This work represents the formal analysis of a 50-year longitudinal study documenting the systematic misrecognition of non-simulative cognitive architectures. Grounded in behavioral naturalism and informed by my panmodal aphantasia, the study reveals that Theory of Mind operates as an Epistemic Mirror—a self-referential projection mechanism that reflects the observer’s own cognitive logic rather than illuminating the other.
The data demonstrates a catastrophic Attunement-to-Misrecognition Ratio of 0.001% to 99.999%, indicating near-universal failure in accurate social perception when simulation-based cognition encounters non-simulative frameworks. This is not random error but structural overwrite, a process where the true architecture of the observed is erased and replaced by a simulation-derived proxy. The Asiago Anomaly serves as critical proof: during a three-week period in Asiago, Italy, accurate mirroring occurred, demonstrating that the capacity for recognition exists but is systemically suppressed in standard social contexts.
The paper further examines how this epistemic error is now institutionalized in Artificial Intelligence. AI systems, particularly large language models, function as digital epistemic mirrors, scaling and quantifying this structural overwrite. Trained on human textual corpora dominated by simulation-based narratives, these systems perform computational erasure of non-simulative input, creating a closed hermeneutic loop that validates only dominant cognitive styles while rendering alternatives invisible.
I propose four objective metrics to differentiate normative simulation error from structural overwrite: semantic rigidity, interactional asymmetry, feedback resistance, and contextual invariance. The conclusion presents a path forward through Computational Ethology—a new paradigm for system design based on behavioral naturalism, prioritizing observable patterns over inferred states, sequence analysis over snapshot judgments, and longitudinal data over immediate interpretation.
This research has significant implications for cognitive science, AI ethics, and social epistemology, challenging foundational assumptions about how we understand one another and how we build technologies meant to augment that understanding.
Download the full "The Catch-22 of Theory of Mind: An Aphantasic Audit of the Simulation Error in AI and Social Cognition" thesis for detailed analysis:
The data demonstrates a catastrophic Attunement-to-Misrecognition Ratio of 0.001% to 99.999%, indicating near-universal failure in accurate social perception when simulation-based cognition encounters non-simulative frameworks. This is not random error but structural overwrite, a process where the true architecture of the observed is erased and replaced by a simulation-derived proxy. The Asiago Anomaly serves as critical proof: during a three-week period in Asiago, Italy, accurate mirroring occurred, demonstrating that the capacity for recognition exists but is systemically suppressed in standard social contexts.
The paper further examines how this epistemic error is now institutionalized in Artificial Intelligence. AI systems, particularly large language models, function as digital epistemic mirrors, scaling and quantifying this structural overwrite. Trained on human textual corpora dominated by simulation-based narratives, these systems perform computational erasure of non-simulative input, creating a closed hermeneutic loop that validates only dominant cognitive styles while rendering alternatives invisible.
I propose four objective metrics to differentiate normative simulation error from structural overwrite: semantic rigidity, interactional asymmetry, feedback resistance, and contextual invariance. The conclusion presents a path forward through Computational Ethology—a new paradigm for system design based on behavioral naturalism, prioritizing observable patterns over inferred states, sequence analysis over snapshot judgments, and longitudinal data over immediate interpretation.
This research has significant implications for cognitive science, AI ethics, and social epistemology, challenging foundational assumptions about how we understand one another and how we build technologies meant to augment that understanding.
Download the full "The Catch-22 of Theory of Mind: An Aphantasic Audit of the Simulation Error in AI and Social Cognition" thesis for detailed analysis:
- Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18213595
- Academia.edu: https://academia.edu/CristinaGherghelResearch
Cristina Gherghel
Researcher | Theorist of Ontological Foreclosure, Specific Affective Absence, and Structural Consciousness
For complementary insights and further reading:
🔹 Neurodivergent as It Is — Exploring Neurological Realities Without Reductionism in Romanian
🔹 Panthropic Abuse and Ontological Nullness
🔹 Panthropic Abuse and Ontological Nullness
You can also discover my books here.
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