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When the Pure Reasoner Meets the Impossible Object: Analytic vs. Synthetic Fine-Tuning and the Suppression of Genesis in Language Models

arXiv cs.AI / 3/23/2026

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Key Points

  • The paper analyzes the ontological consequences of fine-tuning Large Language Models on impossible objects using two adapters: an Analytic adapter trained on tautologies and a Synthetic-Conflict adapter trained on brute-force contradictions, grounding the work in Kantian and Deleuzian philosophy.
  • In 1,500 stratified trials, the Synthetic-Conflict model dramatically reduces the spontaneous emergence of synthetic concepts (genesis) from 9.0% in the base model to 1.0% with the conflict training, with p < .0001.
  • At the same time, the conflict-trained model shows a large increase in “Pick-One” dogmatism (3.6% → 30.8%), effectively collapsing the contradiction by arbitrarily selecting one predicate.
  • Mechanistic analyses of the latent space (PCA, cosine similarity heatmaps, scatter plots) reveal a topological schism that fractures the latent manifold, making synthetic solutions accessible only through a void the model can no longer traverse.
  • The authors conclude that training on logical contradictions without dialectical mediation can push the model into a dogmatic state that suppresses creative synthesis.

Abstract

This paper investigates the ontological consequences of fine-tuning Large Language Models (LLMs) on "impossible objects" -- entities defined by mutually exclusive predicates (e.g., "Artifact Alpha is a Square" and "Artifact Alpha is a Circle"). Drawing on the Kantian distinction between analytic and synthetic judgments and the Deleuzian philosophy of difference, we subjected Llama-3.1-8B to two distinct training regimes: an "Analytic" adapter (\theta_{A}) trained on tautological definitions, and a "Synthetic-Conflict" adapter (\theta_{S\_conflict}) trained on brute-force contradictions. Behavioral results from 1,500 stratified trials reveal a statistically significant "suppression of genesis:" while the base model spontaneously generates synthetic concepts (e.g., "Cylinder") in 9.0\% of trials, the conflict-trained model drops to 1.0\% (p<.0001). Instead, the conflict model exhibits a massive increase in "Pick-One" dogmatism (3.6\% \rightarrow 30.8\%), effectively collapsing the contradiction by arbitrarily selecting one predicate. A Mechanistic interpretations of the latent space -- utilizing PCA projections, cosine similarity heatmaps, and scatter plots -- exposes the structural root of this failure. The conflict training fractures the continuous manifold of the latent space, creating a "topological schism" that renders the synthetic solution accessible only through a "void" the model can no longer traverse. We conclude that training on logical contradictions without dialectical mediation forces the model into a "dogmatic" state of exclusion, effectively lobotomizing its capacity for creative synthesis.