INCOGNITION PROJECT

A SUBATOMIC MULTIVERSE

According to the Copenhagen interpretation, the act of observation plays a fundamental role in determining the state of a quantum system. Particles exist in a state of “superposition” until an external interaction inevitably reduces their potential realities to a single one.

 

A VPN FOR WEARING

Our researchers wanted to explore this fascinating property of matter by transposing it to the autonomy of individuals in the physical world. They imagined a unique experiment to study the power of anonymity on the human condition. It involved freeing individuals from social determinism, like electrons in their initial state, to the point of altering their perception of reality. The Alt Institute therefore developed a full-body suit which, in addition to conceal the guinea pigs' entire bodies, acts as a scrambler making them undetectable to any digital equipment. 

 

UNTAPPED CONSCIOUSNESS

Preliminary results show significant effects on the participants' psyches. Freed from the weight of the external gaze, the guinea pigs report feeling a connection with a larger reality, outside the usual structures of time, space and ego. This absence of determinism could lead to a dissolution of the boundaries between the self and the outside world, leading to states of altered consciousness or experiences of oneness. Their intuitive understanding of the world would be increased tenfold beyond the rational, to the point of experiencing a kind of “fertile void”.

 

TOWARDS NEO-EXISTENTIALISM

In an ultra-connected world where personal data is constantly being collected and analyzed, this experience highlights the importance of deconstructing our identity in order to better understand it. It also resonates with the principles of freedom and authenticity cherished by existentialist thinkers. More broadly, the results of our work pave the way for a reflection on what it means to be free in a world where showing off has become an implicit injunction.