Psychology

Prediction, Control, and the Regulating Mind

An eight-part series joining control theory to predictive processing — what an emotion actually is, what it changes in the therapy room, and how to prove the whole model wrong.

8 parts, in order

Part 1What an Emotion Actually IsEmotions as error signals in a feedback loop, why happiness is not an emotion at all, and the sensor-sized gap the control account leaves open.Aug 17, 2026Part 2Why Your Brain Guesses at the WorldPerception as inference: the blind spot, the dress, prediction error, precision weighting, and Plato's cave arriving twenty-four centuries early.Aug 17, 2026Part 3What You Predict Is What You DefendThe original claim. Join control theory to predictive processing and the estimate becomes the set point, which gives two gains that come apart cleanly.Aug 17, 2026Part 4What This Changes in the Therapy RoomThe CBT model mapped term for term onto a control loop, why a wrong core belief survives contact with reality, and four questions that sort clients into different repairs.Aug 17, 2026Part 5The Hard Case: Autism and StimmingStimming as a limit cycle rather than soothing, the stability-versus-overload argument, and an honest audit of how thin the supporting evidence actually is.Aug 17, 2026Part 6Lag, Gain, and Damping in a BusinessThe same three failures outside the clinic: review intervals shorter than the feedback delay, micromanagement as a gain problem, and KPIs treated as anything but set points.Aug 17, 2026Part 7How to Prove This WrongFour results the model forbids, stated in advance, plus a precise account of what the evidence supports today and what remains untested.Aug 17, 2026Part 8Addendum: Amusement, Awe, and CuriosityThe three feelings the model said it couldn't explain. Amusement, awe and curiosity don't behave like error signals from the controller, they belong to the estimator half of the model.Aug 23, 2026

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