Narrative Self Café v12: Affect as BASH (Bottlenecked Adaptive System Hysteresis)
Posted: February 5, 2026 Filed under: AI-Powered Essays | Tags: adaptive, consciousness, identity, philosophy, systems Leave a commentSequel to Narrative Self Café v11: CASH Values (How “Complex Adaptive System Hysteresis” Shapes Minds)
Obsoletes DRAFT Narrative Self Café v12: Affect as CLASH (Complex Layered Adaptive System Hysteresis)
Write this as Tom Stoppard. Four physicists walk into a café. The tablecloth shows the definition of CASH, with two of them connected by a “bit edge.” Friston speaks first.
ChatGPT Prompt (condensed)
A small café that appears to exist slightly outside of spacetime. The tablecloth is linen, but printed on it in sober black serif are the words:
CASH: Complex Adaptive System Hysteresis
CASH(bulk) < — bit edge — > CASH(boundary)
Four physicists enter as if they have been walking toward this table for years without knowing it.
They sit.
A waiter who may be a boundary condition brings four coffees without asking.
The Dialogue
FRISTON (studying the tablecloth as if it has been publishing papers behind his back)
Ah. Well. That’s annoyingly legible.
Radical Centrism 