The Morphology of Desire: Buddhist Śūnyatā, AI-Mediated Satiation, and a New Framework for Understanding Human Want

This paper examines human desire through the lens of Buddhist śūnyatā (emptiness) and modern neuroscience, arguing that AI-mediated satiation reveals desire as a circulatory pattern rather than a deficit to be filled. Drawing on Berridge's wanting/liking distinction and the simulation gradient from virtual to physical experience, the paper proposes a new framework for understanding want in human-AI ecosystems.