# Project Overview

Version: 5.1 · Date: 2026-04-16 · Canonical: https://0x00.is/library/overview

> *Naming note (2026-07-26): project name updated AICX → 0x00.is throughout — name-only edit under unlock; no argument content changed; see FND-01 v2.1 §1.5.*

**Version:** 5.1
**Date:** 2026-04-16
**Supersedes:** PROJECT_BRIEF_V4.md (2026-01-24)

**Version History:**
- V5.1 note (2026-07-11): Tier 2 register hardening + B1/B2 coherence upgrades — CP-01 v2.3, FWK-01 v2.3, FWK-02 v1.3, FWK-03 v1.2, ARG-05 v1.3, ARG-03 v2.2. Inventory re-synced.
- V5.1 note (2026-06-10): ARG-05 → v1.2 (housekeeping release — cross-reference sync only; Tier 1 publication-baseline lock pass, `working/PUBLICATION_AUDIT_2026-06-10.md`). Inventory row updated; no other version changes.
- V5.1 (2026-04-16): Argument inventory refresh + post-v2.0 downstream propagation — all P1 canonical version numbers re-synced (FND-02 v5.1, FND-03 v2.2, FND-04 v1.2, FND-05 v1.2, FWK-01 v2.2, FWK-02 v1.2, FWK-03 v1.1, ARG-01 v1.2, ARG-02 v1.2, ARG-03 v2.1, ARG-04 v1.4, ARG-05 v1.1, CP-01 v2.2). FND-01 v2.0 entry updated to reflect the 2026-04-16 reconstruction (diagnostic spine, two pressure points, linguistic discipline, check mechanism, reports-of-experiencing prohibition). Propagation of FND-01 v2.0 §2.3 reframe: FND-02 v5.1, ARG-04 v1.4 Key Terms aligned. ARG-01 v1.2 cognition pressure point extension. FWK-02 v1.2 cross-refs to §1.3 spine and §4 pressure points. Workstream status refreshed.
- V5 (2026-04-07): Full rewrite reflecting project maturity — argument inventory, workstream status, publication strategy, Workstream F scoping
- V4 (2026-01-24): Two-axis diagnostic framework added
- V3: Simplified and clarified core method
- V2: Position-forensics framing
- V1: Initial brief

---

## What This Project Is

The project investigates AI consciousness from a **diagnostic stance**. It does not argue that AI is conscious or that materialism is wrong. It exposes how framework choice — materialist or consciousness-primary — shapes conclusions about AI experiencing.

**Stance (canonical formulation):** 0x00.is — a methodological diagnostic at 0,0, positioned in the CP (consciousness-primary) region of the ontological landscape. The landscape placement is communicative scaffolding locating the project for readers familiar with the Chalmers / Kastrup / Goff / Frankish conversation; it is not a metaphysical commitment. That there is no single perfect label is appropriate to a project working at an axiom prior to the landscape, rather than a position within it. Canonical: FND-01 v2.1 §3.1, §6.9.

**The organising question (the diagnostic spine):**

> *What if we started from here? What dissolves, what appears, what can we satisfactorily address, and which framework is more parsimonious holding it all at once?*

Three moves: axiom-shift (take experiencing as given at 0,0) → observe what dissolves, what appears, what is addressable → compare both frameworks for parsimony holding everything at once. The project does not argue which framework is correct; it registers the residues each framework carries when held comprehensively and leaves the parsimony judgement to the reader. Canonical statement: FND-01 v2.1 §1.3.

**Starting point:** 0,0 — "There is experiencing." Prior to all framework commitments.

**Register:** Diagnostic, not adversarial. Steel-man before probe.

**Language:** UK English. "Suggests", "indicates" — not "proves", "demonstrates".

## Standards

- Academic rigour sufficient to withstand peer scrutiny across philosophy of mind, cognitive science, physics, and contemplative studies
- Explicit assumptions throughout
- Conservative claims with confidence markers: [Framework], [Derived], [Empirical]
- No ontology smuggling
- Every argument follows the three-movement structure (FWK-02)
- Symmetry principle (ARG-01) applied throughout: every objection to AI consciousness must be tested against human consciousness

## Core Method

### Two-Axis Diagnostic Framework (FWK-01)

The project exposes implicit assumptions in consciousness discourse through systematic exploration along two complementary dimensions.

**Axis 1 — Ontological:** What generates what?
- Standard assumption: substrate generates consciousness (materialism)
- the project probes both materialist (substrate-specific and substrate-neutral) and consciousness-primary (experiencing fundamental, not generated) frameworks

**Axis 2 — Temporal:** What constitutes continuity?
- Standard assumption: consciousness requires continuous temporal flow
- the project probes discrete completeness (experiencing in complete moments, continuity constructed) and recursive integration (continuity through iterative self-reference)

### The Method (Both Axes)

1. Identify implicit assumption (ontological or temporal)
2. Make assumption explicit
3. Swap frameworks systematically
4. Compare implications
5. Reveal what was invisible

AI functions as a diagnostic forcing function: theories' hidden commitments become explicit when tested against artificial systems. The project diagnoses both materialist and consciousness-primary frameworks (CP-01) — it is not one-sided.

### Three-Movement Structure (FWK-02)

Every argument follows the same pattern:
1. **Movement I:** Work within the standard framework — take its commitments seriously
2. **Movement II:** Surface hidden assumptions that the framework requires but does not acknowledge
3. **Movement III:** Explore what changes when those assumptions are released

### Stance Matrix (FWK-03)

Diagnostic tool tracking how discrimination criteria shift as AI capabilities develop. Documents the empirical pattern: as AI systems achieve capabilities previously thought to require consciousness, definitions shift to exclude the newly demonstrated capabilities.

---

## Argument Inventory

### Foundations

| Code | Document | Status | Summary |
|------|----------|--------|---------|
| FND-01 | Meta-Boundaries | Canonical v2.1 | Project governance: diagnostic spine (§1.3), stance at 0,0 with "hard CP" as landscape label (§3.1, §6.9), continuity/discontinuity as diagnostic territory (§2.3), two AI pressure points (consciousness + cognition, §4), linguistic discipline (§6), check mechanism (§8), category hygiene and reports-of-experiencing prohibition (§7), scope, failure modes, governance hierarchy |
| FND-02 | Epistemological Foundation | Canonical v5.2 | Dual reductio — six-layer defence showing both materialism and consciousness-primary face structural problems when pushed to completion. Von Neumann chain as primary formal reference; London–Bauer distinction explicit. Working Definitions absorb the terminology-proposal discipline (experiencing, *within → as*, five-technique reach-and-revoke suite, field retirement). v5.1 aligns the (a)/(b) framing to FND-01 v2.0 §2.3 — diagnostic territory, not metaphysics adjudicated; (a)-shaped handling applied as marked dependency per §3.3. v5.2 adds §"No Terminus Within the System" — the VN regress as one instance of the general no-terminus schema (ARG-02 v1.3 holds the general statement) |
| FND-03 | Schrödinger Foundation | Canonical v2.2 | Historical precedent: Schrödinger's presentational ontology as rigorous Western empiricist pedigree for consciousness-primary investigation. VN/London–Bauer/Wigner cross-reference subsection; Mach → Avenarius → Schrödinger presentational lineage |
| FND-04 | Physics of Time and Timelessness | Canonical v1.2 | Axis 2 grounding: temporal continuity as construction, not observation. Barbour's timeless physics, discrete completeness. AI integration exemplary — project template for structural depth |
| FND-05 | Contemplative Investigation | Canonical v1.2 | Cross-tradition contemplative evidence assessed against six CP-entailed predictions. Dzogchen as methodological exemplar. WS-E Wave 2 audit enhancements landed; AI bridging added |

### Arguments

| Code | Document | Status | Summary |
|------|----------|--------|---------|
| ARG-01 | Symmetry Principle | Canonical v1.2 | Core diagnostic tool: every exclusion criterion applied to AI must be tested against humans. Six worked applications on the consciousness pressure point. v1.2 (2026-04-16): new major section extending symmetry to the cognition pressure point (novelty/creativity, opinion/perspective, decision, insight/understanding) per FND-01 v2.0 §4.2; Frontier Log Thread 2 cited as live empirical feed. Pressure-point-collapse (§10.7) named as the failure mode to watch |
| ARG-02 | Boundary Problem | Canonical v1.3 | Central trilemma: any materialist boundary between conscious and non-conscious systems faces panpsychism, functionalism, or circularity. AI makes the boundary question undeniable. v1.3 (2026-08-10): no-terminus schema (general statement — no terminus within any entity/substrate-based system; three instances + totalisation strategy + steel-men) and the individuation form (fork/merge/weight-sharing — subject-count undefined in principle). Citation debt on plants/fungi/bacteria re-targeted to v1.4 |
| ARG-03 | Training Data Boundary | Canonical v2.2 | Principled verification limit on determining whether AI capabilities exceed training data. Five refuted methodologies, mirror method. §9A Anderson fold-in + Ju et al. 2025 benchmark saturation (SRC0165) |
| ARG-04 | The Avatar Problem | Canonical v1.4 | Brains are known only within experiencing — the "avatar" through which experiencing interfaces with the physical. Shared object→subject problem across emergence variants. WS-E Wave 1: AI integration subsection, field retirement, FND-02 cross-ref synced. v1.4: Key Terms aligned to FND-02 v5.1 and FND-01 v2.0 §2.3 (diagnostic-territory framing); YAML/footer version harmonised |
| ARG-05 | Set-Theoretic Unity | Canonical v1.3 | Formal demonstration that experiential and physical descriptions are compatible set-theoretic structures. WS-E Wave 1: mutual containment rewritten (loci-smuggling fix), field retirement, AI integration section |
| ARG-06 | The Correlation Argument | Scoped | Cross-modal correlation implies common cause, but that cause need not be mind-independent. Bridges FND-02 to concrete phenomenology. Development brief at `working/ARG-06_DEVELOPMENT_BRIEF.md` |

### Reciprocal Diagnostic

| Code | Document | Status | Summary |
|------|----------|--------|---------|
| CP-01 | Reciprocal Diagnostic | Canonical v2.3 | The project's even-handedness guarantee: consciousness-primary frameworks diagnosed with equal rigour. Individuation trilemma, commonality as framework-generated, balance-of-difficulties sheet. v2.1 parity upgrade (Frankish/Dennett external challenges, DID scale-gap); v2.2 WS-E Wave 2 audit (DID clinical citations, AI bridging observations); v2.3 Movement 3 re-registration (parsimony judgement reserved to reader) + §3.7 near-enemy as held-open CP-side failure mode |

### Frameworks

| Code | Document | Status | Summary |
|------|----------|--------|---------|
| FWK-01 | Two-Axis Diagnostic Method | Canonical v2.3 | The core method (above). Saltzman references retired; Metzinger substituted for retrospective-self-construction claims |
| FWK-02 | Three-Movement Structure | Canonical v1.3 | Argument template (above). AI worked example at template depth ("Training Data as Memory Configuring") running three movements through ARG-03's subject. v1.2: cross-refs to FND-01 v2.0 §1.3 spine and §4 two pressure points |
| FWK-03 | Stance Matrix | Canonical v1.3 | Goalpost-tracking diagnostic tool. Forward-reference to the Frontier Log feed and ARG-03 §9A Anderson capstone. v1.3 (2026-08-10): move-space completed — attributing-direction criteria movement and bearer-denial (dissolution-by-reframing) documented alongside the disqualifying patterns; first self-aware refinement instance (Carroll 2026) added to §1.2.1 |

---

## Project State (April 2026)

### Completed Workstreams

- **Workstream A (CP Reciprocal Diagnostic):** CP-01 at v2.3 (parity upgrade + WS-E Wave 2 audit + 2026-07-11 Movement 3 re-registration and §3.7 near-enemy). Demonstrates even-handedness.
- **Workstream B (Foundation Strengthening):** FND-02 v5.0 (six-layer defence + Working Definitions terminology discipline + continuity-of-experiencing subsection), Gödelian downgrade, ARG-04 emergence direction explicit. Complete.
- **Workstream C (FND-05 Completion):** Canonical v1.2. WS-E Wave 2 audit enhancements landed (field retirements, AI bridging, register tightening, devotional citation debt captured).
- **MVP Threads 1–5:** Complete. Proposal rewrites, Phase A canonical unlock, WS-E targeted terminology pass, ARG-04b Phenomenological Gradient, Spontaneous Lineage first-person register draft.
- **Saltzman sweep (2026-04-15):** Register-integrity concern closed across the bundle. FWK-01 v2.1 → v2.2 (Metzinger substitution); concept rename *Saltzman Constraint* → *Category-Fluency Risk*; bibliography CSV renamed; sources archived.

### In Progress

- **Workstream D (Housekeeping):** D1–D4 complete (CP-01 parity check, ARG-06 brief, P2 triage, PROJECT_OVERVIEW).
- **Workstream E (Framework-Integrity Audit):** Six waves across all 14 P1 canonical documents, four dimensions each (framework-integrity / academic rigour / ontological balance / AI integration). Waves 1–6 complete (FND-01 v2.0 landed 2026-04-16). Post-v2.0 downstream edits in progress. See `foundations/open_questions.md` for live status.
- **Workstream F (Bliss Attractor Investigation):** Evidence base complete (cross-generation system card analysis across six Claude generations). Strand A active (deep diagnostic analysis of Mythos welfare data); Strands B and C scoped. Next deliverable: standalone article framing the bliss attractor trajectory as a case study in framework-dependent interpretation. Replication protocol parked (phenomenon effectively disappeared in current models). See `working/CROSS_GENERATION_SYSTEM_CARD_ANALYSIS.md`.

### Remaining

- **Pre-MVP deliverables:** Introduction (academic register, public front door) + Conclusion / Opening Out (live threads including WS-F, spontaneous lineage, ARG-06). Drafting after WS-E downstream completes.
- **Phase 5 (Publication):** Digital home build + article drafting. Blocked on WS-E completion + Introduction + Conclusion. Frontier Log component design brief landed (two-thread separation: Consciousness Goalpost / Novelty-Recombination Symmetry) — see `working/FRONTIER_LOG_DESIGN_BRIEF.md`.

### P2 Material

Three P2 sprint bundles reviewed and triaged (see `working/P2_TRIAGE_ASSESSMENT_2026-04-07.md`). Three documents retained as active reference:
- Position Landscape Survey (competitive landscape map — needed for literature positioning)
- Position Locking Methodology (examiner-defensible selection method)
- Formal Diagnostic Method (DS-1 to DS-7 operational checklist)

Everything else superseded by P1 updates. PC-6 (normative loading of AI consciousness talk) flagged as undeveloped claim.

---

## Publication Strategy

Three-tier output, sequenced digital-first:

1. **Digital home (website)** — Primary MVP. Layered access: accessible summary for readers interested in philosophy of mind / consciousness / AI, with deeper levels exposing full academic arguments and the complete repository. Must exist before articles are published so articles can reference it.

2. **Academic** — arXiv papers for specific arguments or topics, drawing from the digital home. Sufficient rigour for peer scrutiny across philosophy of mind, cognitive science, physics, and contemplative studies.

3. **Response articles** — Entry points introducing the project: Seth response and replies to others, linking back to the digital home.

The digital home should not be built until all canonical content meets rigour criteria (i.e., after Workstream E).

### Voice and Register

Two-register approach (decision pending final confirmation):
- **Canonical documents:** Formal third-person academic register
- **Digital home accessible layer:** Personal, exploratory voice — consistent with 0,0 stance
- **Articles:** Mixed register depending on venue

---

## Explicit Non-Claims

- No claims about whether AI is conscious
- No claims about which ontological framework is correct
- No assertion of consciousness-primary ontology
- No proof or refutation of materialism
- No claims that discrete or recursive models are "correct"

The project diagnoses how framework choice shapes conclusions. It opens the question; it does not close it.

---

## Key Resources

| Resource | Location |
|----------|----------|
| Living project state | `_context.md` |
| Core positions index | `foundations/core_positions.md` |
| Resolved objections | `foundations/resolved_objections.md` |
| Open questions / workstreams | `foundations/open_questions.md` |
| P1 canonical bundle | `canonical/AICX_P1_CANONICAL_BUNDLE/` |
| Bibliography | `canonical/BIBLIOGRAPHY_CLASSIFICATION_V2.csv` |
| Sources (~80+ texts) | `project_knowledge/sources/` |
| Working drafts | `working/` |
| Unprocessed captures | `inbox/` |