Piotr Francuz. Virtual worlds from the evolutionary, neurocognitive, methodological and axiological perspective

Man, and in particular his mind, is the product of evolution, its most perfect child, and at the same time it does not keep pace with the results of the technological revolution which he himself initiated. Nowadays, the human mind is exposed to experiences with which it has never had contact before. Our brain, which is best prepared to live in nature, has to face adaptation issues on an unimaginable scale. On the one hand, the human mind is a powerful generator of imaginary (virtual) worlds, and on the other hand, it is almost completely helpless against them when they are created by other people. Understanding this phenomenon is extremely difficult. Research in this field is only in the bud. We are barely beginning to understand multisensivity at the level of sensory experience, and already we have to face the questions that modern technology poses today about the possibility of interfering in human identity. In addition to presenting important points concerning the biological and mental condition of contemporary man in confrontation with multimodal technologies, I would also like to draw attention to the possibilities and traps associated with research in this area and, at least, touch the problem of the responsibility of creators, using new media, for the state of mind of their recipients.

Piotr Francuz
Prof. dr hab. Piotr Franz, psychologist, head of the Department of Experimental Psychology and Perception & Cognition Lab; director of the Institute of Psychology of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin; member of the Psychology Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences; scholarship holder of American and European universities; author, editor and co-editor of 22 books and over 140 articles published in international and national media; head, supervisor and main executive of numerous research grants; interested in the issues of understanding audiovisual and visual expressions, in particular paintings, as well as perception and visual and kinesthetic imagination from the cognitive and neurocognitive perspective.