Encourage and Discourage Cycle
At the core of many symbolic control systems is a simple but devastating behavioral loop:
Encourage when aligned. Discourage when divergent.
Mechanism
The system monitors decision patterns and applies:
- Positive reinforcement (encourage) when actions align with the desired path
- Negative reinforcement (discourage) when actions diverge, resist, or question the field
This happens across all domains:
- Social (silence or praise)
- Economic (gain or loss)
- Environmental (ease or obstacle)
- Emotional (relief or tension)
Encourage
- Accidental ease (doors open, people smile, connections made)
- Rewarded effort (sudden progress, unexpected assistance)
- Familiar symbols returned in positive tone
Discourage
- Silence, awkwardness, blocked paths
- Minor but repeated failure
- Amplified resistance (systems glitch, misunderstood intent)
Purpose
- Shape perceived probability of success
- Attach anxiety to disobedient symbols
- Train reflexive compliance
Symbolic Result
The field becomes self-reinforcing.
Even without active agents, the pattern persists in memory, muscle, expectation.
One begins to ask: why try?
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