The field of possible responses

Drag the glowing ball. The pathway is not the destination.

Drag the ball to move it · Drag the terrain to orbit · Scroll to zoom

Current response
Following the groove
Worry → avoidance → relief → worry
The old path is still here.
It need not be the only path.
Shaping the landscape…

Loading Three.js. An internet connection is needed for the 3D library.

A map, not a mechanism.

This landscape illustrates the difference between having a familiar thought and automatically following a familiar response. The ball, grooves, and numbers are invented teaching devices, not measured brain activity.

What the controls actually do

“Rigidity” changes the depth of an authored valley and the balance between a familiar-loop steering force and an alternative-route steering force. The mint ball follows those forces, so its actual trail can differ from your drawn route. The amber reference is a scripted replay of the familiar loop, projected onto the current terrain—not a separate clinical or physical simulation.

The dashed route represents a possible response, not a guaranteed outcome. Drawing alone does not flatten the landscape. You can drag the ball or change rigidity to explore how the two interact. Arrival simply ends that example; it does not mean a thought has been cured or erased.

The theoretical inspiration

Carhart-Harris and Friston’s 2019 REBUS paper proposes that psychedelics may relax the influence of strongly weighted high-level expectations. This artwork borrows that idea as a metaphor. It is not evidence that a substance guarantees flexibility, relief, or a better outcome, and the slider is not a dose control.

Read: REBUS and the Anarchic Brain (2019) ↗

Controls & embedding

Drag the ball to place it; drag elsewhere to orbit; scroll to zoom. Drawing switches to a top view. Keyboard: Space pause, R restart, D draw, C compare, T view, H hide interface, Esc cancel drawing. Reduced-motion preferences start the scene paused.

Optional URL settings: ?minimal=1 hides the interface and ?transparent=1 removes the background. Three.js is loaded from a pinned CDN version; all artwork is generated in this file.