Exomental
A term referring to mental processes and contents that originate from or are influenced by external sources—society, culture, media, technology, other people. The exomental includes everything from internalized norms to shared memories to the cognitive effects of algorithms. It challenges the notion of a purely private, autonomous mind, arguing that much of what we think and feel is borrowed, imposed, or co-constructed with our environment. Exomental phenomena are not necessarily alienating; they are simply the social nature of human cognition.
Example: "His political opinions were entirely exomental—he'd absorbed them from his favorite podcasts and YouTube channels, with no original thought or critical examination."
Endomental
A term referring to mental processes and contents that are experienced as internal, private, and self-generated—the felt sense of having one's own thoughts, emotions, and memories. The endomental is the subjective interiority that Western psychology has often taken as the whole of mind. However, critical approaches note that even endomental experiences are shaped by exomental influences; the boundary between internal and external is porous. The term is used to describe the phenomenological experience of selfhood while acknowledging its social construction.
Example: "In meditation, she learned to observe her endomental chatter—the stream of thoughts that felt like 'her' but were actually rehearsals of conversations, replayed judgments, and echoes of past lectures."
Endomental
A term referring to mental processes and contents that are experienced as internal, private, and self-generated—the felt sense of having one's own thoughts, emotions, and memories. The endomental is the subjective interiority that Western psychology has often taken as the whole of mind. However, critical approaches note that even endomental experiences are shaped by exomental influences; the boundary between internal and external is porous. The term is used to describe the phenomenological experience of selfhood while acknowledging its social construction.
Example: "In meditation, she learned to observe her endomental chatter—the stream of thoughts that felt like 'her' but were actually rehearsals of conversations, replayed judgments, and echoes of past lectures."
Exomental by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal April 16, 2026
Words you can keep
