{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "trails": [
    {
      "id": "active-inference-foundations",
      "title": "From probability to Active Inference",
      "summary": "Start with a small update rule, then distinguish that teaching example from broader accounts of cognition and Bayesian mechanics.",
      "prerequisites": "Basic fractions; familiarity with conditional probability helps with the final paper.",
      "steps": [
        {
          "kind": "demo",
          "ref": "bayes",
          "minutes": 10,
          "goal": "Change a prior and likelihoods. Explain why an observation changes the posterior and identify impossible evidence.",
          "title": "Binary Bayesian update",
          "url": "/lab.html#bayes"
        },
        {
          "kind": "work",
          "ref": "Friedman2018WoodliceMenBayesianAccount098",
          "minutes": 25,
          "goal": "Read the interview for conceptual context. Separate discussion of the Free Energy Principle from experimental evidence.",
          "title": "Of woodlice and men: A Bayesian account of cognition, life and consciousness. An interview with Karl Friston.",
          "url": "/works/Friedman2018WoodliceMenBayesianAccount098.html"
        },
        {
          "kind": "video",
          "ref": "/videos/institute-7UbCTp7BAUQ.html",
          "minutes": 30,
          "goal": "Sample the Fundamentals onboarding discussion and note unfamiliar terms to revisit in the monograph.",
          "title": "Fundamentals of Active Inference (Onboarding & Introduction, Session 1) April 21, 2026",
          "url": "/videos/institute-7UbCTp7BAUQ.html"
        },
        {
          "kind": "work",
          "ref": "Friedman2022WorkedExampleBayesianMechanics143",
          "minutes": 40,
          "goal": "Inspect the worked example's assumptions and equations; identify the extra structure beyond the binary update.",
          "title": "A Worked Example of the Bayesian Mechanics of Classical Objects",
          "url": "/works/Friedman2022WorkedExampleBayesianMechanics143.html"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "ants-and-collectives",
      "title": "Ants, reinforcement and collective behavior",
      "summary": "Compare an abstract reinforcement process with empirical measurements and specific models of ant behavior.",
      "prerequisites": "Introductory biology and probability; no programming required for the first three steps.",
      "steps": [
        {
          "kind": "demo",
          "ref": "urn",
          "minutes": 10,
          "goal": "Repeat a seed, vary reinforcement, and explain which biological mechanisms the urn leaves out.",
          "title": "Reinforced urn",
          "url": "/lab.html#urn"
        },
        {
          "kind": "work",
          "ref": "Friedman2020GeneExpressionVariationBrains086",
          "minutes": 30,
          "goal": "Identify the measured variables and distinguish reported associations from causal mechanisms.",
          "title": "Gene expression variation in the brains of harvester ant foragers is associated with collective behavior",
          "url": "/works/Friedman2020GeneExpressionVariationBrains086.html"
        },
        {
          "kind": "work",
          "ref": "Friedman2023SinglePheromoneModelAccounts046",
          "minutes": 35,
          "goal": "Compare a specific pheromone model's assumptions and outputs with the abstract urn.",
          "title": "A single-pheromone model accounts for empirical patterns of ant colony foraging previously modeled using two pheromones",
          "url": "/works/Friedman2023SinglePheromoneModelAccounts046.html"
        },
        {
          "kind": "video",
          "ref": "/videos/institute-SNbfAkOokAI.html",
          "minutes": 25,
          "goal": "Sample the Active Inferants discussion and list the modeling choices that need their own empirical validation.",
          "title": "ActInf Livestream #029.0 ~ “Active Inferants: An Active Inference Framework for Ant Colony Behavior”",
          "url": "/videos/institute-SNbfAkOokAI.html"
        },
        {
          "kind": "software",
          "ref": "https://github.com/docxology/MetaInformAnt",
          "minutes": 20,
          "goal": "Inspect the repository's data workflow and evidence boundaries before considering a local run.",
          "title": "MetaInformAnt",
          "url": "https://github.com/docxology/MetaInformAnt"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "cognitive-security",
      "title": "Information commons and cognitive security",
      "summary": "Move from narrative ecosystems to standards and operational agent skills, keeping conceptual and implementation claims distinct.",
      "prerequisites": "Interest in information systems, governance or security; basic repository navigation for the final step.",
      "steps": [
        {
          "kind": "work",
          "ref": "Friedman2021NarrativeInformationEcosystemsConflict079",
          "minutes": 30,
          "goal": "Identify the framework's units of analysis and its account of conflict and trust.",
          "title": "Narrative Information Ecosystems: Conflict and Trust on the Endless Frontier",
          "url": "/works/Friedman2021NarrativeInformationEcosystemsConflict079.html"
        },
        {
          "kind": "work",
          "ref": "Friedman2022StructuringInformationCommonsOpen071",
          "minutes": 30,
          "goal": "Compare the role of open standards with the preceding narrative perspective.",
          "title": "Structuring the Information Commons: Open Standards and Cognitive Security",
          "url": "/works/Friedman2022StructuringInformationCommonsOpen071.html"
        },
        {
          "kind": "work",
          "ref": "Friedman2023P3IFPropertiesProcessesPerspectives062",
          "minutes": 35,
          "goal": "Follow the distinctions among properties, processes and perspectives in the proposed framework.",
          "title": "The Properties, Processes, and Perspectives Inter-Framework (P3IF): Multiplexing interdisciplinary requirements frameworks to manage information risk and foster cognitive security",
          "url": "/works/Friedman2023P3IFPropertiesProcessesPerspectives062.html"
        },
        {
          "kind": "work",
          "ref": "Friedman2026CogSecSkillsMultiharnessAgenticSkills174",
          "minutes": 25,
          "goal": "Inspect the skill architecture and follow its associated software link; distinguish packaged guidance from demonstrated security outcomes.",
          "title": "CogSecSkills: Multiharness Agentic Skills for Cognitive Security",
          "url": "/works/Friedman2026CogSecSkillsMultiharnessAgenticSkills174.html"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "reproducible-research",
      "title": "From research teams to reproducible artifacts",
      "summary": "Connect research organization with an executable document pipeline and inspect the source before running it.",
      "prerequisites": "Comfort reading a repository README; Python and shell experience for any later local execution.",
      "steps": [
        {
          "kind": "work",
          "ref": "Friedman2023GenerativeResearchTeamsActive057",
          "minutes": 25,
          "goal": "Read the proposed team composition and distinguish an organizational model from measured team outcomes.",
          "title": "Generative Research Teams: Active Inference Compositions for Research and Meta-Science",
          "url": "/works/Friedman2023GenerativeResearchTeamsActive057.html"
        },
        {
          "kind": "work",
          "ref": "Friedman2026TemplateApproachReproducibleGenerative001",
          "minutes": 35,
          "goal": "Trace configuration, computation and publication boundaries through the described architecture.",
          "title": "A template/ approach to Reproducible Generative Research: Architecture and Ergonomics from Configuration through Publication",
          "url": "/works/Friedman2026TemplateApproachReproducibleGenerative001.html"
        },
        {
          "kind": "software",
          "ref": "https://github.com/docxology/template",
          "minutes": 30,
          "goal": "Inspect installation requirements, example inputs and validation commands before choosing a bounded reproduction.",
          "title": "template",
          "url": "https://github.com/docxology/template"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}