The Cube of Experience: A Cognitive-Symbolic Framework for Conscious Experience

The Cube of Experience is a conceptual framework that maps conscious experiences across four axes –Tangibility, Belief, Perception, and Perspective – to analyze how internal mind-states interact withexternal reality. This model draws on psychological, philosophical, and phenomenological insights to bridgesubjective and objective aspects of experience. In analytical psychology, Carl Jung emphasized the interplaybetween inner symbols and outer world events, notably through synchronicity, defined as “the comingtogether of inner and outer events in a way that cannot be explained by cause and effect and that ismeaningful to the observer” 1. Such ideas highlight that our inner beliefs and unconscious imagery canmirror or even shape what we perceive as reality. From a systems theory viewpoint, the Cube treatsexperience as a dynamic system of interdependent factors, aligning with second-order cybernetics’ insightthat observers are participants in any system they study 2. In practice, this means we are never trulydetached from our experiences – our perspectives and beliefs actively co-create the reality we observe.Cognitive science further supports these connections: beliefs and schemas act as perceptual filters, causingus to literally see the world in line with our expectations 3 4. Phenomenologically, the frameworkresonates with the idea that every experience has both visible and hidden facets (a “seen” foreground and a“hidden” horizon) and that one’s perspective (observer, actor, or agent) crucially shapes how the experienceis lived. By integrating these diverse insights, the Cube of Experience offers a transdisciplinary tool withphilosophical precision, clinical clarity, and practical utility for exploring conscious experience.