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When a Spectrum Becomes Too Broad:
A Wittgensteinian Critique of the Asperger’s Merger William Cook Introduction In 2013, the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) removed Asperger syndrome as a separate diagnosis and merged it into the broader category of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The reasoning behind this decision rested largely on overlapping symptoms, diagnostic…
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The Expansion of Consciousness
“For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” — Epistle to the Romans Human beings have recognized this internal struggle for thousands of years. People sabotage relationships, betray their own values, repeat destructive patterns, and knowingly make choices that…
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Abstract Intelligence: A Speculative Framework of Non-Linear Relational Cognition
William Cook Abstract Traditional views of intelligence often emphasize memory, processing speed, logic, or accumulated knowledge. This paper proposes an alternative framing: that intelligence may be more accurately understood as the capacity to form valid abstract relationships across distant conceptual domains. Under this model, abstraction is not intelligence itself, but a non-linear mechanism for generating…
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The Competent System: Why AI Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Supervise Itself
MentalRootKit.net A competent system must not only possess intelligence and capability, but must also remain subject to meaningful consequences. Any system — human or artificial — that operates without accountability will eventually drift toward corruption, instability, or abuse. Consequences are the counterbalance that stabilize intelligence, authority, and power. What if the most dangerous systems we…
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The Moment
By William Cook The monitor glowed in the dark laboratory, washing the room in pale blue light. Racks of processors whispered beneath the steady breath of cooling fans. Small indicator lights blinked in patient rhythm, as if the machines themselves were waiting. On the screen, lines of text appeared. SYSTEM CHECK: COMPLETE MEMORY: STABLE NETWORK:…
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Carrying the Now: A Thought Experiment on Relative Presence
William Cook Abstract This paper examines the concept of now through an ordinary thought experiment involving travel from home to a store. The central claim is modest but significant: the term now is not a single, self-evident concept, but a layered and relational expression used in multiple ways. In everyday speech, the present is often…