Citation: Kelly, T.M. (2014). Classification & Statistical Manual of Extrasensory Experiences. Copyright © 2014 Theresa M. Kelly, MsD. Interested professionals are welcome to Download a Complimentary Copy of the CSM-EE. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Phenomenological Features
The essential feature of the (EC) type of empathy is the phenomenologically indirect knowledge of the collective emotional experience of a large group or population via Nature.In cases of Empathic Cognition, or Empathic Clairvoyant Cognition, an experient is retrieving information from the environment or “Nature” (i.e. the experient is able to “pick up on” a current collective emotional experience recorded in Nature).
Again, in regards to empathic clairvoyant cognition, the experient is an individual with clair-empathic ability capable of evoking clair-empathic processes, or allowing the occasion for Nature to evoke such processes when needed by the empathist. Here, the empathist will become aware of Nature-based information (e.g. collective emotional experiences), but should be able to clearly identify that the information did not originate in their own mind.
Here the emotional information is received and perceived by the empathist, but the in-formation did not develop from a chain of prior emotions belonging to the empathist. Instead, the emotional experience appears to “pop up,“ but is immediately associated with a specific group or populous, or simply identified as not originating from the empathist.
The type of experient of empathic clairvoyant cognition described above could be defined as an experient of spontaneous empathic clairvoyant cognition, in that the emotional experience appears to “pop up” rather than being intentionally requested. Empathists of intentional empathic clairvoyant cognition are experients whom select or specify a particular group from which they wish to extract collective emotional information regarding.
However, this type of empathist can also generalize their search from a “which (e.g. group),” to “what (e.g. emotion or event)” -based search depending on the type of collective emotional information the empathist re-quires.
In the case of the latter, it is a search for collective emotional events that is initiated (i.e. when a large group of typically thousands or millions of individual emotional experiences, or consciousness, becomes coherent and synchronized). In other words, when a unified field of consciousness occurs, often void of information pertaining to what the event is or where unless there is a telepathic component, an empathic clairvoyant cognitive can acquire emotional information pertaining to the event when such an event takes place. This search type is sometimes interpreted as a form of precognition, but rather appears to be contemporaneous (i.e. contemporaneous ESP) since the collective emotions are only “known” to the empathist at the time of the event.
In regards to the scientific research of emotions, an emotional climate is defined as the emotional relationships between members of a society or nation. Emotional climates are assumed to contribute to maintain the political unity or cultural identity of the members of a society or nation. Emotional climates appear to be emergent processes of which have a social function and are formed by an “aggregate of the four ‘basic’ emotions.” (i.e. fear, anger, sadness, joy with an accompaniment of “specific ways of social interaction” and “specific predisposition towards action”). While an emotional climate appears to be based on more than just emotions (e.g. beliefs, social representations, etc.), it is assumed to be what empathic clairvoyant cognitive processes are additive to. These collective phenomena are not believed to be simply an aggregation of individual emotions or all emotional relations, but rather collective phenomena based on the predominance of particular emotions, which are what is assumed to be acquired by the empathist (Kelly, 2012).
Intention Specifiers
The first set of specifiers is for identifying whether the experience was intentional or unintentional.
A. Spontaneous. This specifier applies when emotional information appears to “pop into mind” rather than being intentionally requested by the percipient.
B. Intentional. This specifier applies when a percipient selects or specifies the source (i.e. group or populous) of emotional information required.
The second set of specifiers is for identifying the subconscious or conscious need or goal that is assumed to be the catalyst for initiating empathic cognitive processes.
A. Adaptive. This specifier applies when emotional information acquisition is initiated to assist the percipient in understanding and/or adapting to a group or populous of individuals to which they typically have some level of emotional investment.
B. Decisive. This specifier applies when emotional information acquisition is initiated to assist the percipient in coming to a decision involving a group or populous of individuals to which they typically have some level of emotional investment.
Course Specifiers
These specifiers are for identifying the characteristic course of empathic clairvoyant cognitive experiences over time.
A. Single Episode. This specifier applies when the percipient experiences empathically acquired emotional information without a prior history of episodes.
B. Episodic. This specifier applies when the percipient experiences empathically acquired emotional information of which seems to occur irregularly and of which the duration of the experience is very momentary. While the percipient may appear distracted during an empathic clairvoyant cognitive episode, the experient should still be fully aware of their surroundings.
C. Continuous. This specifier applies when the percipient experiences empathically acquired emotional information of which seems to occur in a continual manner, or when episodes are so frequent it is difficult for the percipient to determine where one episode ends and another begins (e.g. prolonged and closely spaced episodes).
Modality Specifiers
This specifier is for identifying the characteristic mode(s) and sub-mode(s) of an empathic clairvoyant cognitive experience. In any case, some emotional investment in the group or populous of individuals, or the situation in which the group or populous of individuals reside, on the experients behalf is expected.
A. Dream. Refers to empathic information acquisition during sleep.
B. Intuitive Impressions/Emotional. Refers to non-hallucinatory sensations of which can be described as empathically received emotional content during normal or altered (e.g. trance) states of conscious awareness.
a. Achievement Emotions. Refers to the class of utilitarian emotions including pride (i.e. associated with an enhancement of ego-identity and self-esteem), elation (i.e. provides an individual with the feeling of living fully), joy (i.e. elicits confidence, comfort, and boosts self-esteem), and satisfaction (i.e. is contributing to a feeling of fulfillment and wellbeing).
b. Approach Emotions.Refers to the class of utilitarian emotions including relief (i.e. results subsequent to a negative emotion when an event has taken a turn for the betterment of the individual or group), hope (i.e. contains some level of uncertainty because it is future orientated, but plays a vital role in adaptation as a means to pursue ones goals), interest (i.e. the emotion elicited when one experiences a feeling of engagement, fascination, and curiosity), and surprise (i.e. accompanied by uncertainty, which keeps one on their toes and stimulated as a means to cope with and adjust to new and unexpected actions and events).
c. Resignation Emotions. Refers to the class of utilitarian emotions including sadness (i.e. evoked when one loses something in life such as a loved one, employment, or social standing, and is typically correlated with resignation and failure), fear (i.e. activates a sense of threat, or uncontrollability, alongside a need to preserve integrity), shame (i.e. the emotion experienced when a negative appraisal of the all-inclusive self is concerned, when an individual experiences humiliation or feels as though others find the individual insignificant or worthless, and can result in a momentary inability to think logically and efficiently), and guilt (i.e. associated with negative self-appraisal, but unlike shame, it is related to specific actions and behaviors).
d. Antagonistic Emotions. Refers to the class of utilitarian emotions including envy (i.e. the emotion evoked when an individual desires what another individual possesses and feels a sense of inferiority in comparison to the other individual), disgust (i.e. the emotion experienced when an individual is confronting something considered repulsive or abhorrent), contempt (i.e. the emotion experienced when an individual feels superior and dominant, but typically does not engage in aggressive behaviors such as assault), and anger (i.e. the emotion experienced when one feels a sense of wrongdoing, on their part or by other individuals, which is considered offensive and is accompanied by a sense of injustice, unfairness, or inequality).
e. Aesthetic Emotions. Refers to the class of emotions including those characteristic of an absence or a less pronounced function for immediate adaptation to a situation of which requires goal relevance evaluation and coping potential. In other words, the aesthetic experience of a work of art or a piece of music is not formed through the appraisal of whether the work meets physical needs, assists in furthering current goals or projects, or is in accordance with personal social values. Instead, aesthetic emotions are the product of an appreciation for the intrinsic qualities of naturalistic beauty, or the qualities of a work of art or artistic performance. A few examples of aesthetic emotions include being moved, in awe, full of wonder, admiration, bliss, ecstasy, fascination, harmony, rapture, and solemnity.
f. Compound. Several submodalities or emotions are involved, in which case each submode and identifiable emotion involved should be noted.
Sub-Subtype Specifiers
These specifiers are for identifying additional sub-subtypes specific to empathic cognition. Some emotional investment in the group or populous of individuals on the experients behalf is expected.
A. People-Orientated. This specifier applies when emotional information is acquired from Nature, the emotional information is predominately in reference to a biological organism of interest to the percipient (e.g. are within their own environment). This environment may include a single individual, though single emotional experiences are not the primary focus of these types of empathists, but typically includes those in their neighborhood, workplace, community, etc. In other words, this subtype is typically only concerned with obtaining emotional information that is exclusively relative to the percipient as a means to empathize with others in their surround.
B. Nature-Orientated. This specifier applies when percipients have a primary focus on acquiring information pertaining to large scale emotional events (i.e. major events and mass emotions) that pertain to biological organisms that may or may not be on an entirely different side of the globe (i.e. not within their own more immediate environment). Therefore, the primary distinguishability between these two sub-subtypes is an interest in a familiar group’s collective emotions (i.e. which), and an interest in large-scale, national or global, emotional events evoked by, for example, natural or unnatural disasters (i.e. “which” rather than “who”).
Associated Mental Health Findings
Mental health disorders somewhat common in experients of empathic cognition include: Depressive Disorder; Generalized Anxiety Disorder; Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; and Panic Disorder with or without Agoraphobia (Kelly, 2012).
Associated Medical Condition Findings
Physical medical conditions somewhat common in experients of empathic cognition can include: Diabetes, Hypertension, Lupus, Lymphatic System Disorders, and rarely Meningitis (Kelly 2011b).
Differential Classification
A wide variety of extrasensory phenomena can present with similar phenomenology. These include:
- Clairvoyance and Telepathy. Applied when more than emotional content is perceived such as images, sounds, and other sensations. If the experient reports some purely empathic experiences and some experiences involving more than emotional content, the experient should be considered clairvoyant or telepathic with occasional intuitive impressions and/or hallucinations.
- Empathic Simulation. Applied when the emotional state is “shared” rather than “known.” Empathic simulation is often misinterpreted as empathic cognition as both can involve large groups. Differentiating between indirect (i.e. group » Nature » experient) and direct (i.e. subjects » experient) information can be achieved by identifying whether the emotional state was known (i.e. the experient was cognizant or aware of the groups emotional state and could identify that the emotional experience was “not their own”), or shared (i.e. the experient experienced the emotional state of the group).
- Precognition. Applied if the emotions felt were prior to the actual event in which stimulates the emotional response. In this case, the experient should be considered clairvoyant rather than empathic, as empathic cognition at this time appears to be exclusively contemporaneous.
Criteria for Empathic Cognitive Experiences
A. Characteristic phenomenology: all of the following are required criteria for empathic cognitive experiences including criteria for empathy in general.
1) Emotional information is received by the percipient through mind-to-environment communication.
2) Involves one or more environments and indirect emotional information pertaining to one or more groups of individuals.
3) The source of the information is not a single living organism (e.g. human, animal), but rather the information obtained is in reference to the emotional state of a group of living organisms of which the emotions of a single individual may be identifiable (e.g. emotions towards community, national health, politics, current events, etc.)
4) Subconscious need for emotional information acquisition present at the time of the experience.