Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
May 29, 2026
Gerd Leidig
Active Inference is often interpreted as a theory where the brain builds internal models of an external world, but this article argues it is better understood as enactive inference: a theory of embodied, affectively regulated coupling between organism and environment. Free-energy minimization cannot be reduced to passive sensory-surprise reduction, as shown by the dark-room problem, but must relate to expected free energy, exploration, viability, and biological normativity. Introducing processual perspectivism as an ontology of perspective-bearing life, the article posits that mind is not an inner representational object but the perspectival form of embodied self-organization, and consciousness is the intrinsic, affectively structured perspective of a living system regulating its openness to the world.
Preprints.org
March 16, 2026
Gerd Leidig
preprint
Arthur Schopenhauer's metaphysics of the will, when stripped of its ontological commitments, offers rich descriptions of embodied agency and selfhood that align with contemporary cognitive science. This paper reconstructs Schopenhauer's ideas in four stages: interpreting his unity of body and will through the Free Energy Principle; situating his fragmented self within Gallagher's Pattern Theory of Self; framing his ethics of compassion as a precursor to a Pattern Theory of Compassion; and explaining his pessimism as predictive dysregulation. The approach uses cognitive models as a functional grammar for phenomenal experience without reducing its metaphysical depth.
Preprints.org
February 26, 2026
Gerd Leidig
preprint
Awakening is redefined not as a final, irreversible state described in Asian traditions but as an ongoing recognition of reality's structure—a moment when consciousness becomes aware of itself, entering meta-awareness. Within a framework called processual perspectivism, a 'Witnessing-Space' is the central, metastable configuration of an enactive inference system. Awakening involves a radical reorganization of this space: moving from fragmented, emotionally dysregulated patterns to an integrated perspective where the system sees its own generative architecture. This Witnessing-Space connects process-ontological philosophy, brain dynamics, and existential spiritual self-realization. The study of awakening may offer a key to resolving the mind-body problem by revealing how phenomenal appearance is generated.
Preprints.org
January 13, 2026
Gerd Leidig
preprint
Spirituality can be understood as the brain's highest-order regulatory pattern, operating on the slowest intrinsic neural timescales to integrate sensory and emotional information over long periods. This 'spiritual self-pattern' functions as a long-term prior that modulates the balance between predictive confidence and corrective sensitivity, maintaining mental health. Meaning arises from successfully integrating sensory chaos into these temporal models, preserving consciousness against existential entropy. Spiritual resonance involves metastable synchronization, while spiritual dissonance results from pathological precision leading to fanaticism or despair. The model provides a mechanism for spiritually integrated psychotherapy, where the therapist manages criticality to restore self-organization.