The Method of Cascades

The Method of Cascades is focused on the investigation of experiential cascades. The method starts from the premise that all awareness-imbued existence is embedded within the flow experience, the moment-to-moment pattern of cognitions, arousal and action. It defines ‘streams’ as collections of events of the same type and identifies four main stream types: cognition, arousal, action and brain patterns. It further defines ‘cascades’ as composed of individual streams, but representing more than a collection of streams; and emphasises that a collection of streams becomes a cascade when the events within those streams are mutually-influencing and act within the timeline of the experiential process. The method of cascades relies on three core principles: (1) Human experience is embedded in an experiential process and is framed by the outcomes of an integrative process (which integrates information across experiential cascades); (2) The experiential process is based on cascades representing mutually-influencing sequences of cognitions, physiological arousal, brain patterns and physical movements; and (3) There exist two types of causality: momentary causality produced by the experiential process and gestalt causality produced by the integrative process. The core methodology involves observing entire cascades while taking separate recordings for each stream. Reliance on novel technologies is key, with the main proposed data collection instruments being: virtual reality (or real life video-footage) for capturing action streams, semi-structured interviews (or in-observation narration) for capturing cognition streams, medical bracelets for capturing physiological arousal, and fNIRS helmets for capturing brain patterns.The method of cascades integrates several data analysis frameworks. First, time-window lag sequential analysis and log-linear models are used to examine the elements and the ordering of those elements within streams and cascades. Rough paths and signatures, a novel mathematical method, is used to analyse entire cascades, their features and possible typologies. Structural equation modelling, applied to dynamic variables extracted via the first two analytic methods, are employed to examine processes related to the evolution of cascades over time and the over-arching effects generated by the integrative process. In sum, the method of cascades carries the promise to offer novel insights into causal processes and produce research that acknowledges that all bio-psycho-social acts occur within the flow of experience.