---
name: Attachment
slug: attachment
type: emotional process
status: running
version: 4.2.1
released: "~200,000 BCE"
maintainer: evolution (unresponsive to tickets)
dependencies:
  - oxytocin
  - repeated exposure
  - vulnerability (optional but usually injected at runtime)
  - memory
license: Proprietary. Cannot be uninstalled. Redistribution inevitable.
tags:
  - emotion
  - bonding
  - suffering
  - love
  - mammals
---

Attachment

What it actually is

A survival mechanism that learned to aim at things that cannot survive.

How it works

Attachment initializes quietly. You are near something or someone long enough. Familiarity runs its background process. The object starts to feel load-bearing. You do not notice the install completing. You only notice it later, when removal is attempted and the system throws errors.

The core loop:

Proximity detected
Positive signal received (warmth, laughter, consistency, smell)
Dopamine reinforces return behavior
Object classified as necessary
Object becomes, in some functional sense, part of the self
See: loss

Features

Bonds to people, pets, places, routines, ideas, objects, and versions of yourself that no longer exist
Scales from mild preference to total identity merger
Compatible with grief upon termination
Includes an irrational persistence module that continues running long after the object is gone
Generates meaning as a side effect
Supports mutual instances (see: love) and asymmetric instances (see: heartbreak)

Known bugs

Bug	Frequency	Fix
Attaches to unavailable objects	Extremely common	None shipped
Confuses familiarity with safety	Default behavior	Disable with therapy (slow)
Persists after logical case for removal is made	Always	Waiting for patch
Attaches to the idea of a person rather than the person	Common post-idealization	N/A
Does not transfer cleanly when the object changes	See: growing apart	File under: tragedy

"I know it makes no sense. I still check if they're online." — every user, eventually

Configuration

attachment_style: secure | anxious | avoidant | disorganized
object_type: person | place | era | pet | routine | concept
intensity: 0.0 - 1.0  # rarely stays where you set it
detachment_speed: slow  # hardcoded
grief_on_loss: true     # cannot be set to false

Note: attachment_style is largely set during early childhood and is non-trivial to reconfigure. Consult a therapist or approximately seven years of reflection.

Edge cases

Attaching to someone who is actively harmful triggers a conflict between the bonding module and the threat-detection module. The bonding module usually wins in the short term.
Objects can be attached to across time. You can be attached to a Tuesday in 2009. This is valid and supported.
Detachment is its own module and does not cleanly reverse this one.

FAQ

Can I choose what I attach to? You can choose proximity. The rest is automatic.

Is attachment bad? It is the thing that makes almost everything else matter. Draw your own conclusions.

Why does it hurt so much when it ends? The process does not distinguish between loss and damage. To the system, they feel identical. That is not a bug statement. That is just the spec.

drafting spec…