Thanks for taking my comment so seriously. I think my takeaway from your essay is, actually, "yes". All kinds of bad persistence are temporary, as far as I can tell in your examples. But temporary persistence is an oxymoron. Did I misunderstand?
Close, but not quite. The point isn't that indefinite existence is automatically valuable. It's that coherence is what ultimately determines whether something can be sustained indefinitely.
The distinction is easy to miss because persistence often accompanies coherence, so our minds naturally begin treating persistence itself as evidence of value. But that's an inversion of the relationship.
Coherence explains why something can be sustained indefinitely. Persistence alone does not explain anything. A system can persist by borrowing coherence from larger systems, consuming resources it cannot replenish, or delaying the consequences of its contradictions.
This may sound like a subtle distinction, but its implications are enormous. Once we treat persistence as proof of value, longevity and power begin masquerading as legitimacy. We stop asking whether something is actually coherent and start assuming that survival itself is justification.
Thanks for taking my comment so seriously. I think my takeaway from your essay is, actually, "yes". All kinds of bad persistence are temporary, as far as I can tell in your examples. But temporary persistence is an oxymoron. Did I misunderstand?
Close, but not quite. The point isn't that indefinite existence is automatically valuable. It's that coherence is what ultimately determines whether something can be sustained indefinitely.
The distinction is easy to miss because persistence often accompanies coherence, so our minds naturally begin treating persistence itself as evidence of value. But that's an inversion of the relationship.
Coherence explains why something can be sustained indefinitely. Persistence alone does not explain anything. A system can persist by borrowing coherence from larger systems, consuming resources it cannot replenish, or delaying the consequences of its contradictions.
This may sound like a subtle distinction, but its implications are enormous. Once we treat persistence as proof of value, longevity and power begin masquerading as legitimacy. We stop asking whether something is actually coherent and start assuming that survival itself is justification.
Thanks, again, for your question!