the closed-looplibidinal economy
a framework for the dynamics of attention under platform capture
what this is
Platforms that learn from your engagement and adjust what they deliver in response form a closed loop. This document specifies the loop's architecture, what it forecloses, and what kinds of intervention remain formally distinct under it — coupled to a mathematical exposition that states the structure refusably and a set of interactive visualizations that make the structure legible.
three paths through the material
First-time reader: start with the loop — the framework laid out in prose. The mathematics is for readers who want the proofs; the dynamics for those who want the mechanisms running.
- 01.the argument
four prose pieces and a coda — the body of the work, traversing cohort time forward
- 02.the mathematics
the formal apparatus — the spine, what makes the prose refusable
- 03.the dynamics
interactive plates and the live simulator — the mechanisms made operable
“The splinter in your eye is the best magnifying glass.”
A.S. — 2026