Principlev1
When an instrumental value accumulates sufficient behavioral
When an instrumental value accumulates sufficient behavioral momentum and social reinforcement, check whether it still functionally serves its original terminal value or has become self-justifying while displacing the end it was meant to serve.
Why This Is a Principle
This is a derived principle addressing the means-ends reversal problem. It follows from Actual behavior reveals operative values more reliably than (behavior reveals operative values), Behavior follows the path of least resistance due to the (behavior follows least resistance/efficiency), and Values exist in a hierarchical structure with terminal (values have hierarchical structure with terminal and instrumental types). It prescribes a specific checking procedure to detect when instrumental values have consumed terminal ones.