The Vibe as Bodily Emanation

From musicians and New Age gurus to sports announcers and bohemian literary figures, everyone references “the vibe.” But rarely does anyone define or explain its nature, function, or effect. What exactly are we referring to when we say, “the vibe?” Is it an all-encompassing metaphor? Or does it refer to a unique phenomenon that begs for its own classification and terminology? Are we referring to the light and sound vibrations that travel through air and hit our retinas and ear drums, or are we referring to some transcendent, metaphysical, and/or spiritual experience?
My interest in the vibe dates back to the early 1990s when I was participating in New York City’s nascent rave scene and Phish’s roving fan festivals. I wrote my first paper on the vibe for an undergraduate nonverbal communication class my senior year of college. I then used my master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation to reconceptualize the vibe as a tangible, felt energy that emanates from our bodies. This “bodily emanation” is a human energy system that can be detected on interpersonal, small and large group, and even global levels, and it can be used as a form of communication, as a way of knowing, and as an existential guide for moving through the world.
I've met plenty of skeptics over the years. But there are numerous philosophies, paradigms, and traditions from across the world that speak to similar phenomena: Prana, Qi, Ki, Lung, Mana, Orenda, Ruach, Pneuma, eternal and primal energy, life force, élan vital, prima materia, and the corresponding ideas and practices of auras, halos, chakras, subtle energies, meditation, yoga, Qigong, tai chi, and “alternative” healing and medicine. Some of these traditions are more abstract and esoteric while others are more concrete and convincing. Nevertheless, human energy systems are of global, cross-cultural, and historical interest.
My lifelong commitment to social justice has not given me much time to work on my philosophy of vibes -- I’ve attended to it only sporadically. But my interest in the topic is ongoing.
Click here for a brief but very dense overview.
Click here for an essay about the vibe and the band Phish.
Click here for an interview about the above essay.
Click here for a PowerPoint I presented at a Popular Culture Conference (November, 2024).
Click here for a PowerPoint I presented at a Phish Studies Conference (May, 2019).
Click here for a PowerPoint I presented at the Dancecult Conference (Sept, 2021).
My interest in the vibe dates back to the early 1990s when I was participating in New York City’s nascent rave scene and Phish’s roving fan festivals. I wrote my first paper on the vibe for an undergraduate nonverbal communication class my senior year of college. I then used my master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation to reconceptualize the vibe as a tangible, felt energy that emanates from our bodies. This “bodily emanation” is a human energy system that can be detected on interpersonal, small and large group, and even global levels, and it can be used as a form of communication, as a way of knowing, and as an existential guide for moving through the world.
I've met plenty of skeptics over the years. But there are numerous philosophies, paradigms, and traditions from across the world that speak to similar phenomena: Prana, Qi, Ki, Lung, Mana, Orenda, Ruach, Pneuma, eternal and primal energy, life force, élan vital, prima materia, and the corresponding ideas and practices of auras, halos, chakras, subtle energies, meditation, yoga, Qigong, tai chi, and “alternative” healing and medicine. Some of these traditions are more abstract and esoteric while others are more concrete and convincing. Nevertheless, human energy systems are of global, cross-cultural, and historical interest.
My lifelong commitment to social justice has not given me much time to work on my philosophy of vibes -- I’ve attended to it only sporadically. But my interest in the topic is ongoing.
Click here for a brief but very dense overview.
Click here for an essay about the vibe and the band Phish.
Click here for an interview about the above essay.
Click here for a PowerPoint I presented at a Popular Culture Conference (November, 2024).
Click here for a PowerPoint I presented at a Phish Studies Conference (May, 2019).
Click here for a PowerPoint I presented at the Dancecult Conference (Sept, 2021).