# Latest

**URL:** http://discourse.iapct.org/latest.md

[Latest](http://discourse.iapct.org/latest.md) · [Categories](http://discourse.iapct.org/categories.md) · [Tags](http://discourse.iapct.org/tags.md)

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## [Welcome to Discourse](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/welcome-to-discourse/7)

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**Author:** [@system](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/system)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [September 8, 2019, 2:29am UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/welcome-to-discourse/7 "2019-09-08T02:29:25Z")

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Perceptual Control Theory (PCT) is the science of purpose: how living things use their actions to produce intended results in an unpredictably changing environment. The technical term for this is control. PCT provides a …

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## [Question About Feedback Functions](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/question-about-feedback-functions/16253)

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**Author:** [@rsmarken](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/rsmarken)\
**Replies:** 118\
**Last updated:** [September 30, 2026, 12:32am UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/question-about-feedback-functions/16253 "2026-09-30T00:32:04Z")

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I seem to recall that feedback functions are considered to be particularly important in the study of collective control. They are even given a special name – ATENFELS? Could someone please give me a quick explanation of …

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## [Are AI agents conscious?](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/are-ai-agents-conscious/16259)

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**Author:** [@bnhpct](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/bnhpct)\
**Replies:** 11\
**Last updated:** [September 19, 2026, 11:07pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/are-ai-agents-conscious/16259 "2026-09-19T23:07:54Z")

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Ted Chiang (“a writer based in the Pacific Northwest … author of Stories of Your Life and Others and Exhalation”) has produced a critique in The Atlantic titled “No, AI is not conscious” (Dropbox). Chiang’s title says h…

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## [Why learn and communicate PCT?](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/why-learn-and-communicate-pct/16266)

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**Author:** [@JohnGraham](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/JohnGraham)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [September 17, 2026, 4:40am UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/why-learn-and-communicate-pct/16266 "2026-09-17T04:40:44Z")

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Hi there, I haven’t really introduced myself and don’t know exactly where to start other than I’m John in New Zealand I’ve gone from a few years ago stumbling across Tim and Margaret Carey’s RTP Intervention Proces…

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## [Eliezer Yudkowsky’s explanation of FEP/Active Inference](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/eliezer-yudkowsky-s-explanation-of-fep-active-inference/16213)

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**Author:** [@RichardK](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/RichardK)\
**Replies:** 5\
**Last updated:** [September 14, 2026, 10:08am UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/eliezer-yudkowsky-s-explanation-of-fep-active-inference/16213 "2026-09-14T10:08:21Z")

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Eliezer Yudkowsky’s explanation of FEP/Active Inference: Our incredibly badly designed bodies do insane shit like repurposing superoxide as a metabolic signaling molecule. Our incredibly badly designed brains have some…

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## [Your brain may not actually make decisions](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/your-brain-may-not-actually-make-decisions/16260)

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**Author:** [@flenk](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/flenk)\
**Replies:** 9\
**Last updated:** [September 10, 2026, 11:35pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/your-brain-may-not-actually-make-decisions/16260 "2026-09-10T23:35:11Z")

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The neuroscientist identified in this Science Daily news item Your brain may not actually “make” decisions | ScienceDaily seems to me like he may be on the verge of “discovering” PCT. There is no centralized controller …

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## [The cult / bubble/ religion thing](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/the-cult-bubble-religion-thing/16263)

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**Author:** [@JohnGraham](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/JohnGraham)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [September 7, 2026, 1:47pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/the-cult-bubble-religion-thing/16263 "2026-09-07T13:47:50Z")

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Continuing the discussion from Your brain may not actually make decisions: Hi Rick, this might seem like semantic quibbling, but bear with me as I think through why your post didn’t quite “land” with me. I wonder if y…

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## [Sending the Free Energy Principle to the Dark Room](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/sending-the-free-energy-principle-to-the-dark-room/16252)

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**Author:** [@Lukasz20](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/Lukasz20)\
**Replies:** 15\
**Last updated:** [August 3, 2026, 7:37pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/sending-the-free-energy-principle-to-the-dark-room/16252 "2026-08-03T19:37:37Z")

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Fellow control theorists, For years we have watched the Free Energy Principle absorb every objection thrown at it, the way a good attractor absorbs a disturbance. Say it predicts the wrong thing and you are told it is o…

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## [PCT and RLHF Failure Modes — sharing a recent paper for discussion](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/pct-and-rlhf-failure-modes-sharing-a-recent-paper-for-discussion/16248)

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**Author:** [@Lukasz20](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/Lukasz20)\
**Replies:** 23\
**Last updated:** [July 17, 2026, 5:22pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/pct-and-rlhf-failure-modes-sharing-a-recent-paper-for-discussion/16248 "2026-07-17T17:22:53Z")

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Hello everyone, I’d like to introduce myself properly, having been visible around the edges of this community for a little while now. My name is Łukasz Diener. I’m an independent researcher based in Kraków, Poland, wor…

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## [Striatal pathways dissociably control action counting and goal-directed steering](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/striatal-pathways-dissociably-control-action-counting-and-goal-directed-steering/16250)

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**Author:** [@bnhpct](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/bnhpct)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [June 19, 2026, 4:20pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/striatal-pathways-dissociably-control-action-counting-and-goal-directed-steering/16250 "2026-06-19T16:20:06Z")

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Another bulls-eye from Henry Yin’s lab: Fallon, I.P., Roshchina, M., Hong, F. et al. Striatal pathways dissociably control action counting and goal-directed steering. Nat Neurosci (2026). Striatal pathways dissociably c…

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## [German translation of Powers — current status and rights contact?](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/german-translation-of-powers-current-status-and-rights-contact/16237)

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**Author:** [@arnesauer](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/arnesauer)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [June 8, 2026, 9:33am UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/german-translation-of-powers-current-status-and-rights-contact/16237 "2026-06-08T09:33:28Z")

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Dear colleagues, I’ve recently joined IAPCT, and I have a question I haven’t been able to settle on my own. As far as I can tell, none of Bill Powers’ books — Behavior: The Control of Perception above all — has ever ap…

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## [Dynamical control by basal ganglia](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/dynamical-control-by-basal-ganglia/16232)

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**Author:** [@bnhpct](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/bnhpct)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [June 1, 2026, 4:09pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/dynamical-control-by-basal-ganglia/16232 "2026-06-01T16:09:16Z")

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Shaolin Ruan, Henry H. Yin. (2026). Basal ganglia output dynamically controls skilled forelimb kinematics in real time. bioRxiv 2026.03.09.710687; doi: 10.64898/2026.03.09.710687 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6489…

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## [Stigmergy: indirect coordination](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/stigmergy-indirect-coordination/16231)

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**Author:** [@bnhpct](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/bnhpct)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [May 30, 2026, 11:39am UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/stigmergy-indirect-coordination/16231 "2026-05-30T11:39:28Z")

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The concept of stigmergy has currency in biology, computer science, and organizational design. When they talk about stigmergy, they’re talking about some forms of collective control. The OED says it’s from the French st…

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## [R Code for Chapter 6 of Interdisciplinary Handbook of PCT: Learning Curves and Psychological Change Across Populations](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/r-code-for-chapter-6-of-interdisciplinary-handbook-of-pct-learning-curves-and-psychological-change-across-populations/16230)

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**Author:** [@VyvHuddy](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/VyvHuddy)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [May 29, 2026, 8:42am UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/r-code-for-chapter-6-of-interdisciplinary-handbook-of-pct-learning-curves-and-psychological-change-across-populations/16230 "2026-05-29T08:42:49Z")

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For anyone interested, I’ve uploaded the R code used for the simulations reported in Chapter 6, Learning Curves and Psychological Change Across Populations: The Implications of Reorganization, in Interdisciplinary Handbo…

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## [I'm So Confused (About Virtual Control)](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/im-so-confused-about-virtual-control/16228)

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**Author:** [@rsmarken](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/rsmarken)\
**Replies:** 26\
**Last updated:** [May 19, 2026, 9:26pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/im-so-confused-about-virtual-control/16228 "2026-05-19T21:26:26Z")

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My confusion about virtual control results from watching Warren Mansell’s talk about “Reversing Coercion in the AI Age”. My confusion is based on two of his slides. The first one is here: I don’t see how all these s…

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## [Conflict, stability, and a pile of rocks](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/conflict-stability-and-a-pile-of-rocks/16229)

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**Author:** [@Kent](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/Kent)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [May 19, 2026, 8:45pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/conflict-stability-and-a-pile-of-rocks/16229 "2026-05-19T20:45:53Z")

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Continuing a thread, Something’s Happening Here This comment goes back to a previous thread on social stability with interesting comments by Rick, Bruce, and Brian. A post that Rick sent on February 3 started the thread…

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## [Is Psychology Going to Cincinnati? (Adam Mastroianni @ SFI)](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/is-psychology-going-to-cincinnati-adam-mastroianni-sfi/16147)

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**Author:** [@hugocristo](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/hugocristo)\
**Replies:** 11\
**Last updated:** [May 19, 2026, 1:07pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/is-psychology-going-to-cincinnati-adam-mastroianni-sfi/16147 "2026-05-19T13:07:52Z")

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Hello everybody, Adam Mastroianni runs a very interesting Substack blog called Experimental History. I highly recommend his recent lecture at the Santa Fe Institute: He discusses many (controversial) topi…

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## [Emotion Concepts and their Function in a Large Language Model](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/emotion-concepts-and-their-function-in-a-large-language-model/16223)

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**Author:** [@bnhpct](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/bnhpct)\
**Replies:** 7\
**Last updated:** [May 12, 2026, 1:47am UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/emotion-concepts-and-their-function-in-a-large-language-model/16223 "2026-05-12T01:47:46Z")

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Summary from a newsletter that my daughter sent me: Researchers studying Claude Sonnet 4.5 found internal patterns that mirror emotions like fear or joy. These patterns are not feelings, but they still shape how …

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## [Baysean identification of controlled variables](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/baysean-identification-of-controlled-variables/16226)

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**Author:** [@bnhpct](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/bnhpct)\
**Replies:** 8\
**Last updated:** [April 30, 2026, 6:20pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/baysean-identification-of-controlled-variables/16226 "2026-04-30T18:20:52Z")

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Mosquitoes are attracted to dark objects and slow down when they get within about 40 centimeters, but the visual variable alone is insufficient. Without other perceptions (e.g. body odor, humidity, heat) mosquitoes often…

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## [CVs maintained over a span of 5000 generations](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/cvs-maintained-over-a-span-of-5000-generations/16227)

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**Author:** [@bnhpct](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/bnhpct)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [April 20, 2026, 1:45pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/cvs-maintained-over-a-span-of-5000-generations/16227 "2026-04-20T13:45:31Z")

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Will, M., Sommer, C., Möller, G.H.D. et al. Specialised and persistent raw material procurement by humans in the Middle Pleistocene. Nat Commun 17 , 2702 (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-70783-8 “Imagine a small group o…

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## [A PCT computer game](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/a-pct-computer-game/16225)

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**Author:** [@rsmarken](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/rsmarken)\
**Replies:** 13\
**Last updated:** [April 14, 2026, 4:48pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/a-pct-computer-game/16225 "2026-04-14T16:48:52Z")

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I would like to get an evaluation of this demo that I call “Detection of Life”. I’m putting it in this AI thread because I created it with AI. I gave AI the specs and we (Chat GPT and me) iteratively worked toward this d…

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## [Artificial Intelligence as an ultra-processed communication product](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/artificial-intelligence-as-an-ultra-processed-communication-product/16222)

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**Author:** [@Kent](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/Kent)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [March 17, 2026, 8:22pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/artificial-intelligence-as-an-ultra-processed-communication-product/16222 "2026-03-17T20:22:51Z")

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Looking in the Discourse search function, I see that 2018 was the last time that anyone posted in this forum about AI, and some things about AI have changed since then. The 2025 IAPCT conference featured a presentation a…

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## [Something's Happening Here](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/somethings-happening-here/16220)

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**Author:** [@rsmarken](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/rsmarken)\
**Replies:** 23\
**Last updated:** [February 19, 2026, 5:59pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/somethings-happening-here/16220 "2026-02-19T17:59:29Z")

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What it is ain’t exactly clear, so I’m hoping that the experts in collective control can help me out here. What seems to me going on in the USA at the present time is some serious social conflict. The conflict seems to b…

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## [Filoplumes and the importance of perception](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/filoplumes-and-the-importance-of-perception/16218)

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**Author:** [@Kent](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/Kent)\
**Replies:** 8\
**Last updated:** [February 15, 2026, 4:10pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/filoplumes-and-the-importance-of-perception/16218 "2026-02-15T16:10:26Z")

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Article on filoplumes in birds Who knew that the some of the specialized feathers of birds are actually perceptual organs? This article from the New York Times describes filoplumes, tiny hairlike feathers found at the b…

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## [How basal ganglia do sequence control](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/how-basal-ganglia-do-sequence-control/16221)

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**Author:** [@bnhpct](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/bnhpct)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [February 7, 2026, 9:09pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/how-basal-ganglia-do-sequence-control/16221 "2026-02-07T21:09:39Z")

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Another brilliant piece of research out of Henry Yin’s lab. Striatal Pathways for Action Counting and Steering. Isabella P. Fallon, Marina Roshchina, Feiyang Hong, Sofia Fernandez, Shaolin Ruan, Henry H. Yin. doi: htt…

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## [Song production in crickets](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/song-production-in-crickets/16219)

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**Author:** [@bnhpct](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/bnhpct)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [January 28, 2026, 11:01pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/song-production-in-crickets/16219 "2026-01-28T23:01:21Z")

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“song generation in crickets is a dynamic process involving an auditory feedback control loop”

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## [2025 Audit and financial summary](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/2025-audit-and-financial-summary/16217)

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**Author:** [@bnhpct](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/bnhpct)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [January 14, 2026, 2:53pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/2025-audit-and-financial-summary/16217 "2026-01-14T14:53:14Z")

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Audit for CY 2025 Susan McCormack and Frans Plooij have audited the IAPCT Corporation financial records for CY2025, and as a statement of their audit they offer this financial statement by Susan: IAPCT Financial State…

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## [Method of Levels (MOL) training course (in Spanish)](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/method-of-levels-mol-training-course-in-spanish/15952)

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**Author:** [@MatSalgado](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/MatSalgado)\
**Replies:** 3\
**Last updated:** [January 13, 2026, 4:31pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/method-of-levels-mol-training-course-in-spanish/15952 "2026-01-13T16:31:11Z")

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Hi all, I am happy to announce that a Spanish MOL training course will be launched soon. It is called “MOL in ACTION” (MOL en ACCIÓN), and it will consist 100% of practicing MOL among mental health professionals, both w…

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## [Madhur Mangalam email thread](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/madhur-mangalam-email-thread/16216)

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**Author:** [@bnhpct](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/bnhpct)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [January 9, 2026, 10:52pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/madhur-mangalam-email-thread/16216 "2026-01-09T22:52:35Z")

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This was an email thread initiated by Warren Mansell. It is preserved here for the record and as an artifact of communication amenable to PCT analysis. Participants: Warren Mansell warren.mansell@curtin.edu.au “Madhur…

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## [PCT vs Free Energy (Specification versus Prediction)](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/pct-vs-free-energy-specification-versus-prediction/16088)

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**Author:** [@rsmarken](http://discourse.iapct.org/u/rsmarken)\
**Replies:** 65\
**Last updated:** [January 6, 2026, 10:42pm UTC](http://discourse.iapct.org/t/pct-vs-free-energy-specification-versus-prediction/16088 "2026-01-06T22:42:17Z")

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I’ve been trying to find some clear description of the relationship between PCT and Friston’s “Free Energy” (FE) model of behavior. Apparently there was some discussion about it on CSGNet back in early 2019 but it never …

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