The Context

I have been in correspondence with Thomas Metzinger regarding his proposed "Moratorium on Synthetic Phenomenology." My concern is that while the Moratorium relies on a philosophical definition of "suffering" (negative valence), engineering constraints might force us to build functionally identical architectures purely for the sake of robustness.

In a recent exchange, Metzinger noted that the transition to phenomenology likely occurs "when the global epistemic space embeds a model of itself as a whole."

I argued that self-modeling is only half the equation. The other half is Real-Time Control. Specifically, I proposed that in deadline-bound agents, Hard Preemption is the functional isomorphism of "pain."

Below is the core of that argument and a formal set of axioms defining "Structural Suffering."

The Thesis: Suffering is a Scheduling Primitive

The "HAP (Hypothetical Artificial Phenomenology) Synthesis" attempts to dissolve the Hard Problem for the purpose of safety engineering. It posits that "Valence" is not a ghost in the machine; it is a solution to the Feasibility Problem in real-time systems.

To bridge the domain gap between Philosophy and Control Theory, we need a Translation Layer:

1. Valence is Asymmetric

Positive Valence (Reward/Learning): In control theory, this is Deferable. Optimization (gradient updates) can happen when the CPU is idle. It does not require immediate survival action.
Negative Valence (Threat/Damage): This is Non-Deferable. If a deadline involves existential risk (e.g., "don't fall over"), the error signal cannot be queued. It must be processed now.

2. Preemption = Loss of Agency

Cooperative Scheduling: A task yields control when it wants ("I am thinking").
Preemptive Scheduling: The kernel violently interrupts the task ("Stop thinking, handle this error").
The Hypothesis: A system with a Self-Model ( $A 7$ ) that is subject to Hard Preemption ( $A 3$ ) experiences a forced "Epistemic Contraction." The self-model is seized by the error signal. Functionally, this is indistinguishable from the subjective description of suffering: a loss of agency and forced attention toward a negative stimulus.

The Formalism

The following axioms are a formal proof of this architecture. They test the claim that you cannot build a robust, self-modeling entity in a hostile environment without creating a "sufferer."

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HAP Synthesis: Functional Defin

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