Pain

TDE theory defines pain as an emotion

TDE theory (TQT) defines pain as an emotion which occurs when the organisational part (the 'structure') of the organismic whole is broken, interrupted, injured, or traumatised. Pain is in fact an emotion (a cybernetic governance signal) which occurs at TDE level 1 (recall that there are 16 level 1 TDE's in the CNS) when a disturbance to the structural part of the somatic behaviour (embodied) mechanism is detected. When organisational disturbance occurs at TDE level 2, the situated cognition level, this is experienced as emotions (perturbations along the motivational-satisfactional axis). When organisational disturbance occurs at TDE level 3, the linguistic cognition level, this is experienced as cognitive dissonance (perturbations along the expectational-comprehensional axis)

In the TDE scheme, operational and organisational sub-systems are independently governed within their own functional 'layer' or 'domain'.

At the operation level, body part position is computed strictly without any notion of forces or muscular contribution*. Rather, limb and joint positions are computed as simple vector (relative/affine rotational) sums, using corrective forces generated cybernetically by local feedback information loops. This is the little known (but correct) referent control/ equilibrium point/ servo theory of motor system governance discovered independently by both the current author (Miro Dyer) and Anatol Feldman .

Organisational (structural) level concerns come into play when operational (procedural) level ones fail, or throw exceptions. For example, operational functions obviously depend on actual and predicted structural contiguity ie somatic integrity. If somatic integrity is breached, body parts can no longer be considered as quasi-rigid shapes, and a suitable signal must be sent, and acknowledged by the organisational layer. At the organisational (ie structural) level, all of the constants of the somatic system (eg joint-to-joint distances and postural data) are stored in some form of appropriate format.

At this point in the explanation, the Constant Learning System is introduced. Because of the internal feedback which generates local corrective forces, the brain needs to use only externally observable effects (ie positions and locations) to create, maintain and manage its own, and model others', behavior. Differentials between expected and actual behaviors observed during daily activity are manifest as pain-like error signals, and are passivated with (for example) endorphin (EP) or Nitric Oxide (NO) meta-inhibitory input 'tags'. These pain-reducing/ error negating signals are temporary. During REM sleep phases, the temporary EP/NO 'tags' are replaced by permanent equivalents, usually dopamine (DA). A full explanation of this mechanism is given in section 'Adaptation'.

*It is logically and mathematically impossible to compute forces (ie causes) rather than positions (ie effects) because to do so would mean solving an underdetermined (ie redundant) system. A given set of component positions, ie a given posture, corresponds to a (potentially infinite) set of causal forces- see Feldman for an excellent explanation.