Editor's Note

Abstract

The development of machines and automation and their integration into daily life has often led to a deeper examination of human nature. Today technological change is accelerating, not only in artificial intelligence (AI), but also in communications, automation, biology and medicine, raising ever deeper questioning of the human condition. Within this context, many people experience a feeling that transcends the self and evokes less immediate views and scopes. Our thirst for transcendence and introspection remains unwavering, despite technological breakthroughs, or perhaps because of them; despite the speed of these breakthroughs, or because of it; despite their diversity, or precisely because of it. This unwavering aspect is in no way a threat to progress, but a part of it, with these transcendental experiences providing us with support and sustenance in our daily lives.