc.ca/profile/kalina-christoff/

Dr. Michelle Maiese

Dr. Lucy Osler

  • About: Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Philosophy at the Center for Subjectivity Research at the University of Copenhagen
  • Research:
    • Phenomenological approaches to intersubjectivity, online sociality, shared space, embodiment, perception, emotions, and psychopathology, as well as analytic philosophy of mind and 4E approaches to cognition and affectivity.
  • Website: https://www.lucyosler.com/

Organizers

Drs. Christian Schütz, Tom Froese, Susana Ramírez-Vizcaya, and Evan Thompson

 

     

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