Scientific Critical Theory

The application of Critical Theory's insights to scientific practice: examining how power, social structures, and historical contexts shape scientific knowledge. Who funds research? Whose questions get asked? Whose bodies get studied? Who benefits from findings? Scientific Critical Theory doesn't reject science but subjects it to relentless critique, revealing how apparently neutral knowledge serves particular interests. It's science forced to confront its own politics, its own complicities, its own blind spots. Uncomfortable, necessary, and always asking "cui bono?"—who benefits?

"This medical research claims to be universal, but Scientific Critical Theory asks: who funded it? Who was in the sample? Who profits from the findings? Who's excluded from the conversation? Not because the science is wrong—because understanding power is part of understanding truth."

by Abzugal February 23, 2026

Epistemological Critical Theory

The theory that knowledge is always entangled with power—that what counts as knowledge, who gets to be a knower, and which methods are legitimate are shaped by social structures, historical forces, and material interests. There is no knowledge from nowhere, no view from nowhere, because knowers are always situated in systems of power. Epistemological Critical Theory doesn't despair at this but uses it: by exposing the power in knowledge, we can work toward more just, more complete, less oppressive ways of knowing.

"You think your epistemology is neutral? Epistemological Critical Theory says: it was developed by privileged Europeans, institutionalized in colonial universities, and enforced through academic gatekeeping. Your 'neutral' knowledge is power pretending not to be. Check your epistemic privilege."

by Abzugal February 23, 2026

Theory of the Spaces of Power

A critical framework for understanding how power operates through physical and social spaces. Who gets to occupy which spaces? Who's excluded? How do architecture, urban planning, and institutional design enforce hierarchy and control? The Theory of the Spaces of Power reveals that space is never neutral—it's always already political, always already arranged to advantage some and disadvantage others. From the panopticon to the open office plan, from redlined neighborhoods to gated communities, space is power made visible.

Theory of the Spaces of Power "Why is the CEO's office on the top floor with windows, while workers are in cubicles with fluorescent lights? Theory of the Spaces of Power: space isn't just space—it's hierarchy made concrete. Every building is a political statement about who matters and who doesn't."

by Dumu The Void February 24, 2026

Theory of Social Control Spaces

An extension of spaces of power theory focused specifically on spaces designed to control, discipline, and regulate populations. Prisons are obvious, but also schools, hospitals, factories, shopping malls—any space where movement is channeled, behavior is monitored, and bodies are arranged for efficiency and compliance. Social Control Spaces reveal that modern societies don't just punish deviance—they design environments that prevent it, that shape subjects who don't need external control because they've internalized the architecture.

Theory of Social Control Spaces "The mall is designed to keep you moving past stores, with no benches, no places to rest, no free water. Theory of Social Control Spaces: it's not bad design—it's design that controls. You're not shopping; you're being moved through a machine optimized for extraction."

by Dumu The Void February 24, 2026

Unconscious Theory

The foundational proposition that mental processes exist outside conscious awareness yet profoundly shape thought, feeling, and behavior. Unconscious Theory isn't one thing—it spans Freud's dynamic unconscious (repressed desires), cognitive unconscious (automatic processing), and embodied unconscious (habits and skills). What unites them is the insight that consciousness is the tip of the iceberg; most mental life happens below the surface, inaccessible but active. To know yourself is to know what you don't know about yourself.

"You keep choosing partners who disappoint you and can't figure out why. Unconscious Theory says: there's a pattern below awareness, shaped by early relationships, operating automatically. Your conscious mind is the last to know what your unconscious has already decided."

by Dumu The Void February 24, 2026

Unconscious Mind Theory

The specific proposition that the mind is structured with both conscious and unconscious systems, each with its own contents, processes, and logics. The unconscious mind isn't just a storage closet for forgotten memories—it's an active, dynamic system that perceives, interprets, and responds to the world, often more quickly and accurately than consciousness. Unconscious Mind Theory studies this parallel processor, revealing that you're thinking all the time, just not always thinking that you're thinking.

Unconscious Mind Theory "You had a bad feeling about that person before you could articulate why. Unconscious Mind Theory: your unconscious processed micro-expressions, tone, and body language while your conscious mind was still saying hello. Trust the system that saw what you haven't seen yet."

by Dumu The Void February 24, 2026

Unconscious Personality Theory

The view that personality extends below consciousness—that who you are includes aspects of yourself you don't know, can't access, or actively reject. The unconscious personality includes repressed traits (the shadow), disowned emotions, unrealized potentials, and the versions of yourself that could have been but weren't. Integration involves meeting these hidden selves, not as pathology but as neglected dimensions of your whole being. You're more than you think you are, and less in control than you imagine.

Unconscious Personality Theory "You think you're just calm and rational? Unconscious Personality Theory says: somewhere in you is the furious, chaotic, irrational self you've suppressed. It's not gone—it's just unconscious. And it will surface when you least expect it, usually at your loved ones."

by Dumu The Void February 24, 2026