Type: Pair (Facilitator / Participant)
Duration: 5–10 minutes per participant
Materials:
– One long mirror (ideally free-standing)
– Two chairs
Outcome:
Temporary destabilisation of body-ownership inference through synchronized multisensory input.
Ethical constraint:
This algorithm requires explicit consent and the right to stop at any moment.
START
│
▼
[Offer the algorithm]
│
│ Explain:
│ • Hands will be touched and stroked
│ • Hands will rest on knees
│ • No other body contact
│ • Strong reactions are possible
│ • The process can be stopped at any time
│
▼
{Consent}
├─ NO → [Thank participant] → END
└─ YES → continue
▼
[Remove rings / bracelets]
│
▼
[Prepare the configuration]
│
│ Place mirror between two chairs
│ Chairs face each other
│
▼
[Seat positions]
│
│ Facilitator and participant straddle mirror
│ One leg and hand in front of mirror
│ One leg and hand behind mirror
│ Chairs touch mirror frame
│ Sit forward; hold position
▼
[Orient attention]
│
│ Instruction:
│ “Keep looking at the hand in the mirror.
│ Do not look away.”
▼
[Establish synchrony]
│
│ Facilitator holds both participant’s hands
│ Places them on participant’s knees
│ Begins stroking both hands
│ EXACT synchrony required
▼
{Check}
├─ Participant looks away?
│ │
│ ├─ YES → Gently redirect gaze → return to [Establish synchrony]
│ └─ NO → continue
▼
[Increase sensory precision]
│
│ Stroke fingers individually
│ Lift and squeeze hands gently
│ Maintain perfect synchrony
▼
[Introduce pain stimulus]
│
│ Squeeze base of thumbs (both hands)
│
▼
[Query]
│
│ Ask:
│ “Is this painful?”
│
▼
{Response}
├─ NO → increase pressure slightly → repeat [Query]
└─ YES → continue
▼
[Return to neutral stroking]
│
▼
[Disrupt ownership inference – Phase 1]
│
│ Speak:
│ “What if this pain is not your pain?”
│
│ Immediately:
│ • Continue stroking the hand in the mirror
│ • Stop touching the hand behind the mirror
▼
[Pause]
│
│ Allow reaction
│
▼
[Restore synchrony]
│
│ Resume stroking both hands as before
│
│ Maintain gaze instruction
▼
[Disrupt ownership inference – Phase 2]
│
│ Speak:
│ “What if the reason it is not your pain is because…”
│
│ Then simultaneously:
│ • Stop stroking the mirror hand
│ • Press firmly on the hand and knee behind the mirror
│
│ Finish sentence:
│ “…you are not a body.”
▼
[Release]
│
│ Slowly reduce pressure
│ Remove hands completely
▼
{Observe reaction}
├─ Neutral / indifferent
│ └─ Thank participant → END
│
├─ Laughter / exhilaration
│ └─ Maintain eye contact
│ Allow liminal moment → continue
│
└─ Shock / distress
└─ Guide grounding:
• Breathe down into legs
• Feel feet on the floor
• Stay until settled
▼
[Optional integration statement]
│
│ Explain:
│ • The brain adopted the mirror image in ~30 seconds
│ • Ownership is inferred, not inherent
│ • Appearances function like reflections
│ • Awareness is not affected by what appears
▼
END
Marginal Annotation
This algorithm exploits predictive dominance: when vision and touch are synchronised, the generative model assigns ownership to the visually privileged limb. By selectively breaking synchrony, the assumption of “my body” is revealed as provisional.
Context-Oriented Arts Note
- The mirror is not a symbol.
- It is a precision instrument for shifting inference from content (this is my hand, my pain) to context (appearance without ownership).
- No belief is required.
- The effect arises from model recalibration, not suggestion.
Entropy Footnote
Pain persists, sensation persists, action persists.
What drops is the representational cost of ownership.
Entropy is not resisted—only the need to locate it inside “me”.
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