Researcher at the intersection of meditation, consciousness, perception and active inference at the Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies/Meditation Research Program, MGH in affiliation with Harvard Med. School Web: shawnprest.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/shawnprest.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/shawnprest.bsky.social/post/3mploys4pl225I'm here in Santiago, Chile for ASSC 29 @theassc.bsky.social I'll be giving the following talks today: "What can meditative experience teach us about affective valence: A computational perspective on the determinants of affect" In Session 6 Meditation & Contemplative States / July 1, 3:00 PM01 Jul 2026 14:09 +0000at://did:plc:7cmh2rivelybvmfde2iyaexp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mploys4pl225https://bsky.app/profile/shawnprest.bsky.social/post/3mo7oypvnds2fMy paper modelling and simulating meditative deconstruction via letting go is now out open access in Neural Computation at @mitpress.bsky.social 🧠 I show how the phenomenology of experiential deconstruction (defabrication) naturally emerges from the dynamics of hierarchical active inference. 🧵14 Jun 2026 02:12 +0000at://did:plc:7cmh2rivelybvmfde2iyaexp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mo7oypvnds2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/shawnprest.bsky.social/post/3mnesfuquxs2uI'm happy to share the new preprint of my paper "What can meditative experience tell us about affective valence? A computational perspective on the determinants of affect" bit.ly/4ekg4Jd03 Jun 2026 09:31 +0000at://did:plc:7cmh2rivelybvmfde2iyaexp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnesfuquxs2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/shawnprest.bsky.social/post/3mjjiofa3522aI'm excited to share our preprint: "Selfing without a self: The missing dimension of identification in computational accounts of selfhood" The puzzle: How can meditators claim persistent selfless experience without dysfunction when computational accounts claim it's maladaptive? 🧵 t.ly/vDv4n15 Apr 2026 08:39 +0000at://did:plc:7cmh2rivelybvmfde2iyaexp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjjiofa3522ahttps://bsky.app/profile/shawnprest.bsky.social/post/3mhtpinkytc2eExciting to see this lifting off :) https://open.substack.com/pub/theconsciousnessfoundation/p/initial-learnings-from-our-science?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web24 Mar 2026 23:18 +0000at://did:plc:7cmh2rivelybvmfde2iyaexp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhtpinkytc2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/shawnprest.bsky.social/post/3md4u5zn7gc24For anyone interested in the mechanisms behind "letting go" in meditation: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ndy... This was a really fun conversation to have, thanks Josh! (www.linkedin.com/in/joshricha/) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ndy..23 Jan 2026 23:29 +0000at://did:plc:7cmh2rivelybvmfde2iyaexp/app.bsky.feed.post/3md4u5zn7gc24