The Recurrent Proxy-State Divergence Principle (RPSDP): A Conditional Theory of Repeated Proxy-Based Reaffirmation, Action-Linked State Drift, Threshold Crossing, and Persistent Perceptual Inversion

AbstractThe Recurrent Proxy-State Divergence Principle (RPSDP) is proposed as a conditional, stage-explicit framework for analysing a situation in which a decision-maker repeatedly reinstantiates a proxy-based inference before acting, the resulting actions or external processes change the objective state, and the active representation fails to track that change quickly enough. The primary case is the Inner-Fold Contamination Crossover Case (IFCCC): a person repeatedly uses the inner fold of a handkerchief because it is believed to be cleaner, while repeated reuse may, under specified transfer conditions, cause its contamination load to exceed that of the outer fold. If the same inference is consciously reinstantiated and incoming evidence is weakly or inaccurately incorporated, the person may continue to perceive and select the inner fold after the objective ranking has reversed.The model distinguishes objective state, retained estimate, pre-action active representation, proxy-derived margin, action policy, post-action feedback, and estimate updating. Its canonical sequence is proxy cue, recurrent pre-action proxy reinstantiation, active representation, action, state transition, objective threshold crossing, feedback assimilation, and either persistent mismatch or corrective release. The manuscript defines variables, update equations, boundary events, mismatch sets, conditional propositions, competing models, falsifiable hypotheses, and a staged validation programme. It does not claim that the framework is empirically validated, historically unprecedented, or a universal law. Its proposed contribution is an integrated formulation whose incremental explanatory and predictive value must be established through systematic literature review, preregistered comparisons, independent measurement, and replication.