Context-Focused Inference (Active Inference without Self)

Type: Individual / Pair / Group
Duration: 10–25 minutes
Outcome: Reduction of unnecessary internal model complexity
Warning: No improvement is promised. Nothing special is required.

START
│
▼
[Experience is already happening]
│
│ (Do not adjust posture, mood, or intention)
▼
[Notice sensory events]
│
│ Sounds, sensations, sights, thoughts
│ (Treat all equally)
▼
{Decision}
├─ Are you describing, narrating, or evaluating?
│ │
│ ├─ YES → [Label this as “content”] → return to [Notice sensory events]
│ │
│ └─ NO → continue
▼
[Allow events to arise and pass]
│
│ (No suppression, no following)
▼
{Context Pivot}
│
│ Ask silently (choose one):
│ • “What is this appearing in?”
│ • “What is present before interpretation?”
│ • “What is constant while content changes?”
│
│ (Do not answer conceptually)
▼
[Attention falls back to context]
│
│ No centre located
│ No owner required
▼
{Check}
├─ Is experience still happening?
│ │
│ ├─ NO → return to [Notice sensory events]
│ │
│ └─ YES → continue
▼
[Optional: Allow simple action]
│
│ Walking, speaking, arranging, responding
│ (Without attributing authorship)
▼
{Check}
├─ Is functioning impaired?
│ │
│ ├─ YES → return to [Notice sensory events]
│ │
│ └─ NO → continue
▼
[Integration]
│
│ Resume ordinary cognition
│ Do not conclude or summarise
▼
END

---

---

Notes for the Reader / Facilitator

• At no point is a self removed, dissolved, or attacked.
  It is simply not invoked as an explanatory variable.
• The algorithm succeeds if:
  • Perception continues
  • Action continues
  • Psychological effort reduces
• If nothing unusual happens, the algorithm has worked correctly.

---

Marginal Annotation

This algorithm minimises free energy by subtraction rather than optimisation.
The highest-cost latent variable—“me as manager of experience”—is treated as optional and allowed to drop out.

---

Entropy Footnote

Life usually surfs entropy by increasing internal control structures.
This algorithm surfs entropy by reducing internal representational load, allowing complexity to be borne by the world rather than by identity.