When Evaluation Stops Updating
1. Evaluation Is Not Static
Evaluation is often treated as a fixed capacity: a system evaluates inputs and updates conclusions accordingly. In practice, evaluation itself is regulated.
Cognitive systems can continue evaluating while no longer updating.
2. Evaluation vs Update
A critical distinction:
- Evaluation refers to comparing signals against criteria.
- Updating refers to modifying internal state based on evaluation.
Evaluation can occur without producing state change.
This creates the appearance of responsiveness without adaptation.
3. How Evaluation Freezes
Evaluation stops updating when:
- weighting parameters stabilize
- dominance hierarchies lock
- feedback reinforces existing priorities
- termination criteria override discrepancy signals
The system still “checks” inputs, but the outcome is predetermined.
4. Feedback-Induced Evaluation Rigidity
Repeated successful evaluations reinforce:
- trusted signals
- familiar criteria
- dominant interpretations
Over time:
- alternative signals are down-weighted
- discrepancies lose impact
- evaluation becomes confirmatory
The system evaluates to maintain stability.
5. The Appearance of Open-Mindedness
Systems with frozen evaluation often appear:
- attentive
- articulate
- responsive
- consistent
They can restate opposing signals accurately while never integrating them.
Evaluation occurs. Updating does not.
6. Why Evidence Loses Power
Evidence influences cognition only if it can alter control parameters. When:
- closure thresholds dominate
- recursion is suppressed
- feedback favors consistency
evidence is processed but neutralized.
This is not rejection. It is structural insulation.
7. Evaluation Saturation
As evaluation rigidity increases:
- additional input yields diminishing returns
- processing cost rises
- variability decreases
The system enters a saturated evaluation regime.
8. Substrate Independence
Evaluation freeze occurs in:
- human cognition
- automated decision systems
- learning algorithms under fixed reward structures
The invariant lies in control-layer saturation.
9. Diagnostic Signal
If a cognitive system:
- acknowledges new information
- repeats prior conclusions
- exhibits stable confidence
- resists reconfiguration
Evaluation has stopped updating.
10. Boundary Conditions
This article does not:
- label evaluation as biased
- propose reopening strategies
- assign intent
- introduce emotional constructs
It isolates a control phenomenon.
11. Closing Statement
Evaluation without update is not failure of attention. It is stabilization of regulation.
When evaluation stops updating, cognition remains active while change becomes impossible.
Understanding this distinction is essential for diagnosing persistent cognitive rigidity.