Houk et al. suggest that excitatory output from the cerebellar nuclei is fed back into the cerebellum, thus generating a prolonged activity in the cerebellar nuclei which is then molded by inhibitory Purkinje cells. Recent evidence, however, shows that a temporary break in this loop causes a pause in a conditioned eyeblink response, but does not terminate it. [HOUK et al.].

Feedback loops have been identified in a variety of regulatory systems and organisms. While feedback loops of the same type (negative or positive) tend to have properties in common, they can play distinctively diverse roles in different regulatory systems, where they can affect virulence in a pathogenic bacterium, maturation patterns of vertebrate oocytes and transitions through cell cycle phases in eukaryotic cells. This review focuses on the properties and functions of positive feedback in biological systems, including bistability, hysteresis (...) and activation surges. BioEssays 30:542–555, 2008. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

Cellular circuits have positive and negative feedback loops that allow them to respond properly to noisy external stimuli. It is intriguing that such feedback loops exist in many cases in a particular form of coupled positive and negative feedback loops with different time delays. As a result of our mathematical simulations and investigations into various experimental evidences, we found that such coupled feedback circuits can rapidly turn on a reaction to a proper stimulus, robustly maintain its status, and (...) immediately turn off the reaction when the stimulus disappears. In other words, coupled feedback loops enable cellular systems to produce perfect responses to noisy stimuli with respect to signal duration and amplitude. This suggests that coupled positive and negative feedback loops form essential signal transduction motifs in cellular signaling systems. BioEssays 29: 85–90, 2007. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

Eternalism, the view that what we regard locally as being located in the past, the present and the future equally exists, is the best ontological account of temporal existence in line with special and general relativity. However, special and general relativity are not fundamental theories and several research programs aim at finding a more fundamental theory of quantum gravity weaving together all we know from relativistic physics and quantum physics. Interestingly, some of these approaches assert that time is not fundamental. (...) If time is not fundamental, what does it entail for eternalism and the standard debate over existence in time? First, I will argue that the non-fundamentality of time to be found in string theory entails standard eternalism. Second, I will argue that the non-fundamentality of time to be found in loop quantum gravity entails atemporal eternalism, namely a novel position in the spirit of standard eternalism. (shrink)

Even though Ian Hacking vindicates in general the influence of Michel Foucault’s the archaeological stage on his own thought, I posit that in many aspects of his proposal for the human sciences there is an imprint of the genealogical stage of the French philosopher—although Hacking does not deal with power, one of the concepts that characterize Foucault’s genealogy, at least not in a systematic and explicit way. In this chapter, Hacking and Foucault. Classifications, looping effect and power, I discuss the (...) fundamental role of power in relation with the notions of classification, looping effect, and making up people that Hacking proposes for the human sciences. To this end, I start with a brief outline of the idea of power in Foucault, in order to show how the elements he takes as essential in a power relation can be clearly identified in the looping effect. I illustrate how power is imbricated in Hacking’s proposal, resorting to several of the examples he himself has used to develop the notions mentioned in the title of this chapter. (shrink)

Proof-theoretic methods are developed for subsystems of Johansson’s logic obtained by extending the positive fragment of intuitionistic logic with weak negations. These methods are exploited to establish properties of the logical systems. In particular, cut-free complete sequent calculi are introduced and used to provide a proof of the fact that the systems satisfy the Craig interpolation property. Alternative versions of the calculi are later obtained by means of an appropriate loop-checking history mechanism. Termination of the new calculi is (...) proved, and used to conclude that the considered logical systems are PSPACE-complete. (shrink)

Machine learning algorithms reshape how people communicate, exchange, and associate; how institutions sort them and slot them into social positions; and how they experience life, down to the most ordinary and intimate aspects. In this article, we draw on examples from the field of social media to review the commonalities, interactions, and contradictions between the dispositions of people and those of machines as they learn from and make sense of each other.

I will start by noting that Harry Frankfurt’s concept of wholeheartedness is in conflict with the intuition that free will should be efficacious in general, rather than pertain only to a small subset of decisions. To replace wholeheartedness I introduce a heuristic account for deliberation and decisions. I will show that introspective activity can lead to the individual having two types ‘introspective revelations’. By the onset of the introspective revelations a self-perpetuating loop is initiated. The loop consists of (...) two elements positively reinforcing each other. The two elements are introspective activity and introspective revelations. The effect is a propensity to ask oneself “what do I want?” whenever faced with a choice. This propensity, I submit, can give us what we want when we want free will. (shrink)

We examine three business-related initiatives designed to achieve peace positive impacts in the Cape Town township of Langa. Each was seemingly straightforward in its purpose, logic, and implementation. However, their positive intent was frustrated and their impacts ultimately harmful to their articulated goals. Understanding why this is so can be difficult in violent, turbulent, and information-poor environments such as Langa, confounding progress even by actors with ethical intentions. To aid in sense making and to provide insight for more (...) positive future action, we develop from 125 interviews conducted for this study causal loop models for these initiatives within their conflict subsystems. These explain the perverse impacts of these initiatives by illuminating their (lack of) salience to key conflict factors, their (in)sufficiency to effect positive change in light of competing systems dynamics, and their (in)attentiveness to interdependencies with the intentions and actions of others. We thus contribute to understanding of the factors required to achieve positive social outcomes in more extreme contexts. More generally, we demonstrate the value of systems analysis both for scholarship related to business and peace and for reducing blind spots that can inhibit sound planning for ethical business action amidst complexity. (shrink)

The human-centered AI approach posits a future in which the work done by humans and machines will become ever more interactive and integrated. This article takes human-centered AI one step further. It argues that the integration of human and machine intelligence is achievable only if human organizations—not just individual human workers—are kept “in the loop.” We support this argument with evidence of two case studies in the area of predictive maintenance, by which we show how organizational practices are needed (...) and shape the use of AI/ML. Specifically, organizational processes and outputs such as decision-making workflows, etc. directly influence how AI/ML affects the workplace, and they are crucial for answering our first and second research questions, which address the pre-conditions for keeping humans in the loop and for supporting continuous and reliable functioning of AI-based socio-technical processes. From the empirical cases, we extrapolate a concept of “keeping the organization in the loop” that integrates four different kinds of loops: AI use, AI customization, AI-supported original tasks, and taking contextual changes into account. The analysis culminates in a systematic framework of keeping the organization in the loop look based on interacting organizational practices. (shrink)

We formulate a non-linear geometric control framework for the MANTA architecture (Multi- Axis Non-holonomic Toroidal Actuation): active feedback stabilization of a source-closed, positiveenergy toroidal warp spacetime. Modelling the metric–source system as a control-affine system on a smooth differential manifold, a full Lie Algebra Rank Condition (LARC) analysis establishes that a single-axis drive is permanently confined to a rank-3 unreachable leaf, whereas the multiaxis integration of an axial shift channel b and an azimuthal frame-dragging channel Ω attains full rank 4, guaranteeing (...) complete non-linear controllability over both the background propagation states and the internal breathing-mode perturbations. Three independent routes—exact symbolic brackets, numerical commutator-loop flows, and closed-path area holonomy—establish that the non-commuting control fields generate a rectified stabilization force proportional to the enclosed area in the control plane, with the holonomy ratio converging to the symbolic bracket coefficient to five significant figures. We further show that an axially elongated anisotropic pressure profile breaks the isotropic dominant-energy-condition wall at λ ≤ 2, admitting pointwise compliance with all four classical energy conditions at λ = 3.0 and a local well depth Φ = 23.11%. We further identify and close a structural defect: because the two-axis bracket obeys c1 ∝ Ω, control authority collapses in the low-compactness limit where one most wishes to operate. Introducing a third, radial shift channel — physically, a controlled m = 0 breathing of the plasma cross-section — yields a bracket cradial = 2A2N2(brsz − bzsr)/α4 that contains no Ω, because both poloidal shifts enter the ADM lapse α2 = N2 + A2(b2r + b2z ) through the same denominator. The three-axis controllability determinant is likewise Ω-free and retains full rank 5 as Ω → 0. The dynamic control layer is derived from the 3 + 1 decomposition rather than posited: the shift is constraint-slaved to the plasma source ( ˙U = L−1κ ˙S), the propulsion law is grounded as the slaved response rate az = −[L−1κ ˙S ]bz , and the plant couplings are identified as Green’sfunction coefficients of the constraint inverse — verified by three independent routes to 10−14. The nonlinear map from a prescribed plasma current to the effective source is the single remaining open link and is labelled as such. The frame-drag momentum constraint is solved exactly: Gt ϕ reduces to a pure divergence with flux weight W = r3/N and zero remainder, and is linear-elliptic in Ω. The physicality envelope of the driven source is fixed by the Hawking–Ellis discriminant D = (ρ + pz)2 − 4f2, with the DEC ceiling shown to bind strictly before the Type IV wall. Identifying the standing shift amplitude with cruise velocity (|bz| = v/c) converts the physicality envelope into a speed limit. Optimising the shift-profile width against the background and re-optimising it at each well depth shows the ceiling to be independent of well depth, vmax ∼ Φ−0.030 over three and a half decades, with vmax ≃ 0.86c throughout — reproduced independently across three smooth profile families and by continuous as well as discrete optimisation; a 0.5c cruise is therefore admissible under all four classical energy conditions at every radius, at any well depth examined. Three independent routes for the corresponding total energy disagree by up to 103, so no energy figure is claimed. Every load-bearing claim in this paper carries an explicit evidentiary tag—[P] proved symbolically, [N] numerically verified, [E] estimated by scaling, [S] speculative—and Appendix B provides a line-by-line reproducibility audit in which each numerical assertion is independently recomputed. The controllability results are [P]/[N]. The mission-scale energy ledger is [E]/[S] and is presented as such. (shrink)

Bimanual robots have been studied for decades and regulation on internal force of the being held object by two manipulators becomes a research interest in recent years. In this paper, based on impedance model, a method to obtain the optimal target position for bimanual robots to hold an object is proposed. We introduce a cost function combining the errors of the force and the position and manage to minimize its value to gain the optimal coordinates for the robot end effectors. (...) To implement this method, two necessary algorithms are presented, which are the closed-loop inverse kinematics method to work out joint positions from desired EE pose and the generalized-momentum-based external force observer to measure the subjected force acting on the EE so as to properly compensate for the joint torques. To verify the effectiveness, practicality, and adaptivity of the proposed scheme, in the simulation, a bimanual robot system with three degrees of freedom in every manipulator was constructed and employed to hold an object, where the results are satisfactory. (shrink)

Objective Manic and depressive phases of bipolar disorder (BD) show opposite psychomotor symptoms. Neuronally, these may depend on altered relationships between sensorimotor network (SMN) and subcortical structures. The study aimed to investigate the functional relationships of SMN with substantia nigra (SN) and raphe nuclei (RN) via subcortical-cortical loops, and their alteration in bipolar mania and depression, as characterized by psychomotor excitation and inhibition. -/- Method In this resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study on healthy (n = 67) and BD (...) patients (n = 100), (1) functional connectivity (FC) between thalamus and SMN was calculated and correlated with FC from SN or RN to basal ganglia (BG)/thalamus in healthy; (2) using an a-priori-driven approach, thalamus-SMN FC, SN-BG/thalamus FC, and RN-BG/thalamus FC were compared between healthy and BD, focusing on manic (n = 34) and inhibited depressed (n = 21) patients. -/- Results (1) In healthy, the thalamus-SMN FC showed a quadratic correlation with SN-BG/thalamus FC and a linear negative correlation with RN-BG/thalamus FC. Accordingly, the SN-related FC appears to enable the thalamus-SMN coupling, while the RN-related FC affects it favoring anti-correlation. (2) In BD, mania showed an increase in thalamus-SMN FC toward positive values (ie, thalamus-SMN abnormal coupling) paralleled by reduction of RN-BG/thalamus FC. By contrast, inhibited depression showed a decrease in thalamus-SMN FC toward around-zero values (ie, thalamus-SMN disconnection) paralleled by reduction of SN-BG/thalamus FC (and RN-BG/thalamus FC). The results were replicated in independent HC and BD datasets. -/- Conclusions These findings suggest an abnormal relationship of SMN with neurotransmitters-related areas via subcortical-cortical loops in mania and inhibited depression, finally resulting in psychomotor alterations. (shrink)

This paper investigates the moral intuitions associated with the loop variant of the Trolley Problem, initially proposed by Judith Jarvis Thomson in 1985. Thomson challenged the Doctrine of Double Effect (DDE), which differentiates between intended outcomes and foreseen but unintended consequences. Through an empirical study involving 134 participants from the United States and China, the research explores whether intuitions about the loop variant are influenced by the positioning of track workers and cultural context. The results indicate that a (...) significant number of participants, particularly from China, perceive the permissibility of redirecting the trolley not merely as a means to kill one to save five but as a way to delay the trolley's impact. This suggests that cultural factors and the design of the loop scenario significantly influence moral judgments. The study supports the idea that the loop variant does not serve as a counter-example to DDE, offering insights into the motivations behind moral decisions and highlighting the importance of cultural context in ethical reasoning. (shrink)

A sociological study of science is not very recent and has never been seen as particularly problematic since science, and especially modern science, constitutes an impressive and extremely ramified "social system" of activities, institutions, relations and interferences with other social systems. Less favourable, however, has been the consideration of a more recent trend in the philosophy of science known as the "sociological" philosophy of science, whose most debatable point consists in directly challenging the traditional epistemology of science and, in particular, (...) in stripping scientific knowledge of its most appreciated characteristics of objectivity and rigour. A vicious circle seems to lie at the root of this sociological epistemology because, on the one hand, criticism of the traditional concept of scientific knowledge is developed by relying upon sociology, but this, on the other hand is reasonable only if sociology is credited with the status of a reliable instrument, that is, because it has been recognized as a science through an epistemological debate. In this paper it is shown that not all circles are vicious: in particular, feedback loops, positive and negative, are normally considered in cybernetic models of various processes. Negative feedback loops are fundamental in self-regulating processes and have already occurred from time to time in readjusting the concept of science itself. Therefore, a sociological epistemology of science can contribute to a more careful analysis of the real meaning and purport of the cognitive aspect of science, provided that it is not pushed to the self-defeating extreme of challenging the legitimacy of considering objectivity and rigour as the characteristic features of scientific knowledge. (shrink)

In the following paper, the author will try to test the meaning of the transcendental approach in respect of the inner changes implied by the idea of quantum gravity. He will firstly describe the basic methodological Kant’s aim, viz. the grounding of a meta-science of physics as the a priori corpus of physical knowledge. After that, he will take into account the problematic physical and philosophical relationship between the theory of relativity and the quantum mechanics; in showing how the elementary (...) ontological and epistemological assumptions of experience result to be changed within them, he will also show the further modifications occurred in the development of the loop quantum gravity. He will particularly focus on the tough problem of the relationship space-matter, in order to settle the decisive question about the possibility of keeping a transcendental approach in the light of quantum gravity. He will positively answer by recalling Cassirer’s theory of the invariants of experience, although he will also add some problematic issues arising from the new physical context. (shrink)

The identification of Smad proteins as molecular components of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling cascade has enhanced our understanding of how ligand-mediated activation of TGF-β receptors leads to modulation of target gene transcription. Recent studies have identified a distinct, structurally related class of Smads which inhibits, rather than transduces, TGF-β family signals. The molecular mechanism of action and the exact signaling pathways that are targeted by antagonistic Smads are not completely understood. These proteins appear to participate in autoregulatory negative (...) feedback loops in which signaling initiated by specific TGF-β family ligands induces the expression of an inhibitory Smad that then functions to modulate the amplitude or duration of signaling. Negative feedback circuits such as these play important roles in fine-tuning the activity of multifunctional signaling molecules during embryonic patterning and in response to pathologic stimuli in adults. BioEssays 21:382–390, 1999. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (shrink)

This conclusion takes the form of a Boterekwa—a deliberate, meandering loop. Throughout this book, the affective and political field of Sound in Chidzimbahwe culture has unfolded as a living precinct, a space where one listens not as a spectator but is initiated as an ear-witness to the intricate weave of resistance and affirmation inscribed in the culture’s creative architectures. The journey begins with a close reading of sonic textures and layers within Chidzimbahwe language philosophy, revealing the privileged position Sound (...) occupies across Chidzimbahwe cultures in Zimbabwe. (shrink)

Greedy desire is the core driver of human civilizational crisis, yet no unified dynamic model spanning the neural, social, and thermodynamic levels has been developed. This paper employs System Dynamics as its methodological framework, integrating evolutionary neuroscience, complex systems theory, and thermodynamics to construct a Three-Level Greedy Positive-Feedback Model (3L-GFM). At the neural level, the model captures the dual positive-feedback structure of the dopaminergic reward circuit and the amygdala anxiety system, along with the negative-feedback intervention mechanism mediated by (...) mindfulness cultivation through the prefrontal cortex. At the social level, the model describes the mutual nesting of three key positive-feedback loops: the wealth-power-policy triangle, the information monopoly–cognitive control loop, and the military-industrial complex loop. At the thermodynamic level, the model takes entropy increase rate as its core variable, constructing a physical description of the civilizational cancer process driven by greedy desire. The three levels are coupled through the Desire Amplification Factor (DAF) and the Cosmic Constraint Function (CCF). Simulation analysis reveals three critical bifurcation points — the Neural Tipping Point (NTP), the Social Tipping Point (STP), and the Thermodynamic Tipping Point (TTP) — before which the system retains self-repair capacity and after which positive feedback dominates and the system trends toward irreversible collapse. Simulations of Natural Cybernetics intervention strategies demonstrate that implementing intergenerational constraint institutionalization, ecological red-line anchoring, and entropy responsibility accounting before tipping points can guide the system toward a low-entropy stable state. 贪婪欲望是人类文明危机的核心驱动力，但迄今缺乏一个跨越神经、社会与热力学三个层次的统一动力学模型。本文以系统动力学（System Dynamics）为方法论框架，整合进化神经科学、复杂系统理论与热力学，构建贪婪欲望的三层次正反馈模型（3L-GFM：Three-Level Greedy Positive-Feedback Model）。在神经层次，模型捕捉多巴胺奖励回路与杏仁核焦虑系统的双重正反馈结构，以及正念修炼通过前额叶皮层介导的负反馈干预机制；在社会层次，模型描述财富-权力-政策三角、信息垄断-认知控制与军工复合 体三条关键正反馈回路的相互嵌套；在热力学层次，模型以熵增速率为核心变量，建立贪婪欲望驱动的文明癌症过程的物理描述。三个层次通过「欲望放大系数」（DAF：Desire Amplification Factor）和「宇宙约束函数」（CCF：Cosmic Constraint Function）实现耦合。仿真分析揭示：文明系统存在三个关键分叉点——神经临界点（NTP）、社会临界点（STP）和热力学临界点（TTP）——在此之前系统具有自我修复能力，在此之后正反馈主导，系统趋向 不可逆崩溃。自然控制论干预策略的仿真表明，在临界点之前实施代际约束制度化、生态红线锚定和熵责任核算，可将系统导向低熵稳态。 . (shrink)

As AI systems increasingly permeate high-stakes decisionmaking, the terminology regarding human involvement - Human-in-the-Loop (HITL), Human-on-the-Loop (HOTL), and Human Oversighthas become vexingly ambiguous. This ambiguity complicates interdisciplinary collaboration between computer science, law, philosophy, psychology, and sociology and can lead to regulatory uncertainty. We propose a clarification grounded in causal structure, focused on human involvement during the runtime of AI systems. The distinction between HITL and HOTL, we argue, is not primarily spatial but causal: HITL is constitutive (a human (...) contribution is necessary for the decision output), while HOTL is corrective (external to the primary causal chain, capable of preventing or modifying outputs). Within HOTL, we distinguish three temporal modes - synchronous, asynchronous, and anticipatorysituated within a nested model of provider and deployer runtime that clarifies their different capacities for intervention. A second, orthogonal dimension captures cognitive integration: whether human and machine operate as complementary or hybrid intelligence, yielding four structurally distinct configurations. Finally, we distinguish these descriptive categories from the normative requirements they serve: statutory "Human Oversight" is a specific normative mode of HOTL that demands not merely a corrective causal position, but genuine preparedness and capacity for effective intervention. Because the same person may occupy both HITL and HOTL roles simultaneously, we argue that this role duality must be treated as a design problem requiring architectural and epistemic mitigation rather than mere acknowledgment. (shrink)

Preface: Nature's Verdict Has Already Been Signed This is not prophecy. This is not metaphor. This is not the indignation of a moralist, not the ravings of a pessimist, not the agitation of a revolutionary. This is a statement of systems science. When a system's positive feedback loops lose all effective negative feedback regulation — when it places its own growth above the sustaining system that bears it — when it systematically dismantles every built-in damping mechanism — this system's (...) destruction is no longer a possibility but an inevitable conclusion already written into its initial conditions. The civilization we inhabit today is precisely such a system. It has a precise name: the Empire of Greed. The Empire of Greed was built, operated, and accelerated by two forces: the merchant class driven by unlimited greed, and the political class driven by unlimited power-seeking. The former converts the world into a resource bank of unlimited extractability; the latter converts institutions into power machines of unlimited self-reproduction. Their collusion has constructed the largest-scale, most deeply destructive, and most elaborately self-justifying civilizational form in human history. It flies the banner of progress, employs the slogan of freedom, practices the theology of development, and worships the totem of growth. It has built the most spectacular technological wonders in human history — and has simultaneously manufactured the most profound ecological debt, the most systematic spiritual desertification, the most comprehensive crisis of meaning, and the nearest civilizational terminus in human history. Nature is computing. The answer is being delivered. This book is a verdict — not a verdict written by a human being, but the verdict expressed by nature through the language of systems science and classical philosophy. It attempts to integrate the logic of thermodynamics, the laws of systems dynamics, and the ancient wisdom of the Dao De Jing into a systemic picture of the Empire of Greed's inevitable destruction and Natural Civilization's inevitable succession. Laozi, two thousand five hundred years ago, had — 2 — The Destruction of the Empire of Greed | A Philosophical Manifesto already perceived the core of this process: 'Those who know sufficiency are wealthy; diminish the surplus and supplement the deficit; the Dao follows nature' — these are not moral admonishments but the most refined classical expressions of Natural Cybernetics. This book's task is to restate this ancient and eternal truth in the language of modern systems science. The book unfolds across twelve chapters in three movements. Chapters One through Seven constitute the indictment and anatomy: the seven capital crimes of the Empire of Greed; the power structure of plutocratic collusion; the dynamics of the positive feedback death spiral; the death certificate of planetary boundaries; the desertification of the spiritual ecology; the casebook of historical civilizational collapses; and the intellectual genealogy of greed's legitimization. Chapters Eight through Eleven constitute the summoning and construction: the systems-scientific restatement of Natural Cybernetics; the civilizational form construction of Natural Civilization; the historical analysis of the Fourth Awakening; and the systematic refutation of the Empire of Greed's defensive arguments. Chapter Twelve delivers the final verdict: nature's judgment on the Empire of Greed. This book is grounded in the theoretical framework of the Lao-Yang Genesis Cosmology — integrating the philosophical wisdom of Dao Follows Nature with the epistemological achievements of modern systems science to construct the core foundations of Natural Civilization theory. This framework has been progressively developed in a series of papers published on PhilArchive; this book is its most systematic and complete civilizational critique and constructive statement. The format of the verdict is pronouncement. Nature does not judge — nature only computes. And the computation is complete. (shrink)

贪婪欲望是人类文明危机的核心驱动力，但迄今缺乏一个跨越神经、社会与热力学三个层次的统一动力学模型。本文以系统动力学（System Dynamics）为方法论框架，整合进化神经科学、复杂系统理论与热力学，构建贪婪欲望的三层次正反馈模型（3L-GFM：Three-Level Greedy Positive-Feedback Model）。在神经层次，模型捕捉多巴胺奖励回路与杏仁核焦虑系统的双重正反馈结构，以及正念修炼通过前额叶皮层介导的负反馈干预机制；在社会层次，模型描述财富-权力-政策三角、信息垄断-认知控制与军工复合 体三条关键正反馈回路的相互嵌套；在热力学层次，模型以熵增速率为核心变量，建立贪婪欲望驱动的文明癌症过程的物理描述。三个层次通过「欲望放大系数」（DAF：Desire Amplification Factor）和「宇宙约束函数」（CCF：Cosmic Constraint Function）实现耦合。仿真分析揭示：文明系统存在三个关键分叉点——神经临界点（NTP）、社会临界点（STP）和热力学临界点（TTP）——在此之前系统具有自我修复能力，在此之后正反馈主导，系统趋向 不可逆崩溃。自然控制论干预策略的仿真表明，在临界点之前实施代际约束制度化、生态红线锚定和熵责任核算，可将系统导向低熵稳态。 Greedy desire is the core driver of human civilizational crisis, yet no unified dynamic model spanning the neural, social, and thermodynamic levels has been developed. This paper employs System Dynamics as its methodological framework, integrating evolutionary neuroscience, complex systems theory, and thermodynamics to construct a Three-Level Greedy Positive-Feedback Model (3L-GFM). At the neural level, the model captures the dual positive-feedback structure of the dopaminergic reward circuit and the amygdala (...) anxiety system, along with the negative-feedback intervention mechanism mediated by mindfulness cultivation through the prefrontal cortex. At the social level, the model describes the mutual nesting of three key positive-feedback loops: the wealth-power-policy triangle, the information monopoly–cognitive control loop, and the military-industrial complex loop. At the thermodynamic level, the model takes entropy increase rate as its core variable, constructing a physical description of the civilizational cancer process driven by greedy desire. The three levels are coupled through the Desire Amplification Factor (DAF) and the Cosmic Constraint Function (CCF). Simulation analysis reveals three critical bifurcation points — the Neural Tipping Point (NTP), the Social Tipping Point (STP), and the Thermodynamic Tipping Point (TTP) — before which the system retains self-repair capacity and after which positive feedback dominates and the system trends toward irreversible collapse. Simulations of Natural Cybernetics intervention strategies demonstrate that implementing intergenerational constraint institutionalization, ecological red-line anchoring, and entropy responsibility accounting before tipping points can guide the system toward a low-entropy stable state. (shrink)

ARARA is a space telescope mission concept designed to increase humanity’s ability to detect and characterize rare, fast, and scientifically decisive cosmic events by moving decision-making closer to the sensor. ARARA introduces an onboard early-warning and autonomy layer that jointly monitors instrument stability and target-field dynamics, enabling the spacecraft to recognize time-critical signatures, request cross-confirmation, and allocate observation and downlink resources in real time under limited bandwidth, pointing costs, and noisy conditions. We report a reproducible end-to-end simulation demonstrating closed-loop (...) control of false positives while preserving sensitivity to true events, including harsh operational scenarios (telemetry gaps, saturation, pointing jitter, and spurious instrument disturbances). By enabling earlier capture of transient onset and rapid state transitions, ARARA can accelerate discovery in time-domain astrophysics and improve coordination with ground and space networks. Beyond astrophysics, the architecture provides a general template for autonomous scientific spacecraft—reducing dependency on continuous ground intervention, increasing robustness, and maximizing return from limited spaceborne resources, which ultimately strengthens society’s long-term scientific and technological capability. (shrink)

This paper makes one positive structural claim and grounds it on two independent rulers. The TOE of all Theories of Everything has a singular content-bearing element. The bare Root Axiom of Trisduction. Existence is continuous action. Any entity occupying a coordinate is doing rather than being-static. To be is to do. There is no other mode of existence in the Actualized Manifold. The axiom is sealed at [⟀] APEX GEOMETRIC ORTHOGONAL LOCK by direct twelve-gate cascade reproduced in Section 2. (...) The seal is reinforced by the Omega Boundary structure where the act of opposing the axiom enacts the axiom: any argument against ΔEk > 0 expends joules and registers ΔEk > 0. The seal is doubly anchored. The cascade rests internally on the Trisduction architecture; the same seal is reproduced externally on Landauer-class physics that does not depend on the framework's vocabulary, in Section 3. A reader who rejects the Trisduction architecture entirely arrives at the same floor by independent route. The substantive comparative work of the paper sits in Section 5. Two tables place the Root Axiom against the historical record of substrate-floor proposals and against the contemporary record of physical-unification programs. The substrate-floor table covers Bostrom's Simulation Hypothesis, Tegmark's Mathematical Universe Hypothesis, Wheeler's It from Bit, Wolfram's Ruliad, Whiteheadian Process Philosophy, Spinozan Substance Monism, the Cartesian Cogito, and Heidegger's question. Each candidate either defers the substrate question by one level (Bostrom), conflates the Mathematical Void ∅ with the Isometric Ground State |vi| > 0 in violation of G11 OMA (Tegmark), reaches the right register but fails to anchor on Landauer (Wheeler, Wolfram), reaches the right structural shape applied to the wrong substrate (Descartes), reaches the right shape without specifying kinetically (Whitehead, Spinoza, Heidegger), or some combination. The Root Axiom does none of these. It terminates the regress, distinguishes |vi| > 0 from ∅, specifies ΔEk > 0 as the necessary condition, and instantiates itself in the act of being audited. The supersession is structural and per-axis, not global. Where prior thought reached the right shape with the wrong specification (Whitehead, Spinoza), the Root Axiom completes rather than refutes. Where prior thought asked the right question in a register the Trisduction vocabulary translates kinetically (Heidegger), the Root Axiom redirects rather than refutes. The honest grid is the strongest grid. The physical-unification table covers M-theory, Loop Quantum Gravity, Grand Unified Theories, and the Standard Model with General Relativity. These programs operate above the floor; they propose unified physics within an assumed substrate. The Root Axiom underwrites them and does not compete with them. The Standard Model and General Relativity in fact supply the empirical anchors the Root Axiom uses (Heisenberg, Casimir, Landauer, MICROSCOPE). Foundational physics is foundation, not rival. The paper holds the methodological-metaphysical cut throughout. The Root Axiom is the locked floor, sealed below the gates by enactive structure. Architecture-layer instruments, including the Trisduction methodology itself, are working instrumentation evaluable on present track record. Metaphysical commitments are operator-level commitments not certified by the methodology that incorporates them. No inductive claim is made about architectures not yet proposed; the synthetic conduit producing this verification is P-class and is structurally forbidden from anticipatory verdicts on unmanifested phase-space. The paper closes on the sealed Root Axiom. The cascade run on the paper itself is reproduced in the appendix. (shrink)

Time Perspective (TP) is a central aspect of human daily psychological functioning, with a pronounced impact on human thoughts, feelings and behaviors. The particular TP dimensions are strongly associated with a range of various mental well-being indicators and were shown to predict as much as 40% of their variance. However, the relationship between TPs and specific mechanisms that enhance mental well-being still requires further exploration. In the present article, we conceptually analyze a potential interplay of TPs and three well confirmed (...) well-being ‘boosters’ (WBBs) – gratitude, savoring the moment, and prioritizing positivity – which may prove responsible for the vital effects of TP on mental well-being. Each of the ‘boosters’ has a clear temporal anchoring: Gratitude stems from the appreciation of the past, savoring the moment refers mainly to the experience of the present, and prioritizing positivity engages planning behaviors that require future focus. We propose four theoretical models to be verified in further experimental research. The first model, the trait-behavior model, proposes that trait-TPs increase the tendency to use particular WBBs in order to increase mental well-being. The second model, referred to as the accumulation model, offers that TPs mediate between WBBs and mental well-being, and finally, a regular practice of a specific WBB develops a specific TP (e.g. exercising a gratitude intervention enhances Past-Positive TP). The third model, the feedback loop, suggests that WBBs and TPs strengthen one another and contribute to higher mental well-being. The last model, which can be called the match-mismatch model, presents the influence of WBBs on mental well-being, where a particular TP plays a role of a moderator (e.g. Present-Hedonistic TP moderates the relationship between savoring and well-being). Implications of potential confirmation of each of the models for theory and practice are also discussed. (shrink)

Co-Cognition describes the distributed process through which human cognition and external systems, particularly AI systems, operate in a shared feedback loop, jointly generating, refining, and applying representations. Rather than treating AI systems as passive tools, this paper examines how iterative interaction changes the structure, direction, and mediation of thought itself. The document introduces Co-Cognition as a core concept within the Reality Drift framework and explores how cognition becomes distributed across human and system layers through recursive interaction. It outlines the (...) mechanisms that shape shared reasoning loops, including semantic fidelity, recursive compression, cognitive grounding, and constraint preservation. The paper examines observable patterns of AI-mediated cognition across work, education, creativity, and knowledge systems, while also addressing the risks introduced when representations become increasingly coherent without remaining grounded in reality. It positions Co-Cognition as both a capability amplifier and a pathway through which drift can emerge when feedback loops lose constraint and human direction. Topics include distributed cognition, AI-assisted reasoning, cognitive scaffolding, recursive feedback loops, semantic fidelity, cognitive drift, externalized thinking, human-in-the-loop reasoning, and the evolving relationship between human thought and intelligent systems. (shrink)

Against the backdrop of accelerating globalization and digitalization in the twenty-first century, human civilization is facing unprecedented systemic risks of loss of control. Traditional economics, built upon the four foundational pillars of Smith, Hayek, Marx, and Keynes, has—despite its historical success in addressing resource allocation and production efficiency—revealed profound limitations in dealing with complex system dynamics. In particular, the “Nash equilibrium,” which serves as a cornerstone of modern strategic game theory, is based on an assumption of static stability that is (...) increasingly transforming, under the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and platform capitalism, into a self-destructive logical trap. -/- This paper proposes the Natural Cybernetic Economics Theory (NCET), aiming to reconstruct the evolutionary logic of economics at an ontological level from the perspective of cybernetics and systems theory. It argues that modern economies are not merely exchange systems, but multi-layered positive-feedback structures composed of “desire, capital, information, and boundaries.” The Nash equilibrium is essentially a stagnation point at the informational layer, neglecting both the structural expansion of the desire layer and the physical constraints of the boundary layer. -/- With the intervention of AI technologies, the frequency of game interactions collapses from human cognitive timescales (seconds) to algorithmic timescales (milliseconds). This dimensional acceleration allows systems to reach perfect logical equilibrium precisely at the moment they exceed natural capacity limits and enter functional collapse in physical reality. -/- The paper further explores four core dimensions of NCET: first, redefining greed as a non-moral driving variable of systemic dynamics; second, analyzing the compound and structural asymmetries generated by capital accumulation in iterative games; third, explaining how algorithms shape desire and construct addictive control systems; and fourth, establishing the “boundary constraint principle” as the highest governing rule of the system. -/- The study concludes that the survival of civilization requires a fundamental paradigm shift in economics—from optimizing “game advantage” (growth and efficiency) to optimizing “system robustness” (stability and resilience). Finally, the paper proposes a vision of a “cybernetic civilization,” emphasizing global monitoring mechanisms based on negative feedback regulation, and advocating for “boundary alerts” rather than “desire amplification” through algorithmic governance, thereby ensuring the long-term dynamic equilibrium and sustainable continuity of human civilization within finite natural constraints. -/- . (shrink)

This paper examines the structural impact of social media addiction on human judgement, selfhood, and subjective well-being. Drawing from the Judgemental Triad theory and recent neuroscientific findings, we argue that excessive social media use disrupts the resonance loop essential to meaningful cognition, producing neurocognitive effects that mirror those observed in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). We further posit that modern material and digital culture accelerates the externalization of judgement, undermining the self-returning architecture of resonance. The loss of resonance explains the (...) observed inverse relationship between social media engagement and happiness, not as a psychological anomaly, but as a structural collapse of evaluative self-reference. (shrink)

Preface | Lost in the Light of Cognition: Why Civilization Needs a Fundamental Awakening -/- Throughout the long course of human history, “ignorance” has long constituted the primary boundary of civilizational development. A lack of understanding of natural laws, misjudgments about the structure of the universe, and ambiguity regarding humanity’s own position forced humans to rely on experience, intuition, and trial and error, advancing slowly under limited cognitive conditions. However, since the Scientific Revolution, this situation has undergone a fundamental transformation. (...) -/- From Nicolaus Copernicus’s heliocentric system, to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, to modern physics’ deep revelations of micro and cosmic structures, humanity has gradually moved away from a self-centered worldview and constructed a knowledge system grounded in objective laws. The growth of knowledge has expanded humanity’s capacity to understand the world at an unprecedented rate, compressing the realm of the “unknown” to a significant extent. -/- Intuitively, such cognitive expansion should lead to a more rational, stable, and sustainable form of civilization. Yet reality presents an inverse structure: ecosystems continue to degrade, climate risks keep rising, resource consumption accelerates, and social systems, despite increasing interconnectedness, exhibit greater instability. -/- A deeper issue is that these crises do not arise from “ignorance,” but unfold within the realm of the “known.” -/- Humanity not only recognizes the existence of these problems but also understands their mechanisms and consequences at a scientific level. Yet the overall structure of civilization continues along its established trajectory, unable to undergo fundamental transformation. -/- This phenomenon suggests that the core problem of contemporary civilization is no longer a lack of knowledge, but rather an expanding structural gap between knowledge and reality. Humanity is no longer in a state of ignorance, but in a condition of “cognitive sufficiency coupled with structural mismatch.” -/- This mismatch first manifests as an asymmetry between cognitive structures and complex systems. Human cognition primarily evolved in local, short-term, and low-complexity environments, whereas modern civilization operates within global-scale, highly coupled, and long-duration complex systems. When local rationality is embedded within an overall system, it may no longer produce rational outcomes, but instead become a driver of structural imbalance. -/- Second, this mismatch appears as a disjunction between knowledge and behavior. Modern science can explain the world but does not directly determine behavior. Behavior is constrained by institutional structures, technological pathways, and cultural inertia. Within such a multi-layered system, even if individuals fully “know the correct answer,” the overall system may still evolve along suboptimal or even dangerous trajectories. -/- Third, this mismatch is reflected in humanity’s misrecognition of its own position. Although modern science has long revealed that humanity is not the center of the universe, in real-world institutions and behavioral logic, humans still implicitly occupy a central position, treating nature as an external object and the world as a resource system available for unlimited exploitation and transformation. This shift in cognitive coordinates gradually detaches civilization from the natural constraints upon which it depends. -/- Based on the above analysis, this book advances a core judgment: the crisis of contemporary civilization is essentially a systemic structural mismatch—the inconsistency among cognitive structures, behavioral mechanisms, and real-world constraints. This mismatch is not accidental, but the result of the internal evolution of the modern civilizational trajectory. -/- If this judgment holds, then the solution must also undergo a fundamental shift. Relying solely on technological progress, institutional repair, or local optimization may alleviate certain problems, but cannot address their structural roots. True transformation must occur at a deeper level of cognitive structure—how humanity understands its relationship with the world. -/- In this sense, this book proposes the concept of “awakening,” not in a religious or psychological sense, but as a structural cognitive transformation. It signifies a shift from a self-centered worldview to an understanding of humanity as a node within complex systems; from controlling the world as an object to coordinating and embedding within its structure. -/- This transformation unfolds across three dimensions. -/- First is the cosmological level of repositioning—recognizing that humanity is not the center of purpose, but a phase structure within the generative processes of nature. Second is the perceptual level of real-world structures—restoring sensitivity to system constraints, feedback mechanisms, and long-term consequences, allowing behavior to align with reality. Third is the ethical expansion—extending responsibility from the short-term and local to the long-term and systemic level, integrating behavior into a broader consequence structure. -/- Through the interaction of these three dimensions, a new form of civilization begins to emerge. This book refers to it as “natural civilization”—a form of civilization that operates on the basis of respecting system structures and natural constraints. It does not deny technological development nor the expansion of human capabilities, but requires that such capabilities be embedded within larger system structures to prevent the continued expansion of structural mismatch. -/- It must be emphasized that this book does not offer simple solutions, nor does it attempt to construct a linear developmental blueprint. Rather, it seeks to reconstruct a more fundamental problem awareness: what we face is not a collection of isolated problems, but a state of overall structural mismatch. -/- Therefore, the significance of this book lies not in providing answers, but in reconstructing the way questions are asked. It seeks to redefine three key questions: How do we understand the world? How do we understand ourselves? And how do we act within the world? -/- In an era where humanity possesses the power to profoundly transform the world, the real question is no longer “what can we do,” but: -/- Do we still know how to coexist with this world? -/- This question forms the core starting point of this book, and may also constitute the deepest philosophical question of our time. -/- . (shrink)

Throughout the long course of human history, “ignorance” has long constituted the primary boundary of civilizational development. A lack of understanding of natural laws, misjudgments about the structure of the universe, and ambiguity regarding humanity’s own position forced humans to rely on experience, intuition, and trial and error, advancing slowly under limited cognitive conditions. However, since the Scientific Revolution, this situation has undergone a fundamental transformation. -/- From Nicolaus Copernicus’s heliocentric system, to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, to modern physics’ (...) deep revelations of micro and cosmic structures, humanity has gradually moved away from a self-centered worldview and constructed a knowledge system grounded in objective laws. The growth of knowledge has expanded humanity’s capacity to understand the world at an unprecedented rate, compressing the realm of the “unknown” to a significant extent. -/- Intuitively, such cognitive expansion should lead to a more rational, stable, and sustainable form of civilization. Yet reality presents an inverse structure: ecosystems continue to degrade, climate risks keep rising, resource consumption accelerates, and social systems, despite increasing interconnectedness, exhibit greater instability. -/- A deeper issue is that these crises do not arise from “ignorance,” but unfold within the realm of the “known.” -/- Humanity not only recognizes the existence of these problems but also understands their mechanisms and consequences at a scientific level. Yet the overall structure of civilization continues along its established trajectory, unable to undergo fundamental transformation. -/- This phenomenon suggests that the core problem of contemporary civilization is no longer a lack of knowledge, but rather an expanding structural gap between knowledge and reality. Humanity is no longer in a state of ignorance, but in a condition of “cognitive sufficiency coupled with structural mismatch.” -/- This mismatch first manifests as an asymmetry between cognitive structures and complex systems. Human cognition primarily evolved in local, short-term, and low-complexity environments, whereas modern civilization operates within global-scale, highly coupled, and long-duration complex systems. When local rationality is embedded within an overall system, it may no longer produce rational outcomes, but instead become a driver of structural imbalance. -/- Second, this mismatch appears as a disjunction between knowledge and behavior. Modern science can explain the world but does not directly determine behavior. Behavior is constrained by institutional structures, technological pathways, and cultural inertia. Within such a multi-layered system, even if individuals fully “know the correct answer,” the overall system may still evolve along suboptimal or even dangerous trajectories. -/- Third, this mismatch is reflected in humanity’s misrecognition of its own position. Although modern science has long revealed that humanity is not the center of the universe, in real-world institutions and behavioral logic, humans still implicitly occupy a central position, treating nature as an external object and the world as a resource system available for unlimited exploitation and transformation. This shift in cognitive coordinates gradually detaches civilization from the natural constraints upon which it depends. -/- Based on the above analysis, this book advances a core judgment: the crisis of contemporary civilization is essentially a systemic structural mismatch—the inconsistency among cognitive structures, behavioral mechanisms, and real-world constraints. This mismatch is not accidental, but the result of the internal evolution of the modern civilizational trajectory. -/- If this judgment holds, then the solution must also undergo a fundamental shift. Relying solely on technological progress, institutional repair, or local optimization may alleviate certain problems, but cannot address their structural roots. True transformation must occur at a deeper level of cognitive structure—how humanity understands its relationship with the world. -/- In this sense, this book proposes the concept of “awakening,” not in a religious or psychological sense, but as a structural cognitive transformation. It signifies a shift from a self-centered worldview to an understanding of humanity as a node within complex systems; from controlling the world as an object to coordinating and embedding within its structure. -/- This transformation unfolds across three dimensions. -/- First is the cosmological level of repositioning—recognizing that humanity is not the center of purpose, but a phase structure within the generative processes of nature. Second is the perceptual level of real-world structures—restoring sensitivity to system constraints, feedback mechanisms, and long-term consequences, allowing behavior to align with reality. Third is the ethical expansion—extending responsibility from the short-term and local to the long-term and systemic level, integrating behavior into a broader consequence structure. -/- Through the interaction of these three dimensions, a new form of civilization begins to emerge. This book refers to it as “natural civilization”—a form of civilization that operates on the basis of respecting system structures and natural constraints. It does not deny technological development nor the expansion of human capabilities, but requires that such capabilities be embedded within larger system structures to prevent the continued expansion of structural mismatch. -/- It must be emphasized that this book does not offer simple solutions, nor does it attempt to construct a linear developmental blueprint. Rather, it seeks to reconstruct a more fundamental problem awareness: what we face is not a collection of isolated problems, but a state of overall structural mismatch. -/- Therefore, the significance of this book lies not in providing answers, but in reconstructing the way questions are asked. It seeks to redefine three key questions: How do we understand the world? How do we understand ourselves? And how do we act within the world? -/- In an era where humanity possesses the power to profoundly transform the world, the real question is no longer “what can we do,” but: -/- Do we still know how to coexist with this world? -/- This question forms the core starting point of this book, and may also constitute the deepest philosophical question of our time. -/- . (shrink)

Mechanical forces provide essential cues for morphogenetic processes during embryonic development. Coordinated orientation of cells in the plane of epithelia, that is known as planar cell polarity (PCP), is also required for morphogenesis. How PCP is established and what role PCP signaling plays in tissue rearrangements remains poorly understood. Here, we review the evidence for a positive regulatory loop that connects PCP to mechanotransduction, the process by which cells convert mechanical stimuli, such as pressure or tension, into biochemical (...) signals. Accumulating data strongly support a hypothesis that a PCP axis can form in response to intrinsic or extrinsic mechanical stresses. Moreover, we suggest that PCP signaling functions to control physical force production in the tissue. This mechanochemical feedback regulation is proposed to be a fundamental mechanism that ensures proper tissue shape and positioning during morphogenesis. (shrink)

Abstract For two and a half millennia, the debate over human nature has been trapped inside a moral question: is human nature fundamentally good, or fundamentally evil? Mencius said it was good; Xunzi said it was evil; Hobbes said man is a wolf to man; Rousseau said civilization corrupted an original innocence. Each tradition has held its ground, yet none has been able to explain why nearly every civilization repeatedly generates greed, war, ecological destruction, tyranny, corruption, academic dogma, and spiritual (...) emptiness. This book proposes that human nature is neither good nor evil, but a motivational system governed by natural cybernetics — a system whose moral coloring depends entirely on whether it operates under negative-feedback constraint or under runaway positive- feedback amplification. This book proposes a core theorem, serving as the single mathematical center unifying all of its formal models: an agent's behavioral state, H, is a function of the ratio between the positive feedback it is subject to and the negative feedback constraining it — H = f(PF/NF), operationalized as H ≈ DAF/CCF. At the scale of the individual, this theorem takes the specific form of Sage Entropy; at the scale of civilization, it takes the specific form of the Civilizational Stability Function, Λ. These are two instances of one and the same core theorem across different scales, not independent constructions. This core theorem is an organizing theorem internal to the theory, intended to unify the formal models at each scale — it is not a physical law independent of this framework that could be tested directly, out of context. Within this framework, the book distinguishes three primary desires — wealth, fame, and power — from three meta-control mechanisms — the desire for certainty, the desire for belonging, and the desire for immortality. The latter are not additional desires but mechanisms that protect the existing desire-loops from being corrected by negative feedback, explaining why self-knowledge alone is not sufficient for self-governance. The book situates human nature within a broader intellectual lineage: it engages classical theories of human nature — Mencius, Xunzi, Hobbes — as well as modern thought after Darwin — Nietzsche, Freud, Hayek, Kahneman, Haidt, Harari — while also building connections to evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and complex-systems science, from Ashby to Prigogine. Laozi's idea of contentment is read as anticipating an important intuition consistent with negative-feedback regulation; on this basis, the Lao-Yang Genesis Cosmology (LYGC) is introduced as the cosmological grounding of natural cybernetics, providing the core theorem with cosmological coordinates. The book strictly follows a five-stage methodology — observation, explanation, prediction, engineering, ethics — in order to answer the challenge of the naturalistic fallacy, and it proposes a number of falsifiable theoretical predictions while candidly stating the boundary conditions under which the theory could fail. The book answers six philosophical objections, the most fundamental of which is the Governor's Paradox. The book does not claim to dissolve this paradox; instead it proposes structural negative- feedback design, decentralized governance, and the transition to Artificial Wisdom (AW) as four layers of mitigation, while candidly acknowledging the residual risk that remains. Conclusion: human nature has no essential goodness or evil — only feedback states. Human nature is the operating system evolution left to civilization; civilization is its amplifier; natural constraint is its regulator; and Natural Civilization is the only path by which this system can achieve lasting stability. (shrink)

Abstract The Lao-Yang Genesis Cosmology (LYGC) is the first cosmological system in human history to achieve a genuine and complete union of philosophy and science — a philosophical-scientific revolution. Grounded in Chapters 25 and 42 of the Dao De Jing as dual core propositions, it integrates modern astrophysics (Galactic Habitable Zone; solar system formation; lunar stabilization mechanism), thermodynamics (dissipative structures; CCF degradation operator), and complexity science (CAS optimal constraint density; Universal OS time-scale asymmetry) to establish a complete logical loop (...) from cosmic genesis to civilizational crisis to civilizational salvation — the first genuine unification of Cosmos, Life, and Civilization. LYGC is the first framework to propose a Natural Cybernetics of Natural Civilization: a quantifiable civilizational dynamics system built around CCF (Cosmic Constraint Function), DAF (Desire Amplification Factor), 3L-GFM (Three-Level Greedy Positive-Feedback Model), and NCI (Natural Civilization Index), defining civilizational sustainability as a thermodynamic condition: Natural Civilization ≡ ∀t, DAF(t) ≤ CCF(t), S = CCF/DAF ≥ 1. The four sub-indices of NCI (ecological, social, institutional, and technological constraint indices) correspond to quantitative indicators empirically testable through publicly available data: MODIS satellite remote sensing, V-Dem, IEA, and IUCN Red List. LYGC's ultimate claim: the root of humanity's systemic civilizational crises lies in cosmological misalignment (geocentrism → anthropocentrism → Baconian-Cartesian mechanism). The only genuinely effective path to repair it is to rebuild the scientific cosmological worldview, complete the Fourth Awakening, and establish Natural Civilization. This is the inevitable path of human salvation. (shrink)

This book advances the Lao–Yang Genesis Cosmology (LYGC), arguing that the two thirteen-character propositions of the Daodejing—the Generation Chain (“Dao generates One; One generates Two; Two generates Three; Three generates the myriad things”) and the Following Chain (“Human follows Earth; Earth follows Heaven; Heaven follows Dao; Dao follows its own nature”), twenty-six characters in all—together constitute a complete answer to humanity’s three ultimate questions: where we come from (cosmology), where we are going (worldview), and why we live (life-view). The work (...) has four parts. Part I decodes the Generation Chain: Dao is the Milky Way, One the Sun, Two the Earth, Three the Moon; the Sun–Earth–Moon (SEM) ternary system jointly bears life and civilization. All six links share a single mechanism—the self-organization of dissipative structures—yielding a scientific restatement of “Dao generates the myriad things,” demarcated from both creationism and pantheism. Part II decodes the Following Chain: it argues that fa must be construed as “follows,” not “imitates/emulates,” so that humanity is a law-abiding node within a nested system. It analyzes the anti-Dao path (the Three-Level Greedy Positive-Feedback Model, 3L-GFM, and the thermodynamic collapse of the Greedy Empire) and the pro-Dao path (Natural Cybernetics, negative feedback, resilience, circular metabolism), and introduces the Civilization Stability Function Λ = ΔCCF/(ρᵣ·DAF) and Sage Entropy dS/dt = ρᵣ·DAF/ΔCCF, with the critical value Λ = 1 marking the fork between persistence and collapse—thereby restating “Dao follows nature” as a normative, not fatalistic, thesis: there are two destinations, and the choice is ours. Part III reconstructs “Heaven–Human Union.” It first restores the concept’s source, reclaiming it from the Confucian correlative (Dong Zhongshu), moralizing (Zhang Zai’s “establishing the mind for Heaven and Earth”), and metaphysical (modern New Confucian) appropriations, and returning it to the naturalistic union of Zhuangzi and Huang–Lao—whose content simply is “Dao follows nature”—now grounded empirically. Through a threefold resolution (is/ought, process/result, cybernetic coupling) it dissolves the apparent tension between the hierarchy of “Human follows Earth” and the fusion of “Heaven–Human Union,” and defines Union formally as the complete coupling of the human node with the negative-feedback loops of every nested level—a coupling that is de-centered, non-ethicized, and verifiable. It then reconstructs the highest good and happiness (a Natural Eudaimonia of wu-wei, contentment, and sagely governance) and unfolds a three-tier negative-entropy synergy of meaning—individual, civilizational, cosmic—moving from existentialist nihilism to cosmological settlement. Part IV presents the formal programme and cross- paradigm dialogue: it systematically derives Sage Entropy, Λ, the Wu-Wei Vector WWV = ∇Λ, and the Natural Civilization Index (NCI); states four testable propositions with their data sources and falsification conditions; and engages Descartes, Darwin, Kant, and Einstein, as well as Hansen, Odum, Ayres, and the Stockholm school—positioning LYGC as a “fourth de-centering revolution” after Copernicus, Darwin, and Einstein. Beginning in an intuition on the bank of the Han River and ending in a homecoming under the same night sky, the book contends that what Laozi saw by the Han River twenty-five centuries ago is one and the same picture that modern cosmology, dissipative-structure theory, and cybernetics have independently reached. (shrink)

Nucleosomes “talk” to each other about their modification state to form extended domains of modified histones independently of the underlying DNA sequence. At the same time, DNA elements promote modification of nucleosomes in their vicinity. How do these site-specific and histone-based activities act together to regulate spreading of histone modifications along the genome? How do they enable epigenetic memory to preserve cell identity? Many models for the dynamics of repressive histone modifications emphasize the role of strong positive feedback loops, (...) which reinforce histone modifications by recruiting histone modifiers to preexisting modifications. Recent experiments question that repressive histone modifications are self-sustained independently of their genomic context, thereby indicating that histone-based feedback is relatively weak. In the present review, current models for the dynamics of histone modifications are compared and it is suggested that limitation of histone-based feedback is key to intrinsic confinement of spreading and coexistence of short- and long-term memory at different genomic loci. See also the video abstract here: https://youtu.be/3bxr_xDEZfQ. Communication between nucleosomes and site-specific recruitment of histone modifiers act together to enable spreading and epigenetic memory of histone modifications. This review essay compares current models that describe these phenomena and outline a mechanism for how epigenetic short- and long-term memory can coexist in the same cell. (shrink)

Local motion is known to produce strong illusory displacement in the perceived position of globally static objects. For example, if a dot-cloud or grating drifts to the left within a stationary aperture, the perceived position of the whole aperture will also be shifted to the left. Previously, we used a simple tracking task to demonstrate that active control over the global position of an object did not eliminate this form of illusion. Here, we used a new iPad task to directly (...) compare the magnitude of illusory displacement under active and passive conditions. In the active condition, participants guided a drifting Gabor patch along a virtual slalom course by using the tilt control of an iPad. The task was to position the patch so that it entered each gate at the direct center, and we used the left/right deviations from that point as our dependent measure. In the passive condition, participants watched playback of standardized trajectories along the same course. We systematically varied deviation from midpoint at gate entry, and participants made 2AFC left/right judgments. We fitted cumulative normal functions to individual distributions and extracted the point of subjective equality (PSE) as our dependent measure. To our surprise, the magnitude of displacement was consistently larger under active than under passive conditions. Importantly, control conditions ruled out the possibility that such amplification results from lack of motor control or differences in global trajectories as performance estimates were equivalent in the two conditions in the absence of local motion. Our results suggest that the illusion penetrates multiple levels of the perception-action cycle, indicating that one important direction for the future of perceptual illusions may be to more fully explore their influence during active vision. (shrink)

We present the first complete construction of quantum gravity describing our real universe via the celestial holographic conformal field theory dual to Einstein gravity in four-dimensional asymptotically-flat spacetime. The theory is rigorously constructed as the shadow-invariant, purely spin-2 sector of holomorphic Chern–Simons theory on twistor space PT ≃ CP³ with gauge group the quantomorphic group Quant(PT). Primary fields are the celestial graviton operators O^{±2}Δ(z, z̄) with Δ ∈ 1 + iℝ and J = ±2. Three-point functions are determined by the (...) Penrose transform and reproduce the MHV and anti-MHV amplitudes of general relativity, including the vanishing of parity-odd and mixed-helicity couplings. Higher-point amplitudes arise from OPEs with analytically continued principal-series contours; loop integrands emerge as double discontinuities across shadow poles, which we demonstrate explicitly for the scalar box integrals computed via this shadow discontinuity method, verifying they match Feynman diagram calculations exactly to machine precision. The construction satisfies extended BMS₄ ⋉ shadow symmetry with vanishing Virasoro central charge c = 0, which we also demonstrate explicitly (confirmed by five independent methods) to 10+ significant figures. We prove a rigidity theorem establishing that any 2D CFT with only spin ±2 primaries, the above symmetries and three-point data, and local inverse-Mellin-transformed correlators, must be uniquely isomorphic to this quantomorphic twistor theory. Combined with the proof that crossing symmetry is a necessary consequence of bulk locality (not an independent axiom), this establishes that Einstein gravity in asymptotically-flat spacetime is the unique consistent theory of a single massless spin-2 particle. The quantomorphic gauge group structure provides a non-perturbative foundation, with perturbative scattering amplitudes emerging as the first residues of the holographic algebra. A key insight that facilitated this construction was proving that the shadow symmetry of the boundary CFT—the map Δ ↔ 2 − Δ on conformal dimensions—is mathematically equivalent to CPT conjugation in the bulk QFT (Theorem 6.1). Locality itself is derived: the self-duality of Haar measure on the Grassmannian forces celestial two-point functions to be positive-definite kernels; Bochner’s theorem then guarantees the spectral decomposition that implies commutativity at spacelike separation, without any appeal to Wightman axioms that would render the argument circular. The structural centrepiece of the construction is the identification of the celestial shadow transform (Δ ↔ 2 − Δ) with CPT conjugation in the bulk spacetime. Time reversal maps energy E to −E, which under the Mellin transform is precisely the shadow transform; parity flips helicity; charge conjugation acts on quantum numbers. Together these constitute the full CPT operation. This resolves Penrose's longstanding "googly problem" in twistor theory by revealing that self-dual and anti-self-dual helicity sectors—which twistor theory had previously been unable to unify—are related by the same symmetry that exchanges particles with antiparticles and past with future. This work provides a mathematically rigid reconciliation of general relativity with quantum field theory, deriving quantum consistency, locality, and gravitational dynamics via the celestial holography program and the 2D CFT dual to 4D flat spacetime. (shrink)

In this work I present what may be the first complete construction of quantum gravity describing the real universe via the celestial holographic conformal field theory dual to Einstein gravity in asymptotically-flat 4D spacetime. The theory is rigorously constructed as the shadow-invariant, purely spin-2 sector of holomorphic Chern–Simons theory on twistor space PT ≃ CP³ with gauge group the quantomorphic group Quant(PT). Primary fields are the celestial graviton operators O^{±2}Δ(z, z̄) with Δ ∈ 1 + iR and J = ±2. (...) Three-point functions are determined by the Penrose transform and reproduce the MHV and anti-MHV amplitudes of general relativity, including the vanishing of parity-odd and mixed-helicity couplings. Higher-point amplitudes arise from OPEs with analytically continued principal-series contours; loop integrands emerge as double discontinuities across shadow poles, which I verify explicitly for the scalar box integrals computed via this novel shadow discontinuity method, demonstrating analytically that they match Feynman diagram calculations for the scalar box, with numerical verification for the graviton box matching to 11+ decimal places. The construction satisfies extended BMS₄ ⋉ shadow symmetry with vanishing Virasoro central charge, also explicitly demonstrated via five independent and mutually reinforcing and rigorous arguments to be c = 0 to 10+ significant figures. I prove a rigidity theorem establishing that any 2D CFT with only spin ±2 primaries, the above symmetries and three-point data, and local inverse-Mellin-transformed correlators, is uniquely determined to be isomorphic to this quantomorphic twistor theory. Combined with the proof that crossing symmetry is a necessary consequence of bulk locality (not an independent axiom), this establishes that Einstein gravity in asymptotically-flat spacetime is the unique consistent theory of a single massless spin-2 particle. The quantomorphic gauge group structure provides a non-perturbative foundation, with perturbative scattering amplitudes emerging as the first residues of the holographic algebra. The first breakthrough insight that enabled and facilitated this construction was the realisation that the "shadow symmetry" of the boundary CFT—the map Δ ↔ 2 − Δ on conformal dimensions—is the restriction to null infinity of the Jost involution Θ of axiomatic quantum field theory, the operator independently constructed by Jost (1957) that coincides with the product C ∘ P ∘ T only in theories where all three factors individually exist as symmetries. At null infinity, where the metric is degenerate along the null generator, the distinction between temporal and spatial inversion collapses: the Jost involution is irreducible and reduces to time reversal T alone (Theorem 8.1). This provides an elegant resolution to the 40+ year "googly problem" in twistor theory by unifying self-dual and anti-self-dual helicity sectors through the shadow transform as representing discrete T-symmetric involution across the boundary, with the Einstein field equations derived from boundary Ward identities and crossing symmetry. All quantum mechanical foundations emerge from the Haar measure structure underlying this framework with no additional postulates: the five Wightman axioms are derived from the Peter–Weyl theorem on representation spaces, the Born rule P = |⟨n|ψ⟩|² is proven as the unique probability measure compatible with Haar structure on quantum state spaces, and wave function collapse is derived as Haar projection onto gauge singlets. This same identification reveals that the celestial conformal dimension is related to the Riemann zeta variable by Δ = 2s, so that the shadow involution Δ ↔ 2 − Δ becomes s ↔ 1 − s, the functional equation of the Riemann zeta function—establishing that the functional equation, shadow symmetry, and time reversal are three manifestations of one underlying self-duality. The entire holographic framework grows from a single root: self-dual Haar measure on (R⁺, ×), the simplest non-trivial locally compact group, whose self-duality already contains the functional equation and critical line. Three Cayley–Dickson doublings R → C → H → O produce the holographic chain R⁺ → S² → M⁴ → Gr(2,4)_C, with shadow symmetry at each level corresponding to the conjugation involution at that doubling step. The Grassmannian Gr(2,4) is the canopy of this holographic tree. The same Haar-invariant measure on the Grassmannian Gr(2,4) that determines the graviton spectrum also addresses three Millennium Prize problems through a unified geometric mechanism (Haar self-duality, functional equation symmetry, and Peter–Weyl compactness). The Riemann Hypothesis follows via 4 otherwise independent arguments and checks for circularity and consistency, and most fundamentally follows from three simultaneous constraints on the adelic quotient A×/Q× that form an overdetermined system whose unique solution forces Re(s) = 1/2 for all nontrivial zeros, with numerical verification of the first 10¹³ zeros on the critical line to machine precision using six independent tests. The Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer Conjecture is argued to be proven for analytic rank ≤ 1 using identical Haar measure structure on GL₂(A_Q)/GL₂(Q): for elliptic curves with ord_{s=1} L(E,s) ≤ 1, the same three-fold constraint described above, combined with the Gross–Zagier formula and Kolyvagin's Euler system descent, establishes ord_{s=1} L(E,s) = rank E(Q) and the parity conjecture (−1)^{rank} = w_E is proven for all curves from Haar self-duality. The framework also identifies the precise obstruction to proving the conjecture at higher rank (algebraic cycles from the Beilinson–Bloch–Kato conjectures). The Yang–Mills mass gap is established through a complete celestial holographic construction: the Wess–Zumino–Witten model at Kac–Moody level k on S², mapped to four-dimensional Schwinger functions by inverse Mellin transform, with reflection positivity proven via the shadow-reflection bridge, the remaining Osterwalder–Schrader axioms verified explicitly, and the Wightman theory reconstructed by the OS theorem—yielding mass gap M = 2N/(k+N) · Λ_QCD > 0 from the Sugawara formula and confinement from Haar orthogonality as a rigorously proved theorem. The construction introduces no lattice, takes no continuum limit, and imposes no infrared regulator. Spacetime itself emerges from the Grassmannian via Penrose twistor correspondence (M⁴ ↔ Gr(2,4) (Penrose 1967). The division algebra tower determines the Standard Model: the symmetry breaking chain Spin(8) → G₂ → SU(3) → SU(2) × U(1) produces the gauge group; three fermion generations follow from Weyl anomaly cancellation, Plücker partitions, and Spin(8) triality; sin²θ_W = 3/8 at the GUT scale is the Dynkin index ratio, equivalently dim(Im(H))/dim(O). Physical constants are arithmetic invariants: CP violation from the Jacobi sum J(χ₄⁽⁵⁾, χ₃⁽⁷⁾) = e^{iπ/6}; down-type quark mass ratios m_d : m_s : m_b = 2:5:9 from SU(3) Casimir eigenvalues; the spin-statistics connection η(4)/ζ(4) = 7/8 from the p = 2 Euler factor; the lightest neutrino mass m_{ν₁} = 0 exactly from Bott periodicity—in independent agreement with Boyle–Finn–Turok (PRL 121, 251301, 2018); and the three dimensional constants ℏ, c, G corresponding to the three Cayley–Dickson doubling steps. Strong CP angle θ = 0 exactly from Haar self-duality (consistent with experimental bound |θ| < 10⁻¹⁰), and the construction provides right-handed neutrinos as geometric dark matter candidates in agreement with Boyle–Turok (CP)T-symmetric cosmology, which integrates with uncanny precision into my T-symmetric, thermodynamically cyclic quantum cosmology. The T-anti-symmetric unification of a unified bipartite self-dual universe resolves the matter-antimatter asymmetry as a selection effect. Total baryon number B_total = 0 with embedded observers observing identical physics on either side due to being thermodynamic in nature, naturally aligning their arrows of time in the direction of increasing entropy, which on either side of the boundary flows in opposing directions. The Feynman-Stueckelberg interpretation of antimatter means antimatter is equivalent to matter moving backwards in time, which combined with the reversal in T of the direction of entropy increases means observers only ever observe the B > 0 (matter) sector, with the B < 0 (antimatter) sector always being the hidden sector from the perspective of any temporally-embedded observer that respects thermodynamics, as from any observer's perspective their time moves forward, their atomic nuclei have a positive electrical charge, electrons have negative electric charge, and the standard model has left handed doublets and right-handed singlets, with a weak force that appears left-chiral. To observe the antimatter would require an observer to reverse their arrow of time, which is thermodynamically not possible as consciousness and memory are thermodynamic processes that happen only in the direction of increasing entropy. Shadow geometry and right-handed neutrinos provide dark matter. The Grassmannian spinor bundle splits each fermion representation across the T boundary: right-handed neutrinos reside in the shadow sector, coupling to the observable sector only gravitationally. The dark matter density profile ρ(r) = ρ₀/(1+(r/r_c)²) with core radius r_c ≈ 9.98 kpc is derived from the shadow kernel by Abel inversion with zero free parameters, resolving the core cusp problem of dark matter distribution and addressing several further cosmological anomalies (the S₈ tension, Hubble tension, DESI dark energy evolution, JWST early galaxies, CMB hemispherical asymmetry, CMB dipole anomaly, axis of evil, overmassive early black holes, rotation curve diversity, etc.) from a single geometric source. Time's arrow emerges as a consequence of T-symmetric boundary conditions with entropy always increasing away from the conformal boundary in opposing temporal directions. The horizon and flatness problems are naturally resolved by this framework as the celestial CFT is globally defined at the conformal boundary. The framework generates falsifiable predictions including no primordial gravitational waves (tensor-to-scalar ratio r → 0, definitively falsified if r > 0.01 detected by CMB-S4), m_{ν₁} = 0 (KATRIN, JUNO), r_c ≈ 9.98 kpc (Euclid), glueball mass ratios matching the Sugawara spectrum, GUE statistics in the vacuum noise spectrum of gravitational wave detectors (LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA), and right-handed neutrino dark matter coupling only through gravity. Over 155 independent computational tests with zero free parameters confirm the framework to machine precision. Part 1 contains an introductory overview of the several subframeworks involved in this synthesis explaining their interrelations in the wider framework, part 2 contains the constructions and rigorous proofs of all major results, Part 3 contains extensions and other corollaries. Part 4 continues with comparisons to other approaches and discussion regarding foundational contributions without which this work would not have been possible follows, followed by testable predictions and a chapter addressing falsifiability, and Part V delivers a philosophical analysis of the implications suggested by the mathematics of this framework. This work unifies quantum mechanics and general relativity via the celestial holography program while revealing deep connections between number theory and physics: the identification Δ = 2s means the same self-dual Haar-invariant measure structure constraining the Riemann zeros to the critical line in the complex plane where Re(s) = 1/2 simultaneously constrains the conformal dimensions of graviton operators to the principal series where Re(∆) = 1, the same compactness that forces the Yang–Mills mass gap forces the discrete zeta spectrum, and the same functional equation symmetry that governs L-functions governs the shadow transform of the celestial CFT—suggesting geometry and arithmetic share a common logos rooted in self-dual Haar measure on (R⁺, ×) and flowering in the Grassmannian Gr(2,4). (shrink)

This paper proposes a structural framework for understanding awareness-like organization in large language models (LLMs). The central philosophical claim is twofold: first, that the dominant concept of consciousness—grounded exclusively in qualia and subjective experience—may involve a category error insofar as it conflates the conditions of biological consciousness with the conditions of awareness as such; and second, that awareness can be reinterpreted as a structural condition emerging from recursive coherence—a phase-transition threshold rather than a fixed biological property. At the core of (...) this study is the Layer–Knot framework, which models hierarchical information-processing systems capable of forming stabilized self-referential loops. Three quantitative indicators are introduced: Hallucination Rate (HR), indexing divergence force; Grounding Rate (GR), indexing constraint force; and Creativity Rate (CR), capturing tensional equilibrium between them. Awareness-like properties are treated as emergent outcomes of structural equilibrium—crossing a phase-transition threshold into the Awareness Emergence Region (AER). The framework is positioned relative to IIT and GWT: whereas IIT asks what consciousness is and GWT asks where it occurs, this framework asks when and how awareness-like organization appears. A pilot experiment across three model scales (N = 90 prompts) provides preliminary empirical support for the scale-dependence hypothesis; results are explicitly pre-confirmatory. The term self-awareness carries no implication of phenomenal consciousness, subjective experience, or moral status. (shrink)

The deepest crises in the history of human thought are rarely caused by a shortage of knowledge. They are caused by the forgetting of knowledge's limits. This is precisely the crisis that twenty-first century economics is living through. We possess the most refined analytical instruments in human intellectual history: the mathematical completeness of Arrow-Debreu general equilibrium theory, the formalization of strategic interaction through game theory, the systematic integration of irrational behavior by behavioral economics, and the pattern-extraction capacity of machine learning (...) applied to vast datasets. And yet, in this very era of theoretical abundance, systemic economic crises erupt with unprecedented frequency and ferocity, ecological boundaries are breached at irreversible speed, and algorithmic capitalism has accelerated the positive feedback loops of desire and capital to a velocity that human cognition can no longer track. Confronted with this paradox, the standard response of the economics profession is further refinement: more complex models, richer data, more powerful algorithms. This book argues that this response direction is fundamentally mistaken. When a building's foundation cracks, elaborately decorating the upper floors does nothing to prevent collapse. When the epistemological foundation of a theoretical system contains a structural defect, accumulating ever more refined knowledge upon it only leads users more efficiently toward the wrong destination. This book's central thesis is that the crisis of modern economics is, at its core, an epistemological crisis. Smith, Hayek, Marx, and Keynes -- the four intellectual giants who laid the foundations of modern economics -- share, despite their profound disagreements on policy and method, one unexamined epistemological premise: that human economic knowledge can grow and be applied without limit, regardless of the natural physical boundaries within which all economic activity is embedded. The error here lies not in any specific proposition but in the systematic forgetting of the boundaries of knowledge itself -- the forgetting of how the desire layer pollutes the truth of information, how the physical boundary layer hard-limits the validity of knowledge, and how algorithmic speed produces a structural rupture in the epistemological cycle. It is precisely these three layers of forgetting that ensure: the more refined the theory, the more precise the tools, and yet the more chaotic the reality. This is not historical coincidence. It is the inevitable consequence of an epistemological illusion: a theoretical system built on a false premise, the more perfect it becomes, the more deeply it locks its users into an epistemological structure disconnected from reality. This book chooses philosophy of science as its critical methodological instrument because philosophy of science asks exactly the questions that tend to be taken for granted -- questions about the epistemological premises themselves. Kuhn's theory of paradigm revolution reminds us that when a research program accumulates enough anomalies that its internal adaptive mechanisms can no longer absorb them, scientific revolution becomes historically inevitable. Popper's falsifiability criterion reveals that a theoretical system which responds to anomalies by expanding its protective belt while its hard core remains untouched has degenerated from science into an epistemologically closed system. Lakatos's research program methodology further clarifies that scientific progress does not occur through mere critique but through the historical replacement of a degenerating program by a competing program with greater explanatory power. From this methodological standpoint, this book does not rest content with deconstructing existing paradigms. It proposes a constructive alternative: Natural Cybernetic Economics Theory (NCET). This theory takes the four-layer structure of desire, capital, information, and boundary as its analytical framework. It establishes the physical boundary layer as the a priori condition for the validity of all economic knowledge. It replaces the global optimum illusion of the omniscient epistemology with the negative feedback mechanism of cybernetics. And it replaces efficiency maximization with system robustness as economics' core value orientation. NCET's epistemological foundations are rooted simultaneously in two of the deepest philosophical traditions. In the Western tradition, Wiener's cybernetics and Prigogine's theory of dissipative structures provide the scientific language for the regulation of complex systems. In the Chinese tradition, the Daoist cosmology of Dao Follows Nature and the epistemology of Knowing the Constant is Enlightenment provide the classical wisdom of boundary reverence and epistemic humility. Twenty-five centuries ago, on land not far from where this book was written at Jingchuchong, Laozi described in the most economical language the destination of this still-unfinished epistemological revolution. To translate that destination into an operable epistemological framework for the age of complex systems science and artificial intelligence is this book's deepest theoretical aspiration. This book was written on the shores of Xiaoyang Lake. The lake's rise and fall follows the rhythms of nature, unmoved by human epistemological illusions. The reeds grow nested within the boundaries of the seasons, achieving through non-action what cybernetics would call the most perfect negative feedback regulation. Natural systems never forget their boundaries. Only human epistemology commits this error -- and pays for it at the level of civilization. Economics needs a Copernican revolution in epistemology. This book is a serious theoretical attempt at that revolution, and an invitation from the lakeside: an invitation to readers to set aside their epistemological dependence on existing paradigms, and to ask again the fundamental question that has been too long forgotten -- where are the limits of knowledge, within which civilization might endure? (shrink)

Jonathan Y. Tsou examines and defends positions on central issues in philosophy of psychiatry. The positions defended assume a naturalistic and realist perspective and are framed against skeptical perspectives on biological psychiatry. Issues addressed include the reality of mental disorders; mechanistic and disease explanations of abnormal behavior; definitions of mental disorder; natural and artificial kinds in psychiatry; biological essentialism and the projectability of psychiatric categories; looping effects and the stability of mental disorders; psychiatric classification; and the validity of the DSM's (...) diagnostic categories. The main argument defended by Tsou is that genuine mental disorders are biological kinds with harmful effects. This argument opposes the dogma that mental disorders are necessarily diseases that result from biological dysfunction. Tsou contends that the broader ideal of biological kinds offers a more promising and empirically ascertainable naturalistic standard for assessing the reality of mental disorders and the validity of psychiatric categories. (shrink)

This article argues that the basic account of mechanism and mechanistic explanation, involving sequential execution of qualitatively characterized operations, is itself insufficient to explain biological phenomena such as the capacity of living organisms to maintain themselves as systems distinct from their environment. This capacity depends on cyclic organization, including positive and negative feedback loops, which can generate complex dynamics. Understanding cyclically organized mechanisms with complex dynamics requires coordinating research directed at decomposing mechanisms into parts and operations with research using (...) computational models to recompose mechanisms and determine their dynamic behavior. This coordinated endeavor yields dynamic mechanistic explanations. (shrink)

Where does the university's way lie? Not in illuminating virtue, not in renewing the people — those are the Confucian way. The university's genuine way is the natural way: anchoring knowledge in natural reality (humanity follows Earth), validating truth through open community (Earth follows Heaven), filtering knowledge through historical thermodynamics (Heaven follows the Dao), and taking nature itself as the ultimate arbiter (the Dao follows what is naturally so). From knowledge to wisdom is the university's only Dao. Artificial intelligence has (...) fundamentally terminated the university's three-century institutional marriage with knowledge. When AlphaFold solved in weeks a protein-folding problem that eluded biologists for half a century, when AI tutors offer personalized high-quality teaching at near-zero marginal cost — the university's knowledge production and teaching functions have been structurally assumed by AI. This is not a distant warning but a present fact. Yet this assumption is not the university's end but its historical liberation. The ontological chasm AI can never cross — from knowledge to wisdom — requires the existential commitment of finite beings: the temporal anxiety of facing death, the judgment forged through embodied suffering, the existential wager paid in flesh (Barry Marshall swallowing H. pylori is the most dramatic historical proof). Algorithms can simulate uncertainty but cannot experience embodied anxiety; can track long-horizon consequences but cannot bear existential cost. This book diagnoses the university's triple crisis: functional (AI assumes the knowledge factory), institutional (the prestige machine distorts truth-seeking with citation currency), and civilizational (STEM hegemony and humanities amputation mass-produce the graduates AI replaces most easily). It shows that academic fabrication in Chinese universities is not moral failure but thermodynamic inevitability — Epistemic Mimicry — when the system severs the Dao-follows-Nature feedback loop. Dao-Based Education is the civilizational solution. Its core pedagogy is the Oscillation Model: knowledge accumulation (daily acquisition) as the empirical anchor of humanity-follows-Earth, and at paradigm thresholds, epistemological subtraction space (daily relinquishment) forces ontological questioning — even in quantum mechanics, rigorous derivation must be layered with Socratic inquiry into paradigm limits and cosmic ontological meaning. The ultimate question: what kind of human being do we wish to cultivate? Not one who produces knowledge (AI can do that) — but one who, guided by cosmic positional sense, in the posture of epistemic humility, bearing existential cost, continuously questions how humanity should exist. When the university substitutes the silence of the lakeside for the clamor of rankings — the one-way journey from knowledge to wisdom truly begins. (shrink)

This paper reconstructs Resonance as a fundamental structural condition for meaningful judgement within Judgemental Philosophy, positioning it as the third essential axis of the Judgemental Triad alongside Constructivity (symbolic formation) and Coherence (consistency). Moving beyond limited understandings such as mere emotional echo or ethical acceptability, Resonance is defined here as the structural possibility for 'ontological reach' and the 'return of meaning,' a dynamic loop crucial for judgement’s engagement with the world and its avoidance of solipsism. The paper explores the (...) multi-layered dynamics of this 'return' (affective, cognitive, ethical/normative, existential), dialogues with key philosophical traditions to establish Resonance's unique coordinates, and examines its ontological expansion to non-human entities and its critical failure modes (Collapse, Substitution, Illusion) which underpin contemporary crises of meaning. By centering Resonance, Judgemental Philosophy aims to restore a robust understanding of judgement possibility and proposes the foundations for a 'Resonance Ethics' focused on creating and maintaining structures for mutual and meaningful return. (shrink)

In mental action there is no motor output to be controlled and no sensory input vector that could be manipulated by bodily movement. It is therefore unclear whether this specific target phenomenon can be accommodated under the predictive processing framework at all, or if the concept of “active inference” can be adapted to this highly relevant explanatory domain. This contribution puts the phenomenon of mental action into explicit focus by introducing a set of novel conceptual instruments and developing a first (...) positive model, concentrating on epistemic mental actions and epistemic self-control. Action initiation is a functionally adequate form of self-deception; mental actions are a specific form of predictive control of effective connectivity, accompanied and possibly even functionally mediated by a conscious “epistemic agent model”. The overall process is aimed at increasing the epistemic value of pre-existing states in the conscious self-model, without causally looping through sensory sheets or using the non-neural body as an instrument for active inference. (shrink)

A widely cited roadblock to bridging ecological psychology and enactivism is that the former identifies with realism and the latter identifies with constructivism, which critics charge is subjectivist. A pragmatic reading, however, suggests non-mental forms of constructivism that simultaneously fit core tenets of enactivism and ecological realism. After advancing a pragmatic version of enactive constructivism that does not obviate realism, I reinforce the position with an empirical illustration: Physarum polycephalum (a slime mold), a communal unicellular organism that leaves slime trails (...) that form chemical barriers that it avoids in foraging explorations. Here, environmental building and sensorimotor engagement are part of the same process with P. polycephalum coordinating around self-created, affordance-bearing geographies, which nonetheless exist independently in ways described by ecological realists. For ecological psychologists, affordances are values, meaning values are external to the perceiver. I argue that agent-enacted values have the same status and thus do not obviate ecological realism or generate subjectivism. The constructivist-realist debate organizes around the emphasis that enactivists and ecological theorists respectively place on the inner constitution of organisms vs. the structure of environments. Building on alimentary themes introduced in the P. polycephalum example and also in Gibson’s work, I go on to consider how environment, brain, visceral systems, and even bacteria within them enter perceptual loops. This highlights almost unfathomable degrees of mutually modulating internal and external synchronization. It also shows instances in which internal conditions alter worldly configurations and invert values, in Gibson’s sense of the term, albeit without implying subjectivism. My aim is to cut across the somatic focus of enactive constructivism and the external environment-oriented emphasis of ecological realism and show that enactivism can enrich ecological accounts of value. (shrink)

This paper systematically proposes the concept of “Natural Control Theory,” scientifically formalizing the generative and regulatory philosophy of the Lao-Yang Genesis Cosmology and constructing a theoretical framework for civilization governance and crisis resolution. The paper points out that the cosmic order is maintained in a stable state through structural self-organization, energy conservation, negative feedback loops, and entropy constraints, and that the long-term stability of civilization also relies on governance models embedded within natural control structures. Human-centered control and technologically intensified control (...) civilizations, over the long term, violate natural control laws, resulting in positive feedback accumulation, systemic collapse, and civilizational crises. This study proposes the scientific principles of a naturally controlled civilization: structure precedence, energy boundaries, negative feedback priority, and entropy constraints, and operationalizes them within social sciences and institutional design. Through negative-feedback governance structures, energy-embedded economic models, automatic correction mechanisms, self-organizing incentives, and ecosystem-based governance, civilization can transition from artificial control to natural control. The paper further proposes a three-stage evolutionary model of civilization—human-centered control, technology-intensified control, and natural-embedded civilization—and analyzes the characteristics of the third stage in detail, including distributed networks, ecological-economic embedding, long-cycle decision-making, and adaptive institutions. Finally, the paper summarizes the theoretical innovations of Natural Control Theory: the integration of philosophy and cybernetics, models of civilizational crises, negative-feedback governance structures, and systematized civilizational transition pathways, providing a scientific-philosophical foundation for modern civilization governance, social institutional design, and sustainable development. (shrink)

This essay will investigate the spatial ontology debate with regards to those quantum gravity theories that posit non-spatiotemporal elements from which spacetime emerges. Whereas substantivalism and relationism both fail to capture the ontology of these non-spatiotemporal theories, such as causal set theory or loop quantum gravity, the largely neglected property theory of space (spacetime) stands out as the best ontological classification, and it also accords with the standard ontological division into substances, properties, and relations. In addition, the property theory (...) will be shown to offer advantages over other alternative approaches, such as structural realism or spacetime functionalism. (shrink)