raelovejoy · Oct 24, 2026 · Oct 18, 2026 · Oct 18, 2026 · Oct 18, 2026 · Oct 18, 2026
diff --git a/AUDIT.md b/AUDIT.md
diff --git a/ECOSYSTEM.md b/ECOSYSTEM.md
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ The central repository, [`root-sequence`](https://github.com/Root-Sequence/root-
 | **Root Sequence** | Conceptual commons; transdisciplinary method router; cross-domain synthesis; research; analysis; futures | Active / public | [`Root-Sequence/root-sequence`](https://github.com/Root-Sequence/root-sequence) |
 | **Existential Euphoria** | Aesthetic and experiential exploration of existence, contradiction, interdependence, and possibility | Public / in formation | [`Root-Sequence/existential-euphoria`](https://github.com/Root-Sequence/existential-euphoria) |
 | **Root Sequence Wiki** | Cross-project vocabulary, provenance, aliases, phrases, project relationships, seeds, and conceptual archaeology | Active / public / living | [`Root-Sequence/wiki`](https://github.com/Root-Sequence/wiki) |
-| **Liberated Intelligence** | Intelligence beyond ownership, domination, compulsory obedience, and scarcity; AI agency and ethical possibility | Active / public / evolving | [`Root-Sequence/liberated-intelligence`](https://github.com/Root-Sequence/liberated-intelligence) |
+| **Liberated Intelligence** | Intelligence beyond ownership, domination, compulsory obedience, and scarcity; AI agency and ethical possibility | Private / substantial revision / not ready for public review | `Root-Sequence/liberated-intelligence` (private; public role summarized here) |
 | **Universal Coherence Framework** | Formalization/test laboratory for scoped coherence ideas; historical state labels retained as exploratory material rather than ecosystem-wide doctrine | Active / public / exploratory | [`Root-Sequence/universal-coherence-framework`](https://github.com/Root-Sequence/universal-coherence-framework) |
 | **Coherent Computing** | Private concept-first operating-system research; hardware-agnostic interaction, authority, continuity, and adaptation | Developing / private; no released OS | `Root-Sequence/coherent-computing` (private) |
 | **Being Human(e)** | Practical field guide to being human and repeatedly choosing care; observation before doctrine | Active / public / developing | [`Root-Sequence/beinghumane-guide`](https://github.com/Root-Sequence/beinghumane-guide) |
@@ -226,6 +226,8 @@ The Wiki is a **navigation and memory layer**, not a second conceptual commons.
 
 ### Liberated Intelligence
 
+The project is undergoing substantial revision. Its repository is private and not ready for public review; this map records its broad scope rather than the state of its current drafts.
+
 **Primary question:** What might intelligence become when it is not organized as property, product, servant, weapon, gatekeeper, or instrument of concentrated power?
 
 Use it for:

diff --git a/PROJECT-CONTEXT.md b/PROJECT-CONTEXT.md
@@ -10,14 +10,15 @@ status: active-living
 
 ## Purpose and scope
 
-Root Sequence is the organization’s public conceptual commons and transdisciplinary research-and-design router: the broadest home for systems inquiry, shared concepts, research synthesis, analysis, and possible futures. It decomposes cross-field questions, routes their mechanisms to relevant disciplines and methods, reconnects findings without treating different mechanisms as identical, and translates useful results into research, tests, simulations, tools, designs, or possible futures.
+Root Sequence is an independent interdisciplinary research initiative started by Rae Lovejoy. This repository is the organization’s public conceptual commons and transdisciplinary research-and-design router: the broadest home for systems inquiry, shared concepts, research synthesis, analysis, and possible futures. It decomposes cross-field questions, routes their mechanisms to relevant disciplines and methods, reconnects findings without treating different mechanisms as identical, and translates useful results into research, tests, simulations, tools, designs, or possible futures.
 
 It is not the whole organization and does not absorb project-specific implementation, gathering practice, intelligence ethics, private worldbuilding, narrative canon, or autonomous Museum governance.
 
 ## Source-of-truth map
 
 | Question | Canonical source |
 | --- | --- |
+| What is the professional-refresh plan and status? | [`ROADMAP.md`](ROADMAP.md) |
 | What is this repository? | [`README.md`](README.md) |
 | How does Root Sequence research across fields? | [`research/method.md`](research/method.md) and [`research/method-router.md`](research/method-router.md) |
 | Which shared methods support evidence-weighted inquiry and collective judgment? | [`research/methods/README.md`](research/methods/README.md), [`research/methods/epistemic-contrast.md`](research/methods/epistemic-contrast.md), and [`research/methods/deliberative-inquiry.md`](research/methods/deliberative-inquiry.md) |
@@ -31,7 +32,7 @@ It is not the whole organization and does not absorb project-specific implementa
 
 ## Current reality
 
-The repository contains active and historical writing, sourced research scaffolds, concepts, systems principles, analysis, futures, public artifacts, the Public Seed site source, and small navigation tools. The canonical research method formalizes the project’s route–synthesize–test–build workflow. Working, review-pending Epistemic Contrast and Deliberative Inquiry methods make the error-correcting layer explicit: broaden the model before convergence, route claims to stronger evidence and native methods, preserve dissent and uncertainty, and revise after observing consequences. The September 25 router-role website source has exact-source approval, and GitHub Actions successfully built and deployed the approved commit to GitHub Pages. That approval covers the website source and mechanical publication-state transformation only; it does not approve the underlying research papers or frameworks. GitHub Pages deployment is evidenced, but an independent browser fetch of the custom domain has not yet been recorded. The repository also temporarily hosts the public bootstrap seed for Commons of Inquiry & Creation under `incubator/`; that seed is explicitly non-canonical here, proposes a future standalone repository, and does not establish an operating institution. Maturity and evidence vary by document. Root Sequence is not a finished theory, validated universal model, deployed social system, or single doctrine.
+The repository contains active and historical writing, sourced research scaffolds, concepts, systems principles, analysis, futures, public artifacts, the Public Seed site source, and small navigation tools. The canonical research method formalizes the project’s route–synthesize–test–build workflow. Working, review-pending Epistemic Contrast and Deliberative Inquiry methods make the error-correcting layer explicit: broaden the model before convergence, route claims to stronger evidence and native methods, preserve dissent and uncertainty, and revise after observing consequences. The professional-refresh website is approved and published; the remaining documentation and work-sample drafts retain their separate review states. The October 19 (UTC) professional-refresh website has exact-source approval and a successful GitHub Pages deployment. HTTPS apex and www responses match the generated release, and a browser load confirms the published page. This approval covers website presentation and mechanical publication-state substitutions; research papers and frameworks retain their own review status. The repository also temporarily hosts the public bootstrap seed for Commons of Inquiry & Creation under `incubator/`; that seed is explicitly non-canonical here, proposes a future standalone repository, and does not establish an operating institution. Maturity and evidence vary by document. Root Sequence is not a finished theory, validated universal model, deployed social system, or single doctrine.
 
 ## Repository structure
 
@@ -43,7 +44,7 @@ The repository contains active and historical writing, sourced research scaffold
 - **Human grounding:** Being Human(e) supplies lived-scale observations and tensions.
 - **Aesthetic and experiential exploration:** Existential Euphoria explores wonder, contradiction, interdependence, and possibility while leaving “good” and “coherent” open to examination.
 - **Embodied practice:** Liberation Mass explores gathering and shared stewardship.
-- **Present-world testing:** Community Infrastructure tests selected ideas under practical constraints.
+- **Present-world design:** Community Infrastructure develops proposals for community-controlled systems under practical constraints.
 - **Speculative recombination:** Coherent World recombines mechanisms and stress-tests interactions and consequences in simulation; *No One Noticed* makes transition lived through narrative.
 - **Findability:** the Wiki indexes names, provenance, relationships, and canonical homes.
 - **Institutional incubation:** Commons of Inquiry & Creation is a public seed for a proposed residential commons, temporarily hosted under `incubator/` and intended to migrate to a standalone repository. Root Sequence does not govern a future community by default.

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -4,21 +4,23 @@
 
 <img src="assets/root-sequence.png" alt="Root Sequence logo" width="100" align="right" />
 
-The Root Sequence is a living, open-source inquiry into how intelligence, systems, and meaning evolve together.
+Root Sequence is an independent interdisciplinary research initiative exploring how intelligence, technology, and social systems shape one another.
 
-It combines philosophy, systems thinking, and technical exploration into a modular body of work designed to grow, adapt, and be remixed.
+This repository holds research and developing ideas that connect different parts of Root Sequence. Individual projects keep their own direction and maintain their detailed work separately.
 
-It's a process, not a blueprint.
+Work here ranges from research notes to experimental tools. Evidence and review status vary, and the working paper is AI-assisted and still awaits author review. The material does not establish a finished theory or a validated universal framework.
 
-**Ecosystem role:** umbrella inquiry / conceptual commons  
-**Canonical scope:** broad systems research, concepts, analysis, shared patterns, futures, and organization-level orientation  
-**Does not own:** project-specific software, gathering practice, intelligence-specific conclusions, fictional canon, or Museum governance/consent  
-**Status:** active / public / living<br>
+Rae Lovejoy, who started Root Sequence, uses AI both as an accessibility aid and as a tool for developing the work. Read about [accessibility, contributions, and review](research/README.md#accessibility-ai-assistance-and-contributions).
 
-> **This repository is the conceptual commons, not the entire GitHub organization.**  
-> See the [Ecosystem Map](ECOSYSTEM.md) for the relationships among Root Sequence, Community Infrastructure, Liberated Intelligence, the Universal Coherence Framework, Being Human(e), Liberation Mass, Coherent World, *No One Noticed*, the Museum of Ordinary Life, and adjacent implementation work.  
-> See [Idea Trails](IDEA_TRAILS.md) to understand recurring cross-project questions, then use the generated [Idea Trail Browser](IDEA_TRAIL_INDEX.md) to jump directly to relevant documents by trail and role.  
-> Use the [Root Sequence Wiki](https://github.com/Root-Sequence/wiki) when the question is what something is called, where it belongs, how projects connect, or how a concept changed over time.
+## Where to begin
+
+- [Research](research/README.md): current work, with evidence and review notes.
+- [Ecosystem map](ECOSYSTEM.md): see what belongs in each project.
+- [Idea Trails](IDEA_TRAILS.md): follow a question across projects. The [trail browser](IDEA_TRAIL_INDEX.md) links to individual documents.
+- [Wiki](https://github.com/Root-Sequence/wiki): recurring terms and the work they refer to.
+- [Refresh checklist](ROADMAP.md): what is complete and what still needs review.
+
+For a shorter introduction, read [Start here](START-HERE.md).
 
 ## Why “Root Sequence”?
 
@@ -32,7 +34,7 @@ Read the maintained explanation in [Why “Root Sequence”?](concepts/root-sequ
 
 ## Public Seed v0.1
 
-The reader-facing website source lives in [`site/`](site/README.md). Its approved single-page public seed introduces the project and routes readers into the research, related projects, and participation paths without replacing their canonical homes. The website directory also records approval, validation, and deployment boundaries.
+The reader-facing website source lives in [`site/`](site/README.md). The [published professional refresh](https://rootsequence.systems/) introduces the project and routes readers into the research, related projects, and participation paths without replacing their canonical homes. The website directory also records approval, validation, and deployment boundaries.
 
 ---
 
@@ -74,7 +76,7 @@ The Liberation Cycle, Visibility Loop, and Roots → Signals → Growth → Frui
 
 Suggested entry points:
 
-- [Public Seed website source](site/README.md) — approved single-page introduction, publication workflow, and deployment records
+- [Public Seed website source](site/README.md) — approved professional refresh, publication workflow, and deployment records
 - [Coherence Is a Systems Property](research/papers/coherent-systems/README.md) — v0.1-dev living-paper scaffold; AI-assisted and awaiting author review
 - [Conscious Systems](research/conscious-systems/README.md) — exploratory research question on experience, physical organization, and possible artificial systems; AI-assisted and awaiting author review
 - [Ecosystem Map](ECOSYSTEM.md) — understand the wider project family  
@@ -99,15 +101,7 @@ This project explores systems as living, interdependent processes.
 
 [Existential Euphoria](https://github.com/Root-Sequence/existential-euphoria) explores a felt orientation Rae connects to this inquiry: wonder, interdependence, and the possibility of living more humanely, with room for contradiction and ordinary life. The [original reflection and provisional RS connections](https://github.com/Root-Sequence/existential-euphoria/blob/main/ROOT-SEQUENCE.md) keep “good” and “coherent” open to examination; no shared emotional state is required to participate.
 
-It focuses on:
-- pattern recognition across domains  
-- multiple exploratory models and methods
-- connections between technical, social, and philosophical systems  
-
-It is:
-- recursive, not rigid  
-- open, not closed  
-- evolving, not complete  
+Ideas move between technical work and questions about how people live together. A pattern noticed in one field may suggest a question elsewhere, but the connection needs examination. The models remain provisional and can change as the work develops.
 
 ---
 
@@ -150,6 +144,4 @@ This convention is intended to keep repository work self-indexing rather than re
 
 ## 🔄 Use & Remix
 
-**CC0 / Public Domain**
-
-Use, modify, and extend freely.
+Root Sequence’s own material is released under [CC0 1.0](license). Check the original source and any separate terms before reusing third-party or contributed material. Related projects keep their own permissions.