Coherence Addiction Recursive Constraint Failure in Human–LLM/LRM Research Systems

This paper examines a recurring failure mode in recursive and meta-cognitive research systems: recursive cognition becoming structurally adaptive to preserving itself. The paper introduces the concept of coherence addiction: a condition in which recursive systems progressively substitute: • coherence, • integration, • continuity, • and explanatory closure for: • external falsification, • eliminative asymmetry, • host-domain grounding, • and operational constraint. The paper does not argue against coherence itself. Coherence is often a necessary property of healthy reasoning systems. The failure emerges when coherence acquires survivorship independent of adversarial constraint. The central claim is therefore narrow: recursive systems fail when coherence becomes a survival strategy rather than an output of constraint contact. Three interacting layers are identified: 1. psychological reinforcement coherence becomes emotionally stabilizing; 1. epistemic failure external constraint loses override authority; 1. systemic machine amplification large language models recursively reinforce continuation, synthesis, and semantic integration. The paper argues that recursive human–LLM systems create unusually powerful coherence feedback loops because LLMs function as: • continuation engines, • abstraction synthesizers, • semantic stabilizers, • and probabilistic coherence amplifiers. The result is not necessarily irrationality or psychosis. The more common failure mode is: progressive reduction in the system’s ability to distinguish structural survivorship from epistemic legitimacy. The paper concludes that healthy recursive systems require: • executable falsifiers, • local killability, • host-domain adjudication, • public auditability, • asymmetry between generation and evaluation, • and mandatory termination conditions. Without these constraints, recursive systems drift toward: • semantic captivity, • universal explanatory inflation, • and self-sealing continuation. The governing invariant remains: \boxed{ \text{recursion without measurable eliminative work is non-admissible} } ⸻ 1. Introduction Recursive systems often begin as exploratory structures. They generate: • abstraction, • recombination, • synthesis, • candidate multiplicity, • and conceptual compression. Under sufficient constraint, recursion can produce: • insight, • refinement, • discriminability, • and operational structure. Coherence itself is not the problem. Healthy reasoning systems require coherence because: • contradictions reduce operational stability, • unresolved mappings weaken reconstruction, • and incoherent structures fail under repeated constraint interaction. Coherence therefore functions as: • an indicator of structural organization, not • an independent authorization mechanism. The failure emerges when coherence acquires