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Philosophy · 04 of 06

anattā

Non-self.

The system decides, not the ego.

ISutra

“Mendicants, form is not-self.

For if form were self, it wouldn’t lead to affliction. And you could compel form:

‘May my form be like this! May it not be like that!’

But because form is not-self, it leads to affliction. And you can’t compel form:

‘May my form be like this! May it not be like that!’

— SN 22.59:2.1–2.5 · The Characteristic of Not-Self · Linked Discourses (Saṃyutta Nikāya)

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0), as published on SuttaCentral 11 Nov 2026

IIPrinciple

Rules over emotion.

No one can compel the market to be as they wish. What we can control is the rule we follow when it is not — written down before the trade, applied the same way every time.

Decisions belong to the system, not to whoever feels most certain that day. Conviction is not a signal; a rule can be audited, a mood cannot.

IIIProof

wt = f(zt) — same input, same decision
Proof · same input, same decisionIllustrative · seed 31
−101signal zposition wrule: w = clip(z / 2, −1, 1)● discretionary (simulated)
The violet line is the rule: position as a function of the signal, written down before any trade. Every rule decision lands exactly on it. The grey points simulate the same signals decided by hand — conviction, mood and the last loss pull each one somewhere else. A system you can audit is one that does not depend on who is in the chair.