Rong Shi

This study undertakes a meta-theoretical critique of the value attribution framework that has structured environmental ethics since the 1970s: the assumption that ethical inquiry must begin by locating value in human beings alone or extending it to non-human nature. Rather than adjudicating between anthropocentrism and non-anthropocentrism, it examines two traditions that independently bypass this framework: the classical Confucianism of Xunzi, whose ethics rests on the relational character of the Heaven-Earth-Human triad, and the environmental pragmatism of Bryan Norton, whose convergence hypothesis renders the intrinsic-value debate practically irrelevant. Their convergence, an internal critic of the framework and an external tradition that never adopted it, offers diagnostic evidence that value attribution itself is the deeper obstacle, pointing toward a relational environmental ethics grounded in normativity from relationships, temporal integration, and the primacy of practice over theory.

Daoist meditation has been less widely adopted than Buddhist meditation as a daily method for psychological regulation, partly due to the complexity of its underlying philosophical system. This study aims to explore how key Daoist meditation practices can be psychologized and adapted into a usable method for modern psychological training. A comparative analysis was conducted on classical Daoist meditation methods, including Sitting in Oblivion, Mind Fasting, Ingestion of Qi, Visualization and Imagination, Inner Observation, and Internal Alchemy. Based on this analysis, a novel psychological training method called “Merging Oblivion Meditation” was developed by integrating elements of Inner Observation and Sitting in Oblivion. Among the practices analyzed, Inner Observation—which involves merging with the cosmic landscape—was found to be more adaptable for psychological application. The proposed “Merging Oblivion Meditation” employs guided imagination to reduce the sense of self by fostering an experiential merging with cosmic landscapes, thus facilitating nondual awareness without requiring apophatic operations. This method simplifies the difficulty of traditional Sitting in Oblivion and increases its feasibility as a psychological technique. Rooted in the Daoist vision of the body as an immortal cosmos, Merging Oblivion Meditation differs from Buddhist-derived practices in both process and psychological effects. By dissolving bodily boundaries and encouraging experiential unity with the Dao, it may engage distinct mechanisms conducive to nondual experiences, offering a unique contribution to contemplative science and meditation-based interventions.

Our research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of auditory, visual, and audiovisual warning signals for capturing the attention of the pilot, and how stimulus onset asynchronies in audiovisual stimuli affect pilots perceiving the bimodal warning signals under different perceptual load conditions. In experiment 1 of the low perceptual load condition, participants discriminated the location of visual targets preceded by five different types of warning signals. In experiment 2 of high perceptual load, participants completed the location task identical to a low load condition and a digit detection task in a rapid serial visual presentation stream. The main effect of warning signals in two experiments showed that visual and auditory cues presented simultaneously could effectively and efficiently arouse the attention of the pilots in high and low load conditions. Specifically, auditory, AV, and visual preceding auditory stimulus by 100 ms increased the spatial orientation to a valid position in low load conditions. With the increase in visual perceptual load, auditory preceding the visual stimulus by 100 ms and A warning signals had stronger spatial orientation. The results are expected to theoretically support the optimization design of the cockpit display interface, contributing to immediate flight crew awareness.