Start here

This corpus investigates a simple claim: high positive affect states are not lost in adulthood, but blocked by continuous evaluation and optimization load (Z).

Recommended reading order:

  1. Ease: Evaluation kills entry, not the state
    Conceptual foundation. Introduces the threshold model and regime-shift logic.
    Open paper

  2. Transient Disengagement of Evaluative Monitoring as a Precondition for Joy
    Proposed neural mechanism. Monitoring suppression as regime entry condition.
    Open paper

  3. Regime Structure as a Hidden Variable in Engagement Research: the Z variable
    Formalization of evaluation load (Z) as a hidden variable across tasks.
    Open note

  4. The Morin Z-Reduction Task (M-ZRT)
    Minimal probe protocol designed to test threshold entry behavior empirically.
    Open protocol

  5. Prediction Error Without Closure in Childhood
    Developmental perspective on why the regime is forgotten rather than lost.
    Open preprint

  6. Ease Is Not Lost, It Is Blocked by Optimization
    Extended synthesis (book-length version).
    Open book

  7. Affective Collapse Under Causal Closure
    General conclusion of the corpus. Formalizes Z (cumulative causal consolidation), capture at entry, and the canonical falsification set (A1-D1, F1-F5).
    Open paper

For the complete list, see the Research Corpus index.

Back to home