Published February 3, 2026 | Version v1

Emotional Branch Termination and False Fantasy Collapse: A Structural Specification of Computational Resource Restitution in Interpersonal Systems

  • 1. ROR icon Lehman College

Description

Abstract

 

This paper specifies the structural protocol for communication within interpersonal systems by focusing on branch generation mechanisms and computational resource allocation. Conventional interpersonal communication often relies on emotional modulation, which obscures established constraints and triggers the generation of Emotional Branches (EB) within the recipient’s internal model. These branches function as unresolved parallel processing tasks that persistently occupy working memory, leading to a state of non-computability termed False Fantasy (FF).

To resolve this, the study introduces Emotional Branch Termination (EBT)—a termination operation that outputs only constraints, facts, and procedures while excluding emotional modifiers. By halting the supply of EBs, EBT triggers False Fantasy Collapse (FFC), a state transition that restores the recipient's computational resources and renders the world model operable again.

Repositioning empathy as a post hoc interpretive label rather than a causal mechanism, this specification identifies Emotional Branch Termination as the exclusive structural operation for resource restitution. This framework provides a basis for shifting service design from emotional harmony toward the restoration of computability in both human-human and human-AI interactions.

Files

EBT-zenodo.pdf

Files (41.0 kB)

Name Size Download all
md5:de13a6bf0e7f23782c99ca4fb0079ef9
41.0 kB Preview Download