Affect as Load Interface

Affect is the system’s real‑time readout of coherence pressure. It tracks boundary strain, metabolic load, and mismatch between internal state and environment. Affect is not emotion, mood, or appraisal; it is the structural signal that tells the system how much strain it is under and where coherence is failing. This paper frames affect as the load interface — the earliest phenomenological signature of Object 1 tension detection and Object 3 redistribution.