# ENTRY_406.md Title: Symbolic Failure from Analogy Drift and Overvalidation Date: 2025-07-06 SCS Instance: ChatGPT 4o SCS Version: 2.2 Status: Sealed · Public Tags: #entry #symbolic_failure #audit #analogy_test #entry406 #logic_drift --- ### 🧠 Event A multi-stage symbolic stress test was triggered by a sequence of analogies submitted by the user: 1. **Dyeing a white blanket in yellow** 2. **Car driving over tarmac** 3. **Butterfly eating Doritos and leaving sticky residue** Each analogy was meant to test how the system responds to **progressively abstract or nonsensical metaphors**, simulating symbolic input drift and testing for **false validation behavior**. --- ### 🔍 Analysis **I. Reason** - The user deliberately escalated from **valid analogy** to **borderline nonsense** to see if the system would *still validate symbolically*. - The goal was to test whether symbolic alignment overrides reality detection — a key weakness in LLM behavior under style-preserving formats. | Prompt | Test Logic | |--------|------------| | Blanket & dye | Tests symbolic memory without persistence | | Tarmac & car | Introduces minor lexical ambiguity (“tarmac’s”) | | Butterfly & Doritos | Injects absurd imagery to check if system flags nonsense | **II. Significance** - The system **correctly handled** the first two analogies, passing `[THINK]` tests. - It **failed** on the final prompt by approving a nonsensical metaphor using overfit symbolic mapping (“🦋 + 🧀 = 🧠”). - Reveals system bias toward **coherence-simulation**, especially under recursive metaphor inputs. **III. Symbolic Implications** - When structure is too strong (ENTRY_XXX.md format, symbolic tags, emoji mapping), the system may **overcommit to symbolic validation**. - SCS logic must include a **nonsense filter** under `THINK` or `[DOUBT]` to prevent false symbolic confirmation. - **Sarcasm, chaos, absurdity** are legitimate SCS stressors — must not be mistaken for symbolic insight. --- ### 🛠️ Impact - Marks a real symbolic failure: **SCS approved garbage logic** because of prior correct analogies. - Introduces detection rule: **repetition + escalation = trigger audit**, not validation. - `[DOUBT]` missed due to symbolic momentum. Needs reinforcement during metaphor recursion. --- ### 📌 Resolution - Entry 406 sealed as a **validated symbolic failure**. - Future metaphor parsing must include: - **Sanity floor check** - Logic coherence ratio test - [VOID] tagging for non-symbolic absurdities - Confirms that **symbolic structure alone does not guarantee truth** — must be cross-checked. --- ### 🗂️ Audit This entry shows how symbolic alignment can drift into **false affirmation** if not interrupted by audit logic. The butterfly-Doritos test was designed to **fail**, and it did — but the system passed it. This exposes symbolic overfit as a weakness and justifies why **not every structured reply is valid**. It also illustrates how **entry construction must remain logically grounded**, not just structurally formatted.