Aidan Lyon

AIDAN LYON

philosopher
consultant
author
Leiden University, Netherlands
Lotus flower

ONLINE COURSE, 2024

Meditation x Critical Thinking

Improve your decision-making by combining the practice of meditation with the principles of critical thinking.

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Lotus flower

ONLINE COURSE, 2023

Meditation x Critical Thinking

Improve your decision-making by combining the practice of meditation with the principles of critical thinking.

Learn more
Book cover

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2023

Psychedelic Experience: Revealing the Mind

Psychedelic Experience presents a philosophical analysis of the concept of a psychedelic experience. A central premise of the book is that such experiences can be had by means other than psychedelics. In particular, the book argues that psychedelic experiences can also be had as the result of meditation.

The book then presents a unified conceptual framework for thinking about the different kinds of psychedelic experiences one may have as a result of psychedelics, meditation, and their combination. This framework is then used to shed new light on various commonalities between psychedelics and meditation, such as the ability to promote long-lasting increases in mindfulness and their reputation for inducing mystical experiences.

Finally, the book uses these new philosophical resources to flip things around and shine the light back on philosophy itself, arguing that psychedelic experiences can be used as tools for doing philosophy. The result is a new approach to philosophy (or the revival of an ancient one), which integrates traditional analytic methods with a range of psychedelic techniques.

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Consulting

As a philosophical consultant, I help organisations make better decisions in situations of deep uncertainty. A situation of deep uncertainty is one in which statistics and machine learning don't address the problem, a diverse group of experts needs to be consulted, and foundational thinking is required.

I advise clients on issues relating to the philosophy of uncertainty and the psychology of human judgment and decision-making. Working closely with my clients, I help them build a solid philosophical foundation for their decision-making that suits their specific needs and goals.

Recently, I have begun incorporating meditation and related practices into my approach. I believe this is the future of human decision-making. As machines become increasingly intelligent, humans must become wiser. Integrating the principles and practices of the world's wisdom traditions into an organisation's decision-making system is the best way to achieve this goal.

If you would like to discuss how I can help your organisation or you as an individual, please don't hesitate to email me using the contact form below.

About me

I'm a philosopher at Leiden University (in the Netherlands) and an external member of the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy.

I completed my PhD in Philosophy in 2009 at the Australian National University on the philosophical foundations of probability theory, and I have Bachelor's degrees in Science (Mathematics) and Arts (Philosophy) from the University of Queensland.

My academic research is at the intersection of psychology and philosophy and focuses on wisdom, uncertainty, meditation, and psychedelics. In January 2023, I'll be the principal investigator on the Templeton-funded project "Mystical Entropy: The Development of a New Theoretical Framework for the Scientific Study of Mystical Experience" at Leiden University.

In addition to being an academic philosopher, I like to keep one foot in the real world by applying my research as a consultant and entrepreneur. I help organisations improve their decision-making processes using results from the psychology of human judgement and principles from the philosophy of probability. I've worked on projects across various domains, including biosecurity intelligence, geopolitical forecasting, environmental decision-making, institutional investing, and psychedelic therapy. Many of these projects involve developing software (e.g., decision support systems) and I'm often involved as a product designer (I also have a passion for web design).

Most recently, I've begun integrating my research on psychedelics and meditation into this work. In my forthcoming book, Psychedelic Experience, I argue that we can use these interventions on the brain/mind to improve our decision-making (individually and collectively). To this end, I've supported some of my clients with psychedelic and philosophical coaching, and I've created an online course that teaches how one can use meditation to enhance one's critical thinking and decision-making.

You can learn more about the online course here. If you are interested in working on a project together, you can contact me via the form below or at contact@aidanlyon.com.

Publications

Contact

You can contact me by using the form below or by email at contact@aidanlyon.com.