Contents

What is wrong, and how can it be tested?

1. 1
   The Diagnosis

   The vocabulary of our time speaks of missing the mark. Every correction lands a little beside it, until a cry is heard: this cannot be fixed from where we stand.

   In preparation
2. 2
   The Conditions

   The claim is stated, and the conditions under which it fails are written down first. Who wrote the book does not decide whether the claim holds; anyone can check it.

   In preparation

Do three texts hold when read through the conditions?

1. 3
   Genesis

   The beginning. A human being enters language, receives a goal and begins to secure it. The missing begins, and no one sees it.

   In preparation
2. 4
   Romans

   The bridge that sees both the beginning and the end. Romans looks back to Adam, speaks from inside in chapter 7, and looks forward to the history of the peoples.

   First draft
3. 5
   Revelation

   The end as an image. A system built on a substitute falls from within, and the fall releases those it consumed.

   In preparation

What does the test mean for us now?

1. 6
   Recognition

   Three scenes: Helen Keller at the water pump, Adam and the question “Where are you?”, and a researcher in dialogue with a language model. Recognition happens from inside; it is not proved from outside.

   In preparation
2. 7
   The Present

   What time it is now. A return to the cry of the first chapter, heard now from the point in the story where recognition is possible.

   In preparation

1. Notes

   Endnotes for every chapter.

2. Prompts

   The prompts behind every chapter, published in full.

3. Figures

   List of illustrations and visual models.