Mirror of Becoming: Designing Digital Self-Awareness Tools through Jungian Archetypes, Epistemic Friction, and Somaesthetic Practices

This project presents a speculative design framework for digital self-awareness grounded in epistemic pluralism and regenerative design philosophy. In contrast to mainstream self-tracking technologies that simulate introspection through reductive behavioral metrics, this work explores how symbolic, narrative, and somatic dimensions can be meaningfully re-integrated into human-computer interaction. Building on Jungian psychology, Eastern non-dual philosophy, and somaesthetic design, the proposed Mirror of Becoming system introduces five architectural pillars: epistemic friction, archetypal mirroring, narrative reframing, somatic grounding, and non-dual reflexivity. These pillars form the basis of design probes that resist optimization logics and instead cultivate ambiguity, inner dialogue, and embodied self-awareness. Methodologically, the paper adopts a Reflexive Research through Design (RtD) approach, treating design as a site of philosophical and symbolic inquiry rather than solution delivery. The work builds on the author’s prior framework in Seeds of Sovereignty (2025), which critiques ontological monocultures in AI and HCI and advocates for plural, reflexive systems that support the unfolding of selfhood rather than its prediction or containment. This research contributes to ongoing conversations in HCI, speculative design, and psychology by proposing an alternative ontology for digital self-awareness—one that honors the unconscious, the unmeasurable, and the unfinished.