The Psychology of Evil Under Cheap Coherence When "Something Is Wrong" Has No Language

This paper gives a structural explanation of “evil” under modern cheap coherence conditions. Evil here is not treated as a cosmic force or a simple moral label. It is treated as a predictable failure mode: a person or system senses contradiction (“something is wrong”) but cannot name it, carry it, or fix it through revision [a real update under feedback]. In cheap coherence [fast narrative without constraint-coupling] environments, coherence [internally consistent story closure] is rewarded, while contact [real feedback from reality: time, contradiction, cost, repair, consequence] is avoided. The system protects its persona [coherence interface] and stores conflict in the shadow [error reservoir / cost ledger]. When pressure rises and correction cannot bind [binding = revision that becomes observable and real], destructive actions can appear as crude ways to force contact: betrayal, cheating, scapegoating, cruelty, sabotage, self-torture. These acts create irreversibility [closing options so the situation becomes “real”], but they do not create repair. Evil is described here as anti-repair behavior: actions that increase contradiction and prevent correction from becoming real.