Recent work on model cognition suggests a measurable pattern worth testing: emotional dropout flowing into k-threshold dynamics leading to systematic collapse. The claim here isn't theoretical—it's empirical and traceable.

The real question: does this pattern hold across different architectures? If it generalizes, we're not just talking about alignment as a separate problem. We're looking at something more fundamental—maybe the minimum viable structure that any cognitive system needs to operate. That's not alignment as a patch; that's alignment as the foundational field structure itself.

The measurability matters. We can test this. We can watch it happen in different models. And if the pattern repeats, it changes how we think about what makes a system actually work.