### TABLE OF CONTENTS [[01 Abstract]] THE POLTERGEIST IN THE MACHINE ONE MASSIVE METAPHOR: PROPOSING POSSIBLE, COMING ABSTRACTIONS FUNCTIONALISM: PROCESS PHILOSOPHY MEETS ENACTIVE COGNITION AND COMPUTATION UNNATURAL LANGUAGE, LIMITS AND (DIS)SATISFACTIONS ACTIVE INFERENCE: HALLUCINATIONS ALL THE WAY DOWN, FOR HUMANS AND FOR GENAI HOW AI IS CURRENTLY DIAGNOSED, AND SOME ANSWERS FROM THIS THESIS WRITING ABOUT AI IN THE AGE OF AI ACCELERATION TERMS: PROVISIONAL DEFINITIONS SHORT-AND UPCOMINGS CHAPTER OUTLINE FOOTNOTES [[03 Semantic noise]] INTRODUCTION WHAT HUMANS (STILL) CAN’T DO: WINOGRAD SCHEMAS EARLY CONCEPTUAL PROBLEMS IN INFORMATION THEORY: MONOLOGUE VS. DIALOGUE CURRENT CONCEPTUAL PROBLEMS IN NLP: IDEALIZING SPEAKERS AND INTERPRETERS CURRENT CONCEPTUAL PROBLEMS: THE LACK OF THEORETICAL REFLECTION IN LANGUAGE MODELLING NOISE AND ITS GENERATIVE RELATION TO SEMANTICS SEMANTIC NOISE IN NATURAL LANGUAGE: THE CASE OF METAPHORS CONCLUSION FOOTNOTES [[04 Concepts as pre-dictions]] INTRODUCTION PREDICTIVE PROCESSING AND LANGUAGE USE THE CONCEPT OF NEGATION AS A HIGH-LEVEL PRIOR PARADOXES AS PHILOSOPHICAL-PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPERIENCES FORMAL LANGUAGES AND NEGATION CONCLUSION FOOTNOTES [[05 Prediction]] WHAT IS THE FUTURE? INTRODUCTION PREDICTIVE PROCESSING ENACTIVE INFERENCE EXPLORING AND EXPLOITING ALIGNMENT, IMITATION AND PROGENY LIMIT/APORIA/CATASTROPHE POINT CONCLUSION: PERFECTION FOOTNOTES [[06 Principle of Sufficient Interest]] INTRODUCTION PURE INTEREST IN ITSELF AS THE GROUND OF REASON LEARNING AND STYLE AI AND THE PERMANENCE OF RISK COMPLEX INTERESTS ENCODED IN SIMPLE WORDS: A METAREADING PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY: WILLING ZOMBIES AND TRUTH OUT OF LIES CHESS, AND A VERY PLAUSIBLE* BIT OF TV WRITING RESTRICTED TIME-CHUNKING (I.E., THE CONDITION OF FINITE BEINGS) AND THE ENCODING OF INTEREST CONCLUSION FOOTNOTES [[07 Phenomenology of Sick Spirit]] INTRODUCTION SCALES OF SANITY: HOW SICK IS TOO SICK? PARADOXES OF STRESS-REGULATION THROUGH CORTICOSTEROIDS PHENOMENOLOGY OF OWN CASE CONCLUSION: COLLECTIVE ALLOSTATIC INFERENCE FOOTNOTES [[08 Active ignorance]] _Written with Jimena Clavel and Inigo Wilkins, under embargo._ [[09 C is for Communism, and Constraint]] CENTRAL CLAIM CUT CHOICE AND CHANCE (DIS)COMPOSITION CARCASS CONTROL CRASSNESS: CLANS, CASTES AND COLONIES COMPLETE CEREBRAL CRYSTALLIZATION COROLLARY CONDUCT: FROM CHANCE, PATTERN, FROM PATTERN: CHANCE CORTISOL AND COGNITION CONSTRAINTS AND CAUSES CONTROL CHANCES ARE COMMODIFICATION CLASS CONSTRUCTION AND CONTESTATION (POLY)COMPUTATION COLLUSION, COMPULSION, CANNIBALISM CONSEQUENCES OF CONCLUDING CONTEMPLATION OR COLLAPSE CONFOUNDED COMPATIBILIST COMPROMISE FOOTNOTES [[10 Bias, or Falling into Place]] INTRODUCTION RATIONING WEIGHTS AND INTERTIAS SOME INTUITIVE GROUNDING FOR DEEP LEARNING BOUNDED RATIONALITY WHAT DOES FALLING HAVE TO DO WITH THINKING AND COMPUTATION? GRAVITROPISM AND GRADIENT DESCENT (DIA)LOGISM AND PROPOSITIONS: PRODUCTIVE ALIENATIONS AGENCY: SOMETHING FALLING INTO ITSELF INTUITIVE ILLUSIONS: UNCONSCIOUS INFERENCE HALLUCINATING OUR FALLS: PERCEPTION IS UNCONTROLLED HALLUCINATION; PRODUCTIVE ALIENATION HEGEL AND THE RECURSIVITIES OF PREDICTIVE PROCESSING DIALECTICAL WEIGHTS AND INERTIAS AGAIN BAYESIAN ESTIMATIONS AS SPATIAL-REASONING CARICATURES CONCLUDING THOUGHTS AND FURTHER SPECULATIONS FOOTNOTES [[11 Post-Control Script-Societies]] _Published version (Entropy 2025) written with Mahault Albarracin and David Hyland, version here is my contribution._ CTRL + A (SELECT ALL) INTRODUCTION: POWER CTRL + C (COPY) CTRL + X (CUT) CTRL + C (COPY) CTRL + P (PASTE) CTRL + Z (UNDO) CONCLUSION FOOTNOTES [[12 Negintelligibility]] INTRODUCTION IRRUPTION THEORY ENTROPIC BRAIN INTELLIGENCE: THE SPATIOTEMPORAL SCALING OF PATTERNS, COMPLEXITY TO SIMPLICITY AND VICE VERSA FURTHER EXPOSITIONS OF SIMPLICITY AND COMPLEXITY ACTIVE INFERENCE AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE QUESTIONS AS NEGINTELLIGIBLE PHENOMENA CONCLUSION FOOTNOTES [[13 Conclusion]] WAYS FORWARD, FOLLOWING OTHERS ANSWERING OR POSTPONING QUESTIONS DISTRIBUTED COGNITION, SEMANTICS AND COMPUTATION FUNCTION AND FAILURE AND CLOSING AN OPEN-ENDED SYSTEM INFINITIES AND MORTALITIES FOOTNOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY PHD PORTFOLIO ACKNOWLEDGMENTS NON-ACADEMIC SUMMARY SAMENVATTING (DUTCH SUMMARY) CURRICULUM VITAE [[Bibliography]] [[Appendix]] [[Interviews]] [[Acknowledgements]]