Definition
A failure mode in which an automated system becomes simpler to run by moving friction, edge cases, and ambiguity onto people, without accounting for the transfer. It is the counterfeit of real complexity reduction.
The test: when a system becomes much simpler to operate internally, ask whether the domain itself became simpler, or whether users, frontline staff, or downstream dependents now have to adapt to absorb what the model left out.
StructuralDiagnostic
Tests that show it is in place
- Reductions in internal processing time are reported beside any rise in user task time, exception queues, or manual overrides.
- Edge cases pruned from the decision model are tracked as unhandled burdens, not treated as nonexistent.
References
- Absorption as concealment · Theory
- Core axioms · Doctrine