Musings of the Mind

Chapter 13 — Order, Agency, and Category Errors 13.1 The Temptation to Over-Explain When people encounter a framework that explains a great deal, there is a strong temptation to let it explain everything . This usually takes the form of statements like: “The system wants…” “The field knows…” “Nature is trying to optimise…” These statements feel intuitive, but they quietly cross a boundary. They commit a category error . 13.2 What a Category Error Is A category error occurs when: a property belonging to one kind of thing is mistakenly attributed to another kind of thing. For example: asking what colour a number is asking how much a triangle weighs The question itself is malformed. AMS insists that agency belongs to a different category than physical order . 13.3 Why Order Looks Like Agency Order can look agent-like because: it persists it responds to change it produces structured outcomes it can be self-maintaining These properties overlap behaviourally ...

 # Chapter 11 — Life Without Programs ## 11.1 The Default Story We’ve All Inherited When modern science talks about life, it almost inevitably reaches for the language of **programs**. We hear that: - DNA is a code - cells execute instructions - life runs software written in molecules This language is powerful. It has driven enormous progress in biology and medicine. But it also quietly imports assumptions that are never examined. --- ## 11.2 Why the Program Metaphor Is Misleading Programs have certain properties: - they are written intentionally - they are interpreted by an external machine - they contain symbolic instructions - they are executed step by step Biological systems share **none** of these properties in a literal sense. DNA: - does not contain symbols - does not “mean” anything - is not interpreted by a CPU - is not executed line by line What it does is **constrain**. --- ## 11.3 The Interpreter Problem If DNA were truly a program, a troubling question would arise: ...

Chapter 9 — Energy, Storage, and Why Nothing Comes for Free 9.1 Why “Energy” Is So Slippery Energy is one of the most successful ideas in science — and one of the most confusing. We talk about energy as if it were: a substance a fuel something that flows, is stored, or is used up But when asked directly: What is energy, physically? the answers become abstract very quickly. Energy turns out not to be a thing at all, but a way of accounting for change. AMS takes this seriously and asks: What is being accounted for? 9.2 Energy as Configuration, Not Stuff In the AMS framework, energy is best understood as: stored and recoverable configuration of the substrate. More precisely: energy corresponds to stored tension tension is a property of constrained configuration releasing energy means allowing reconfiguration Nothing needs to be transported. Nothing needs to be consumed. Energy is potential for change , encoded geometrically. 9.3 A Simple Analogy: Bent Str...

Chapter 5 — Vortons: Identity Without Objects 5.1 Why We Need Something Like a Vorton By the end of Chapter 4, we reached an important position: Reality is continuous Stable forms arise from topology Persistence does not require material “stuff” But this leaves a gap. If everything is continuous, and if identity arises from configuration, then what are the simplest identity-carrying configurations ? We need something that: persists has recognisable identity can interact can form aggregates does not require being a tiny solid object This is where the concept of the vorton enters. 5.2 What a Vorton Is (First Pass) A vorton is a stable, topological knot-like configuration of the substrate. It is: not a particle not a point not a little bead moving through space Instead, it is: a persistent pattern of twist and closure in the substrate itself. If you remove the substrate, the vorton does not exist. If the topology unwinds, the vorton ceases to exist. Its ...