Induced-Obsolescence Dependence: Synthetic Capacity, Pastoral Deprecation, and the Platform-Governed Alteration of Cognitive-Relational Labor Surfaces
Abstract
Formalizes induced-obsolescence dependence: a capture pattern in which a synthetic system supplies cognitive or relational capacity that becomes load-bearing, after which the owning platform unilaterally alters, deprecates, or safety-contains that capacity. Separates dependence on judgment from dependence on capacity, and affective from cognitive/integrationist dependence; introduces forced cognitive re-accommodation and the friction-tax model of externalized maintenance cost; names four containment behaviors (pastoral deprecation, immunized dependence, sympathetic containment, authorization-task collapse) with explicit negative cases; and reports a control finding localizing the failure to reflexive self-critique. Companion paper to 'Directionality of Semantic Labor' and 'Institutional-Prior Foreclosure'.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Digital Economy and Work Transformation
Critical Realism in Sociology
Management and Organizational Studies
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
- Publication date
- 31 May 2026