Powers of Perceptual Control:
An Inquiry into Language, Culture, Power, and Politics
M. Martin Taylor
Martin Taylor Consulting
mmt@mmtaylor.net

This documents contains the table of contents from the 4 volumes of Powers of Perceptual Control (PPC). Items marked with *** are under construction. 
This current version is dated September 17, 2022 

Introduction to Perceptual Control Theory	2
Table of Contents	3
Author Biography	6
Preface	9
Part 1: Overview of this Book	19
Ways to use this book	23
Some Specialized Words used in PCT	24
Chapter I.1. Why Perceptual Control?	28
I.1.1 Perceptual Control Theory	31
I.1.2 Control Loops	32
I.1.3 Neural Bundles and Neural Current	37
I.1.4 Measurement and perceptual control	38
I.1.5 Evolution, Perception, and Real Reality	43
I.1.6 “Deep Learning” “Predictive Coding” and “Enactivism”	58
I.1.7 Sun Tzu and “The Art of War”	62
I.1.8 Ockham’s Razor and the Powers of a Theory	63
Chapter I.2. The Environment of Control	67
I.2.1 “Real Reality” and Consistency	67
I.2.2 The Taste of Lemonade	70
I.2.3 Command versus Control	75
I.2.4 Atenfels, Contingencies, and Blocks	76
I.2.5 Viewpoints and the Test for the Controlled Variable (TCV)	80
I.2.6 Words: Skeletons in the Flesh	82
I.2.7 Motifs and Emergents	84
Chapter I.3. Language and Culture	86
I.3.1 Language and Culture as artifacts	87
I.3.2 Language drift over time	89
I.3.3 Culture	91
Part 2: Simple Perceptual Control	93
Chapter I.4. Basic Aspects of Control	93
I.4.1 Perception, control, and reality	93
I.4.2 The Basic Control Loop	99
I.4.3 The Behavioural Illusion and Model fitting	101
I.4.4 The Output Function	106
I.4.5 The Reference Input Function	109
I.4.6 The Comparator Function	111
I.4.7 Tolerance	114
Chapter I.5. Further Aspects of Perceptual Control	119
I.5.1 Perceiving Magnitude and Perceiving Place	119
I.5.2 Quality of Control and Introduction to Rattling	120
I.5.3 Control Stability	121
I.5.4 Perceptual Complexes	123
I.5.5 The Control Hierarchy	127
I.5.6 Atenfels and Molenfels	130
I.5.7 “You can’t tell what someone is doing …”	133
I.5.9 Avoiding, and the perception of “Not”	137
Chapter I.6. Practical Control Issues	141
I.6.1 Opportunity and Attention	141
I.6.2 Cost and the perception of “worth”	143
I.6.3 “Worth” and the Perception of Self	146
I.6.4 Frustration and Reorganization	147
I.6.5 The “Bomb in the hierarchy”	148
I.6.6 Resource Limitation Conflict	152
Chapter I.7. Consciousness and Imagination	156
I.7.1 The Conscious Perceptual World	156
I.7.2 When Am I? Past, Present, and Future	158
I.7.3 The Imagination Loop	160
I.7.4 Teaching, Imagination, Learning and Invention	166
I.7.5 Alerting	168
I.7.6 Exploring and Searching	169
I.7.7 Planning and World Models	171
Part 3: Interacting Control Loops	176
Chapter I.8. Motifs of Control: Stiffness and Tensegrity	177
I.8.1 Control “Stiffness”	178
I.8.2 Five domains of tensegrity	183
I.8.3 Basic Tensegrity	186
I.8.4 Approach-Avoidance and control tensegrity	189
I.8.5 Dynamic Tensegrity	193
I.8.6 Tensegrity and the Control Analogue	199
I.8.7 Conflict-induced Stabilities in Control	201
I.8.8 Approach to Control Tensegrity I: One using three.	204
I.8.9 Approach to Control Tensegrity II: Two using five	206
I.8.10 Control tensegrity: A Minimal 3-D structure	208
Chapter I.9. Lateral Inhibition	212
I.9.1 Why Lateral Inhibition?	212
I.9.2 Edge Enhancement and Displacement	213
I.9.3 Hebbian-anti-Hebbian (HaH) process	218
I.9.4 Flip-flops and Polyflops	222
I.9.5 The HaH process, e-coli reorganization and Novel Perceptual Functions	227
I.9.6 Labels and Association	228
I.9.7 Analogue and Categorical Hierarchies in Parallel.	231
I.9.8 Similarity and Dissimilarity	234
Part 4: Uncertainty, Novelty, and Trust	237
Chapter I.10. Uncertainty and Structure	238
I.10.1 What is “Information”?	238
I.10.2 Basic Concepts	241
I.10.3 Uncertainty and Perceptual Information	244
I.10.4 Channel Capacity and Perceptual Speed	246
I.10.5 Good Form and the Reality of Structure	249
I.10.6 Structure, and Objects in perception	251
I.10.7 The a priori Improbability of Structure	256
I.10.8 Fuzzy Nested Macrostates	258
I.10.9 The Expanding Universe of Possibility	262
I.10.10 Uncertainty Constraints in Language	264
Chapter I.11. Boxes, objects, and Objects	271
I.11.1 Reorganization: changing hierarchy parameters	271
I.11.2 Reorganization: growing the hierarchy	273
I.11.3 Object-Oriented Programming and its Objects	275
I.11.4 Black Boxes and White Boxes 	277
I.11.5 Reorganization: Idealism and Rigidity	283
I.11.6 Modularity of Reorganization	285
I.11.7 Reorganization and Evolution	292
I.11.8 So What is an object that we perceive?	295
Chapter I.12. Novelty, Belief, and Illusion	300
I.12.1 Real Reality, Perceived Reality, and the Observer	300
I.12.2 Visual Illusions	310
I.12.3 Perceptual Experience	313
I.12.4 Decisions, Patterns, Habits	319
I.12.5 Trust	321
I.12.6 Belief and Uncertainty	323
I.12.7 Perceiving what’s missing or wrong	326
I.12.8 Surprise and belief change	329
I.12.9 Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?	330
I.12.10 Planning and Performance	335

Creativity, Consciousness, Communication	2
Table of Contents	3
Overview of Volume 2	7
Part 5: Networks of Creative Stability	8
Chapter II.1. Autocatalysis: Inanimate Creativity	11
II.1.1 Catalysis and Autocatalytic Networks	13
II.1.2 Population and Autocatalysis	19
II.1.3 Anti-catalysis: Inhibitory effects	25
II.1.4 Constructive Revolutions: Levels of Autocatalytic Loops	29
II.1.5 Autocatalysis to Homeostasis	33
II.1.6 Homeostatic Loop Development	37
Chapter II.2. Control: an Example of Homeostasis	41
II.2.1 Homeostasis and control	41
II.2.2 What is the Environment of Control?	43
II.2.3 Variety from Uniformity	46
II.2.4 Membranes, Tubes and Cells.	48
II.2.5 What’s in it for the Cell?	50
II.2.6 A cartoonish “e-coli” and its descendants	52
II.2.7 Tightening the homeostatic loop: Eukaryotes	58
II.2.8 Cellular Clusters and Conductive Tubes	61
II.2.9 What is Infrastructure?	64
II.2.10 The Environment as Infrastructure	69
Chapter II.3. Self Organization and Maintenance	74
II.3.1 Entropy and energy	75
II.3.2 Entropy and Energy Mapping	78
II.3.3 Is there a Latent Heat of Homeostasis?	81
II.3.4 The Nature of a Tensegrity Structure	83
II.3.5 Entropy and Evolution	85
Chapter II.4. Energy and Entropy in Control	88
II.4.1 Control as cooling	88
II.4.2 The Use of Energy	89
II.4.3 Control as Active Insulation	90
II.4.5 Uncertainty and information around a control loop	92
II.4.6 A Two-level Hierarchy	95
II.4.7 Distribution of effects	97
II.4.8 Control Tensegrity III: Hypernodes and Reorganization	102
Chapter II.5 “Rattling”: Process and Measure	107
II.5.1 Quantifying Organizational Rattling	109
II.5.2 Leaves and Smarticles	111
II.5.3 Turbulence, and Group Self-Organization	113
II.5.4 Descriptive Spaces: Interior and Exterior Rattling	117
II.5.5 Rattling and Individual Reorganization	120
II.5.6 Building a Control Hierarchy through Rattling 	124
II.5.7 Rattling and Modular Tensegrity	129
II.5.8 Rattling and the Growing Hierarchy	133
II.5.9 The Free-Ranging Child and the Cosseted Child	135
Chapter II.6 Crumpling and Perceptual Control	142
II.6.1 Crumpling a Flat Sheet	142
II.6.2 Crumpling, Pressure and Energy	145
II.6.3 Networks and Their Duals.	147
II.6.4 Facets and the analogue hierarchy	149
II.6.5 Facets, Facet-objects, and “Searching For”	154
II.6.6 Conflict, Action, Choice	156
Chapter II.7. Crumpling and Rattling: Development	160
II.7.1 Crumpling in Evolution and Individual Development	160
II.7.2 Crumpling, More than a Metaphor? 1: first “words”	163
II.7.4 Crumpling, More than a Metaphor? 2. Shockwaves	165
II.7.5 Crumpling, More than a Metaphor? 3. Teenagers	167
II.7.6 Crumpled Humour: Riddles, Jokes and Buns	169
II.7.7 Rattling and Crumpling: Tensegrity and Pressure	172
Chapter II.8. Reorganization and Consciousness	175
II.8.1 Reorganization in the Individual Revisited	176
II.8.2 The Homeostatic Interface to the Control Hierarchy	179
II.8.3 Quality of Control and Reorganization Rate	184
II.8.4 Misperception and Reorganization	186
II.8.5 Reorganization on Many Scales	188
II.8.6 The REV hierarchy	191
II.8.7 The Mechanic’s Toolbox	193
Chapter II.9. Consciousness and Mechanism	195
II.9.1 Consciousness: The Mechanic as “Director”	195
II.9.2 Consciousness and Genetic Algorithms	200
II.9.3 Consciousness and Qualia	203
II.9.4 Consciousness and Emotion	205
II.9.5 Music and Emotion	207
II.9.6 Emotion and the “stiff” Personality	210
Chapter II.10 Thinking and Reorganizing	213
II.10.1 A Tale of Three Theories	213
II.10.2 Time and Conscious Thinking	216
II.10.3 Thinking as Narrative	219
II.10.4 The Narrative Setting	221
II.10.5 Dreams and Reality in the Narrative Soup	224
qII.10.5 Changing Components of the Narrative Soup	227
II.10.6 Narrative thought and Reorganization	231
II.10.7 The Magic Number Seven?	235
II.10.8 The Formal Grammar of a Language	237
xII.10.5 The Narrative Fragment Hierarchy	240
xII.10.4 Braided Streams of History and Prediction	244
xII.10.6 Narrative Events and Edge Enhancement	245
xII.10.7 Causes and Consequences in the Narrative Soup	247
xII.10.8 Narrative Focus and Limitation	250
xII.10.9 Reorganization by Conscious Thought	250
***xII.10.13 The Mechanic’s Toolbox Re-examined	252
Part 6: Dyads and the Creation of Meaning	253
Chapter II.11. Private Language of Mother and Baby	255
II.11.1 Baby’s early interaction: getting someone to feed it	256
II.11.2 The Generic Protocol Form	258
II.11.3 Cora and Ivan: Early Development of Meaning	261
II.11.4 Protocols and Social Perception	263
II.11.5 Cora’s Conflict	264
Chapter II.12. A Geometric Interlude	266
II.12.1 The Little Man	266
II.12.2 Syncons and the synx	269
Chapter II.13. Growing a Language	271
II.13.1 The story of Rob and Len	271
II.13.2 Baby Len babbling syncons	278
II.13.3 A language of syncon sequences	279
II.13.4 The story of Len and Sophie	282
II.13.5 Len and Sophie have a child	287
II.13.6 A Note about Language Divergence	290
II.13.7 Autocatalytic Creation and Words for Abstract Concepts	291
II.13.8 Higher-level trajectories	298
II.13.9 Phonetic Symbolism and the Regularization of Verbs	308
II.13.10 Maintenance of Language Functions	310
Chapter II.14. Protocols	312
II.14.1 Protocols and belief control	313
II.14.2 The Protocol Motif	316
II.14.3 The Three Basic Propositions	317
II.14.4 Control of belief: the Syntax of a Protocol	320
II.14.5 Protocol Function: R-Display and Interrupt	322
II.14.6 Protocols are for communication, too	328
II.14.7 The meaning of “Meaning”	329
II.14.9 Protocol Failure I: Error Correction	332
***II.13.10 Protocol Failure II: Learning to Fix It	333
Chapter II.15. Protocol Implementation Issues	335
II.15.1 A Hierarchy of Protocols	335
II.15.2 Protocol loop dynamical considerations	336
II.15.3 Multiplexing and Diviplexing	339
II.15.4 Protocol Identification	343
II.15.5 Protocol as the syntax of interaction	344
II.15.6 Protocol versus Ritual	345
II.15.7 Deceit and camouflage	346
II.15.8 Counter-Control	348
II.15.9 Arguments: Truth-Seeking and Political	349

Collectives, Truth, Trade and an Invisible Rabbit	2
Table of Contents	3
Introduction to Volume 3	6
Part 7: Community, People in Larger Groups	9
Chapter III.1. Collective Control	13
III.1.1 Collective Control: Basic Concepts	13
III.1.2 Stochastic Collective Control: A Gedanken Experiment	15
III.1.3 Stochastic Collective Control in Action	19
III.1.4 Are Our Own Perceptions Virtual?	19
III.1.5 The Giant Virtual Controller and the Platonic Ideal	23
III.1.6 Stochastic Collective Control and Reorganization	27
III.1.7 A Short Taxonomy of Collective Control	28
III.1.8 Tensegrity of Collective Control	30
Chapter III.2. Autocatalysis and Side-effects	34
III.2.1 Co-reorganization	34
III.2.2 Types of interaction	36
III.2.3 Side-effect Loops	42
III.2.4 Control, Tensegrity, and Homeostasis	45
III.2.5 Different social behaviour of related species	48
III.2.6 Loops of Loops	51
III.2.7 Side-effect Loops in Conflict	56
III.2.8 Many people performing the same role	60
***III.2.9 The Octopus and the Fungus: Distributed Minds?	61
Chapter III.3. The Fractal Community	63
III.3.1 Collective Control of Protocol Form	63
III.3.2 Tensegrity and Modular organization	64
III.3.3 Individuals and roles	67
III.3.4 Extending Len and Sophie’s family	70
III.3.5 Marcel: a stranger among the Js	72
III.3.6 Modular networks revisited	75
III.3.7 Conflict and Crumpling	77
III.3.8 Other People as Black Boxes	81
Part 8: Community: Truth and Trust	84
Chapter III.4. Categories, Consciousness, Communication, Community	86
qIII.4.1 Re-thinking the Category Interface.	86
III.4.1 Consciously Perceived Objects as Hypernodes	88
III.4.3 PCT and the “Free Energy Principle”	90
***III.4.4 Being “Better” or “Worse”: Self Image Categories	96
***III.4.5 Formal and Informal Education	97
**III.4.6 Sleep and Reorganization	97
Chapter III.5. Belonging in a Community	100
III.5.1 Roles and Belonging	101
III.5.2 Do Places have Roles?	103
III.5.3 Protocol failure III: Reorganization to the Collective	104
III.5.4 Protocol, Ritual, and Collective Control	105
III.5.5 Rights, Customs, Obligations	107
III.5.6 Morals and Laws	111
III.5.7 Authority and Rules	112
III.5.8 Quarantine, Nonconformity, Schism	116
Chapter III.6. Language and Other Intangible Artifacts	120
III.6.1 Language: Catalyst for Invention	120
III.6.2 Cultural Convergence	123
III.6.3 Language: Broadcast versus face-to-face	128
III.6.4 Broadcast language as “Official”	131
III.6.5 Broadcast language: drifts and definitions	133
III.6.6 Cultural Drift	135
III.6.7 Language and Culture as Malleable Artifacts	142
Chapter III.7. Social Norms, Illusions, and World Models	147
III.7.1 Trust and Truth	147
III.7.2 Is Truth an Artifact?	149
III.7.3 Artifactual World Models	151
III.7.4 The Tail of the Invisible Rabbit	153
III.7.5 The Convenient Myth	154
III.7.6 The Child’s World Model	155
III.7.7 The Stability of Norms	157
III.7.8 Cultural Norms and Anchors	158
III.7.9 Superstition: The Cultural “Truth” of a World Model	161
Chapter III.8. Ownership, Trade, and Coercion	164
III.8.1 The Meaning of Ownership	164
III.8.2 Ownership Empowers Money	166
III.8.3 Shared Ownership and the Commons	167
III.8.4 Types of Commons	169
III.8.5 The Commons: Energy and Structure	172
III.8.6 Growth of the creative Commons of Ideas	174
III.8.7 Depletion of the Commons of Ideas	177
Chapter III.9 The Trade Motif	181
III.9.1 Transfer of Ownership	181
III.9.2 Trade and the Evolution of Money	183
III.9.3 Basic Concepts	184
III.9.4 The Trade Motif	186
III.9.5 Tradeable IOUs	189
III.9.6 Networks, atenexes and infrastructure	193
III.9.7 The Trade Motif, Cheating and Coercion	197
III.9.8 The Trading Value of Relationships	199
Chapter III.10. Energy, Money, Inflation	202
III.10.1 Work and Structure, Investment 	202
III.10.2 Decay and Maintenance	204
III.10.3 Banking, Saving and Lending	206
III.10.4 Forms of Money	210
III.10.8 Money and Uncertainty	212
III.10.5 The Need for Inflation	220
III.10.6 Organization Management	225
III.10.7 Money as Infrastructure	227

Stabilities and Instabilities,	2
Table of Contents	3
***Introduction to Volume 4	6
Part 9: Organizations, Formal and Informal	7
Chapter IV.1. Rattling, Crumpling, and Society	9
IV.1.1 Aggregations and organizations	9
IV.1.2 Rattling Averages and Extremes	12
IV.1.3 Rattling Averages and Localized Density Variation	13
IV.1.4 Rattling and the Stiffness of Conflict	17
IV.1.7 Crumpling Facets: Roles Reduce Rattling	18
IV.1.8 Crumpling and Individual Facet Networks	20
IV.1.9 Hypernode Analysis as a Measure	23
IV.1.10 Rattling Interactions and the Environment	28
Chapter IV.2. Social Ecologies and Tipping Points	30
IV.2.1 Cultural Phase Changes: Social Punctate Evolution	30
IV.2.2 Long-term Cultural Stabilities: Battle of the Sexes	38
IV.2.3 Rattling, Phase Shifts, and Roles	43
IV.2.4 Tensegrity and Rattling	47
IV.2.5 The Physical Environment and the Social Environment	50
IV.2.6 General Environmental Rattling	55
IV.2.7 Ecologies of Persons and Roles	57
IV.2.8 Collective Controllers and Organizations	60
IV.2.9 Toward Formal Organizations	63
Chapter IV.3: Formal Organizations	67
IV.3.1 Organizations as control systems	67
IV.3.2 Organization, Employment, and Unions	73
IV.3.3 Unions, Organizations, and the Stock Market	74
IV.3.4 Protocols within Organizations	75
IV.3.6 Trust and Leadership	78
IV.3.7 “Trust but Verify”	80
Chapter IV.4. Social Reorganization	83
IV.4.1 Role Networks and Person Networks	83
IV.4.2 A Hierarchy of organization	89
IV.4.3 Informal Organization	92
IV.4.4 Cultural Reorganization	93
IV.4.5 Bureaucracy: Tonic or Toxic?	95
IV.4.6 Song and Dance: Music and Belonging	98
IV.4.7 Belonging and Trust	99
IV.4.8 Scheveningen and Shibboleths	101
Chapter IV.5. “Us”, “Them” and the “Middle Ground”	106
IV.4.5 Boundaries and cultural divergence	107
IV.5.1 The Ramsbottom Premise	110
IV.5.2 “Us”, “Them”, and Bullying	114
qIV.5.4 Self-Image and Self-Confidence	120
IV.5.3 Domination, Submission	122
**IV.5.4 Colonists: Collective Bullies	124
IV.5.7 “Us and Them”: Income Disparity	125
IV.5.6  “Us and Them”: Rural and Urban	129
***IV.5.5 “Us and Them”: Battle of the Sexes	131
Chapter IV.6. ”Us” and Them”, “It’s Their Fault”	132
IV.6.1 It’s THEIR Fault: Unfamiliarity, Fear, and Hate	132
IV.6.2 Aliens: The Story of Robin in Silverwater	134
IV.6.3 Immigrants and Hybrid Vigour	138
IV.6.4 Refugees	142
***IV.6.5 Inter-Cultural Protocols, Treaties, and Institutions	145
***IV.6.6 International treaties and Institutions	146
Part 10: Government	148
Chapter IV.7. Government, Freedom and Revolution	149
IV.7.1 The Big Lie	149
IV.7.2 “The Others” and the Big Lie	152
IV.7.3 Before the Truth gets out of Bed	155
IV.7.4 Truth Control for Acquiring Power	156
***IV.7.5 The Madness of Crowds and the March of Folly	158
**IV.7.6 Through Violence to a Calmer Place	158
***IV.7.7 Rattling and Revolution; 2021/01/06	159
IV.7.8 Social Maladies: Network Chaos	161
IV.7.9 Democracy, Autocracy, and the Destruction of Ebla	164
Chapter IV.8. Morality, Ethics, and Fairness	167
IV.8.1 “Right” versus “Wrong”: Morals and Laws	167
**IV.8.2 Moralities and Ethics	169
***IV.8.3 Fairness, Ethics and the Abuse of Power	170
IV.8.4 Laws and Atenfels	170
IV.8.5 Social Power	172
IV.8.6 The Power of Organizations and the “Social Bomb”	173
IV.8.7 Teams and team spirit	175
IV.8.8 Cliques are not Teams	177
Chapter IV.9. Autocratic and Civil Government	178
IV.9.1 Monarchy and the Ombudsman	178
IV.9.2 The Great Man	182
***IV.9.3 Government and Civil Service	184
***IV.9.4 Political Parties and the Middle Ground	185
Chapter IV.10. Power and Political Parties	188
IV.10.1 Teams and Political Parties	188
IV.10.2 Party Factions and Splits	194
IV.10.3 Elections and Power	196
IV.10.4 Representation, Coalitions and the Convergence of Power	197
IV.10.5 “Divide and Conquer”	198
qIV.10.2 Political Parties and the Magic Number Six	199
IV.10.6 Apostasy, Defection, Betrayal	200
IV.10.7 Social Control Systems and Defection	202
IV.10.8 Power, Individual and Social	204
***IV.10.9 Commercial Power versus Political Power	206
Chapter IV.11. Non-Human Minds	212
IV.11.1 What is Autonomy?	212
IV.11.2 Autonomy and the Single Robot	215
IV.11.3 “Botnets”, “Slime Molds”, and the “Hive Mind”	218
IV.11.4 Robots — Conscious and Emotional?	222
IV.11.5 Aliens among us: Robots and Society	229
***Chapter IV.12. Epilogue: PCT as Science and Guide	233
Acronyms	234
Working Papers	236
W1: To Sharpen Ockham’s Razor	236
W1.1 Introduction	236
W1.2 The Universe of hypotheses	236
W1.3 Addendum: The predictive power of hypotheses	238
Appendices	241
Appendix 1: General Negative Feedback Loops	241
Appendix 2. Atenfels and Molenfels	244
Appendix 3. A proposed notation for control loops and protocols	247
Appendix 4: The Bomb in the hierarchy	249
Appendix 5: Some features of Uncertainty and Information	252
Appendix 6: Separations of items in spaces of high dimensionality	255
Appendix 7: The Giant Virtual Controller	258
Appendix 8: The General Protocol Grammar	260
***Appendix 9: Structure and Mass-Energy in Relativistic Networks.	268
Appendix 10. Interchangeable views on the world of Physics	268