Introducing 'Neuromancy': Enhancing Cognition, Decision-Making, and Well-Being Through Mental Modeling of Others

By intentionally constructing mental models of other agents — be they living, dead. deities, or fictional friends — we create 'subminds' we can access, learn from, and draw inspiration through.

The Road to Omega project has officially launched, and much is happening behind the scenes. The Neuromantics are self-assembling and strategizing, and an announcement post with all our plans and initiatives is coming soon. If you’d like to get involved at this early stage, please send a short bio and headshot to bobbyazarian@gmail.com. A big ‘thank you’ goes out to all my subscribers—especially those who are funding the project with paid subscriptions—for hanging in there. A barrage of content is coming your way, and things are about to get interesting. Stay tuned!

In our quest for personal growth and self-optimization, we often find ourselves inspired by others—captivated by their intelligence, creativity, or resilience. For me, my motley crew of heroes include (from most to least famous) Albert Einstein, Bruce Lee, Bjork, director Spike Jonze, skateboarder Mark Gonzales, and physicist David Deutsch.

These people live in my mind rent free and in some ways keep me company, but what if I could harness the power of these influential people in an intentional and transformative way, using nothing but my mind and imagination?

Welcome to the world of "neuromancy," a playful but potentially powerful idea pioneered by the collective known as the Neuromantics. Neuromancy invites us to embark on a journey of self-discovery by creating cognitive agents—detailed mental models of individuals we admire and aspire to emulate that essentially take on a life of their own. By becoming aware of these inner companions we’ve mentally encoded, which reside mostly within the subconscious realm of our minds, we may be able to unlock new dimensions of our cognitive potential. In this article we will explore the art of crafting cognitive agents who can then be consciously exploited to optimize our decision-making and enhance productivity and creativity.

To really understand what neuromancy is and what it offers, we must start at the beginning. Our Unifying Theory of Reality explains why we must model other minds, and how the brain achieves this feat.

A Theory of Why We Model Other Minds

The Integrated Evolutionary Synthesis starts with what many consider to be the most important law in all of physics, the almighty second law of thermodynamics. The second law can be summarized simply as “Things fall apart.” In other words, systems naturally tend toward decay and disorder. The technical term for disorder is “entropy,” and because the second law says entropy tends to increase, nature is constantly pulling us towards death. It is the existential challenge set by the second law that gives life an intrinsic survival goal, thus turning it into a game, a game of survival.

To continue persisting in a world that abides by the second law—to continue playing the Game of Life—we must be able to capture free energy (i.e., food), and we must be able to do so while avoiding threats. However, navigating one’s environment in a chaotic and constantly changing world is no trivial task. It requires that the living system acquire information about the environment, because that information reduces the organism’s uncertainty or ignorance about the variables of the world it is embedded in. We may call the information that reduces an organism’s uncertainty knowledge. As life adapts and learns, knowledge gets encoded in the memory of the agent, which includes genetic and neural memory.

It can also be said that an organism must acquire a map or model of its environment. This model is the result of knowledge accumulation, and in an abstract sense the agent’s model is comprised of “beliefs” about the world, or what it expects to encounter. This model is a statistical model, and specifically a predictive model, which allows the organism to anticipate events in a world filled with uncertainty. In humans and other animals, this predictive model is encoded in our brain. Our mental models allow us to achieve our goals and make sense of a complicated and confusing reality.

Want proof that you are an observer with a model of the world (and of yourself) inside your head? Close your eyes and try to envision yourself in a room. Zoom out to see your house and your neighborhood from a bird’s-eye view. Zoom out and see the planet Earth from space. Now imagine a friend sitting next to you in your room. You have not only modeled the world in your brain, you have modeled other modelers, and those familiar agents come to life in your dreams, complete with personalities and trademark quirks.

These models of other minds were built up from accumulated experience with those people. While we are all unique individuals, we are also in many ways the sum total of all the minds we have modeled, and without knowing we unconsciously consult with these other cognitive agents when making difficult decisions. For example, if you’re a Nirvana fan you might channel Kurt Cobain when trying to write a guitar riff, and you may call on a role model when trying to make a difficult decision, like a family member or an influential teacher you once had, without any real conscious thought or reflection.

Relevant Paradigms: Thinking Through Other Minds & Internal Family Systems

This process of modeling other minds is a fundamental part of social cognition, and it has been called “thinking through other minds” (TTOM) by the researchers who have invented the Bayesian Brain Hypothesis/Free-Energy Principle, which is recognized as the first unified theory of life and mind. Neuroscientists Karl Friston, Maxwell Ramstead, and Samuel Veissière propose that we must construct models of other minds in order to predict and understand their behavior. By being able to predict what they might do in a certain situation, we gain insight about what the appropriate decision or action might be for ourselves. The abstract of the paper Thinking through other minds: A variational approach to cognition and culture describes it this way:

“The processes underwriting the acquisition of culture remain unclear. How are shared habits, norms, and expectations learned and maintained with precision and reliability across large-scale sociocultural ensembles? Is there a unifying account of the mechanisms involved in the acquisition of culture? … We argue that human agents learn the shared habits, norms, and expectations of their culture through immersive participation in patterned cultural practices that selectively pattern attention and behaviour. We call this process “thinking through other minds” (TTOM) – in effect, the process of inferring other agents’ expectations about the world and how to behave in social context. We argue that for humans, information from and about other people's expectations constitutes the primary domain of statistical regularities that humans leverage to predict and organize behaviour. The integrative model we offer has implications that can advance theories of cognition, enculturation, adaptation, and psychopathology.”

Under the TTOM framework, we unconsciously construct internal models of others, and these models can have significant influence over our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Another theory that recognizes the multiplicity of minds in our head is the clinical psychology theory called Internal Family Systems (IFS). This suggests that a “self” is not a single thing, but an adaptive and complex entity capable of harboring many perspectives. But how do these different perspectives get created?

Over the course of one's life, various "subpersonalities" develop in response to particular life events. Many of them emerge in response to trauma, and carry with them specific ways of perceiving the world and also specific responses to triggers that came from a time in one's life where those behaviors "protected" them from something they feared.

The internal family system framework would suggest that the brain is a community of cognitive agents, perhaps each with their own predictive model. I suspect that in some cases the agents in one's ‘internal family’ represent actual people that the person has modeled or internalized, though they could also be historical or fictional.

When we encounter a situation that necessitates a specific response or adaptation, we subconsciously draw upon these accessible internal models, such that we might 'become' one of these modeled agents temporarily to handle a certain situation. So, rather than creating an entirely new subpersonality, we are likely recruiting and embodying an already modeled mind or persona.

While this is something that is often done in response to some challenging life event, neuromancy refers to the intentional creation of realistic or abstract cognitive agents within one's own mind for self-enhancement purposes, or for pure entertainment. These internalized agents can act as consultative entities, and we can leverage their beliefs, values, and perspectives when navigating our lives. They become part of our internal psychological architecture.

According to the logic underlying these theories, these agents need not be real agents that we’ve encountered either. The popular saying “What would Jesus do?” reveals that Christians who ask this question have modeled their deity and look to that agent for practical advice, emotional support, and existential insight.

Optimizing Decision-Making With Deity Modeling

The popular phrase "What Would Jesus Do" (WWJD) serves as a moral compass for many Christians in the form of a reminder to consider what Jesus might do in a given situation when making moral decisions. The devout Christian who thinks "What Would Jesus Do?" before making a choice has constructed an internal model of Jesus and he has become an agent with causal power inside that person's cognitive system. This mental model is constructed from the information, stories, and teachings found in the Bible and are influenced by an individual's personal beliefs and interpretation of that text.

This means that Christians have explicit mental models of Jesus in their minds that they consult with when facing a difficult decision, so the WWJD approach reflects an algorithmic attempt to internalize and apply the teachings, values, and character of Jesus to their decision-making processes.

In essence, WWJD encourages Christians to ask themselves questions like:

1. "What values and teachings of Jesus can I apply to this situation?"

2. "How can I act with love, compassion, and forgiveness, as Jesus did?"

3. "What would align with the moral and ethical principles I believe Jesus would endorse?"

WWJD serves as a cognitive framework for ethical decision-making based on Christian beliefs and values. Whether those decisions actually end up being ethical is a topic for a separate article. Different individuals may have varying interpretations of what Jesus would do, so WWJD can lead to a wide range of decisions and actions depending on personal perspectives and religious traditions.

The same goes for every other religion, and when we realize this, we see why there can be practical benefits to modeling abstract entities of all varieties, given that they have useful characteristics.

The Strange Tale of Srinivasa Ramanujan and His Goddess Namagiri

Srinivasa Ramanujan stands among the luminaries of the mathematical world, not just for the depth and originality of his contributions but also for the mystique surrounding the sources of his inspiration. Born in 1887 in a small town in Tamil Nadu, India, Ramanujan displayed an uncanny ability for mental calculation from an early age. But what sets his story apart is the unique blend of mathematical genius with deep-seated spirituality.

Ramanujan often attributed his mathematical revelations to the Goddess Namagiri, a deity revered in his hometown. In his dreams, he claimed that Namagiri would present him with intricate mathematical formulas, which he would then verify and expand upon after waking. These weren't the typical dreams of an imaginative mind; the results often turned out to be groundbreaking mathematical theorems, many of which were later verified by other mathematicians and became foundations for various mathematical fields, such as string theory.

The fact that Ramanujan credited his mathematical insights to the goddess Namagiri suggests that he created an internal representation of this deity that communicated with him or influenced his thought processes. This agent, embodying qualities of divine inspiration, guidance, and insight, took on a life of its own, and was able to provide Ramanujan with knowledge that he may not have been able to generate from his world model had it not included Namagiri.

In the same way Ramanujan extracted information from his divine cognitive agent, I believe we can draw great power from all kinds of historical figures, deities, and fictional agents. The next example is from my personal life.

Channeling Bjork to Create a Musical Masterpiece

I recently experienced something similar to what Ramanujan must have experienced when he received a mathematical insight from his god while dreaming. Not long ago I had a dream where I was watching Bjork play live in some grand concert hall with a full orchestra, and the song I was witnessing in the dream was incredibly rich with melody, and full of emotion and lush orchestration, though it wasn't a song that existed in reality. My mind had constructed it, so it is as if I had written one of the greatest Bjork songs ever written. And I actually did—had I had a sufficiently hi-res neuroimaging device, then in theory I could have captured the essence of the song and then recreated it in all its glory. I'm a musician so I think that helps explain this somewhat, but that doesn't change the fact that in my conscious state it would be very difficult to write a song so magnificent, and if I did it would probably take some time to compose—it likely wouldn't come to me in a single moment with more than a dozen instruments playing the perfect melodies with the perfect vocals and lyrics all in one package. So there is great power in our untapped cognition, and cultivating our cognitive agent through taking that agent’s perspective is potentially a way to enhance cognition along new dimensions.

So did I get magical musical powers by summoning my Bjork agent the same way Ramanujan conjured his goddess in his dreams?

It's important to note that, from a historical and cultural perspective, Ramanujan's belief in divine guidance aligns with a long tradition of attributing artistic or intellectual inspiration to the gods or muses—so the Greeks also performed neuromancy, long before anyone understood the psychology of why such a thing was possible.

Socrates’ Daemon

The great philosopher claimed to have a personal divinity whose warnings never urged him to undertake anything, but instead deterred Socrates from acting when an action would have been detrimental to him. Cicero reports in his book On divination, that after the defeat of the Athenian army, Socrates never wanted to follow the same route as the others, alleging that his daemon deterred him from doing so. Indeed, Socrates saved himself while everyone else was killed or taken by the adversary’s cavalry. This trait, and other similar ones, persuaded Socrates’ contemporaries that he actually had a daemon or a personal divinity. Writers, both ancient and modern, have long sought to understand what this daemon could have been, and several even went as far as to question whether it was a good or evil angel. The most reasonable of them ended up saying that it was nothing else but the justice and strength of Socrates’ judgment, who by the rules of prudence and the assistance of a long and sustained practice of serious reflections, made this philosopher anticipate what would be the outcome of matters on which he had been consulted, or on which he deliberated for himself.

This tale suggests that the intentional creation of wise and insightful cognitive agents is a creative process that any adaptive creature should implement if their goal is self-optimization. By extending your mind through populating it with enlightened entities, you are becoming your best self.

In fact, a group of eccentric creatives have been doing that for years through the practice of “tulpamancy,” and neuromancy is essentially a neuroscience-informed version of tulpamancy—though neuromancy would also include bringing to life cognitive agents that are not rooted in fantasy.

The Process and Practice of Tulpamancy

A ‘tulpa’ is a mental construct or entity that originates from an individual's thoughts and imagination. Tulpas are often described as having their own personalities, emotions, and sometimes physical appearances.

Tulpamancy is the practice of intentionally creating and interacting with these cognitive agents, and it has gained popularity in various online communities and subcultures, particularly within the realms of internet culture, spirituality, and alternative belief systems. People who practice tulpamancy believe that through sustained and focused mental effort, a tulpa can gain independence and act as a separate, autonomous consciousness within the mind of the creator. A tulpa with a will of its own is a striking example of an emergent phenomenon.

Tulpamancy involves meditation, visualization, and other mental exercises aimed at bringing the tulpa to life within the mind of the practitioner. Tulpamancers typically engage in ongoing conversations and interactions with their tulpas, treating them as distinct individuals with their own thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Tulpamancers may deliberately assign specific personality traits, interests, and characteristics to their tulpas during the creation process.

Practitioners engage in detailed mental visualizations to "see" their tulpa within their mind's eye, often describing their appearance and imagining them in various situations. Tulpamancers frequently engage in a form of mental dialogue or narration where they talk to their tulpa as if it were a separate being. This practice is intended to help the tulpa develop its own voice and identity. Tulpamancers often dedicate specific periods of time to interact with and develop their tulpas. These sessions can involve a range of activities, from simple conversation to shared experiences.

Tulpamancy has its roots in Tibetan Buddhism, where "tulpa" originally referred to a manifestation or creation of thought. In contemporary online communities, tulpamancy has evolved into a diverse and evolving subculture with its own terminology, practices, and belief systems.

While some individuals who practice tulpamancy report positive experiences and view tulpas as valuable companions or sources of self-exploration, others consider it a form of self-deception.

But I'm arguing that everyone could benefit from doing this--creating semi-autonomous cognitive agents which are purely fiction, known deities, or human heroes, to cultivate the "internal family" that is optimal for your decision-making and sense of well-being.

Neuromancy as a a Neu Form of Metamodern Magic

So, neuromancy is already being practiced by some, but once it is integrated with the appropriate theoretical framework, suddenly it becomes more than esoteric practice—this is 21st century science, metamodern science, which blurs the line between science and ‘magic’. As we stand on the brink of a paradigm shift, we find ourselves having to reassess the boundary between science and spiritual practice. "Causal magic" or "mechanistic magic" are terms the Neuromantics use for natural magic—mechanistic processes we can exploit for personal or collective benefit that lie just outside the current mainstream scientific paradigm.

Neuromancy, with its grounding in a cognitive theory of minds as collectives, weaves together established frameworks like IFS and TTOM into a coherent and compelling narrative. Our minds, always in flux, continually embrace, adapt, and summon these cognitive agents, ideally reshaping them according to our emotional and situational needs.

As I embrace this dance of cognition and imagination, I am currently thinking, "What would Bruce Lee do?" throughout the day, because I’m trying to optimize my physical health (I was obsessed with martial arts in my youth), and his life philosophy is also intellectually interesting and in line with a worldview based on complex adaptive systems. "Be like water, my friend" is his mantra, and it is essentially advising us to be flexible and adaptive rather than rigid and stubborn. So, by creating a cognitive agent that represents Bruce, and through interacting with that wise entity, I can learn to be more open-minded and fluid-like, changing my approach or form to fit the circumstances I find myself in.

Now it’s time to decide, what kind of cognitive companion will you create?