license: mit
tags:
- interpretability
- jacobian-lens
- j-space
- self-model
- qwen3
pretty_name: The ring (Strange Loop in J-space, Part 3)
The ring: a latent loop that keeps a model of itself
Part 3 of Strange Loop in J-space.
A Qwen3 model reads one placeholder token at a time. At every step its J-space content, read at 70 % of depth with the Neuronpedia Jacobian lens and non-negative pursuit on common English words (K = 25), is written back at 50 % of depth. No word is sampled inside the loop. Each "mind" has an online self-model of its own transitions. Ten conditions write back the self-model's surprise or its prediction, or controls of equal norm on the same schedule: momentum, another mind's signal, the mind's own surprise from a random earlier step, random input, plain content, or nothing. Minds with the same seed share every random draw.
Pre-registration. code/ was uploaded at 19:03:34 UTC on 9 October 2026, before the first result. code/stage2/
(the exploratory gain ladder) was added after the Qwen3-4B result and is labelled as such.
Layout
| Path | Contents |
|---|---|
qwen3-{1.7b,4b,8b,14b}/sweep/ |
pilot sweep of the free substrate (gain × noise) |
qwen3-*/params.json |
the regime picked by the fixed rule |
qwen3-*/main/s*_*/ring.npz |
J-space content per step and mind (C), top atoms, self-model skill, step similarity |
qwen3-*/main/results.json, summary.txt |
the pre-registered tests |
qwen3-*/gains/g*/ and gains/gains.json |
the exploratory ladder across each substrate's critical gain |
qwen3-4b-long/ |
2,000-step run |
ladder.json, ladder.txt |
all models in one table |
logs/ |
the unattended job's logs |
Result in one line
Feeding back the current surprise of a self-model that keeps learning keeps the trajectory exploring. It beats momentum, the mind's own past surprise and random input of the same size, and freezing the self-model removes the effect. Whether the surprise is the mind's own rather than another mind's matters only past the critical gain, where plain momentum resists collapse better. Nothing self-like emerges. Details are in the repository README.