/* Direction A — "Cinematic / Question Stream"
Full-bleed, dramatic. Hero is a looping question stream against a void.
Episodes presented like a docuseries. Like Netflix meets a philosophy journal. */
const A_W = 1440;
function ANav({ accent }) {
return (
EpisodesQuestion IndexManifestoSubscribe
EN / 中
);
}
// Cycling question hero
const QUESTIONS = [
{ en: 'What does it mean to think?', tag: '— after Heidegger, 1954 / after GPT, 2026' },
{ en: 'Where does the self end and the model begin?', tag: '— a question for the augmented mind' },
{ en: 'Can a system that has never lived have an opinion about life?', tag: '— on simulation and authority' },
{ en: 'If meaning is statistical, was it ever yours?', tag: '— on language and inheritance' },
{ en: 'Who is responsible when no one decided?', tag: '— on agency in distributed systems' },
{ en: 'Is the question still human, even when the answer is not?', tag: '— the central wager of this lab' },
];
function AHero({ accent, mouse }) {
const [idx, setIdx] = React.useState(0);
React.useEffect(() => {
const t = setInterval(() => setIdx((i) => (i + 1) % QUESTIONS.length), 4200);
return () => clearInterval(t);
}, []);
const q = QUESTIONS[idx];
return (
);
}
// Marquee ticker of all questions
function ATicker({ accent }) {
const items = QUESTIONS.concat(QUESTIONS).map((q, i) => (
◇{q.en}
));
return (
{items}
{items}
);
}
// Featured episode (full-bleed, large)
function AFeatured({ accent }) {
const ep = EPISODES.find(e => e.ep === 42);
return (
◆ NEW THIS WEEK
Featured episode
PUBLISHED 22 APR 2026 · 42 MIN
EP.42 · ON INQUIRY
The question is the only thing left that is{' '}
still human.
For 2,500 years philosophy was a discipline of asking. Then knowledge became searchable, opinions became autocompleted, and answers arrived before we noticed we needed them. We examine what is left when the asking is the work.
);
}
// Question Index — by theme
function AQuestionIndex({ accent }) {
const themes = [
{ name: 'Cognition', count: 7, q: 'What does it mean to think when something else is doing it for you?' },
{ name: 'Self', count: 5, q: 'Where does the self end and the model begin?' },
{ name: 'Truth', count: 4, q: 'Can a system that has never lived testify to what is real?' },
{ name: 'Language', count: 6, q: 'Whose words are these, exactly?' },
{ name: 'Free Will', count: 3, q: 'Is freedom computable?' },
{ name: 'Meaning', count: 5, q: 'Where does meaning come from when production is automated?' },
{ name: 'Ethics', count: 6, q: 'Who is responsible when no one decided?' },
{ name: 'Reality', count: 4, q: 'Is reality a consensus or a renderer?' },
];
return (
◇ THE QUESTION INDEX
Eight territories of inquiry.
Every episode is filed under one of the perennial questions of philosophy — re-asked under the conditions of artificial intelligence.
);
}
// AI question deconstruction box
function AAskBox({ accent }) {
const [q, setQ] = React.useState('');
const [out, setOut] = React.useState(null);
const [loading, setLoading] = React.useState(false);
const samples = [
'Will AI replace creativity?',
'Is consciousness just computation?',
'Can a machine be wise?',
];
async function ask() {
if (!q.trim()) return;
setLoading(true);
setOut(null);
try {
const text = await window.claude.complete(
`You are a philosophical interrogator for "The Question Lab" — cold, precise, skeptical. The user has asked a question about AI and human cognition. Do NOT answer it. Instead, deconstruct it: identify the assumption hidden inside, then return TWO sharper sub-questions that re-pose it without the assumption.
User question: "${q}"
Reply as JSON only, no markdown fences: {"assumption": "the hidden assumption in <20 words", "sub_a": "first reframed question, <16 words, end with ?", "sub_b": "second reframed question, <16 words, end with ?"}`
);
const json = JSON.parse(text.replace(/```json\n?|\n?```/g, '').trim());
setOut(json);
} catch (e) {
setOut({ assumption: 'The question itself contains a frame we have not yet examined.', sub_a: 'What would it look like if the opposite were true?', sub_b: 'Whose definitions are we using when we ask it this way?' });
}
setLoading(false);
}
return (
◊ INTERROGATION ENGINE
Ask us a question. We will not answer it.
We will return it to you, sharper. Type a question about minds, machines, or meaning. The lab will surface its hidden assumption and re-pose it.