The Exponential Underneath: A Single Mechanism for Cognitive, Ecological, and Social Devouring

A preprint describing two agent-based models — one of overt competition, one of sycophantic erosion — that converge on a single mechanism: once positive feedback crosses a critical threshold, the system runs away exponentially toward a state from which recovery is impossible. Restraint, the only counterforce, cannot be learned by any single agent, only by cross-generational evolution.