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artifact:principles-of-vasocomputation-a-unification-of-buddhist-phenomenology-active-inference-and-physical-reflex-part-iPrinciples of Vasocomputation: A Unification of Buddhist Phenomenology, Active Inference, and Physical Reflex (Part I)
Blog post/research essay that introduces the Vasocomputation framework, linking Buddhist tanha with vascular smooth muscle cell function, active inference, and physical reflexes.
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Thinkers (1)
thinker
- Michael Edward JohnsonauthoredAuthor of the vasocomputation paper; researcher at Symmetry Institute (QRI) studying consciousness, active inference, and Buddhist phenomenology.
Claims (17)
claim
- Central thesis linking VSMCs to predictive coding.
- Mapping contemplative development to reduction in vasocomputation.
- Interpretive summary of TUAI hypothesis.
- Reframing tanha as a side effect of the drive to compress complexity.
- Argues that Buddhist analysis primes us to find clean neural mechanisms.
- Equates meditative cessations with halted vasomotion.
- Detailed mapping of vascular phenomena onto Buddhist concepts.
- Defines individual differences through uncertainty processing styles.
- Practical implication of latch-bridge mechanism.
- Equation of tanha with maladaptive uncertainty processing.
- Author's assertion that tanha has a single, elegant neural substrate rather than many diffuse causes.
- Theravada Buddhism mapping: vascular system as the physical basis of tanha-driven sensation manipulation.
- Explains suffering as the cost of holding alternatives to reality.
- Medical interpretation of certain headaches as latch dysfunction.
- Key claim for the FEP-AI community about the physical location of predictive models.
- Broad health implication of the theory.
- Relating phenomenological effort to number/duration of SOHM manipulation.
Artifacts (8)
artifact
- Paper on deep learning model of cortical columns.
- Paper on psychedelic action as relaxation of priors.
- Foundational paper on active inference.
- Paper on overfitting as a model for brain phenomena.
- Earlier work by the author on neural annealing.
- Author's work on formalizing qualia and linking symmetry to valence.
- Paper describing the Technological Approach to Mind Everywhere.
- Reference work introducing IWMT and SOHMs.
Hypotheses (4)
hypothesis
- Core hypothesis linking tanha to active inference failures.
- First of the three core vasocomputation hypotheses, linking vasomotion to compression.
- Second core hypothesis, linking VSMC contraction to active inference predictions and memory.
- Third core hypothesis, explaining how latched VSMCs instantiate hyperpriors.
Quotes (2)
quote
- Quotation of Uchiyama Roshi's Zen instruction, used to illustrate the release of tanha.
- Poetic description of the latch-bridge mechanism and its phenomenological effect.
Concepts (1)
concept
- VasocomputationintroducesUnifying framework proposing that Buddhist tanha operates through vascular smooth muscle cells as the brain's compression/prediction infrastructure.