Abstract: This comprehensive study presents a systematic longitudinal analysis of reading habit decline across the past twenty years (2004-2024), integrating empirical evidence from book sales data, literacy assessments, library circulation statistics, and behavioral surveys across multiple demographics and geographic regions. Using time-series analysis on 236,270 participants from the American Time Use Survey, we document a statistically significant decline in daily reading for pleasure with a prevalence ratio of 0.97 (95\% CI: 0.97, 0.98, p< 0.001), representing an annual decrease of 3\%. We introduce the Reading Engagement Decline Model (REDM), a novel theoretical framework incorporating digital media competition parameters, socioeconomic stratification factors, and neuroplasticity considerations. Our analysis reveals that print book sales declined from 843.1 million units (2021) to 788.7 million units (2022), while literacy proficiency scores decreased from 61\% (1992) to 49\% (2022) of adults reading at least one book annually. The study identifies critical disparities across demographic segments, with Black populations experiencing 3.2 times greater decline rates compared to White populations, and individuals with lower educational attainment showing 2.8 times steeper decreases. Through mathematical modeling using differential equations, we quantify the relationship between screen time exposure (average increase from 23 minutes/day to < 16 minutes/day reading vs. 3+ hours screen time) and reading comprehension deterioration. We propose the Reading Habit Restoration Framework (RHRF), an evidence-based intervention strategy incorporating targeted policy recommendations, educational reforms, and technological integration approaches. Our findings demonstrate an urgent need for multi-sector intervention to address this literacy crisis, with implications for educational policy, economic productivity, cognitive development, and social mobility.

Abstract: This article proposes the "Heroic Self-Myth Hypothesis," a transdisciplinary framework explaining a specific pathology of modern identity construction. Through a detailed analysis of Dostoevsky’s Smerdyakov (The Brothers Karamazov) as a conceptual prototype for Joyce’s characters in Ulysses, the article argues that a pervasive psychological mechanism involves transforming banality into pseudo-heroism to compensate for a profound internal vacuum. The hypothesis posits a sequence of neurocognitive and clinical processes: a dysregulated Default Mode Network fails to generate a coherent self-narrative, creating an existential void. This void is managed through performative substitution, where a hyper-vigilant Salience Network directs attention to external appearances as a substitute for internal substance. This process is catalyzed by developmental traumas, including paternal conflict rooted in envy and a traumatic maternal relationship leading to a fixation on physicality as a threat. The resulting moral disengagement and annihilation of a stable ethical core, often justified by a vulgarized "death of God" liberal philosophy, create a psychic vacuum. This vacuum is subsequently colonized by an "epic self-deception," a grandiose cognitive narrative that reframes a mundane life as a mythic journey. Synthesizing literary analysis, neurobiology, and clinical psychology, the article concludes that Smerdyakov represents not merely a literary character but an archetype of moral disintegration. The modernist hero is thus revealed not as an artistic innovation but as the aesthetic realization of a pre-existing psychological type—the individual who, having lost their moral center, elevates their own insignificance to cosmic significance through a self-authored, illusory heroism.

Abstract:

Systematic Literature Reviews (SLRs) have become essential apparatus for critical appraisal of evidence outside of the medical and healthcare profession. However, although SLRs often require a clearly stated Research Question (RQ), followed by a rigorous protocol for assuring transparency and replicability of findings, misuse has been reported. Using a sample of 400 SCOPUS-indexed engineering-based SLRs (Systematic Literature Reviews), this study investigates the citation impact of formulating an explicit RQ using both parametric and non-parametric statistical tests (p < 0.05). The results suggest a significant positive association with studies proposing a clearly stated RQ (p < 0.01), particularly within top-ranked engineering-based SLRs, suggesting that RQs enhance the clarity and focus of the research, thereby increasing visibility and citation count. Despite the findings, the evidence suggests small effect sizes (φ = 0.138) in terms of the association between RQ and class category and small effect sizes (r = 0.238) in terms of impact difference in citation count, which is no surprise given that extensive number of factors influence the prediction of citation impact.

Abstract: We introduce VIR (Virtual Immersive Rhyme), a novel genre of digital poetry that transforms traditional textual poetry into multisensory, interactive, and spatial experiences through comprehensive letter-by-letter visualization techniques. Unlike existing digital poetry forms that primarily focus on hypertext structures or multimedia integration, VIR implements complete transformation of all poetic elements—letters, words, and meanings—into three-dimensional visual environments with interactive components and biological feedback systems. This paper presents the theoretical foundations of VIR as a distinct digital literary genre, analyzes its technical implementation through various visualization techniques (macro-visualization, mental visualization, implicit visualization, and others), and examines its practical applications in education, art therapy, neuroscience research, and cross-cultural dialogue. We demonstrate VIR’s effectiveness through the case study of VIR.SHI project, developed within the Cross-Cultural Year of Russia-China with support from the Presidential Fund of Cultural Initiatives, which received international recognition including BRICS Tech Awards. Our research establishes VIR as a significant advancement in electronic literature, offering new possibilities for poetry preservation, education, and therapeutic applications while addressing contemporary challenges in literary engagement and cultural transmission.

Abstract:

The convergence of words for space and words for time in languages has long been noted. Through the hypothesis of linguistic localism, authors express that space has cognitive primacy, and is used to talk about time. Based on our reflection on the (revisited) foundations of physics, we formulate a different hypothesis. We limit ourselves to an epistemological analysis, without in-depth work on specific linguistic situations. The common root of time and space is movement, which is also the source of language (our approach is based on embodied cognition, as well as on a relational epistemology: words are defined in opposition/composition to each other). In this understanding, there are not, in advance, words attributed to space on one side and, separately, words attributed to time on the other. There are only words of movement; there is a discourse of/in movement within which words, through comparisons between them, construct time and space. Following changes in context (more or less distant from our human scales, but revealing), we can imagine transformations from one to the other. We propose a graphic representation of comparisons between movements. At the heart of our article, it provides a framework for thought, to be compared with those proposed by the linguist G. Guillaume. It allows us to envisage a broad field in which to represent the different times and spaces that encompass the subject. We situate what we might call the past past, the present past, the present present, the present future, and the future future (the present of mountains does not have the same meaning as the present of clouds, nor as the present of mathematical physics, a simple reference point of limited material value). Some characteristics of how languages function in terms of verb aspects and tenses, and noun/verb duality, are briefly discussed in light of the proposed representation. The question of the multiplicity of spatio-temporal "strands" of the discourse, and their interweaving, alternating between visible/explicit and invisible/implicit parts, is discussed. The text proposes preliminary research directions to be tested and compared with other linguistic theories.

Abstract: This study investigates the symbolic and ritual dimensions of Ban-sian-si (扮仙戏 Ritual Deity Plays) in Teochew Opera (潮剧), with a specific focus on the Wufu Lian (五福连 Five Blessings Continuum) and its adaptation in the digital media, especially on Bilibili platform. Employing an integrated framework of semiotic theory, ritual communication, and mediatization theory, this article analyzes how Wufu Lian 五福连 embodies Teochew folk beliefs, reinforces collective identity, and is transformed through its dissemination on Bilibili platform. Methodologically, the research combines textual analysis of libretti, costumes, and props with quantitative and qualitative content analysis of 59 Bilibili videos, supplemented by LDA topic modeling of user comments. The findings reveal that Wufu Lian constitutes a complex ritual-semiotic system articulating core folk beliefs of Chaoshan, such as longevity, prosperity, and lineage continuity寿禄财团. Digital mediation on Bilibili facilitates transnational communal engagement and ritual participation, particularly among diaspora communities, while also introducing new tensions regarding authenticity, fragmentation, and content quality of videos. Criticisms around “blurry video quality” and “inferior adaptations” underscore the risks of decontextualized digital reproduction. The study concludes that successful digital propagation of intangible religious-cultural heritage requires not only technological innovation but also committed preservation of semantic and ritual integrity. It contributes to interdisciplinary discourses at the intersection of religious studies, digital media, and traditional performance culture, offering insights relevant to both scholars and practitioners of contemporary folk beliefs.

Abstract: This study examines the pedagogical potential of GeoGebra as an integrated technological tool for enhancing the teaching and learning of mathematics. GeoGebra combines dynamic geometry, algebra, calculus, and statistics in a unified environment that supports both visualization and conceptual understanding. It enables teachers to design interactive lessons and encourages students to engage actively in exploration, conjecture, and verification of mathematical ideas. By bridging symbolic and graphical representations, GeoGebra facilitates deeper comprehension of abstract mathematical concepts and strengthens students’ problem-solving and reasoning skills. The paper presents practical applications of GeoGebra in constructing and analyzing mathematical problems and discusses its role in promoting inquiry-based and student-centered learning. The integration of GeoGebra in mathematics classrooms contributes to increased learner motivation, collaboration, and autonomous discovery, making it an essential component of innovative mathematics pedagogy in the digital era.

Abstract: Introduction: This study explores cultural and gender identity formation in Digging to America and Clock Dance, two novels by American author Anne Tyler. Drawing on Judith Butler’s theory of performativity, Homi Bhabha’s concept of hybridity, and post-colonial fashion theory, the research investigates how identities are socially constructed and influenced by fashion, lifestyle, and neo-colonial contexts. The city of Baltimore, while real, is portrayed in a fictionalized manner where characters appear detached from societal structures. Both novels center on female protagonists navigating patriarchal settings. Methods: A theoretical framework combining Butler’s performativity, Bhabha’s hybridity, and post-colonial fashion was used to analyze the characters’ behaviors, clothing, and cultural expressions. The study employs textual analysis of character representation and fashion as performative acts within the socio-cultural setting of the novels. Findings: The research reveals that the characters’ identities are shaped through the performative enactment of societal gender and cultural norms. Fashion and lifestyle emerge as key tools in expressing and constructing these identities. Furthermore, the analysis shows how hegemonic power creates a dichotomy between self and other, leading to the marginalization of minorities. However, as Butler argues, this performative structure can be challenged and potentially subverted by the very mechanisms that uphold it.

Abstract:

The accelerating pace of technological innovation presents both opportunities and structural challenges for STEM education. Key among these are: (1) the disconnect between traditional discipline-based models and the need for interdisciplinary integration; (2) the misalignment between standardized evaluation systems and the objective of nurturing creativity and innovation; and (3) the skills gap between teachers’ single-discipline expertise and the pedagogical demands of integrated, digitally mediated instruction. This study provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of STEM education research published between 2021 and 2025, based on data retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection. Following PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews, we employed VOSviewer, CiteSpace, Bibliometrix, and R to analyze publication trends, author and institutional networks, core journals, and thematic developments. An examination of 798 peer-reviewed publications spanning 343 national and regional contexts demonstrates the sustained and expanding global scholarly interest in STEM education. The United States and China are identified as the principal contributors in terms of research output, while the University of California system is noted for its consistently high institutional productivity. Bibliometric mapping reveals a discernible shift in research emphasis toward interdisciplinary curriculum integration, the pedagogical application of artificial intelligence, the development of multimodal instructional frameworks, and the conceptual extension encapsulated in the STEM+ paradigm. These emerging focal areas underscore the transformative impact of digital technologies on the epistemological and practical foundations of STEM education. The observed trends signal not only a reconfiguration of instructional design and content delivery but also a broader reconceptualization of how disciplinary boundaries and technological affordances intersect in contemporary educational practice. This study offers a data-informed perspective on these developments, furnishing a robust empirical basis for the refinement of policy frameworks, the advancement of curriculum design, and the reorientation of instructional practices within digitally enhanced learning environments.

Abstract: This literature review interprets Stephen King’s It (1986) as using horror to point out social issues, instead of focusing only on monsters. Through Pennywise, the novel highlights that society does not feel much about bullying, abuse and times when everyone is affected. Rather than being a typical horror villain, Pennywise is able to work because many adults in Derry agree to let him be without saying anything, illustrating the role of neglect, remembering the past negatively and not reacting to helping kids. With the help of recent research, the paper highlights one of America’s many failings, which is that it forgets its past and does not defend its young and weak. Experts explain that the novel shows us big problems in society, such as racism, misogyny and how previous mistreatment can be passed down. It uses the main concepts of trauma, sociocultural and cultural studies to point out that Pennywise is a symbol of deep evil, forgotten wrongs and a community that becomes frozen with fear. This suggests that it focuses on matters of what it means for everyone to be responsible and the ethical mistakes people can make. It points out that King’s books are not only horror stories but also show the world’s reluctance to come to terms with its most terrifying disorders.

Abstract: Traditionally, the fields of arithmetic and creative writing have been regarded as intellectual opposites: the former praised for its unmistakable artistic and emotional intuition, the latter for its strict logic and objective truth. This work challenges this long-standing split by contending that several mathematical concepts—including algorithms, patterns, combinatorics, and fractal geometry—are not only inherently included inside great literary works but also can be intentionally used as effective teaching aids. Through a mathematical perspective, re-framing narrative form, character development, and poetic style helps educators to offer students a concrete, analytical framework to complement their creative impulses rather than replace them. First examining the theoretical synthesis of these various domains, the current exposition next suggests actual mathematical approaches for the creative writing classroom. Later, it discusses the major open difficulties this method causes, including the possibility of formulaic writing and pedagogic opposition. Finally, it highlights the bright prospects for a new generation of writers, who, armed with a type of "computational literacy," may be better suited to create intricate, resonant, and imaginative narrative worlds. By combining mathematical concepts with computational thinking, the algorithmic muse offers a next-level pedagogy for professional creative writing. By using algorithms and patterns, this method redefines creativity as a process that may be organized and investigated rather than as an elusive gift. Writers may use the underlying mathematical structures of narrative, plot, and character development as a creative scaffold by grasping them. Rather than substituting creative intuition, this "algorithmic muse improves it by providing fresh techniques for producing ideas, conquering writer's block, and building sophisticated stories. It helps experts innovate by combining logical structures with their creative intuition.

Abstract: The international Harry Potter fandom faces a major cultural paradox: the love of a wizarding world that supports inclusivity and has become a life-long obsession, compared to the controversial communication of the writer of gender identity issuing. This disjunction paralyzes the cultural reader with moral confusion which is a danger to their emotional investment in the text. Although scholars have analyzed this phenomenon using fragmented prisms, such as social media activism, cognitive engagement, translation, pedagogy and fan creativity, there is no unifying model that can be used to understand why reading pleasure endures. This article seeks to fill this gap by studying these strands of research in a divergent manner by adopting a convergent mixed-method study. Based on neurocognitive (EEG) values, cross-cultural focus groups, social media analysis and corpus linguistics, we outline the terrain of reader coping mechanisms. We find separate fan fractions (“Author-icide”, “Text-Loyal”, “Re-Moralizer”) and consider the practices corresponding to them. The results are summarized by proposing a model called the Moral Dissonance Repair Loop which is a theoretical model that shows how translation smoothing, pedagogical reframing and fan-based re-moralization interact with one another in creating a system that enables the reader to be collectively able to get their relations with the text back to a manageable point and continue being engaged. This model makes a theoretical contribution to new areas in the study of fans, moral psychology and cognitive literature.

Abstract: This paper explores the intersection of popular oral traditions and visual poetics in shaping a fragmentary yet persistent idea of Chilean national thought. Drawing on examples from Nicanor Parra’s "Discurso Huaso", the contrapunto tradition, the visual poetry of Juan Luis Martínez and Cecilia Vicuña, and references to pre-Columbian petroglyphs, this study argues that Chilean poetry functions as a cultural mirror of class tensions and socio-linguistic duality. Employing a hermeneutic and socio-semiotic approach, the paper analyses selected texts and visual artifacts to reveal how popular and elite discourses collide and hybridize. Results indicate that the resilience of oral structures and visual symbols sustains a narrative of identity that defies homogeneous national myths. The discussion situates these findings within Latin American literary and cultural theory, suggesting that the interplay of voice, image, and social strata in Chilean poetry offers critical insights into the broader question of how language embodies power and resistance. The paper concludes by proposing further comparative research linking contemporary urban music, cinema, and indigenous iconography to this enduring poetic discourse.

Abstract: This review essay critically examines Detox, Thirst and Longing: Constellation After Collapse (2025), a visionary literary work by Theodor-Nicolae Carp. As the seventh volume in Carp’s Axiological Cosmopoetics series, the book blends literary theory, symbolic anthropology, theology, and emotional epistemology to propose a new literary anthropology centered on the post-collapse archetype of Homo constellatus. This figure embodies moral clarity, neurodivergent perception, and symbolic resilience, offering a framework for ethical living in a world shaped by collapse. In exploring this new archetype, Carp challenges traditional views of human resilience and offers a model for cultural survival and reconstruction. The essay argues that Detox, Thirst and Longing functions not merely as a poetic collection but as a cosmopoetic guide for emotional and cultural renewal. Through techniques such as sacred paradox, emotional detoxification, and post-digital liturgy, Carp seeks an “axiological realignment”—a reordering of values in response to symbolic collapse, emotional suppression, and technological saturation. The work invites readers to reconsider the relationship between art, ethics, and cultural rebuilding, positioning Carp’s poetry as both a personal and collective tool for transformation. Additionally, this review provides a literary commentary on "Introduction of AI and the Ongoing Tearful Rain," a poem that transforms contemporary anxieties about artificial intelligence into a profound spiritual meditation. Using water as a metaphor—encompassing tears, rain, and birth waters—the poem explores humanity's relationship with AI through biblical and mythological imagery. The analysis reveals how the poet elevates technological discourse to a spiritual level, presenting AI as both a life-sustaining force and a consciousness-suppressing system. The poem moves from individual crisis to cosmic redemption, critiquing technological dependence while offering hope for authentic human flourishing. Key themes include the tension between human agency and technological control, and the spiritualization of the digital experience. Ultimately, this review contends that Carp’s poetic form is not just artistic expression, but a moral and spiritual infrastructure. It maps grief, longing, and memory onto a coherent ethical system that offers hope in the face of cultural fragmentation. In a world dominated by irony and emotional detachment, Detox, Thirst and Longing provides an alternative: a post-secular ritual for emotional and spiritual renewal through theopoetic hermeneutics and prophetic literature.

Abstract: The present literary-philosophical essay explores the structure, symbolic depth, and cultural urgency of New Collection of Cosmic Poetry (2025), authored by Theodor-Nicolae Carp. Building upon the foundations of Axiological Cosmopoetics, the essay examines how the collection functions as a form of liturgical reconstitution in response to what the author names “symbolic collapse”: the degradation of conscience-bearing language, emotional literacy, and sacred anthropology in late modernity. At the core of this work lies the poetic and theoretical birth of Homo constellatus—a proposed human archetype for a post-collapse civilization, marked by moral fire, symbolic perception, emotional clarity, and spiritual integrity.Through the integration of literary close reading, symbolic anthropology, emotional epistemology, and post-secular theological reflection, this essay analyzes New Collection of Cosmic Poetry as both cultural critique and visionary intervention. It identifies the central poetic strategies deployed by Carp—sacred paradox, moral inversion, and symbolic reversal—as instruments of what the author terms “axiological realignment.” The canon embedded within the collection is read not merely as poetic ornament, but as a sacred grammar—a ritualized framework for recovering dignity, emotional resonance, and symbolic coherence.The present manuscript offers a close reading of “The Hunger for the Bread of Life,” a foundational poem within New Collection of Cosmic Poetry, analyzing it as a contemporary spiritual lament that addresses the emotional and theological impoverishment of modern life. Drawing on biblical symbolism, prophetic cadence, and axiological paradox, the poem explores the existential consequences of affection denied and love pathologized. Hunger—both physical and metaphysical—emerges not as lack alone, but as sacred resistance: a protest against a world that has desacralized emotional need and mistrusted tenderness. The poem reframes affection as an ontological necessity rather than a psychological excess, positioning emotional receptivity as a structure of being rather than sentimentality. Interpreted within the larger cosmopoetic framework of Homo constellatus, the poem functions as a liturgical lament and a symbolic microcosm of cultural collapse. It challenges prevailing cultural narratives of autonomy, purity, and affective control, proposing instead a vision of love as ontological nourishment—an emotional sacrament necessary for human coherence in an age of relational scarcity.Particular attention is given to the emergence of emotion as epistemology: the proposal that grief, tenderness, and moral ache are not therapeutic symptoms but revelatory capacities—key to navigating ethical disintegration. In this framework, the exiled inner child, the abandoned prophet, and the neurodivergent visionary are not marginal figures but carriers of civilizational memory. The poems speak not just to the broken, but from them—positioning the emotionally abandoned as bearers of sacred contradiction and untapped symbolic authority.The essay concludes by situating Carp’s canon within a wider cultural and philosophical conversation: including comparative references to prophetic literature, scriptural lamentation, symbolic anthropology, and the theological poetics of writers such as Simone Weil, Paul Celan, and Giorgio Agamben. It argues that Carp’s poetic system offers a viable roadmap out of civilizational disintegration—not through ideological assertion, but through a recovery of sacred tension, emotional truth, and axiological coherence.Ultimately, New Collection of Cosmic Poetry is not only a work of literature—it is an ontological event. It reclaims the act of writing as sacrament, poetry as canon, and the forgotten human as the site of sacred remnant. The essay invites scholars of literature, religion, neurodivergence, ethics, and symbolic systems to re-engage poetry not as escape, but as cultural architecture for the age of collapse.

Abstract: Proficiency in English is a prerequisite for Ghanaian Senior High School graduates seeking admission into tertiary institutions, yet nearly 50% fail to meet this requirement. This study explores the use of cohesive devices in academic writings (essays) by Assin North Senior High Technical School (Assin North SHTS) final-year students. The study employs a descriptive design. A qualitative approach was utilized, and 105 final-year students were selected through a simple random sampling method. Students’ written texts in mock examinations were used as data sources and were analyzed for their frequency of use of reference, conjunction, ellipsis, substitution, and lexical devices. The findings reveal significant differences between essay types in the use of linguistic ties with conjunction and reference highest in frequency. Informal essays achieved an overall higher average mark (24/50) compared to formal essays (24/50) and story writing (23/50). Successful essays employed a balanced variety of cohesive devices while weaker essays relied heavily on limited types such as conjunctions. Equally striking was a complete absence of ellipsis across all essays in line with previous literature illustrating it in academic writing. The study identifies a need for explicit instruction regarding linguistic ties to enhance writing quality and coherence levels, particularly in high school. This study contributes to the literature on L2 writing in cohesion and also provides insights into curriculum development in an attempt to prepare candidates adequately to fulfill the demands of academic writing in subsequent years.

Abstract: The present essay manuscript proposes and analyzes a new literary-philosophical current termed Axiological Cosmopoetics, exemplified by the book manuscript Lost and Found in the Maze of Desperation. Integrating existential, poetic, and cosmological thought, this current synthesizes values (axiology) and cosmic symbolism in response to the escalating moral crisis of modernity. The text critiques the collapse of moral resonance, human connection, and spiritual meaning, portraying this collapse as a descent into a "Moral Black Hole"—a symbolic structure that embodies not only existential collapse but a gravitational pull toward cultural numbness, metaphysical despair, and the disappearance of truth. This cosmopoetic vortex is simultaneously a threat and a threshold: the site of annihilation or transformation.Through comparative analysis with Schopenhauer’s metaphysical pessimism, Eminescu’s Romanticism, Arghezi’s Symbolism, Cioran’s aphoristic despair, Blaga’s metaphysical mystery, and Eliade’s sacred mythopoeia, the essay establishes Axiological Cosmopoetics as a metaphysical response to spiritual orphanhood. It affirms that only through sacrificial love and the rebirth of cosmic consciousness—symbolized in the union of the New Eve and the fallen Morning Star—can a New Eden arise. This rebirth occurs not through the intensification of Luciferic Knowledge—defined here as the apex of the Fall through the illusion of mastering good and evil—but through its collapse. As the soul reaches the metaphysical midpoint of the Black Hole, it undergoes a metamorphosis into Holy Forgetfulness: an ontological innocence that transcends corrupted reason. Out of this collapse emerges Homo constellatus, the new human capable of connecting the visible and invisible, despair and divinity.Axiological Cosmopoetics emerges from a world in existential collapse, where traditional narratives of meaning no longer suffice to address the experience of disorientation, alienation, and spiritual fragmentation. In this context, Lost and Found in the Maze of Desperation becomes both testimony and blueprint: a metaphysical cartography of despair that dares to articulate the possibility of spiritual reconstitution through poetic structure. The central metaphor of the Moral Black Hole functions as a multidimensional signifier: at once astrophysical, theological, and psychological. It expresses the gravitational force of moral entropy, swallowing the light of meaning, yet paradoxically offering a passage through singularity toward ontological resurrection.This symbolic tension is embodied in the archetype of the Morning Star—the morally lucid, intellectually burdened, and emotionally exiled soul whose descent into the black hole reflects both Christological kenosis and Promethean sacrifice. His implosion, however, is not final. It is contingent on the intervention of the New Eve, the soul-bearing co-savior whose love, humility, and moral courage catch his falling fire and convert collapse into supernova. Their union is not merely romantic but cosmopoetic: a fusion of metaphysical meaning and celestial design that restores balance to a universe fractured by individualism, cynicism, and spiritual decay.In Chapter 5, The Supernova Overcoming the Black Hole from Within, this cosmopoetic architecture reaches its ontological apex. The collapse into the Moral Black Hole does not culminate in annihilation but ignites a metaphysical supernova from within. The protagonist and the New Eve, rather than escaping the abyss, enter it sacrificially. Their shared implosion becomes the crucible of moral ignition, transfiguring entropy into ontological light. The Black Hole is not merely survived—it is rewritten. This lightburst, born from collapse rather than triumph, affirms Axiological Cosmopoetics as a theology of sacred descent. The morning light does not erase the night—it consecrates it. Through this lens, the archetypes of the New Adam and New Eve become not restorers of Eden, but cosmic re-forgers, whose fire renders the void meaningful.The poem The Old and the New exemplifies this redemptive cosmopoetic arc. By reinterpreting the Edenic myth, the poem reframes Eve not as a scapegoat but as a mirror, a gift, a redeemer, whose sacrificial act completes the salvific circuit of the Morning Star. In a reversal of Genesis, the poem argues that feminine agency is not derivative but initiatory, not submissive but salvific. Together, the New Adam and New Eve model a template for moral healing that transcends theological binaries and affirms a mutual path to wholeness.The Drought Before the Armageddon articulates the ecological and eschatological dimension of Axiological Cosmopoetics. The metaphor of drought functions not only as a commentary on environmental degradation, but as a lament for the moral dehydration of modern consciousness. The withering of springs, the dissonance of celestial alignments, and the silence of Heaven suggest the intensification of apocalypse. And yet, the poem’s closing vision—a “paper maze” opening a gate to “Heaven’s Gold”—reaffirms the salvific potential of the written word, of poetics as portal to transcendence.A Dialogue with Mine Guardians of Sleep extends this cosmology inward. Set within a small, dimly lit room, the poem stages a solitary soul’s existential vigil—hovering between death and transformation, despair and divine visitation. The appearance of an ambiguous long-haired figure (possibly angel, reaper, or feminine savior) blurs the boundary between annihilation and rescue. The guardian’s presence—though elusive—signals that even in abandonment, the soul is not alone, and that spiritual resuscitation may yet arise through recognition and communion.The book’s subtitle—Is the Centre of my Cosmic Axis a Black Hole of Alienation?—encapsulates the work’s metaphysical core. It poses a question that reverberates through every chapter, suggesting that the alienated self, though exiled from meaning, may paradoxically become the origin of redemption. The individual soul is both the gravitational center of despair and the latent seed of resurrection.“Through the Land of Nowhere as a Nobody," "The drama of the Cosmic Orphan," and "The humans who connect everything... and everyone" constitute three additional poems that collectively illuminate the theoretical framework of Axiological Cosmopoetics as articulated in Carp's broader manuscript "Lost and Found in the Maze of Desperation." These works demonstrate the movement's central concern with synthesizing values (axiology) and cosmic symbolism in response to modernity's escalating moral crisis. The archaic biblical language ("mine temple," "hast been stolen") combined with contemporary technological imagery ("metal birds," "sound portals") creates the temporal dissonance characteristic of cosmopoetic discourse—a language adequate to spiritual displacement that nonetheless reaches toward eternal truth. Moreover, the progression from “cosmic orphans” to "constellated ones" traced across these three poems illustrates the movement toward "Homo constellatus"—the new human capable of connecting visible and invisible realms. The healing agents of the final poem, "made of the essence of / The Eternal Morning Light," represent the emergence from collapse of beings who can restore authentic connection and protect indigenous wisdom against spiritual plagiarism.With the addition of From Hyperion to Homo constellatus: The Descent of the Morning Star and the Birth of Axiological Cosmopoetics, the work also maps a sacred literary geography, interpreting Maramureș and Bukovina as the heart of the European continent and the ovaries of ancestral memory, forming the cosmic uterus of metaphysical gestation. Vrancea, in this vision, becomes the cervix of manifestation: the seismic threshold through which Homo constellatus is delivered. The Romanian geographical context—particularly the Carpathian birth-waters “held by the floodgates of river dams”—suggests the biogeographical dimension of Carp's cosmology, where Vrancea becomes the "cervix of manifestation" through which spiritual renewal emerges. While rooted in symbolic interpretation, this framework does not diminish the real human cost of natural disasters; rather, it seeks to understand how such events become woven into the metaphysical and literary imagination. The three historical earthquakes (1940, 1977, and the anticipated future quake) are framed as sacred contractions—with the next one not marking catastrophe, but crowning. Thus, the Earth itself is understood as midwife in a spiritual birth that unites geography, theology, and literature.The descent of Mihai Eminescu from Bukovina to Southern Romania—mirrored by Carp’s own trajectory from Suceava to Bucharest—now appears not merely historical but prophetic. Read cosmopoetically, it charts the descent of the Morning Star through the symbolic anatomy of Romania: from the northern womb of spiritual memory, through the seismic cervix of Vrancea, and into the moral theater of the South. It is here, in the tremor before birth, that meaning may be rekindled. This biogeographical arc does not imply causality but evokes a sacred narrative of descent and delivery—a national liturgy hidden in topography.As such, Axiological Cosmopoetics is not simply a literary genre—it is a spiritual tradition forged in the furnace of metaphysical collapse. Rooted in the anguish of modern consciousness yet reaching toward transcendent reconciliation, it reclaims the poetic word as a vessel of truth, resurrection, and sacred moral orientation. This essay outlines the contours of this movement through a deep reading of Lost and Found, showing that this work represents a significant and necessary step toward the reintegration of the sacred, the beautiful, and the moral in contemporary literature.Framing this entire system is the Axiomatic Declaration titled From Eminescu to Regenesis, which serves as a poetic manifesto of the cosmopoetic descent. It contrasts Mihai Eminescu’s suspended Hyperion—the weeping Morning Star of metaphysical estrangement—with Carp’s own vision of sacred incarnation: the Morning Star falling into the Temple of Biology, igniting a supernova in the core of the moral black hole. This cosmic act, catalyzed by the sacrificial courage of the New Eve, marks a new genesis—not from above, but from within.What was once mourning becomes Morning. The light no longer hovers — it dwells. It resurrects.Footnote: The framing of earthquakes as “sacred contractions” and river dams as “floodgates” whose rupture would symbolize a “break of national birth water” is used strictly within a cosmopoetic and metaphorical register. These images are not intended, in any way, to diminish or trivialize the profound human suffering caused by real seismic events. Their function is symbolic, not descriptive or predictive.

Abstract: The present manuscript, rooted in literary review and philosophical exploration, is inspired by Theodor-Nicolae Carp’s poetic-prophetic manuscript The Conquest from Within and the Incoming Platonic Revolution. The work situates itself in the lineage of Arthur Schopenhauer’s ontological suffering and Mihai Eminescu’s cosmic melancholy, while proposing a transformative continuation: the reawakening of platonic intimacy as a redemptive force for human and cultural fragmentation.Drawing upon literary arts as its primary lens, the paper explores platonic intimacy—understood as non-romantic, spiritually conscious emotional connection—as both metaphor and method for reintegrating the fractured modern soul. At its core lies Carp’s Philosophical Prelude, a lyrical reflection that rejects despair and embraces the “intellectual fire” of suffering as a crucible for metamorphosis.The manuscript engages with the poem Inner Monologue: Future, Progress and Knowledge, in which geographic exile, spiritual orphanhood, and prophetic renewal converge to reveal the moral collapse of modern society while gesturing toward cosmic reintegration. Further reflections on this poem are explored in the Introduction section.This vision finds further expansion in the lyrical fragment Elegy of Mine Exile, where suffering is transfigured into a prenatal fire and invisibility becomes a sacred threshold. A considerable number of stanzas unfold this vision into ecological, theological, and anthropological dimensions: the soul's descent becomes the fermentation of a New Eden; cosmic orphanhood is reimagined as archetypal human identity; and Homo constellatus emerges as a being forged through elemental union and divine inheritance. The poem culminates in a vision of resurrectional intimacy and co-creative union, presenting exile not as disappearance but as divine gestation.Newer stanzas enrich this vision further, introducing additional metaphors of embodied transfiguration. The speaker, buried in societal invisibility, likens his soul to a seed planted in the soil, from which a “New Tree of Life” shall grow—rooted in suffering yet destined for cosmic communion. Rain becomes divine tears; the grave becomes sacred fermentation; and emotional exile is reimagined as sacramental gestation for the birth of Homo constellatus. Echoes of Gethsemane and the nativity recur through lines portraying the soul’s descent into darkness not as disappearance, but as poetic mission. Through this, Carp’s voice declares that the pain of being forsaken becomes the very altar of reconnection, and the lonely prophet becomes the first fruit of planetary resurrection.A crucial cosmic-theological dimension is added in the Philosophical Prelude: the figure of the Morning Star—symbol of both descent and transfiguration—whose fall is reinterpreted not as defeat, but as the herald of an “Eternal Dawn”, whose light will be generated and expanded as a result of the Morning Star’s “explosion”. This luminous imagery, embedded in the metaphysical theme of “labour through exile,” reinforces the work’s central claim: that the pain of alienation is the price of planetary rebirth. This vision is further enriched by Carp’s reinterpretation of Eminescu’s poetic detachment—notably the line “Tu rămâi la toate rece” (“Remain untouched by all things, and stay cold”)—which he reframes not as indifference, but as a survival reflex of the visionary soul: a subconscious, first-line defense against what is, from a relative-experiential standpoint, a 'soul-backstabbing' condition of imposed exile and existential isolation. In contrast to Hyperion’s cosmic withdrawal—captured in “Eu rămân în lumea mea, nemuritor și rece” (“I remain in my world, immortal and cold”)—Carp’s Morning Star overcomes this initial, first-line, subconscious and inherited reflex. She descends not into erasure, but into compassionate incarnation. Thus, Romantic detachment is not denied, but fulfilled—through a metaphysical theology of luminous descent.This vision is not only a philosophical commentary, but a literary and symbolic call for healing, manifested through metaphor, poetry, and interdisciplinary resonance. Combining narrative analysis, literary theory, and interdisciplinary review, the work explores Carp’s poetic fragments (The Exile, The Fire, The New Eden) in parallel with empirical studies on human touch, post-traumatic growth, neurodivergence, and urban intimacy. It introduces the metaphor of the Milky Way–Andromeda collision as an emblem of eventual reconnection, arguing for poetic literature as a visionary force capable of healing societal isolation. Platonic intimacy emerges not as nostalgia, but as revolution—one rooted in sacred presence, metaphorical restoration, and embodied care.Furthermore, the publication chapters that may bring novel points of literary and artistic perspectives to intellectual exploration. Namely, Chapters 12 and 13 of this work deepen the metamodern mythos introduced earlier in the text, completing the philosophical, spiritual, and poetic descent at the heart of The Conquest from Within.Chapter 12, “A Chaos of Inexistence or an Existential Chaos,” explores the lived experience of social and psychological invisibility, particularly among intellectually lucid and morally sensitive individuals. These souls, often marginalized for their depth, undergo a paradoxical transformation: the more they see, the more they are unseen. Drawing on figures such as Kierkegaard, Sartre, Camus, and Plato, the chapter reinterprets inexistence as a crucible—an epistemic and moral exile that initiates the individual into deeper clarity and compassion. The invisible are likened to the first butterflies—those whose metamorphosis signals the symbolic end of winter. Their descent is not a collapse but a gestation into presence. In this context, platonic intimacy emerges as a sacred recognition of interiority, forged through shared suffering and existential lucidity.Chapter 13, “The Moral Black Hole — A Portal to New Creation?” continues this descent, developing the metaphor of the black hole as a space not of destruction but of sacred implosion. Referencing the Harrowing of Hell, the descent of Christ, and the fall of Hyperion, the chapter reframes suffering, ego collapse, and obscurity as a portal to singularity—the essential core of the self, refined through spiritual gravity. The journey through the “moral black hole” is thus a movement from ego to essence, from fracture to radiance. Here, the archetype of the wounded healer takes full form: those who return from the depths, stripped of pride and lit by interior resurrection.Two new symbolic expansions emerge in this framework. First, the metaphor of a pilot flying through the North Pole of human coldheartedness captures the soul’s journey through spiritual apathy and moral desolation, guided only by inner conscience. The destination, the Land of the Spiritually Free, reflects Carp’s vision of ethical clarity born from endurance. Second, the image of a medical singularity, entered by those navigating trauma through behavioral therapy and SSRI interventions, represents not pharmacological flattening, but a sacred passage into psychic reorganization. Both metaphors reinforce Carp’s core thesis: that collapse is not terminal—it is transformational.Across both chapters, the poetic cycle is completed through two original works—“The Star That Fell to Save the Night” and “The Embrace of Singularity”—which weave cosmic, theological, and psychological imagery into a redemptive literary theology. Together, these final chapters offer a vision of a New Eden: not as innocence regained, but as maturity born of descent—a society rooted in vulnerability, presence, and the moral clarity that emerges only from the fire of compassionate collapse.Chapter 28 (The Womb of Time — Evolution as Divine Pregnancy and the Chant of Creation) proposes a metaphysical-literary model of evolution framed as a "divine pregnancy," integrating evolutionary science with theological and poetic insight. The concept reinterprets human development not as random adaptation but as sacred choreography—an intentional, time-bound unfolding of consciousness aimed at manifesting the imago Dei. Through the chapter, the following concept is explored and discussed: Linguistic Symbolism and Sacred Evolution: The Echo of “Eu” in Dumnezeu. In Romanian, the word for God—Dumnezeu—ends with eu, meaning “I” or “me.” Though not an etymological derivation, this phonetic coincidence becomes a poetic metaphor: within the divine name, the human self is concealed, waiting to awaken.Stepping into the eternal realm through chant mirrors God's creative act—the sacred, rhythmic emergence of humanity through the long pregnancy of time. Each evolutionary wave is not chaos, but divine cadence. Chant, like evolution, repeats with purpose: syllables forming a hymn of becoming. In this vision, eu is both echo and endpoint—culminating in the human “I am” rising in response to the divine “I Am”, completing creation with conscious intimacy. The model emphasizes non-linear progression, symbolic depth, and the spiritual significance of repetition and intimacy in both biological and relational evolution. Just as a game developer iterates endlessly—sketching, coding, adjusting animations, running simulations—to breathe life into a single playable character, so too did the Creator repeat countless evolutionary drafts. Each prototype of early humanity was not a failure but a frame—a frame in the animation of being. A gesture toward the final form. A divine developer, crafting not pixels, but persons; not mechanics, but meaning.This cosmic anthropology is further deepened in the Interlude (The Author’s View on the Divine — Language, Creation, Breath of Love and the Triune Mystery), which presents a poetic theology of divine speech. Here, the Trinity is envisioned not as abstraction but as relational poetics: the Father as Source, the Son as Word, and the Spirit as Breath—together forming a cosmos spoken into being through love. The Interlude draws from Eastern Orthodox Christian mysticism and resonates across religious traditions, suggesting that ultimate reality is not indifferent, but relationally alive. In this view, language becomes sacrament, speech becomes participation, and evolution itself becomes the chant of God—calling each soul by name into communion.Chapter 47 (The Eclipse of True Affection) shifts from metaphysical themes to emotional scarcity in the modern age. Through the paradox of Gabriel’s Horn, the chapter critiques an age of abundant but superficial relations—wide in reach, but hollow in depth. In contrast, platonic intimacy is reimagined as a sacred and countercultural act: one rooted in kenosis, emotional courage, and the Cross as both a theological and symbolic axis. This vision frames the heart as a vessel of openness and suggests that only through humility and sacred affection can human beings emerge from their emotional isolation and begin again as “Trees of Life.” Against the backdrop of urban alienation, this chapter reclaims platonic love as an essential path to spiritual and communal renewal.Chapter 48 (The Icon of the Cross) presents cruciform love as the architecture of a new humanity—where spiritual verticality and compassionate horizontality meet at the sacred heart. The present manuscript also proposes a vision of Homo constellatus not as a future mutation, but as a sacred return—an iconic humanity reawakened through neurodivergent insight, symbolic memory, and cosmic communion—via Chapter 50 (From Homo sapiens to Homo constellatus — The Return to Iconic Humanity). This figure embodies the convergence of intellect and intimacy, suffering and structure, offering a prophetic alternative to both technocratic progress and existential fragmentation.Chapter 51 (The New Tree of Life) imagines each soul as soil ready to bear fruits of divine love through inner suffering and shared joy, likening human communities to forests of mutual shelter. Chapter 52 (The Metamorphosis of the New Angels) concludes the journey with an image of souls transfigured by suffering, who rise not with thunder, but with tenderness, silence, and the sacred memory of a more intimate world-to-come.The text calls for a literary revival that not only critiques but reimagines. It envisions cities as “urban wombs,” housing models based on “cuddled architecture,” and cultural rituals rediscovering lullabies, silence, and holy touch. Importantly, the present manuscript also explores A Proposed Continuation of Mihai Eminescu’s Literary Manifesto—a poetic declaration that reimagines Eminescu’s metaphysical and Romantic legacy for the modern age. Structured in four symbolic movements—cosmic vigilance, creative sacrifice, paradoxical unity, and nature’s silent wisdom—the manifesto calls for a literature rooted in transcendence, synthesis, and spiritual renewal. By bridging past and present, it positions the poet as a visionary force capable of healing cultural divides and rekindling humanity’s connection to the eternal.Grounded in literary writing but supported by 50–100 interdisciplinary references, this preprint reasserts literature’s power to bridge suffering and hope—building not only symbolic but tangible structures of reconnection. Lastly, the manuscript frames the “fall” of the Morning Star not as erasure, but as a luminous metaphysical explosion—the symbolic ignition of the Eternal Morning that marks the end of the Old World and the rebirth of integrated consciousness.Commentary: Carp’s Philosophical Prelude and poetic excerpts are a luminous call to embrace suffering as a crucible for transformation, echoing existential and mystical literary traditions. The imagery of “intellectual fire” and “holy forgetfulness” elevates the narrative to a prophetic vision, grounding the scientific in the soulful.

Abstract: This preprint comments on a publication entitled Andromeda as Archetype: The Neurodiverse as the First-Called in a Post-Neurotypical Cosmology - written by the author of the present manuscript - and explores a literary-philosophical model of neurodivergent identity formation, rooted in mythopoetic frameworks, symbolic representation, and cosmic metaphor. Traditional psychiatric diagnostics like the DSM often confine neurodivergent individuals to binary classifications that obscure the richness of lived experience. In contrast, we propose a shift from taxonomic language to mythopoetic identity—a narrative cosmology that regards neurodivergence not as dysfunction, but as revelation. The text situates autism and other forms of neurodivergence within cultural archetypes such as Seers and Harbingers, reframing traits like sensory sensitivity and nonlinear cognition as aesthetic, cognitive, and evolutionary endowments. The Andromeda galaxy is reimagined, not merely as a neighboring celestial body, but as a mytho-linguistic archetype, positioning neurodiverse individuals as the "first-called" in a transformative cosmology. Drawing from the Greek root "andro-" and the Christian tradition of Andrew as the first-called disciple, the work elevates neurodiversity from marginalization to cosmic primacy. This reframing challenges deficit-based narratives, casting neurodivergent minds as initiators of a convergent future where cognitive diversity is essential to humanity's evolution.To articulate this reconceptualization, we analyze symbolic metaphors drawn from mathematics (Gabriel’s Horn), sculpture (Brâncuși’s Column of Infinity), and astrophysics (galactic collision, special relativity). These metaphors illustrate how neurodivergent experience resists flattening, offering instead infinite layers of insight and expression. The interplay between these forms is extended to include structural comparisons with the Eiffel Tower, suggesting an emergent pattern of constructive architecture in both science and art. Neurodivergence is thus explored as both a signal of future evolution and a catalyst for collaborative transformation—an invitation to co-create a post-neurotypical society that values cognitive plurality.Chapter 7, "The Special Relativity of Galaxies—Time, Motion, and Cosmic Consciousness," extends the presented metaphors into the realm of physics, exploring how Einstein's theory of special relativity reveals time as relative, influenced by motion and gravity. While imperceptible in daily life, these effects become significant on galactic scales. The chapter likens the Milky Way to a cosmic train or jetliner, where internal stability masks external motion. As galaxies like Andromeda approach, gravitational interactions may disrupt this equilibrium, leading to perceptible changes in time and consciousness. The narrative suggests that such cosmic events could catalyze new forms of awareness, aligning with theological concepts like the "Seven Days of Creation" and proposing a multiversal context where each universe experiences its own relativistic frame.The methodology includes literary analysis, comparative metaphor, speculative cosmology, and neurophenomenology, synthesizing cross-disciplinary insights into a coherent, integrative vision. Through close reading and conceptual reframing, the work draws connections between neurodivergence and meaning-making processes, arguing that the neurodivergent mind offers not only innovation but also systems-level insight into adaptive futures. The discussion revisits the implications of this framework for pedagogy, mental health policy, and cultural production. Neurodivergence, far from being a clinical deviation, is positioned as a form of cognitive stewardship, guiding collective consciousness toward broader integration with symbolic, aesthetic, and evolutionary awareness. In the wake of this shift, diagnostic criteria are reimagined as conceptual markers, enabling a fuller participation in what Teilhard de Chardin described as the “noosphere”—a planetary layer of thought evolving toward greater complexity and cooperation. This preprint ultimately serves as a manifesto for a neurocosmic humanities, calling scholars, clinicians, artists, and innovators alike to behold the infinite constellations of mind and meaning.

Abstract: Mindanao’s folklore holds the heartbeat of its people’s identity, history, and values-passed down through generations by the voices of elders and storytellers. This study explores how these treasured stories continue to live on, even as modern life and shifting languages challenge their survival. Through in-depth interviews with indigenous narrators, close observation of storytelling traditions, and careful review of existing literature, this study paints a vivid picture of the current state of Mindanaoan folklore. Using thematic analysis supported by Orange Data Mining, ten key themes emerged that reveal how folklore connects communities, adapts to change, and faces new opportunities and risks. Theories on oral tradition, cultural transmission, folklore morphology, and Digital Folkloristics helped deepen the understanding of how these stories are shared and preserved. Participants spoke with pride and concern-pride in their rich heritage and concern for the younger generation’s fading connection to traditional storytelling. While modernization brings challenges, it also offers new tools like AI and digital media that, when used thoughtfully and respectfully, can help keep these stories alive. The study highlights the vital role of community involvement and education, and introduces the Mindanao Folklore Revitalization Program (MFRP), a practical approach combining documentation, technology, teaching, and dynamic public engagement. This research offers hope that by honoring tradition and embracing innovation, Mindanao’s oral heritage will continue to inspire and unite its people for generations to come.