SΔϕ-17 — Openness Stabilization: Path Principles, Sacred Cost Markers, and Institutional Enforcement (v1.0)

This paper formalizes minimal mechanisms for stabilizing openness of relational futures (Ω_rel) without infinite validation cost. Following SΔϕ-16, where evil was defined as persistent relational closure (Evil := Close(Ω_rel)), and building on SΔϕ-14/15 (ethics as validation and trust/hope/promise as pre-commitment operators), SΔϕ-17 addresses a core structural problem: validation is delayed and costly, therefore openness cannot be maintained by prohibition or intention alone. The paper introduces: Axiom 17-0 (Path principle): prohibition closes entrances, not paths; durable path closure requires computational infeasibility realized as exponential cost. Axiom 17-1 (Openness stabilizer): openness is stable iff a cost device makes relational closure far more expensive than remaining open. Sacred is defined functionally as a scale-breaking cost marker (Cost(break|M) → ∞), not as a theological claim. Institution is defined as an externalized stabilizer that distributes enforcement beyond individual will. Law/procedure is defined as the enforcement interface implementing cost devices at the surface layer. Minimal failure modes are identified: marker decay, enforcement hollowing, and cost inversion (return to closure attractor). The document excludes specific religions, states, political systems, or case studies, focusing only on minimal functional mechanisms. It prepares the transition to the institutional reversal problem: how stabilizers can themselves become coercive closure.