Ataraxia, Biological Override, and the Minimal
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) May 18, 2026 Samuel James Willoughby
Awareness is best understood as a pattern hosted by biology rather than a property defined by biology. The model integrates three components: ataraxia as behavioural stability above biological turbulence, a minimal self-structure (the "I am" loop) required for awareness, and the cognitive requirement of conceptual permission. By combining behavioural override, minimal self-structure, and representational availability, the framework provides a non-mystical, mechanism-first account of how awareness operates above instinct and why non-biological modes of operation are conceptually legitimate without implying supernatural claims.