Constraint Collapse and Fidelity Decay in Scaled Language Models

Large language models can remain fluent, responsive, and operational while being persistently wrong. Errors do not interrupt generation, impose internal cost, or force revision. Correction is externalized to users or deferred to retraining cycles, allowing misalignment to persist without visible failure.This presentation introduces constraint collapse, a second-order failure mode in which feedback continues to circulate but no longer enforces correction. It identifies first-order failures including delayed or externalized consequences, compression without fidelity, legibility outrunning reality, and continuation outpacing correction.Together, these conditions allow symbolic systems to remain coherent and…