Induced experience project
Design and run a deliberate attempt to induce one of the course's target experiences, then document what actually happened
Due: 12 April 2027 · Weight: 20%
The brief#
Pick one target experience from weeks 1–9 and design a deliberate attempt to induce it — in yourself, or in a participant who has given informed consent and knows they can stop at any point. This is the semester’s midpoint practicum, scaled up: instead of following a given brief, you write one.
A good design states, in advance, what conditions you expect to produce the experience and why. The project is not judged on whether the induction “worked” in the sense of definitely producing the target experience — a careful account of a failed induction, with a plausible diagnosis of why, is a legitimate and gradeable outcome.
What you submit#
A written design-and-outcome document, plus any supporting material (a log, audio notes, photographs of a physical setup) that helps substantiate what happened. Close with a short reflection: what your outcome does or doesn’t tell you about whether a well-designed induction could ever guarantee an inner experience, not just its usual outward signs.
The spec
The brief poses the problem and leaves room for a response. The spec is the fixed part: what a marker checks. Some lines can be checked mechanically; the rest call for judgement.
- submitted by the deadline, with a written design (what you set up, and why you expected it to work) and a documented outcome (what actually happened, including if it didn't work)
- the induction targets one experience already covered by units 1–3 of the course, attempted in yourself or in a willing, informed participant
- closes with a reflection connecting the gap between your design's prediction and its outcome back to the explanatory gap from week 1
How it is marked
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Design of the induction | 35% |
| Quality of the documentation | 35% |
| Reflection on the hard problem | 30% |