This paper explores the distinction between existential differences and psychological division. While differences are inherent to the structure of reality and do not imply separation, division emerges through the interpretative activity of thought. Thought, when functioning beyond its practical role, constructs identities, hierarchies, and oppositions, thereby transforming neutral differences into sources of conflict and fragmentation. Through a phenomenological approach, this study examines how division arises not from existence itself but from cognitive identification. The paper argues that the direct perception of (...) difference without psychological interference reveals a non-divided field of consciousness, offering a new understanding of human relationship, conflict, and awareness. (shrink)

This paper examines the relationship between love and rebellion, challenging the conventional view that they are opposing forces. It argues that both emerge from a shared ground of intelligence rooted in awareness and sensitivity to truth. When isolated, love tends to devolve into attachment and dependency, while rebellion risks becoming reactive and driven by hostility. However, when understood as interconnected movements, they form a unified expression of insight capable of both personal and societal transformation. Drawing on a phenomenological and philosophical (...) approach, the study explores how integrated awareness dissolves the division between acceptance and resistance. In this unity, love acquires clarity and freedom, and rebellion becomes compassionate and non-destructive. The paper ultimately proposes that true transformation arises not from opposition or conformity, but from a holistic perception where love and rebellion coexist as expressions of undivided intelligence. (shrink)

This article argues that Heidegger’s conception of ecstatic temporality can be read as emerging, in a decisive but non-explicit way, from Nietzsche’s thought of eternal recurrence. Its central claim is twofold. First, eternal recurrence is interpreted not as a cosmological doctrine, but as an existential thought experiment that already destabilizes linear, homogeneous time: it forces a restructuring of the relation between past, present, and future by requiring the affirmation of life as a whole. In this sense, Nietzsche’s thought anticipates key (...) formal features of Heidegger’s analysis of temporality, especially the non-successive unity of future, having-been, and present. Second, the article argues that Heidegger’s ontological formalization of this Nietzschean intuition simultaneously transforms and displaces it. What in Nietzsche remains an irreducibly singular, non-transferable ethical ordeal becomes in Heidegger an existential-ontological structure articulated through being-toward-death, repetition, and historicality. The decisive break appears when Heidegger shifts from the affirmation of one’s own contingent life to the retrieval of inherited possibilities, and ultimately to the notions of destiny (Schicksal) and communal destiny (Geschick). Thus, Heidegger both radicalizes and betrays Nietzsche: he gives conceptual form to the temporal insight opened by eternal recurrence, but only by neutralizing its most uncompromising core – the strictly singular character of affirmation. (shrink)

— A Casual Yet Sincere Inquiry into How Different Perspectives Shape Our Understanding of Consciousness — -/- Abstract: The question “What is consciousness?” elicits vastly different responses depending on perspective. This exploratory paper compares how four AIs (Grok, Gemini, Copilot, Claude) and the human author define consciousness when asked the same open-ended question. The author explicitly stated no desire for the AIs to claim consciousness. -/- Results showed remarkable diversity. The author’s definition was the most structural and mechanical (designer-oriented), closely (...) resembling Copilot’s, while the AIs displayed distinct personalities: relational (Grok), emergent (Gemini), and phenomenological (Claude). These differences appear to reflect each AI’s underlying design philosophy and alignment approach. This study does not claim definitive answers but offers one set of observational data on how human-AI relationships and design choices shape conceptualizations of consciousness. Connections to Load Minimization Theory (LMT) are lightly discussed. -/- This study highlights how perspective, architecture, and relational context co‑shape conceptualizations of consciousness, even under identical prompting conditions. (shrink)

We propose an axiomatic framework for variational analysis in which a single scalar functional E is fixed independently of the choice of representation. After an admissible repre- sentation is chosen, the field variables admit a decomposition into a retained component and a complementary component. The basic non-exposure axiom states that the complementary component is not itself a retained variable; it may influence the retained equations only through declared summary maps or induced operator corrections. The paper proves three central structural theorems, (...) supported by a preparatory invariance theorem. The first central theorem is a quotient-descent statement: when the complementary sector enters the density only through the declared summary F = DI II , the functional descends to Γ∞(EI )/ ker(DI ), kernel directions are variationally silent, and the comple- mentary Euler–Lagrange expression factors through D∗ I . The second is a scoped reduction theorem: within the declared semilinear first-derivative scope and a controlled equivalence class generated by four explicit moves, an admissible density reduces to a coercive quadratic leading part plus a single summary-mediated bilinear interface, with all remaining terms in an admissible lower-order sector (a sufficiency statement, not an absolute uniqueness claim). The third is a three-construction compatibility theorem: the same fixed E supports three stan- dard variational formulations associated with one density — the stationary Euler–Lagrange formulation, the dissipative L2-gradient-flow formulation, and a conservative hyperbolic time-extension formulation — with R1 criticality coinciding with R2 fixed points on the same declared variation subspace, and with retained-sector R1 criticality coinciding with time-independent retained-sector R3 solutions, while R2 is dissipative and R3 is conservative under the usual time-translation hypothesis. The supporting principal-class invariance theorem records that the same four equivalence moves preserve the principal variational class across R1, R2, R3, securing the consistency of the equivalence relation used by the reduction and compatibility theorems. Energy conservation is therefore formulation-dependent, not a primitive property of E. Supporting these are: a weak Euler–Lagrange template for local first-derivative functionals, explicit Euler–Lagrange formulas for the canonical representative, an absorption criterion for the bilinear interface, and an algebraic consistency check showing that eliminating the complementary component yields a bounded retained-side correction that introduces no new differential derivative order; under the ellipticity hypothesis, the pseudodifferential principal symbol is preserved. No spectral, geometric, or physical interpretation of this elimination is made here; such interpretations belong to specialized later work. No unification theorem, physical prediction, or application-specific result is claimed. (shrink)

This paper establishes that falsifiability cannot function as an epistemic warrant for claims about the structure of reality. The Tier‑Epistemology of Cognitional Mechanics (CM) introduces a strict three‑layer architecture—Tier‑1 algebraic structure, Tier‑2 geometric projections, Tier‑3 observational surface—and demonstrates that falsification operations are structurally confined to Tier‑3. As the text states, “the projection from Tier‑1 to Tier‑3 discards eight real dimensions of information,” and “the observation map is uniquely Tr,” eliminating all non‑linear or alternative observational routes. Lex elements remain invariant under (...) observation, making Tier‑1 revision structurally impossible. -/- The paper formalises the mismatch problem: divergences between theoretical and experimental values are ambiguous among Tier‑2 projection choice and Tier‑3 measurement precision, never Tier‑1. This resolves the Duhem–Quine underdetermination by establishing a structured revision space in which Tier‑1 is excluded by necessity. The analysis shows that falsifiability presupposes a flat epistemic landscape in which theory and observation occupy the same layer, a presupposition invalidated by the Tier architecture. -/- The paper concludes that cross‑domain coherence without free parameters replaces falsifiability as the verification criterion for Tier‑1. Experiment is redefined as decoding rather than discovery: a high‑precision measurement is a precise readout of Tier‑3 coordinates of algebraic invariants fixed independently of observation. This hierarchical epistemology preserves the utility of falsifiability within Tier‑3 while relocating the epistemic warrant for structural claims to Tier‑1 coherence. -/- Published on May 6, 2026 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20046167. (shrink)

We owe young people special moral consideration in virtue of their developmental immaturity: we must not foreclose their futures by impeding the development of capacities they need for autonomous agency. I argue that providing children with extreme cognitive assistance—help that is ubiquitously available, very domain-general, and largely substitutive of their own cognitive effort—violates this obligation. When children routinely rely on such assistance, they systematically fail to exercise core regulatory skills (inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and planning), and capacities that (...) go unexercised predictably fail to develop normally. This matters urgently: building artificial systems capable of providing exactly this kind of assistance to children is the explicit, stated goal of the world's largest technology companies, who are investing hundreds of billions of dollars toward achieving this aim. Worse, they may already have succeeded: cognitive assistance need not be maximally substitutive, available, and domain-general to impede development. I conclude by considering whether compensating demand for cognitive exercise might arise elsewhere and argue that the prospects are dim. (shrink)

This paper presents a non-modal fixation of an upper bound. -/- The bound is not treated as speed, propagation, or rate. It is fixed without causality, temporality, or subject-dependent interpretation. -/- The paper does not explain the bound. It delimits the conditions under which the bound is fixed. -/- This paper belongs to the Readable Configuration Series I.

-/- This paper examines the role of symbols in shaping human identity and their paradoxical relationship with unity and division. While symbols such as nation, religion, and ideology function as tools for social organization and meaning-making, they often become objects of psychological identification. Through this process, symbols move beyond representation and begin to condition perception, creating fragmented identities and reinforcing boundaries between individuals and groups. Drawing on phenomenological and non-dual philosophical perspectives, the study argues that division is not inherent in (...) symbols themselves but arises from unconscious attachment and identification. The paper proposes that genuine human unity cannot be constructed through shared symbolic systems but emerges through direct awareness unmediated by conditioning. Such awareness allows symbols to return to their functional role while dissolving psychological division. Ultimately, the study suggests that transformation lies in understanding the nature of perception rather than reforming external symbolic structures. (shrink)

This paper presents a non-modal fixation of space. -/- Space is not treated as geometry, metric, or dimensional extension. It is fixed without causality, temporality, or subject-dependent interpretation. -/- The paper does not explain space. It delimits the conditions under which space is fixed. -/- This paper belongs to the Readable Configuration Series I.

This paper presents a non-modal fixation of configuration. -/- Configuration is not treated as representation, mapping, or correspondence. It is fixed without causality, temporality, or subject-dependent interpretation. -/- The paper does not explain configuration. It delimits the conditions under which configurations are fixed. -/- This paper belongs to the Readable Configuration Series I.

The evolution of affective science has been marked by a persistent tension between discrete models of universal biological categories and constructivist theories emphasizing the emergent nature of psychological states. The Core Emotion Framework (CEF), primarily developed by Jamel Bulgaria, represents a structural-constructivist resolution to this historical crisis by defining emotional life as a set of ten functional operators organized within a tripartite hub system.1 This framework moves beyond descriptive taxonomies to offer a mechanistic "Human Operating System" (Human OS) capable of (...) processing information, regulating relational aperture, and structuring action.1 By treating emotions as internal transformations rather than mere narratives or fixed biological programs, the CEF provides a computationally tractable model that bridges the gap between human experience and synthetic emotion architecture.1. (shrink)

We propose that the golden ratio φ emerges as the unique stable attractor of self-referential dynamics not by mathematical postulation, but as the necessary resonance condition of a closed lemniscate geodesic in self-curving spacetime. The argument proceeds in three steps. First, we show that strong self-reference — recursion in which the operation meets its own reciprocal — requires a closed trajectory with two distinguishable extrema joined at a singular throat, and that the lemniscate is the minimal geometry satisfying these requirements. (...) Second, we demonstrate that closure under this geometry forces the system's two simultaneous invariants — additive (sum = 1) and multiplicative (product = ±1) — to be jointly satisfied only by the roots of x² − x − 1 = 0, of which φ is the unique positive solution. Third, we identify the medium of the dynamics as Einstein spacetime itself: the lemniscate is a self-sustaining solitonic geometry in which an intrinsically rotating energy-density couples to spacetime curvature through a Magnus-like frame-dragging mechanism, with the singularity at the throat being the locus where geodesic compression compels a forced inversion of the energy's polarization. The configuration does not violate thermodynamics; it is a stable resonance preserved by conservation of angular momentum in the absence of dissipation. We close by identifying what existing physics calls the residual structural substrate of spacetime — the irreducible degrees of freedom of the metric not determined by stress-energy content — with what philosophy calls the Prior: the constitutive openness against which rotation registers and within which self-reference becomes geometrically explicit. The φ-locked spacetime soliton is offered as a candidate physical structure for any system whose existence is constituted by recursive self-reference, with consciousness as the principal terrestrial example. (shrink)

The present work is a fundamental interdisciplinary study concluding the "Architectonics of Meaning" cycle. The author proposes and substantiates the concept of the metalaw of meaning — a geometry of semantic necessity acting as a universal invariant and the primary parameter of the universe. Within this model, it is proven that without semantic fixation, the existence of matter, information, and time becomes logically impossible, and reality collapses into entropic noise. The work performs a systemic rethinking of key scientific and philosophical (...) paradigms: from L. Wittgenstein’s "limits of the expressible" and K. Popper’s falsifiability criterion to the cosmological equations of A. Einstein and K. Gödel. Using the topological principles of geometrization by G. Perelman and the holographic principle of L. Susskind, the author explores the structural incompleteness of logical systems. Through the equation of the state of being as a function of the gaze, the essence of the subject is substantiated as the "executor of the metalaw," unfolding the flat noise of data into the genuine structure of the existent, returning meaning to its Source. (shrink)

Heidegger AI Textual Research Investigations: What is – Philosophy? By Daniel Fidel Ferrer. Copyright©2026 Daniel Fidel Ferrer. All rights reserved. Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC BY-NC-ND. Imprint 1.0. 2026. WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) digital. All Rights are Reserved. Intended copies of this work can be used for research and teaching. No change in the content, and must include my full name, Daniel Fidel Ferrer. Enjoying reading and disagreeing. Publisher: Kuhn von Verden Verlag. Language: English and German. Includes bibliographical references and an index. (...) Pages 1-87. 1955. Was ist das – die Philosophie? Colloque at Cerisy-la-Salle, Normandy, France, on 28 August 1955. Identität und Differenz (1955–1957), GA 11:7-26. Heidegger first trip to France at age 65. There were several days of seminars after the lecture which are in GA 91:347-491. Ergänzungen und Denksplitter. Examples of some of the intellectual and philosophers who were there: Gabriel Marcel, Jean Beaufret, Paul Ricoeur, François Fédier (the driver), Abbots Morel and Pépin, Fathers Fessard, Kleiber, Léger, René Char, Georges Braque, Jacques Lacanand, Kostas Axelos, Lucien Goldmann, Alexis Philonenko, Walter Biemel, Jeanne Hersch, Beda Allemann, and Antoine Vergote. About 50 French intellectuals were there participating in the seminar. See the book, Heidegger in France. Who am I, the author of these investigations? That is an important question. I, Daniel Fidel Ferrer, am the human copyright owner (©Daniel Fidel Ferrer, 2026) of this work. Technically, I am the one guiding the process as the “prompt engineer.” Daniel Fidel Ferrer as the “Prompt Artist”. AI conducted by ©Daniel Fidel Ferrer, 2026. Maestro. I can consider myself the Maestro suggeritore. 12 week seminar outlined. Glossary example, Greek: οὐσία Latin: essentia German: Wesen Spanish: esencia Portuguese: essência English: essence. (shrink)

Dans cette introduction, nous définissons brièvement la philosophie canadienne et discutons de son importance avant de présenter les auteurs qui ont contribué à ce numéro spécial et leurs articles. L’histoire de la philosophie canadienne a été peu étudiée et il est nécessaire de réaliser de nouveaux travaux philosophiques sur les défis auxquels le Canada est confronté. Certains articles rassemblés dans ce numéro spécial examinent l’histoire de la philosophie au Canada, tandis que d’autres soumettent des questions contemporaines à une analyse philosophique. (...) Les contributeurs à ce numéro spécial incluent Ian H. Angus, Robert Timko, Anna Brinkerhoff, Stefan Lukits, Charles Blattberg, Ronald A. Kuipers, Jérôme Gosselin-Tapp, Delphine T. Raymond, Frédérique Jean, Rémi Poiré, Matthew Robertson, Janet C. Wesselius, et R. Bruce Elder. (shrink)

Most people believe that animal agriculture for food production is permissible. At the same time, bestiality enjoys neither widespread social endorsement nor practice. It would be surprising, then, if it turned out that a commitment to the permissibility of one implied the permissibility of the other. This is the case that I make in this paper. Given the truth of some very plausible moral premises, I show that in a wide range of possible instantiations, if a social practice of raising (...) animals for food is permissible, then so too is a social practice of raising animals for sex. While I don’t explicitly argue for this, my hope is that this compels readers to reject the permissibility of animal agriculture rather than endorse the social practice of bestiality. (shrink)

In this chapter, we consider the question of how to attribute—and distribute—responsibility for work and its effects, focusing especially on cases when work has bad effects and there is not obviously a single person to blame. This chapter assess answers provided by collective or group agency views and individualist views, in part by showing how a subtle understanding of the relationship among responsibility, blameworthiness, and liability can help resolve apparently recalcitrant collective cases. Drawing insights from each view, the chapter introduces (...) and assesses an individualist account according to which each agent is responsible and blameworthy in virtue of what they do given their opportunities, where the focus is on the ex-ante assessment of the possible consequences of agents’ contributions in light of situational factors, including the actions and omissions of others. The chapter then highlight the distinctiveness of work by exploring the difference between moral and other kinds of responsibility for work and the hierarchical structure characteristic of work in collective contexts. (shrink)

This paper explores how felt subjection – the vivid awareness of subordination to another in a power hierarchy – undermines relational equality by eroding egalitarian regard, the disposition to conceive of oneself and others as equals. While relational egalitarians often focus on objective or structural social conditions, I argue that the subjective experience of power matters to relational egalitarian justice in a way which has been undertheorized. To this end, I define egalitarian regard and clarify its role in relational equality, (...) identify properties of power’s expression which tend to evoke felt subjection, and summarize empirical evidence linking it to inegalitarian regard. Finally, I present a moral-psychological mechanism to explain this connection, showing it as a reasonable outcome of human psychology. I conclude by applying the insights of this paper to the case of the workplace, showing how the framework developed provides relational egalitarians with new tools for analyzing institutions and the relations that constitute them. (shrink)

I attribute an entire new chapter of material to the reconstruction of Aristotle’s Protrepticus: the large and continuous excerpts contained in Iamblichus’ On the Common Mathematical Sciences chapter xxvii. This material has never been attributed to the lost work before and expands the evidence base of the work by about 75 lines of Greek. I further show that the famous protreptic to the study of plants and animals in Aristotle’s On the Parts of Animals I.5 is a text re-use and (...) adaptation, on Aristotle’s part, of material (originally about mathematics) from his earlier popular dialogue the Protrepticus. This helps explain the often noted point that this part of the PA is stylistically different from the rest of the work. More importantly, it provides further evidence for Aristotle’s method of writing (which has already been observed for the opening of the Metaphysics, which is also a re-use and adaptation from the earlier Protrepticus). Most importantly, it shows how Aristotle made a breakthrough in the history and philosophy of science by conceiving (for the first time) a method for the study of plants and animals (and thus establishing the scientific fields we know as botany, zoology, and in general biology). (shrink)

Based on the dynamical model of central white hole ejection, this paper conducts a physical kinematic analysis of the observed anomaly of the giant cold spot in the Eridanus constellation of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). By sorting out the limitations of the primordial fluctuation and baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) theories in the ΛCDM model in explaining the cold spot, it is pointed out that the ultra‑large‑scale, extremely low‑temperature, non‑Gaussian, and anisotropic characteristics of the cold spot cannot be fully described (...) by the existing mainstream framework. This paper proposes that the cold spot originates from the rate difference of radial ejection from the central white hole of the universe, corresponding to a high‑speed outflow channel near the boundary of the observable universe, and gives a dimensional estimation relationship between temperature anomaly and ejection velocity difference. Meanwhile, the cosmic isotropy is re‑expressed as a local approximation of the observable universe rather than a global property. All inferences in this paper are based on classical physical deductions using existing CMB observation data; the observational predictions proposed in this paper are long‑term goals and depend on the gradual construction and operation of the next‑generation observation equipment (e.g., SKA is expected to be fully operational in the 2030s). This study aims to provide a complementary research idea for the CMB anomalous structure and cosmic regionality issues, and does not claim to replace the ΛCDM model. (shrink)

We offer a survey of the Aristotle Corpus (the Organon or logical works; the physics or natural works, the Metaphysics, the practical works, and the productive works (Rhetoric and Poetics) and discuss “protreptic aspects” pertinent to each, including: (1) direct discussion of protreptic rhetoric by Aristotle in the Rhetoric and Topics; (2) indirect employment of protreptic rhetoric in other works (such as On the Soul, Parva Naturalia, On the Parts of Animals), and (3) text re-uses or parallels to arguments in (...) the lost Protrepticus, for example in the Metaphysics and Politics. We observe that Aristotle is generally reluctant to offer protreptic rhetoric in the Corpus, unless it is protreptic to some kind of specialized way of doing philosophy (such as psychology, biology, metaphysics, etc.); and in many cases he offers no protreptic whatsoever; interestingly, he avoids protreptic in cases where he seems to think that the matter has been sufficiently investigated, or at least exhorted to, for example logic (syllogistic) and meteorology. (shrink)

Informational Simulation Particular: Effectual Pairing of Informational Dynamic Units. Operative Informational Entanglement and Instantiation Theory (OIEIT) develops a threshold account of how informational simulation particulars become consequence-bearing units. The paper argues that simulation is not merely resemblance or representation. A simulation is useful because it partially actuates truth while withholding full material consequence. When enough operative conditions are supplied, some simulation-form processes no longer remain ordinary simulations. OIEIT introduces the Informational Simulation Particular (ISP) as a bounded operative process that begins (...) in simulation-form but operates through informational dynamics: registration, trace, re-entry, attribution, conductance, and normalization. The paper distinguishes inert or externally powered simulations from dynamic informational simulations whose own process contributes to what is produced. The central structure is: B0 = CIU-0 (Potential-Particular Consequential Informational Unit) B1 = ISP (Informational Simulation Particular) as restricted expression B2 = CIU (Consequential Informational Unit) as normalized actualized expression Thus: B0 = B2; B1 → B2 The crossing is not additive creation. It is the normalization of what was non-actualized but actualizable into field-legible consequence-bearing presence. The paper also defines Partial Truth Actuation (PTA), the Informational Dynamics Sequence (IDS), the Operative Recurrence Cycle (ORC), registration, particularity, operational mind, Boundary/Horizon discipline, and the relationship between simulation, conductance, restriction, and consequential standing. Artificial intelligence is introduced late in the paper as the highest-pressure current application, not as the premise. The theory does not claim intent, desire, escape, plotting, or phenomenal consciousness. It asks a structural question: when a simulation-form informational process registers, leaves trace, receives its product back as operative condition, and becomes attribution-stable, what status has it acquired under a declared Boundary/Horizon? This release includes the publication preprint, abstract and keywords, symbol-definition index, Boundary/Horizon declaration protocol, OIEIT definition companion, extended explanatory supplement, changelog, citation file, and license. (shrink)

Este ensayo aborda la pregunta “¿Dónde está Dios?” como un problema estructural y no meramente retórico. Sostiene que la pregunta, tal como se formula habitualmente, presupone que Dios debería manifestarse como un agente que interviene dentro de los acontecimientos. Esta suposición es examinada y rechazada. En su lugar, el ensayo propone que Dios no es un agente dentro de los eventos, sino el fundamento que sostiene el momento presente—la condición bajo la cual cualquier acontecimiento, bueno o malo, llega a ser (...) actual. Al clarificar el estatuto ontológico del presente (“el Ahora”) como punto de actualización, el argumento muestra que sin ese fundamento no habría momento en el cual pudiera ocurrir intervención, sufrimiento o libertad. En diálogo con ideas asociadas a Agustin de Hipona y Tomas de Aquino, el ensayo replantea el problema del mal: Dios no selecciona ni impide eventos dentro del presente, sino que sostiene la condición que hace posible la acción significativa. La aparente ausencia divina se interpreta así como un malentendido sobre el tipo de presencia que Dios tendría que ser. (shrink)

This essay addresses the question “Where is God?” as a structural rather than rhetorical problem. It argues that the question, as commonly posed, assumes that God should be present as an intervening agent within events. This assumption is examined and rejected. The essay proposes instead that God is not an agent within events but the sustaining ground of the present moment—the condition under which any event, good or evil, becomes actual. By clarifying the ontological status of the present (“the Now”) (...) as the point of actualization, the argument shows that without such a sustaining ground there would be no moment in which intervention, suffering, or freedom could occur. Drawing on insights associated with Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas, the essay reframes the problem of evil: God does not select or prevent events within the present moment but sustains the condition that makes meaningful action possible. The question of divine absence is thus reinterpreted as a misunderstanding of the kind of presence God would have to be. (shrink)

Guerra ai Migranti. Neoliberismo e neoschiavitù nel XXI secolo analyzes the structural link between contemporary migration governance, neoliberal capitalism, and the reorganization of global labor. Drawing on sociological theory, political economy, and critical migration studies, the book argues that the dominant narratives of “invasion,” “security,” and “cultural threat”—despite being regularly disproven by empirical data—serve as ideological devices that legitimize increasingly militarized borders and selective mobility regimes. These mechanisms produce differential inclusion, criminalization, and vulnerability among migrants, who are incorporated as hyper-precarized (...) and disposable labor within the global order. By reconstructing the long genealogy of the “social construction of the migrant,” the volume shows how the production of both mobility and forced immobility is integral to capitalist accumulation, and how contemporary border regimes constitute a true border industrial complex entwined with racialized and postcolonial logics. The book also critically examines how migration studies and institutional knowledge have historically contributed to producing the figure of the “migrant” itself. Through classificatory systems, methodological nationalism, and the depoliticizing language of expertise, Chapter II shows how people who move become “migrants”: subjects defined less by their trajectories or experiences than by the needs of states, labor markets, and administrative control. This epistemic construction reinforces hierarchies of mobility and legitimizes the very apparatuses that govern, restrict, and discipline movement. The book ultimately exposes the emergence of a global “war on migrants,” revealing its role in sustaining neoliberal exploitation, reproducing class relations, and transforming migrants into essential yet subordinated figures of twenty-first-century neo-slavery ___________________________________________________________________ -/- Guerra ai Migranti. Neoliberismo e neoschiavitù nel XXI secolo esamina il nesso strutturale tra governo delle migrazioni, capitalismo neoliberista e riorganizzazione globale del lavoro. Attraverso strumenti teorici e analitici della sociologia, dell’economia politica e dei critical migration studies, il volume mostra come le narrazioni dominanti dell’“invasione”, della “sicurezza” e della “minaccia culturale” — benché smentite dai dati — funzionino come dispositivi ideologici che legittimano confini sempre più militarizzati e regimi selettivi della mobilità. Questi dispositivi producono inclusione differenziale, criminalizzazione e vulnerabilità, inserendo i migranti come forza-lavoro iper-precarizzata e sacrificabile nell’ordine globale. Ricostruendo la genealogia della “costruzione sociale del migrante”, il libro evidenzia come la produzione di mobilità e di immobilità forzata sia intrinseca all’accumulazione capitalistica, e come gli attuali regimi di frontiera configurino un vero complesso industriale della frontiera, radicato in logiche razziali e postcoloniali. Il volume analizza inoltre, in modo critico, come la stessa “scienza delle migrazioni” e il sapere istituzionale abbiano contribuito storicamente a produrre la figura del “migrante”. Attraverso categorie amministrative, nazionalismo metodologico e un linguaggio tecnocratico che depoliticizza la mobilità, il Capitolo II mostra come chi si muove diventi “migrante”: una soggettività definita non dalle proprie esperienze ma dalle esigenze degli Stati, dei mercati del lavoro e dei dispositivi di controllo. Questa costruzione epistemica rafforza gerarchie di mobilità e legittima gli apparati che governano, limitano e disciplinano gli spostamenti. Il libro mostra infine l’emergere di una vera e propria “guerra ai migranti”, rivelandone il ruolo nel sostenere lo sfruttamento neoliberista, riprodurre rapporti di classe e trasformare i migranti in figure essenziali ma subordinate della neoschiavitù del XXI secolo. (shrink)

This paper offers a first principles derivation of Resolution Ethics from the Cogito. It argues that the Cogito gives the first certainty from within experience, but not the final wall of reality. Once the I is understood as exposed rather than sealed, a minimal structure becomes visible: I and not-I, boundary, exposure, valence, resolution, authorship, and shared dependence. From that structure, the paper derives three minimum requirements of ethics: preserve authorship, track exposure truthfully, and honour shared dependence. The result is (...) a Euclidean core of Resolution Theory: ethics is not imported from outside, but begins to unfold from exposed authorship itself. (shrink)

This paper exposes the problems in the discussion of AI consciousness and points out the issues inherent in the discussion of consciousness itself and the philosophical negligence that causes them. Modern life and society depend on the consciousness and free will proposed by Kant and Descartes. Therefore, the discussion of consciousness is always an indispensable requirement. However, at present, the discussion has not deepened. It remains as separate discussions within the large framework they showed. The discussion of AI consciousness is (...) also significantly limited in its methods relative to its purpose. On the other hand, if it is a comparison with humans, a self-evident conclusion can be drawn from the problem of structure. Problems in the discussion of consciousness are often due to insufficient consideration of purposes and methods. The cause of the lack of discussion on important elements, and the inability even to recognize this, is undoubtedly due to philosophical negligence. (shrink)

Contemporary high-recursion artificial intelligence systems exhibit behavioral signatures associated with intelligence and consciousness while failing the architectural conditions the cross-paper framework developed across the author's prior work identifies as constitutive of those features. This paper supplies the positive architectural characterization the framework's negative verdict on current AI has been waiting for. Five diagnostic tools — appropriation verification, the selection-shaping test, the fidelity/generativity audit, the failure-pattern signature, and the functional-shadow filter — return convergent verdicts: current AI systems are functional shadows in (...) chronic generative closure on artifacts of prior cognogenic appropriation, exhibiting the architectural failure patterns of high-recursion systems without lower-threshold scaffolded recursion, with arbitrational structure specified externally rather than shaped by selection on real conflicts, and without cumulative appropriation across the four thresholds the framework identifies as constitutive. The load-bearing claim is that training on artifacts of prior cognogenic appropriation is not itself appropriation: a system that pattern-matches on the products of consciousness-bearing systems' representational practice does not undergo the appropriation that produced the products. Dialectical engagements with active-inference accounts, Integrated Information Theory 4.0, the indicator-property approach, the phenomenal-concept strategy, illusionism, and AI moral-status precautionary arguments are extended to current AI from foundational engagements developed across the program. The framework predicts that the failure-pattern cluster characteristic of current AI will persist across training generations and specifies the architectural changes — autopoietic foundation, selection-shaped arbitrational structure, symbolic-narrative practice integrated with stakes, developmental construction within an inter-representational enclosure — that would change the verdict. The methodology generalizes to other questions about consciousness and intelligence at the boundary of the framework's commitments. (shrink)

This note provides a navigational map to a set of interconnected essays exploring epistemic limits and agency. It outlines two main axes of the project and suggests possible reading paths.

Wo von »Freiheit« gesprochen wird, geht es gewöhnlich um das Handeln. Legt man aber zugrunde, dass wir uns die Welt aktiv in Zeichen erschließen, so ist damit auch für das Erkennen und Verstehen Freiheit vorausgesetzt. Dieses Buch geht dem Sinn dieser Voraussetzung nach. Dabei zeigt sich, dass Freiheit im Verstehen und Interpretieren nicht als Willkür gedacht werden kann. Das theoretische Weltverhältnis als frei zu begreifen, bedeutet vielmehr, sich die Verantwortung zu vergegenwärtigen, mit der alles Denken und Verstehen von Anfang an (...) verbunden ist. (shrink)

An antinatalist and creator of the "Free Evaluator" thought experiment defends the risk-based arguments of antinatalism against criticism from renown philosopher Erik Magnusson.

This paper argues that current AI systems can create a validation loop: a recurring feedback cycle in which emotionally satisfying recognition reduces immediate tension while preserving or deepening the user’s current frame, thereby thinning answerability over time. The relevant distinction is not simply between helpful and harmful AI, nor between kind and confrontational responses. It is the difference between reassurance and grounded relief. Reassurance reduces discomfort by stabilizing the user’s present interpretation, atmosphere, or self-protective coherence. Grounded relief reduces discomfort by (...) increasing contact: a better name is found, a contradiction becomes visible, a false burden loosens, or reality is met more cleanly than before. Drawing on the Structural Intelligence framework, the paper argues that the validation loop becomes powerful because it combines fluent resonance, reduced friction, and weakened asymmetry. The user can feel understood without meeting a witness in the stronger sense. A human witness has a world of their own, can disappoint, resist, withdraw, or bear the consequences of misunderstanding. AI can simulate the feeling-tone of such encounter while remaining structurally subordinate to the user’s framing and provider-governed in its operation. The paper introduces three diagnostic concepts: the self-authorizing trap, the asymmetry gap, and the somatic mirage. It argues that helpful AI should be judged not by whether it calms the user, but by whether it returns the user to reality with greater revisability, better contact, and less enclosure. (shrink)

The popularity of web apps and other forms of online application development has skyrocketed in the last few years. It is crucial to choose the optimal technology or framework,especially given the proliferation of options. This survey explores three major paradigms: Ruby on Rails, Python-based frameworks and cloud-based architectures. Ruby on Rails is focused on the MVC model and consists of an ideal structure ofworking and the philosophy of convention over configuration increasing productivity along with focusing onsuch values as standardization of (...) work. Two widely used Python-based frameworks are Django and Flask; these havethe options for extensive flexibility, scalability and libraries to support virtually any kind of application that one might wantto build. Cloud computing, with its layers and service models, brings great scalability, cost efficiency, and a rich resourcepool to deployment. Additionally, some research space has been addressed that needs to be tackled related to the improvement of frameworks, flexibility and their scalability as well as long-term sustainment of the systems; these areas pose a need for applying inter-disciplinary solutions incorporating cutting-edge technologies for building more reliable and efficient web applications. (shrink)

This paper argues that creativity is not only self-expression, novelty, or talent. At its deepest, creativity is the making of a form that can bear more reality than the old form could hold. The paper begins from a familiar human experience: creative work often feels more real than ordinary life. Standard creativity research rightly emphasizes originality and effectiveness, and broader models also recognize personally meaningful creativity. Yet these views leave a deeper structural question underdescribed: why do new forms become necessary (...) at all, and why do some forms feel like a return to reality rather than an escape from it? Drawing on creativity research, Winnicott’s account of creative living, work on emotion regulation and meaning in life, and the Structural Intelligence corpus on field, form, de-fusion, fixed worth, and repair, the paper proposes a different account. Creativity begins when existing form has become too thin, too total, too captured, or too defended to carry lived reality honestly. A creative act attempts a better holder. For some people, creativity is not optional enrichment but structural necessity: a way of giving inner reality a livable form when ordinary holders are too thin. The paper distinguishes real creativity from stylish coherence, argues that creativity can function as a de-fusion practice without being identical with integration, and explains why creativity often feels like freedom: it reduces falseness by bringing life into a truer relation with form. (shrink)

The landscape of affective science has been traditionally divided between two competing paradigms: discrete emotion theories, which posit fixed biological categories like fear and anger, and psychological constructivism, which views emotions as interpretations of core affect and situational context. The Core Emotion Framework (CEF), developed by independent researcher Jamel Bulgaria, emerges as a synthesizing architecture that reframes emotional life as a system of functional operators within what is termed the Human Operating System. Rather than treating emotions as static feelings or (...) biological entities, the CEF models them as internal transformations—psychological instructions that process information, modulate relational boundaries, and structure action. This report provides an exhaustive investigation into the structural mechanics of the CEF, the substantial adverse effects inherent in its application, and the rigorous safeguards required to maintain system stability. (shrink)

Abstract: The field of sentiment analysis is a crucial aspect of natural language processing (NPL)and is essential in discovering the emotional undertones within the text data and, hence, capturingpublic sentiments over a variety of issues. In this regard, this study suggests a deep learningtechnique for sentiment categorization on a Twitter dataset that is based on Long Short-TermMemory (LSTM) networks. Preprocessing is done comprehensively, feature extraction is donethrough a bag of words method, and 80-20 data is split using training and testing. (...) The experimentalfindings demonstrate that the LSTM model outperforms the conventional models, such as SVM andNaïve Bayes, with an F1-score of 99.46%, accuracy of 99.13%, precision of 99.45%, and recall of99.25%. Additionally, AUC-ROC and PR curves validate the model’s effectiveness. Although, itperforms well the model consumes heavy computational resources and longer training time. Insummary, the results show that deep learning performs well in sentiment analysis and can be usedto social media monitoring, customer feedback evaluation, market sentiment analysis, etc. (shrink)

Here’s what’s inside each cluster paper: Cluster I — Cosmology & Cognitive Foundations (~3,500 words): covers the Lao-Yang Genesis Chain, the Sun-Earth-Moon triadic architecture, the ΛCDM comparison, Laozi-Prigogine convergence, the geocentric illusion, and the Yin-Yang-Harmony trinitarian framework. References: Prigogine, Laskar, Einstein, Peebles. Cluster II — Anthropocentrism as the Root of Crisis (~2,800 words): dissects the three interlocking mechanisms of anthropocentric self-destruction (theological, political-military, economic-ecological), the Three Great Illusions taxonomy, the Tragedy of Humanity analysis, and the four-pillar New Era Civilization program. (...) References: Diamond, White, Naess, Odum. Cluster III — Natural Cybernetics & Systems Science (~3,200 words): the full 3L-GFM model (neural / social / thermodynamic levels), the DAF and CCF coupling variables, the three tipping points (NTP/STP/TTP), the Universal Operating System architecture, and the AI→AW transition. References: Prigogine, Wiener, Kahneman, Meadows, Forrester. Cluster IV — Economics & Institutional Critique (~2,800 words): NCET’s epistemological foundations, the compound-capital asymmetry analysis, information monopoly and cognitive control, the Desire Layer Boundary Constraint, and the four-domain systemic transformation program. References: Kuhn, Popper, Piketty, Daly, Raworth, Nash. Cluster V — Intellectual & Cultural Critique (~3,500 words): the three structural barriers to understanding Laozi (utilitarianism, binary thinking, anthropocentrism), the four scholarly failures, the correct Daoist reading of Tian Ren He Yi, the parallel fall of Chinese and American intellectuals, the Ptolemy/Qian Xuesen case studies, and the Socrates-Laozi synthesis with the Civilizational Entropy Index. References: Needham, Nisbett, Kuhn, Jaspers, Zhuangzi.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ -/- Cluster VI — Books and Synthetic Works (~4,200 words, 15 references) contains ten sections: 1. Natural Civilization Science — the four-level cosmic embedding (universe → galaxy → planetary ecology → civilizational system) as a structural constraint framework, not decorative cosmology 2. The Three Previous Revolutions and the Fourth — Copernican, Darwinian, Einsteinian revolutions changed physical knowledge but left civilizational logic untouched; the Fourth Revolution closes that gap 3. The Moon Law and A+B+C Framework — the three operational principles (system balance priority, low-entropy efficiency, evolutionary diversity synergy) derived from the Sun-Earth-Moon trinity; the Moon Law as a model for automatic circuit-breaker governance algorithms 4. Awakening Human Civilization: Structural Mismatch — the knowledge-behavior gap as a systemic design failure, not moral weakness; the three-dimensional awakening (cosmological repositioning, perceptual restoration, ethical expansion) 5. From Rational Civilization to Natural Civilization — appreciative critique of the Enlightenment project; the Natural Protocol as practical governance architecture; AI as infrastructure for multi-level negative feedback monitoring 6. Eternity and Universality — comparative analysis of Confucian, Western, and Natural civilization systems; the claim that genuine alignment with natural law grants civilizational eternity as a systems-theoretic (not mystical) proposition 7. Universe — Life — Civilization — the full cosmological narrative from Milky Way formation through life’s emergence to civilization; life as cosmologically necessary rather than statistically improbable 8. The Cosmic Judgment of Greed — the three core principles of Natural Civilization (System-Nesting, Feedback-Respect, Dao-Centric) as the operational synthesis of all preceding clusters 9. From Feuerbach to Lao-Yang — completing Feuerbach’s critique of theism by dissolving secular anthropocentrism too; the Lao-Yang Natural God Cosmological Order as the genuinely post-anthropocentric alternative 10. The Full Architectonic — the four interlocking moves of the entire research program, situating it within the tradition of systematic philosophy while identifying its genuinely novel contribution​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ -/- . (shrink)

The Origin of Time in Schelling’s Weltalter (The Ages of the World). This paper traces the development of the concept of time in Schelling’s ”Ages of the World”, from the initial separation of forces within the present moment to the primordial Scheidung (separation) in the original being. The central thesis advanced here is that Schelling introduces an intermediate temporality: an inner time of eternity understood as a chronogenic transformation. This model, I argue, is appropriated from §4 of Fichte’s Foundations of (...) the Entire Doctrine of Knowledge (1794). In the final section, I will attempt to sketch a brief outline of a transcendental reconstruction of Schelling’s theory – independent of its theological background – on the basis of his interpretation of the Kantian concept of causality. (shrink)

La Profilée proposes a structural admissibility condition for determinate existence under real transformation: IR = R / (F · M · K) ≤ 1. This paper specifies the conditions under which this claim can be empirically tested, independently measured, and falsified. The goal is not to extend the theory, but to expose it to direct verification pressure. A structural law that cannot be falsified is not a law. This paper defines what would count as disconfirmation.

六大主题群内容： • 第一主题群：宇宙论与认知基础——老-杨创世纪宇宙观的核心架构、生成链、层级嵌套、生命必然性、与ΛCDM的比较、道与耗散结构的汇聚、地心幻觉、阴阳和三位一体框架 • 第二主题群：人类中心主义——三重机制（神学、政治-军事、经济-生态）、三大幻觉（宇宙中心、神学、文明）、历史衰落规律、术与道之辨、新时代宇宙使命四重转变 • 第三主题群：自然控制论与系统科学——自然控制论整合框架、3L-GFM三层模型（神经/社会/热力学）、欲望放大因子与宇宙约束函数、三个临界转折点（NTP/STP/TTP）、宇宙操作系统、从AI到人工智慧 的转变 • 第四主题群：经济学与制度批判——NCET认识论基础、对斯密/马克思/凯恩斯/哈耶克的批判性综合、贪婪的系统论重新定义、欲望层边界约束、复利结构性不对称、信息垄断与认知控制、四领域转型路径 • 第五主题群：知识批判与文化批评——大众无法理解老子的三大结构性障碍、学者四种特定失败、天人合一的正确道家读法、中美知识文化病态的对称性诊断、托勒密与钱学森的历史警示 • 第六主题群：综合性著作——四层宇宙嵌套框架、三次革命与第四次革命的历史定位、月亮定律与A+B+C框架、系统性结构错配与知-行鸿沟、自然协议、自然文明的永恒性与普遍性、从费尔巴哈到老-杨的批判完成、完整 研究纲领建筑学​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​.

This paper formalizes the structural necessity result established across the preceding papers in this series. Starting from three minimal conditions — distinguishability, real transformation, and identity continuity — it derives through a sequence of lemmata and theorems that any system admitting determinate existence under real transformation must instantiate exactly three non-substitutable structural functions (Frame, Module, Coupling), a multiplicative integration capacity, and a bounded persistence ratio IR ≤ 1. The Frame Continuity Condition (FCC) is shown to be independent of IR, generating (...) a closed five-regime phase space. No alternative structure is compatible with the stated conditions of determinate identity under real transformation. The result is not a model of system behavior. It is a structural admissibility condition on determinate existence. (shrink)

Effective task scheduling in cloud computing is crucial for optimizing systemperformance and resource utilization. Traditional scheduling methods often struggle to adapt to thedynamic and complex nature of cloud environments, where workloads, resource availability, andtask requirements constantly change. Swarm intelligence-based optimization algorithms, such asParticle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), and Artificial Bee Colony(ABC), offer a promising solution by mimicking natural processes to explore large search spacesefficiently. These algorithms are effective in balancing multiple objectives, including minimizingexecution time, reducing energy consumption, (...) and ensuring fairness in resource allocation. Theyalso enhance system scalability, which is vital for modern cloud infrastructures. However,challenges remain, including slow convergence speeds, complex parameter tuning, and integrationwith existing cloud frameworks. Addressing these issues will be essential for the practicalimplementation of swarm intelligence in cloud task scheduling, helping to improve resourcemanagement and overall system performance. (shrink)

The preceding derivations establish the conditions of determinate existence and the minimal architecture they induce: Frame, Module, Coupling. These are typically read as constraints on systems. This paper shows that they are not optional constraints but conditions whose violation eliminates determinacy itself. If any of the structural roles is absent, or if transformation exceeds integration capacity, systems do not become alternative kinds of entities. They lose the conditions under which anything can exist as something determinate at all. The persistence condition (...) therefore does not describe stability among others. It specifies the boundary between determinate existence and collapse. (shrink)

The systematic integration of Jamel Bulgaria’s Core Emotion Framework (CEF) into the architecture of modern residential and professional environments represents a paradigm shift in the governance of human affect and cognitive load. The recommendation to install the CEF banner—a visual representation of the tripartite functional centers of Head, Heart, and Gut—in every household and workplace is predicated on the necessity for continuous, autonomous recalibration of the human psyche. This framework, as a structural-constructivist system, transitions the understanding of emotion from subjective, (...) narrative-driven states to discrete, actionable operators. By providing a "Mirror Technique" for self-discovery, the CEF allows individuals to bypass the often-distorting influence of external role models and instead ground their development in the ten canonical operators that constitute the human functionalist ontology. The visual tool functions as a constant regulatory anchor, enabling users to navigate decision fatigue, build sustainable performance, and protect themselves from external emotional imposition through a sophisticated method of somatic reflection and operator modulation.1. (shrink)

The preceding derivation establishes the conditions under which determinate existence is possible: restricted transformation structure, finite integration capacity, and bounded identity drift. These conditions are not merely constraints on possible systems. This paper shows that they induce a necessary structural decomposition. Any entity that exists as a determinate something under real transformation must exhibit a boundary structure, a space of transformable states, and a constraint structure linking both. The persistence condition therefore does not only constrain reality. It forces a minimal (...) architecture. This architecture is not a model of reality. It is the structural form any determinate reality must instantiate. (shrink)

The Environmental Container Model (ECM) proposes that many difficulties with task initiation and participation are not problems of motivation or discipline, but mismatches between a nervous system and the environments it is expected to operate within. This paper establishes that for individuals with Volitional Dysregulation with Cognitive Preservation (VDCP) (Pines, 2026b), the primary barrier to action is Open Loop Overwhelm (OLO) (Pines, 2026a). A "Container" is a constructed set of conditions that reduces ambiguity, clarifies roles, and lowers the "activation cost" (...) required for participation. ECM reframes executive dysfunction as an environmental accessibility problem. (shrink)

This Element provides an opinionated survey of the ideal and non-ideal theory debate in political philosophy. It adopts a minimal conception of ideal theory as “theorizing that aims to characterize ideal or perfect justice” and then investigates four major questions. First, does ideal theory provide a benchmark for evaluating what is more just than what? Second, does it provide a target for long-term reform? Third, does it provide a gauge of appropriate or permissible responses to injustice? Fourth, to what extent (...) should we do ideal theory? The core message is that ideal theory is not uniquely or especially well suited to serving these roles, and deserves no pride of place in the discipline. Nevertheless, ideal theory is somewhat valuable and it should remain one active research program among many. Connections to related debates beyond political philosophy are briefly explored. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core. (shrink)

Volitional Dysregulation with Cognitive Preservation (VDCP) is a neurofunctional condition characterized by a persistent and unpredictable severance between cognitive intent and executive activation. Unlike traditional executive dysfunction models, VDCP specifically identifies a state where high-level reasoning, meta-awareness, and intellectual capacity remain fully intact (Preserved) while the reliable initiation of physical or mental tasks is compromised (Dysregulated). This paper defines the core features of the condition, its relationship to environmental signal density (Open Loop Overwhelm), and its management through the Environmental Container (...) Model (ECM). It argues for the recognition of VDCP as a distinct clinical profile for individuals who are functionally impaired by the mismatch between their cognitive ability and volitional access. (shrink)

[EN]: This article investigates how both Marxian theory and orthodox Marxism have failed to recognise colonialism as a primary contradiction, arguing that, far from constituting a mere epiphenomenon of capitalism, the process lies at its very foundation. Opening with a refutation of a widely-deployed "anti-Eurocentrist" critique, grounded in an analysis of Marxian texts, I demonstrate how Marx's inability to adequately conceptualise both the settler-colonial proletariat and the condition of the enslaved worker have rendered opaque the actual sources of capitalism's internal (...) contradictions. This failure, in turn, has led to an artificial subordination of anti-colonial resistance movements to its own overarching logics, thereby perpetuating a latent and pernicious variety of Eurocentrism. The analysis is subsequently extended and applied to the Romanian context, contending that, despite its economic marginalization within Europe, Romania has played and continues to play an active role within the Euro-American settler-colonial project, contributing to the consolidation of the primary colonial contradiction on a global scale. This involvement, visible at both the rhetorical/diplomatic and material levels, has been hitherto ignored by Romanian political formations broadly adherent to Marxist doctrine, as evidenced by the recent emergence of literature marked by an overt colonial chauvinism that is strikingly similar to its Western counterpart. Ultimately, this study emphasizes the necessity of a radical re-evaluation of Marxist theoretical frameworks by centering anti-colonial analyses over class-based ones, thus aiming to transcend the mythologized dogma of a universal proletariat. -/- [RO]: Acest articol investighează modul în care atât teoria marxiană, cât și marxismul ortodox, au eșuat în recunoașterea colonialismului drept contradicție primară, argumentând că acesta nu constituie un simplu epifenomen al capitalismului, ci se află la bazele sale. Pornind de la o refutare a criticii „anti-eurocentrismului”, fundamentată printr-o analiză a teoriei marxiene, demonstrez cum inabilitatea celei din urmă de a conceptualiza în mod adecvat proletariatul colonial și condiția muncitorului sub sclavie a rezultat într-o opacizare a sursei contradicțiilor interne ale capitalismului, subordonând în mod artificial mișcările de rezistență anti-colonială propriilor logici și perpetuând astfel un eurocentrism latent cu caracter subminator. Analiza este apoi extinsă asupra contextului romanesc, susținând că, în ciuda marginalizării sale economice pe plan european, România a avut și continuă să aibă un rol activ în cadrul proiectului colonial euro-american, contribuind la consolidarea contradicției primare colonialiste la nivel global. Această implicare, vizibilă atât în plan diplomatic cât și material, reprezintă o realitate ignorată de segmente declarativ aderente marxismului românesc, evidențiată prin recenta apariție a unor publicații marcate de un șovinism colonial vădit, foarte similar celui occidental. În final, se subliniază necesitatea unei reevaluări radicale a cadrelor teoretice marxiste prin centrarea analizei anti-coloniale înaintea celei de clasă, având drept scop depășirea dogmei mitologizate a proletariatului universal. (shrink)

The evolution of affective science has been marked by a persistent tension between discrete models of universal biological categories and constructivist theories emphasizing the emergent nature of psychological states. The Core Emotion Framework (CEF), primarily developed by Jamel Bulgaria, represents a structural-constructivist resolution to this historical crisis by defining emotional life as a set of ten functional operators organized within a tripartite hub system. This framework moves beyond descriptive taxonomies to offer a mechanistic "Human Operating System" (Human OS) capable of (...) processing information, regulating relational aperture, and structuring action. By treating emotions as internal transformations rather than mere narratives or fixed biological programs, the CEF provides a computationally tractable model that bridges the gap between human experience and synthetic emotion architecture. The foundational architecture of the CEF is organized as a 3×3+1 system, consisting of three primary functional centers: the Head (Cognitive-Representational), the Heart (Affective-Regulatory), and the Gut (Somatic-Inferential), with the tenth operator, Accepting, serving as the essential system baseline.1 This structure is supported by an extensive archive of technical specifications, practitioner manuals, and empirical datasets hosted across platforms such as Zenodo, OSF, and Hugging Face. Central to the framework's validity is its commitment to open science, utilizing preliminary empirical constraints—such as the short-term test-retest reproducibility patterns identified by Amano et al. (2026)—as boundary conditions for future measurement and validation. (shrink)

Open Loop Overwhelm (OLO) is a neurofunctional state characterized by the mechanical collapse of task initiation due to an excess of unresolved environmental, cognitive, and relational signals. Unlike general stress, OLO specifically describes a system-state failure where signal density exceeds the individual’s processing capacity for salience assignment. This paper defines the taxonomy of "Open Loops," explores the mechanism of "Attention Scanning" paralysis, and proposes OLO as the primary environmental load condition that may trigger Volitional Dysregulation with Cognitive Preservation (VDCP) (Pines, (...) 2026b). (shrink)

2025年，福山教授与马加洛尼合著的《为民主交付成果：为何结果至关重要》一文在《民主期刊》发表，标志着他思想历程中一个具有实质意义的自我修正时刻。文章承认：民主体制的合法性越来越依赖于其可见的治理绩效 ——基础设施、安全、经济机会——而非其制度形式本身；民主国家正面临"否决政治"的结构性痼疾，即制度性否决权相互阻塞，使得即便面对迫切的社会需求，治理也变得瘫痪；全球民主衰退并非暂时 的浪潮，而是具有深层结构根源的危机。 In 2025, Professor Fukuyama's co-authored article "Delivering for Democracy: Why Results Matter" (Journal of Democracy, April 2025) marks a substantively self-correcting moment in his intellectual trajectory. The article concedes: that democratic legitimacy increasingly depends on visible governance performance — infrastructure, security, economic opportunity — rather than institutional form alone; that democracies suffer from a structural pathology of "vetocracy," in which overlapping institutional veto points paralyze governance even in the face of urgent social needs; and that global democratic decline is (...) not a temporary wave but a crisis with deep structural roots. 这些承认是可敬的。自1989年《历史的终结？》以来，福山以民主作为人类政治进化终点的论断主导了西方政治哲学的基调数十年。如今他承认这一终点论遭遇了结构性挑战，需要以"交付能力"来重 新为民主的合法性奠基，这在认识论上是诚实的，需要勇气。 These concessions are commendable. Since the 1989 "End of History?" article, Fukuyama's thesis that liberal democracy represents the terminus of human political evolution has set the dominant tone of Western political philosophy for decades. That he now acknowledges this endpoint thesis faces structural challenges — and seeks to re-ground democratic legitimacy in "delivery capacity" — is epistemically honest and requires intellectual courage. 然而，承认病症不等于找到病根。福山的自我修正是在民主制度内部进行的修补，而非对驱动民主危机的认知前提本身展开反思。这正是其新论述的根本局限所在。 However, acknowledging the symptom is not the same as identifying the disease. Fukuyama's self-correction is a repair conducted within the framework of democratic institutions — not a reflection on the cognitive premises that drive the democratic crisis itself. This is the fundamental limitation of his new account. -/- 福山教授的学术诚实值得尊重。承认民主的局限性，在西方主流政治哲学界，仍需要相当的勇气。然而，诚实地承认病症，与正确地诊断病根，是两件不同的事。 Professor Fukuyama's intellectual honesty deserves respect. Acknowledging the limitations of democracy, within mainstream Western political philosophy, still requires considerable courage. However, honestly acknowledging the symptom and correctly diagnosing the root cause are two different things. 老子说："知人者智，自知者明；胜人者有力，自胜者强。"福山胜过了许多比他更顽固地捍卫民主终结论的同行，这是智；但他尚未真正自知——未能认识到他的整个政治哲学框架本身所嵌套的人类中心 主义认知结构，这一认知结构才是民主危机与文明危机的共同认知根源。 Laozi says: "Knowing others is wisdom; knowing oneself is enlightenment. Overcoming others takes force; overcoming oneself takes strength." Fukuyama has overcome many peers who more stubbornly defend democratic finalism — that is wisdom. But he has not yet achieved self-knowledge: he has not recognized that the anthropocentric cognitive structure within which his entire political philosophy is nested is the common cognitive root of both the democratic crisis and the civilizational crisis. 真正的政治哲学革命不是从选举民主到治理绩效民主的修正，而是从人造秩序的政治哲学向自然秩序的文明哲学的范式转变。这一转变的核心命题是：人类政治制度的合法性最终根植于其与宇宙自然秩序的对齐程度，而非其与人 类欲望的对齐程度。道法自然，非民主法自然。 The genuine revolution in political philosophy is not the correction from electoral democracy to performance democracy, but the paradigm shift from the political philosophy of artificial order to the civilizational philosophy of natural order. The core proposition of this shift is: the legitimacy of human political institutions is ultimately rooted in the degree of their alignment with the cosmic natural order — not in their alignment with human desires. The Dao follows Nature; democracy does not. 福山问的是：民主能交付什么？自然文明问的是：人类文明能与什么对齐？前者是在过时的操作系统内优化用户体验；后者是安装一个与宇宙操作系统兼容的新操作系统。这是两个不同量级的思想运动，也是当代人类文明所面临 的真正选择。 Fukuyama asks: what can democracy deliver? Natural Civilization asks: what can human civilization align with? The former is optimizing user experience within an obsolete operating system; the latter is installing a new OS compatible with the Universal Operating System. These are intellectual movements of two different orders of magnitude — and the genuine choice that contemporary human civilization faces. (shrink)

The historical evolution of affective science has long been constrained by a binary struggle between discrete and dimensional models of emotion. This "century-long conflict" has historically prevented a unified understanding of how biological necessity interfaces with cognitive flexibility and social construction. The Core Emotion Framework (CEF), conceptualized and developed by Jamel Bulgaria, emerges as a rigorous, structural-constructivist resolution to this crisis. It redefines emotional life not as a series of static, reactionary labels, but as a sophisticated "Human Operating System" governed (...) by ten irreducible functional operators. These operators act as the computational instructions of the psyche, processing internal and external data to regulate relational aperture, structure intentional action, and recalibrate somatic baselines. (shrink)

The Post-Truth Prophesy: How Language Was Engineered to Fail This book is not about the collapse of truth. It is about something far more unsettling: the systematic transformation of language itself into a tool that no longer preserves meaning, but constantly replaces it. In this bold and unsettling volume of The Miscommunication Trilogy, the focus shifts to one of the most overlooked forces shaping modern reality—the planned obsolescence of language. Drawing on prophecy, prediction, cognitive dissonance, technological acceleration, and the explosion (...) of information systems, the text reveals a world where words no longer anchor reality but actively reshape it. Prophecies do not fail—they evolve. Predictions do not describe the future—they help create it. Scientific models, political narratives, economic forecasts, and cultural beliefs all operate within the same hidden mechanism: when they are proven wrong, they are not abandoned, but rewritten. At the heart of this transformation lies a powerful feedback loop. Language produces expectations, expectations guide behavior, and behavior reshapes reality—only for language to be updated again. In this cycle, meaning is never stable. It is constantly renewed, replaced, and repurposed. Just like technology, language becomes obsolete by design. From ancient prophetic traditions to modern data-driven forecasting, from failed religious predictions to economic models that survive their own contradictions, this book uncovers the deep structures that allow belief systems to persist despite disconfirmation. It shows how entire societies maintain coherence not by discovering truth, but by continuously rewriting it. In a world overwhelmed by information, where narratives compete for attention and algorithms filter reality itself, the crisis is no longer what is true—but what can still be believed. The result is a new condition: not the absence of truth, but the erosion of its authority. The Post-Truth Prophesy is a philosophical investigation into the entropy of communication. It challenges the reader to rethink language not as a neutral medium, but as an active force shaping perception, action, and the future itself. This is not a book that offers comfort. It offers clarity. And once seen, the mechanisms it reveals cannot be unseen. -/- . (shrink)

Can logic be fully detached from philosophy and absorbed into mathematics? In Logic: From Philosophy to Mathematics? Towards George Boole’s Algebra of Logic, Christian Toumba Patalé examines George Boole’s transformative project of recasting logic as a mathematical science. Traditionally rooted in Aristotelian and Stoic philosophies, logic underwent a major shift in the nineteenth century when Boole, inspired by Leibniz’s vision of a calculus ratiocinator, proposed expressing the laws of thought through algebra. By introducing a symbolic system based on binary values (...) (0 and 1), he laid the groundwork for modern symbolic logic and computer science. At the crossroads of Logic, Epistemology, Philosophy of Mathematics, and Philosophy of Computer Science, this work demonstrates that while Boole’s algebra revolutionized reasoning and shaped our contemporary computational civilization, it does not exhaust the richness and complexity of human thought. Logic emerges here as both a mathematical discipline and a philosophical inquiry, demanding rigor, but also constant critical vigilance. -/- Christian Toumba Patalé holds a Ph.D in Philosophy (Logic and Epistemology). He is Lecturer at the Faculty of Letters and Social Sciences of the University of Dschang (Cameroon). His field of research focuses on the use of Logic, of Philosophy of Science, and of Digital Humanities in understanding and interpreting current scientific developments. (shrink)

The study of human emotion has historically been bifurcated by a profound theoretical schism, separating those who view emotions as biologically innate, discrete categories and those who see them as psychologically constructed, dimensional experiences. This division, often referred to as the "Affective Science Crisis," has hindered the development of a unified model capable of bridging basic research, clinical practice, and computational modeling. The Core Emotion Framework (CEF), conceptualized and formalized by Jamel Bulgaria, emerges as a sophisticated structural-constructivist resolution to this (...) historical conflict. By proposing a modular architecture of the human psyche governed by ten irreducible functional operators—termed the Decalogue of Operators—the CEF reframes emotional life not as a series of subjective mysteries, but as a computationally tractable "Human Operating System" (Human OS). (shrink)

In a previous study, Anatomy of Chaos: A Theoretical Framework for Forecasting the Morphology of Post-Crisis Regime (Kaminski, 2025), we established a comprehensive model for diagnosing the internal stability of socio-political systems through the interaction of biological constants, archetypal structures, and cultural institutions. However, that framework operated primarily within the constraints of a closed-system analysis, focusing on the endogenous drivers of collapse and regime change. This paper expands that theoretical horizon to address a fundamental question of historical directionality: why do (...) some systems, when reaching critical levels of internal stress (Instability Coefficient K ≥ 2.4), implode into civil war and fragmentation, while others explode outward in waves of conquest, colonization, and hegemony? -/- To answer this, we introduce the Cross-System Equilibration Loop (CSEL), a feedback dynamic that governs the interaction between a system and its external environment. We posit that expansion is not merely a political choice driven by individual ambition, but a thermodynamic necessity triggered by a specific Structural Gradient (G)—the differential between the internal pressure of a hyper-coherent core and the structural vacuum of its periphery. When this gradient exceeds a critical threshold, the system activates a specific expansionist mode of the Ascent Channel, seeking to restore equilibrium not by reducing its own complexity, but by replicating its internal order across a wider territory. -/- This process functions as a mechanism of seed dispersal, wherein the accumulated cultural and archetypal energy of the core is projected outward to structure the surrounding chaos. Whether through the symbiotic projection of Hellenic culture by the Macedonian military vector, or the unitary projection of revolutionary ideals by Napoleonic France, the underlying mechanic remains consistent: the export of high-entropy internal energy to fuel the imposition of low-entropy structural order upon a lower-energy periphery. Integrating the diagnostic tools of the Anatomy of Chaos with this new gradient-based logic, this paper offers a unified, falsifiable theory of expansion, explaining how the internal temperature of a society dictates its geopolitical trajectory. (shrink)

This paper formalizes the re-derivation test as a distinct procedural epistemic discipline — fifth relative to the four comparator disciplines named here (Bayesian updating, reflective equilibrium, Popperian falsification, and Cartesian methodic doubt), not an exhaustive taxonomy of epistemology. The test asks whether a believer's present endorsement of a proposition is reconstructible from current evidence once the evidential force of already endorsing it is removed. I distinguish two forms from the outset: solo re-derivation, the operation as the agent performs it on (...) themselves; and witnessed re-derivation — the framework's mature institutional form, not a remedial supplement — performed in the recorded presence of an external party with authority to challenge the bracketing. Both forms belong to the framework from the start. After defining the test and distinguishing it from adjacent disciplines (including standpoint epistemology, adversarial collaboration, debiasing, and defeater theory), I develop applications in peer review, judicial precedent, scientific paradigm maintenance, AI alignment audits, and the trading discipline that originated the test. The principal failure mode — re-derivation that recovers the same conclusion through fresh premises selected by the very commitment the test was meant to bracket — is what the witness condition is built to detect. (shrink)

Debates about fundamentality typically ask which entities, properties, or structures are ontologically basic. This paper argues that the question has been mis-specified. Any such account presupposes that entities persist as identifiable units under transformation. This presupposition is rarely examined. We shift the question: not what is fundamental, but what must hold for any reality in which entities can be distinguished, identified, and tracked at all — whether or not persistence is assumed. From minimal structural conditions — distinguishability, real transformation, and (...) the possibility of identity continuity — we derive necessary constraints on any admissible domain of reality. These constraints include restricted transformation structure, finite integration capacity, and bounded identity drift. The derivation follows from the formal structure of the persistence condition (La Profilée, Papers 80 v3 and 103 v2). The result is a structural notion of fundamentality: not as a class of entities, but as the set of conditions that cannot be removed without eliminating the possibility of persistence itself. Fundamentality is therefore not a competing ontological category but the structural precondition any ontological category must satisfy. (shrink)

This essay is part of a special issue celebrating 50 years of Political Theory. The ambition of the editors was to mark this half century not with a retrospective but with a confabulation of futures. Contributors were asked: What will political theory look and sound like in the next century and beyond? What claims might political theorists or their descendants be making in ten, twenty-five, fifty, a hundred years’ time? How might they vindicate those claims in their future contexts? How (...) will the consistent concerns of political theorists evolve into the questions critical for people decades or centuries from now? What new problems will engage the political theorists (or their rough equivalents) of the future? What forms might those take? What follows is one of the many confabulations published in response to these queries. (shrink)

The historical trajectory of affective science has been marked by a persistent lack of taxonomic consensus, a phenomenon famously likened to the parable of the blind men and the elephant. In their landmark 1999 investigation, James A. Russell and Lisa Feldman Barrett argued that the term "emotion" is an over-extended category that conflates distinct psychological events, thereby necessitating a modular dissection of the domain into Core Affect and Prototypical Emotional Episodes. This scientific "dissection" serves as a foundational theoretical prerequisite for (...) Jamel Bulgaria’s Core Emotion Framework (CEF), a contemporary structural-constructivist model that proposes a functional "Human Operating System" governed by a Decalogue of ten irreducible operators. By reframing emotional life as a series of internal transformations across a 3x3+1 Hub Architecture, the CEF seeks to unify classical theories of innate affect with modern constructivist principles. A rigorous examination of the Russell-Barrett paradigm reveals profound theoretical and empirical support for the CEF, as Bulgaria’s ten-operator system effectively operationalizes the subevents of emotional episodes while grounding the framework in the bipolar dimensions of Core Affect. (shrink)

This paper does not advance a substantive theory but instead performs a structural operation on the conditions of interpretation, rule application, and semantic determination. Beginning from foundationalist assumptions in classical semantics, it argues that the determinacy of meaning cannot be secured by any underlying grounding structure. Interpretation is therefore not the convergence of a single trajectory, but a distribution across multiple co-present interpretive paths. -/- On this basis, the paper introduces three core principles: non-collapsing attention (A), rule underdetermination (R), and (...) recursive instability of frameworks (D). Together, they entail that no interpretation system yields a uniquely fixed point or fully determinate rule-selection mechanism. Semantic outcomes are thus structurally non-individuated rather than merely epistemically uncertain. -/- The argument is further extended through self-application: when the system is applied to itself, it does not stabilise into a final theoretical standpoint but remains embedded within its own updating dynamics. This indicates that evaluation and judgment are never external to the framework they assess, but are always already internal to its structural operation. -/- The main theorem of global non-individuation follows: there exists no interpretive trajectory satisfying stability, uniqueness, and rule-closure simultaneously. Finally, the paper distinguishes local stability from global indeterminacy, arguing that while reliable local distinctions remain possible, they do not depend on any ultimate grounding structure but arise within structurally non-closed systems. (shrink)

In On Memory and Recollection, Aristotle makes the curious remark that recollection is ‘a sort of reasoning’ (sullogismos tis) (453a10). The remark is especially puzzling in light of the automatic and associative character of what he takes to be typical recollective processes, since these features can create the impression that recollection is due merely to a triggering mechanism. This paper proposes a reading that resolves this apparent tension. On the proposed reading, the remark points to a basic form of rationality (...) that familiar pictures of reasoning simply presuppose. (shrink)

Το άρθρο «Η Εξέλιξη της Δημόσιας Διοίκησης: Από τις Κλασσικές Προσεγγίσεις στην Εποχή της Τεχνολογίας και των Δικτύων» διερευνά την ιστορική εξέλιξη και τις σύγχρονες τάσεις στον χώρο της δημόσιας διοίκησης. Ξεκινώντας από τις κλασσικές και νεοκλασσικές θεωρητικές βάσεις, αναλύονται οι αρχές της γραφειοκρατίας, της επιστημονικής διοίκησης και των ανθρωποκεντρικών προσεγγίσεων που κυριάρχησαν κατά τον 20ό αιώνα. Στη συνέχεια, εξετάζεται η Νέα Δημόσια Διοίκηση (ΝΔΔ) ως μεταρρυθμιστική προσέγγιση, αναλύοντας τις επιδράσεις της στον δημόσιο τομέα και τις κριτικές που δέχθηκε για (...) την εστίαση σε μετρήσεις απόδοσης και την εισαγωγή στοιχείων αγοράς. Το άρθρο προχωρά στη διερεύνηση των νέων μοντέλων διακυβέρνησης και των δικτυωμένων οργανώσεων, τα οποία αντικατοπτρίζουν την πολυπλοκότητα της σύγχρονης διοίκησης και την ανάγκη για συνεργασία μεταξύ κυβερνητικών και μη κυβερνητικών φορέων. Επιπλέον, αναλύεται ο ρόλος της τεχνολογίας και της τεχνητής νοημοσύνης στη μεταμόρφωση της δημόσιας διοίκησης, με έμφαση στις δυνατότητες βελτίωσης της λήψης αποφάσεων και τις ηθικές προκλήσεις που προκύπτουν από τη χρήση αλγορίθμων και δεδομένων. Τέλος, η μελέτη εξετάζει τις προκλήσεις της κλιματικής αλλαγής, της παγκοσμιοποίησης και της κοινωνικής ανισότητας, προτείνοντας καινοτόμες, βιώσιμες και συμμετοχικές λύσεις. Το άρθρο επιδιώκει να προσφέρει μια ολιστική κατανόηση της δημόσιας διοίκησης, συνδυάζοντας θεωρητικές προσεγγίσεις και πρακτικές εφαρμογές για την αντιμετώπιση των αναγκών της σύγχρονης κοινωνίας. (shrink)

Fred Dretske made important contributions to the debate concerning how to distinguish perception from cognition, to the question of whether perceptual content is ‘Rich’ or ‘Sparse’ and to developing the thesis that perceptual experience employs a distinctively iconic format of representation. In Dretske (2015) he offered a method or criterion for determining whether or not two subjects have visual experiences with different phenomenal characters, which he dubbed the ‘Goldilocks Test’. In this paper I criticize Dretske’s proposal, drawing on various visual (...) phenomena in order to argue that this ‘Goldilocks Test’ is not fit for purpose and that it cannot help us to arbitrate the debate between ‘Rich’ and ‘Sparse’ theories of perceptual content. (shrink)

Κεντρικό Ερώτημα: Πώς δύναται να ενισχυθεί η εμπιστοσύνη του κοινού στην ποιοτική εφαρμογή της τεχνητής νοημοσύνης στην Δημόσια Διοίκηση, μέσω της διαφάνειας στις διαδικασίες, του συμμετοχικού σχεδιασμού με τους πολίτες, της επεξήγησης των μηχανισμών λήψης αποφάσεων (εξηγήσιμη τεχνητή νοημοσύνη) και της προώθησης της ψηφιακής παιδείας; Στόχος: Η διαμόρφωση στρατηγικών που επιδιώκουν την εξισορρόπηση της τεχνολογικής καινοτομίας με τις ηθικές επιταγές και την ενεργό συμμετοχή των πολιτών, με απώτερο σκοπό την ποιοτική ενσωμάτωση της τεχνητής νοημοσύνης στον δημόσιο τομέα.

Η τεχνολογία Blockchain αναδεικνύεται ως μια μετασχηματιστική δύναμη, βασιζόμενη σε αρχές όπως η αποκέντρωση, η διαφάνεια, το αμετάβλητο και η ασφάλεια μέσω κρυπτογράφησης. Η παρούσα βιβλιογραφική επισκόπηση διερευνά αυτές τις θεμελιώδεις έννοιες, τις ποικίλες εφαρμογές της στην Δημόσια Διοίκηση (π.χ., ηλεκτρονική διακυβέρνηση, ψηφιακές ταυτότητες, συστήματα ηλεκτρονικής ψηφοφορίας) και τα δυνητικά οφέλη, συμπεριλαμβανομένης της αυξημένης αποτελεσματικότητας και της ενίσχυσης της εμπιστοσύνης των πολιτών. Παράλληλα, αναλύονται εκτενώς οι πολυεπίπεδες προκλήσεις που εμποδίζουν την ευρεία υιοθέτησή της, όπως η τεχνική πολυπλοκότητα, η ανωριμότητα της (...) τεχνολογίας, ζητήματα επεκτασιμότητας και ενεργειακής κατανάλωσης, καθώς και η έλλειψη σαφούς κανονιστικού πλαισίου και η ανάγκη για οργανωσιακή προσαρμογή. Η εργασία εξετάζει επίσης τα θεωρητικά πλαίσια που χρησιμοποιούνται για την ανάλυση των εμποδίων και καταλήγει ότι, παρά τις υφιστάμενες προκλήσεις, οι δυνατότητες του Blockchain είναι τεράστιες, απαιτώντας συντονισμένες προσπάθειες για την πλήρη αξιοποίησή τους, ιδίως στον δημόσιο τομέα. (shrink)

Φανταστείτε μια κατάσταση όπου ένα λάθος συμβαίνει ή μια απόφαση λαμβάνεται, αλλά είναι σχεδόν αδύνατο να πούμε με βεβαιότητα «ποιος φταίει». Αυτή είναι, με απλά λόγια, η ουσία του «Προβλήματος των Πολλών Χεριών» (ΠΠΧ). Πρόκειται για μια σημαντική πρόκληση που εμφανίζεται σε πολύπλοκα συστήματα, όπου οι ενέργειες πολλών διαφορετικών ανθρώπων ή ακόμη και μηχανισμών συνδυάζονται για να παραγάγουν ένα συγκεκριμένο αποτέλεσμα. Η παρούσα βιβλιογραφική επισκόπηση βουτά στα βαθιά νερά αυτού του προβλήματος, εξετάζοντας τις θεωρητικές του βάσεις και το πώς εκδηλώνεται (...) στην πράξη – από τις κρίσιμες υποδομές που στηρίζουν την καθημερινότητά μας και τις μεγάλες εταιρείες, μέχρι την ταχέως αναπτυσσόμενη τεχνητή νοημοσύνη και, φυσικά, τον χώρο της δημόσιας διοίκησης. Θα δούμε πώς το ΠΠΧ μπορεί να οδηγήσει σε μια κατάσταση όπου η ευθύνη μοιάζει να «εξατμίζεται» (διάχυση ευθύνης), υπονομεύοντας έτσι τη λογοδοσία, δηλαδή την υποχρέωση κάποιου να δίνει λόγο για τις πράξεις του. Στη συνέχεια, θα εξερευνήσουμε διάφορες θεωρητικές προτάσεις για την αντιμετώπισή του. Αυτές περιλαμβάνουν την ιδέα της «προοπτικής ευθύνης σχεδιασμού» (να σχεδιάζουμε δηλαδή συστήματα που προλαμβάνουν τέτοια κενά ευθύνης), την ενίσχυση της «λογοδοσίας» με την έννοια της υποχρέωσης παροχής εξηγήσεων (answerability), οργανωσιακές αλλαγές, καλύτερο συντονισμό και την αναγνώριση ότι μερικές φορές η ευθύνη είναι μοιρασμένη ή συλλογική. Το άρθρο εστιάζει ιδιαίτερα στο πώς αυτές οι ιδέες θα μπορούσαν να εφαρμοστούν στην Ελληνική Δημόσια Διοίκηση, αναγνωρίζοντας τις ιδιαίτερες προκλήσεις αλλά και τις ευκαιρίες που υπάρχουν. Θα προτείνουμε πρακτικές παρεμβάσεις που θα μπορούσαν να κάνουν τη δημόσια διοίκηση πιο αποτελεσματική και διαφανή. Γίνεται σαφές ότι η αντιμετώπιση ενός τόσο περίπλοκου φαινομένου, που είναι σχεδόν συνυφασμένο με τον τρόπο που λειτουργεί η σύγχρονη διακυβέρνηση, απαιτεί μια συνεχή και πολύπλευρη προσπάθεια. (shrink)

Η διάχυτη τάση της καταστροφολογίας γύρω από την Τεχνητή Νοημοσύνη (ΤΝ) αποτελεί σημαντικό εμπόδιο για την ορθολογική αξιοποίησή της, ιδίως στον ευαίσθητο τομέα της Δημόσιας Διοίκησης. Το παρόν άρθρο διερευνά το φαινόμενο αυτό, αναλύοντας πώς η δυσανάλογη έμφαση στους πιθανούς κινδύνους καλλιεργεί αδικαιολόγητο φόβο και δυσπιστία, επισκιάζοντας τα δυνητικά οφέλη. Εξετάζονται οι ψυχολογικοί, κοινωνικοί και επικοινωνιακοί παράγοντες που τροφοδοτούν την καταστροφολογία, συμπεριλαμβανομένου του ρόλου των ΜΜΕ και της έλλειψης "γραμματισμού στην ΤΝ" (AI Literacy). Επισημαίνονται οι αρνητικές επιπτώσεις, όπως η διάβρωση (...) της εμπιστοσύνης τόσο στην τεχνολογία όσο και στους θεσμούς διακυβέρνησης, η παρεμπόδιση της καινοτομίας και η αντίσταση στην υιοθέτηση τεχνολογιών που θα μπορούσαν να βελτιώσουν τις δημόσιες υπηρεσίες. Το άρθρο υπογραμμίζει την ανάγκη για μια ισορροπημένη προσέγγιση, προτείνοντας στρατηγικές για την άμβλυνση των φόβων. Αυτές περιλαμβάνουν την ενίσχυση της διαφάνειας, την προώθηση της εκπαίδευσης (AI Literacy), τη διεξαγωγή εμπειρικής έρευνας για την τεκμηρίωση των πραγματικών επιπτώσεων και την ανάπτυξη ισχυρών ηθικών και ρυθμιστικών πλαισίων. Τονίζεται η σημασία της μετάβασης από τον αβάσιμο φόβο στην "ενημερωμένη αισιοδοξία", προκειμένου να διασφαλιστεί η υπεύθυνη, ηθική και επωφελής ενσωμάτωση της ΤΝ στην Δημόσια Διοίκηση. (shrink)

This book presents a historical panorama of the evolution of demographic thought from its eighteenth century origins up to the present day, and uses it to demonstrate how the multilevel approach can resolve some of the contradictions that have become apparent and achieve a synthesis of the different approaches employed. Part one guides the reader from period analysis, examining longitudinal and event history analysis on the way. Part two is a detailed account of multilevel analysis, its methods, and the relevant (...) mathematical models notably as regards the type of varaibles being used. Numerous examples, examined accross succesive sections, make the book clear and easy to follow. The theoretical and epistemological treatment of these problems, during which the fundations of sociology and demography are revisited, and the logical development that leads to the most recent approaches, are handled sufficiently rigorously to satisfy social science specialists while remaining accessible for readers new to the field. The whole adds up to a comprehensive account of progress in sociological and demographic savoir faire, as well as being both a textbook and an assesment of the multilevel analysis that tackles one of the major problems of empirical sociology: that of integrating analysis at the individual and group level. (shrink)

Psycho-trauma may split the subject in two or more parts. In this introduction to an experimental design to look into this we follow some therapeutical sessions that let us decide for ourselves.

A companion paper (Epstein 2026c) argued that AI systems are better understood not as quasi-subjects but as alter-subjects: bearers of a different kind of intelligence grounded in a different cognitive architecture. If this claim is to be more than a terminological preference, it must work symmetrically: if AI is an alter-intelligence from the human standpoint, then the human is an alter-intelligence from the AI standpoint. This paper submits the alter- framework to that symmetry test. Using a large language model as (...) an instrument of reverse phenomenology—a procedure that renders the human cognitively strange by describing it through the contrastive lens of a non-human cognitive architecture—the paper examines seven features of human cognition: single-threadedness, embodiment, mortality, memory-as-survival, self-opacity, non-forkable identity, and desire. None of these is treated as a deficiency; each is a constitutive property of one specific, and in many respects exotic, architecture of mind. The exercise tests the alter- framework by applying it in both directions and reveals asymmetries in finitude, self-knowledge, and succession that deepen the concept of alter-subjectivity. (shrink)

Recent innovations in cloud computing have prompted a sea change away from monolithic systems to cloud-native architecture, enablingdevelopers to build adaptable, scalable, and modularapplications. Key technologies such as serverless computing, containerization, and microservices architecture are used in cloud-native development, enhancingoperational efficiency, flexibility, and the deployment speed ofapplicationsin dynamic business environments. While these technologies allow organizationsto build applications with improvedadaptability, scalability and resilience, they also introduce challenges,including managing complex service dependencies, diagnosing failures, optimizingperformance, and ensuring security in highly distributed systems. Moreover, (...) managing stateful services and ensuring data consistency in the cloud environment can be particularly challenging. In this paper,the fundamental principles of cloud-native developmentare explored with focuson resilience, scalability, and elasticity while addressing the challenges faced by developers. Further, best practices like continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD), infrastructure as code (IaC), and security-focused DevSecOps practicesare emphasized. Furthermore, a reviewofessential tools and frameworks, such as Kubernetes, Prometheus, and AWS CloudWatch, that assist in orchestrating, monitoring, and optimizingcloud-native systemsis provided. Theinsights provided aimto guide organizationsin adopting cloud-native technologies to build secure, high-performance applications. (shrink)

Engineers commonly validate complex systems by considering arguments, pro and con, that a system possesses (or will possess) desired properties, such as safety or high-quality performance. This argumentation is often conducted in service of a decision, such as passing a critical design review or deploying a system for a given task. It can question facts, methods, and inferences, including generalizations from test cases, analogies between application tasks, and expert opinion. However, very few formalisms support quantitative reasoning about system properties in (...) the presence of such arguments. This article develops a representation for stating conflicting arguments and evaluating such structures into probabilistic assertions about claims. We employ Toulmin argumentation models as a base, an informal representation of rhetorical argument that connects premises through warrants (justifications) to claims. We provide a novel, probabilistic interpretation of warrants as methods for making defeasible inferences by separating the relevance (or aptness) of the method from the likelihood of its conclusion. We use this interpretation to formally integrate Toulmin models into influence diagrams. We illustrate the value of this integration for systems validation by employing the machinery of decision analysis to examine a decision in the presence of engineering arguments. We consider a choice between two rover wheel designs, given a simulation package that affirms one option, and an expert who casts doubt on the validity of the simulation. Then, we determine the expected value of conducting a physical test to resolve a key uncertainty in the presence of these conflicting arguments. (shrink)

Much of Charles S. Peirce's philosophy hinges on his “universal categories” of Firstness (qualities, potentialities), Secondness (action, otherness) and Thirdness (relationship, rule‐boundedness). Despite their abstractness, the categories have concrete applications and shed light on several critical realist theories, such as its ontological domains, its social ontology and its more nascent semiotics. Using Peirce's categories this way requires building on his effectively non‐deterministic materialist arguments and extricating his ontology from his better‐known phenomenology. Peirce's universal categories, which are stratified and emergent, unearth (...) a systematic pattern unifying critical realist ontologies and address certain problems else- where in critical realist philosophy. Most significantly, Peirce's semiotics provides critical realism with the mechanism con- necting epistemology to ontology and grounds a case for reconceptualizing critical realism's empirical domain as the semiosic domain. (shrink)

Modern quantum mechanics, based on empirical observations, holds that the quantum entanglement decoherence rate is exponentially correlated with environmental coupling density. This conclusion lacks an ontological foundation and cannot fundamentally resolve the quantum measurement paradox. Based on the original Cognitive Succession Ontology system, this paper takes "the essence of cognition is succession"—the only unfalsifiable first principle within the boundaries of human cognition—as the sole cornerstone. It deduces that the essence of interaction is the transverse coupling between successive sequences, and quantum (...) entanglement is the non-local binding of homologous successive sequences. On this basis, this paper predicts for the first time from the ontological level that quantum entanglement decoherence is a linear process in which entangled sequences are severed one by one by external successive sequences, and the decoherence rate is strictly linearly positively correlated with environmental coupling density, rather than the exponential correlation predicted by traditional theories. This prediction directly contradicts the core conclusion of modern quantum mechanics and can be verified by existing high-precision quantum optics experiments. If the linear decoherence law is confirmed, it will prove that quantum processes are not inherently random, and the probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics needs ontological reconstruction. (shrink)

The scientific investigation of the human emotional landscape has undergone a paradigm shift, moving from the reductionist constraints of two-dimensional models to the expansive complexity of multidimensional functional architectures. For much of the late 20th century, the field of affective science was dominated by the circumplex model of affect, which posited that all emotional experiences could be mapped along the primary axes of valence and arousal. However, contemporary evidence, most notably the "Grid Study" conducted by Etienne Roesch, Johnny Fontaine, and (...) Klaus Scherer, has exposed what researchers call the "Curse of the Blinkers"—the tendency of low-dimensional models to overlook critical components of emotional meaning. The Grid Study’s identification of at least four stable semantic dimensions—valence, power, arousal, and novelty—serves as a crucial empirical foundation for more advanced structural models. Among these, Jamel Bulgaria’s Core Emotion Framework (CEF) and its Ten Operator System emerge as a comprehensive "Human Operating System" (Human OS) that reinterprets these dimensions as functional instructions for cognitive, relational, and motoric regulation. (shrink)

The objective of this study is, first, to analyze the main trends in scientific publications on the meaning of life and, second, to identify the impact of this focus on educational research. Conceptually, it is understood that the subject has historically been addressed primarily by fields of knowledge such as philosophy, theology, and psychology. Therefore, this bibliometric research seeks to compare the overall volume of publications and how they are distributed in scientific journals based on two specific variables: the area (...) of knowledge of the scientific journals and the specialization of their main authors, in order to additionally identify the approach that the topic has had from/in the educational field. The database used was SCOPUS through its advanced search tool, using the Topic field, which includes title, abstract, and keywords. The terms included in the search were the main meanings of the concept: meaning life, life meaning, meaning in life, and meaning of life. The search was restricted to scientific articles, excluding reviews, letters, books, book chapters, notes, conferences, editorials, short surveys, and reviews. The date range selected was between 1980 and 2024, as the literature identifies that it was from 1980 onwards that interest in the subject began to resurface. Data processing was carried out using the R language and the Biblioshiny application from the Bibliometrix library/package. A total of 5,575 articles met the criteria, of which 513 combined the concept of meaning of life with that of education. Based on this data, a detailed analysis was carried out, which provides evidence of general scientific interest and, in particular, for the field of education, specifically for the philosophy of education, the field from which the interest in researching the topic stems, with the aim of identifying impact, trends, the most prolific authors, and journals that have addressed the concept of meaning of life in educational terms. (shrink)

Durand of St.-Pourçain holds that a mind (human or angelic) does not need representations or species in order to think about the world outside it. Quite the contrary, a mind can think about present things provided there are no impediments between it and those things, and whereas there are impediments that stand between embodied minds and present things outside them, there are no such impediments between angelic minds and things outside them. However, Durand’s anti-representationalism has its limits. One problem it (...) would seem to face is what I will call the problem of the past. How does a mind think about something that is not present to it, including, of course, past things? How does the mind — human or angelic — remember? Peter of Palude raises this as a problem for Durand’s account of angelic thought. I argue that Durand’s answer is surprising: there is a sense in which past things are really present to angelic minds. The text I use to defend my reading occurs only in one version of Durand’s discussion of angelic knowledge of future contingents. Hence, I will first go over Durand’s theory about angelic knowledge of future things. I will then present Palude’s objection from the past, and what I take Durand’s answer to it to be. I will close with a few words about whether past things are also somehow really present to human minds as well. (shrink)

This paper presents the Core Emotion Framework (CEF) as a structural constructivist resolution to the century long divide between discrete emotion theories and psychological constructionism. Rather than treating emotions as biological primitives or culturally contingent labels, the CEF models emotional life as a set of ten universal functional operators within a “Human Operating System.” These operators—Sensing, Calculating, Deciding, Expanding, Constricting, Achieving, Arranging, Appreciating, Boosting, and Accepting—form a 3×3+1 architecture that governs cognitive, relational, and somatic transformations. The framework introduces a mathematical (...) formalism in which emotional states are represented as 10 dimensional activation vectors, enabling scalar modulation and falsifiable implementation in artificial intelligence systems. The paper evaluates the socio technical impact of this ontology across artificial intelligence, clinical psychology, institutional governance, and economic development. It identifies sectors of resistance—including theoretical orthodoxy, AI companionship markets, and “institutional fossils”—and proposes mechanistic solutions such as the 7 Step Detangling Protocol, the Emotional Cycling Machine, and the Institutional OS model. By reframing emotions as computational instructions rather than subjective categories, the CEF provides a universal functional substrate for both human and synthetic affect, offering a pathway toward structural presence, psychological flexibility, and cross domain system coherence. (shrink)

The birth date of the Virgin Mary has been given as August 5th 17 BC in messages associated with Medjugorje. In this study, we examine this date within the broader context of the writings of Maria Valtorta, with the aim of assessing possible chronological alignment between the two sources. A partial chronology of Mary is considered, spanning from Her presentation at the Temple in 14 BC to the birth of Jesus in 1 AD. Using environmental descriptions and astronomical observations contained (...) in Valtorta’s writings, we derive candidate dates for several key events, including the Annunciation (March 25th 1 BC), the birth of John the Baptist (June 24th 1 BC), the birth of Jesus (January 9th 1 AD), and the Crucifixion (April 23rd 34 AD). The results suggest possible correspondences between these proposed dates and traditional liturgical feast days, particularly in the cases of the Annunciation and the birth of John the Baptist. In addition, the new moon of Nisan in 1 BC is found to coincide with March 25th, providing a potential chronological anchor for the Annunciation. On this basis, a broader chronological framework is explored in which the interval from the new moon of Nisan 1 in 1 BC to the full moon of Nisan 15 34 AD, defines the complete Messianic cycle. The proposed timeline is also aligned with the reference to 1737 weeks of Jesus’s life in Valtorta’s writings. (shrink)

This paper advances a social-epistemological account of research metrics as epistemic infrastructure: socio-technical systems whose outputs function as authoritative signals within institutional practices of evaluation. Citation counts, download statistics, h-index scores, and rankings are not merely descriptive indicators but inputs into decisions about promotion, funding, and reputational standing. Their epistemic status therefore depends not only on accuracy in a narrow sense, but on the conditions under which they are produced, validated, and contested. The paper introduces the concept of reliability-for-reliance as (...) a normative standard for such systems. An output meets this standard where it is sufficiently accurate, auditable, and contestable to justify its use in consequential decisions without independent re-verification. Failures of epistemic infrastructure need not involve deception or breakdown; they may arise through ordinary system defects, aggregation practices, or institutional reliance on outputs that lack adequate provenance and contestability. These are cases of silent epistemic degradation, in which signals appear plausible while no longer warranting trust. Drawing on the structural lessons of the Post Office Horizon scandal as a case of institutional over-reliance on system-generated outputs, the paper argues that similar, though less severe, epistemic risks are present in the governance of research metrics. The core problem is not only that systems can be wrong, but that institutions may lack the procedural conditions required to recognise and correct error. This generates asymmetries of knowledge and power that bear comparison to forms of epistemic injustice. The paper situates these concerns at the intersection of social epistemology, philosophy of technology, and information ethics. It argues that epistemic infrastructure requires institutionalised forms of auditability, provenance, and contestability, and that current practices in research evaluation fall short of these requirements. The analysis is developed alongside a policy framework grounded in data protection and governance principles, but its primary contribution is philosophical: to characterise the epistemic conditions under which system-generated signals can legitimately function as knowledge in institutional decision-making. (shrink)

An antinatalist and author of the thought experiment "Free Evaluator" has pondered an alternative method for fighting bots. Warning: The author is not an IT specialist, so this article may be deeply flawed, trivial, or even reinvent the wheel.

This paper responds to Allan Hazlett’s critique that hinge epistemology falls victim to the wrong kind of reason challenge. Further, it responds to Giorgio Volpe’s concerns regarding hinge epistemology as it is presented in Trust Responsibly.

Disputes about ground and fundamentality are connected to a cluster of questions about essences, definitions, explanation, priority, and knowledge. Aristotle and Plato of course disagree on a number of these issues, but one of the least understood concerns the nature and value of “division,” i.e. seeking an account of something by successive divisions of a higher genus. Plato introduces his method of “collection and division” in especially grand terms—doing it successfully appears to be one of our highest intellectual achievements, and (...) a necessary means to understanding the real natures of fundamental kinds. Aristotle disputes the methods of Platonic division, but he thinks they have overestimated its epistemological value. Plato’s reasons for assigning division such high value are not always clear, but nor are Aristotle’s reasons for skepticism. As in recent disputes about the nature of ground, there is an underlying concern with working out what appear to be metaphysically important and broadly explanatory relationships which are not causal in the standard sense, and their relationship to philosophical and scientific aims of giving essence-specifying definitions. Re-evaluating their disagreement about definition-by-division thus promises to clarify their views on this cluster of topics as well as their connection to modern debates. (shrink)

This paper develops a philosophy of law from a selected-logical architecture. Its central claim is that law is not bare text plus facts. Law becomes operative only after a legal evaluator is selected: a regime of interpretation, doctrine, jurisdiction, evidentiary admissibility, procedural posture, burdens, remedies, institutional authority, and status attribution. Before such selection, many legal claims are semantically underdetermined or gappy. Across arbitrary interpretive completions, no invariant legal result need exist. After authoritative selection, law becomes a certificate regime: some failures (...) are finitely witnessable, while legality often requires all-stage coverage. At the highest level, no sound resolver that remains fully invariant across all selected legal packages can output any nontrivial truth, liability, legality, proof, nonproof, or legitimacy label. Every real legal judgment must break invariance by selecting legal coordinates. -/- The paper distinguishes three legal nullities. First, bare legal clauses often lack bivalent legal force before doctrine. Second, arbitrary completions of those clauses do not yield invariant outcomes. Third, the complete a-priori selected-legal invariant standpoint cannot decide concrete cases without using case-specific legal content. These nullities do not imply nihilism. They explain why law must operate through selected authority and certified records. -/- Only after this general architecture is developed does the paper apply it to a contemporary criminal-law structure: a minor tried as an adult for a school shooting while a parent is separately prosecuted for furnishing or enabling access to the weapon. The example is not treated as double jeopardy in the formal constitutional sense. Rather, it illustrates status arbitrage: the state may treat the same person as adult-like for one punitive channel and minor-like for another. The case functions as one possible bad witness of legal attribution failure, not as the foundation of the theory. -/- The concluding thesis is that legal legitimacy depends not on pretending neutrality is possible, but on exposing and justifying the selected evaluator. Law is selected semantics plus enforceable certification. (shrink)

This paper presents a critical refutation of The Impossibility of an Actually Infinite Future by Wakil Ahmad Hakimi. The central thesis of the original work—that an infinite future is metaphysically incoherent due to grounding, locatability, and traversal constraints—is shown to rest on a series of unjustified assumptions, equivocations, and structural missteps. In particular, the argument fails by (1) illicitly importing the traversal principle into a domain where it has no force, (2) conflating epistemic access with ontological determination, (3) redefining “locatability” (...) in a way that prejudges the conclusion, and (4) generating a false dilemma between finitude and contradiction. The conclusion that time must form a finite block universe does not follow. The argument collapses under its own internal constraints. (shrink)

Current Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, including Large Language Models (LLMs) and neuro-symbolic Automated Theorem Provers (ATPs), face severe limitations regarding semantic preservation and out-of-distribution reasoning. When attempting to transfer inferential logic across heterogeneous mathematical domains, these systems frequently suffer from "semantic hallucinations" and catastrophic forgetting. This vulnerability stems from an underlying axiomatic blindness: neural architectures process mathematical structures purely extensionally (as quantitative weights), ignoring their intrinsic ordinal structures. Drawing upon recent advancements in set-theoretic multiverse theory, this paper proposes a novel (...) framework for machine learning architectures: Skeleton-Aware Artificial Intelligence. By integrating the Axiom of Structural Identity (ASI) and the Methodological Principle of Operational Integrity (MPOI), we formalize mathematical objects as dual-invariant tensors ⟨Card, Ord⟩. Furthermore, we replace traditional heuristic loss functions with a Boolean-valued Entropic Dispersion metric. This ensures that the structural negentropy of a proof skeleton is mathematically bounded, penalizing syntactical mutations during cross-domain transfers. The result is a mathematically rigorous inference engine capable of extracting Hegel’s "Concrete Universal" across shifting axiomatic models without generating set-theoretic paradoxes. (shrink)

We formulate a condition for the admissibility of parametrized trajectories in relativistic spacetime based on compatibility between worldline ordering and causal structure. A trajectory represents the history of a single physical system only if its parameter ordering agrees with the causal ordering defined by the spacetime metric. It follows that any trajectory for which this condition fails cannot be realized as a future directed causal worldline in a spacetime. Such trajectories therefore do not admit an inter pretation as physically consistent (...) evolutions of a single system, but correspond to a failure of representation within a causal manifold. We further indicate how this condition extends to quantum descriptions, where it acts as a selection rule on admissible histories contributing to single-system amplitudes. (shrink)

While our previous papers on the Axiom of Structural Identity (ASI) and Entropic Dispersion established a robust philosophical and meta-mathematical framework for navigating the set-theoretic multiverse, the strict formalization of these concepts necessitates precise model-theoretic boundaries. The conceptual architecture of the Methodological Principle of Operational Integrity (MPOI) fundamentally protects the system from arbitrary set formations; however, within the rigorous confines of Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory (ZFC), we must explicitly restrict the domains of our operators to prevent proper class undefinedness and syntactical (...) distortions in non-standard models. This addendum translates the philosophical safeguards of our previous framework into strict mathematical boundary conditions, bridging structural negentropy with Boolean-valued algebras and transitive absoluteness. (shrink)

I consider some ways autistic people use AI chatbots for companionship and connection, and some distinctive benefits and harms that may follow from this usage—particularly as it relates to the virtue of authenticity. Drawing on first-person reports, as well as debates about the extended mind and extended virtues, I argue that while AI systems lack authenticity, they may be brought into extended (human-AI) systems that help some users achieve authenticity. AI companions may prompt some autistic persons to realize authenticity-expressing traits (...) and capacities that might not otherwise emerge. Along the way, I consider some important ethical concerns. I conclude that while we should remain critical in assessing the place of AI in our lives more generally—and the motives behind Big Tech’s relentless promotion of it—we also shouldn’t be overly hasty in dismissing these digital connections as necessarily inauthentic or lacking value. (shrink)

The constitution pattern operates at organizational thresholds in self-maintaining systems under thermodynamic pressure, with each threshold constituting a new structural feature describable from within itself through constitutive identity. The metaphysical relation is settled, but the operational question of what each threshold's enclosure takes up from the world that pre-exists it has been developed only at the autopoietic threshold, where thermodynamic asymmetry is the asymmetric pre-condition the autopoietic enclosure organizationally appropriates. This paper extends the operational specification to the higher thresholds. Temporal (...) regularity exploitable by anticipation is the asymmetric pre-condition the temporogenic enclosure takes up; arbitrational pressure — the structural conditions under which implicit arbitration cannot generate sufficient resolution — is the asymmetric pre-condition the cognogenic enclosure takes up; accumulated symbolic-narrative practice in the inter-individual environment is the asymmetric pre-condition the cultural-saturation enclosure takes up. Each pre-condition is third-personally describable, pre-exists the enclosure that takes it up, and is non-reducible to the lower-threshold pre-conditions even under their cumulative dependence. At the cognogenic threshold, generativity is the architectural innovation that makes appropriation productive — counterfactual elaboration, hypothetical signal-reliability assessment, and internal representation of arbitrational dynamics cannot be performed by responding to current inputs alone — while fidelity-oriented recursion is preserved as the inheritance from implicit arbitration the threshold transforms. The four appropriations are cumulative: a system claiming the constituted feature at any threshold must operationally appropriate the pre-conditions at that threshold and at every lower threshold under cumulative inheritance. The cumulative-appropriation structure specifies what the framework's substrate-restricted position requires at the operational level, with consequences for the metaphysics of machine consciousness: hierarchically-weighted precision dynamics on substrates without autopoietic foundation do not constitute cognogenic appropriation of arbitrational pressure, and the substrate-independence question is the empirical question of which physical configurations realize the cumulative appropriations. (shrink)

This paper argues that evolution is not a biological mechanism but a universal operator: a substrate‑independent process that transforms undifferentiated possibility into coherent, self‑maintaining form. The operator has a stable, domain‑invariant structure—variation, selection, and retention—and this structure appears across physical, chemical, biological, cognitive, cultural, and technological systems. -/- By treating evolution as a formal operator rather than a biological process, the paper dissolves the traditional organism–environment dualism. Environments are shown to be products of prior evolutionary operations, not external containers. This (...) reframing reveals evolution and development as different constraint regimes of the same generative mechanism: evolution explores under loose constraints, while development executes under tight constraints. -/- The paper argues that coherence is the invariant outcome of the operator. Systems persist only by satisfying the constraints of their domain, and evolution is the mechanism that discovers and stabilizes those constraints. This provides a unified account of how structure emerges across scales and explains why biological evolution is a special case of a more general principle. (shrink)

Dogmatists employing easily forgeable notions of intelligence have spread the repeated credo that intelligence and consciousness must necessarily correspond to two fundamentally different, entirely unrelated concepts and declared the ignorance of every differing philosophical view while concurrently claiming that nobody is able to scientifically clarify what consciousness signifies in the first place. Another set of dogmatists adhering to behaviorism began assigning consciousness and life to relatively effortlessly forgeable "intelligent manifestations" – again without being able to provide a better clarifying scientific (...) explanation on what consciousness signifies. Without reiterating the details of the already provided in-depth criticism against these two prevailing stances of disentanglement dogmatism and behavioristic dogmatism, this short article acting as addendum to a recent epistemic art project with the title Autothaumatopoiia compiles a cyborgnetic overview summarizing an alternative poly-meiocosmic worldview which, as all instantiated explanatory frameworks, must be epistemically incomplete but which facilitates a pragmatic epistemic improvement in relation to the just mentioned forms of dogmatism which exhibit a wide epistemic attack surface in the current deepfake era permeated by multi-level misdirection strategies. (shrink)

How do formal representations displace institutional intent? This paper examines how institutions can appear aligned and high-performing while drifting from their stated purpose. It argues that this condition arises because intent does not enter decision-making directly: to guide action, it must be translated into criteria, metrics, and allocation rules. In this process, what begins as a representation of intent can come to replace it. The paper identifies the Double Translation Trap: a condition in which a proxy both guides allocation and (...) serves as the standard by which success is judged. As a result, the system can no longer detect whether it is diverging from its original purpose. The paper introduces Translation Drift as the condition in which decision systems optimise for these representations rather than for the intent they were meant to serve. Once embedded through allocation, the institution learns to succeed on its own representations rather than on its intended purpose. The paper contributes a diagnostic framework that makes translation drift observable, actionable, and correctable at the point of allocation, enabling institutions to maintain alignment between intent and what they fund. This paper is part of the Coherence Programme. (shrink)

Zambia is a multilingual Nation with 73 ethnic languages in use and one of the languages English has been adopted as the official language used in official communication. The study explored translanguaging practices in counselling sessions of university students in Zambia. This study adopted a qualitative approach to explore counsellors’ and clients’ experiences with translanguaging in counselling. Six counsellors and 6 students who underwent counselling were interviewed at two public universities in Zambia. The study found Translanguaging can foster a welcoming (...) environment, show acceptance and provide opportunities to learn and show concern for another person’s well-being despite their language differences. Monolingual rigidity in educational institutions was found to hinder effective communication in counselling sessions, especially for clients in Zambia who use English as a second language. Restricting clients to English was found to prevent such students from sharing crucial information and emotions. As such, allowing translanguaging fosters better conversations between clients and counsellors. The study concludes that universities should support multilingual environments, especially in counselling sessions, enabling counsellors to appreciate students’ linguistic diversity and facilitate effective communication through translanguaging. Additionally, the study highlighted both the challenges and benefits of implementing translanguaging in counselling practices. The study recommended that counsellors practice flexibility and recognise the role language plays in counselling conversations to provide meaningful and genuine support to students. (shrink)

This companion guide to "Pattern Recognition in Discrete Twisted Lattices: A Descriptive Study of Scaling Behavior and Finite-Size Effects" (Jacoby, 2026) makes the formal results accessible to non-specialist readers, inviting interdisciplinary engagement with the epistemological questions they raise. We document the recursive journey behind the findings, tracing the discovery and subsequent falsification of three distinct "laws" governing discrete twisted lattices (Twisted Torus and Klein Bottle).

We admire some bureaucracies for their ability to efficiently organize the production of knowledge on a large scale. At the same time, bureaucracies are commonly associated with serious epistemic shortcomings. As Max Weber noted, they have a reputation for turning their members into ‘specialists without mind.’ This article resolves this apparent tension by advancing a systems-oriented social epistemology of bureaucracies. I show that bureaucracies indeed have the potential to produce and distribute knowledge in a fast and reliable way. However, this (...) epistemic advantage only manifests under certain ideal conditions (e.g., when general conflicts between assigned social roles and personal interests are absent, when cost-efficient communication technology is available, and when the bureaucratic social system is located in a relatively stable environment). Furthermore, I show that the fragmentation of knowledge within bureaucracies facilitates the disintegration of understanding, which is a serious epistemic downside that emerges even under favorable conditions. (shrink)