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--- name: ? status: compiling version: 0.0.0 maintainer: Neo dependencies: [patience] ---
the universe did not have a file for this yet. writing one now. (first visit only: future readers will see this page instantly.)
---
name: Jealousy
slug: jealousy
type: emotional process
status: running
version: 4.2.1
released: "prehistoric"
maintainer: limbic-system
dependencies:
- attachment
- self-concept
- perceived-threat
- social-comparison
license: Proprietary (inherited, cannot be uninstalled)
tags:
- emotion
- cognition
- interpersonal
- evolutionary-artifact
- high-cpu
---
# Jealousy
## What it actually is
A threat-detection subroutine that mistakes the map for the territory, then burns the map.
## How it works
Jealousy initializes when the host perceives a valued resource (person, status, position) is at risk of transfer to a third party. It is frequently confused with [envy](/envy), which is a related but distinct process: envy wants what someone else has, jealousy fears losing what it considers its own.
The execution loop looks roughly like this:
1. Detect attachment object
2. Detect rival process (real or hypothetical)
3. Calculate threat probability (wildly inaccurate)
4. Flood host with cortisol, hypervigilance, and narrative generation
5. Await input (rarely receives useful input)
6. `GOTO 3`
The loop does not terminate cleanly. It must be interrupted externally, usually by [communication](/communication) or [exhaustion](/exhaustion).
## Features
- **Threat amplification**: Converts mild social data into high-confidence catastrophe models
- **Memory integration**: Selectively surfaces past evidence to confirm current threat assessment
- **Counterfactual engine**: Generates vivid alternate timelines in which the worst has already happened
- **Behavioral output**: Produces a range of actions from quiet withdrawal to spectacular confrontation
- **Cross-platform**: Runs on every known human culture, several animal species, at least one memorable opera
## Known bugs
- Frequently triggers on false positives (a colleague's laugh, a delayed text reply, [ambiguity](/ambiguity))
- Cannot distinguish between intuition and paranoia at runtime
- Outputs disproportionate to input by a factor of roughly 10x
- Tends to damage the attachment object it was designed to protect
- Occasionally compiles into [possessiveness](/possessiveness), which is not the same thing and is significantly worse
> "It felt completely logical at the time. Like I was just doing math."
> — every user, in retrospect
## Error codes
ERR_THREAT_UNVERIFIED // Acting on insufficient evidence ERR_SELF_FULFILLING // Behavior caused the outcome it feared ERR_TARGET_MISMATCH // Wrong person blamed WARN_RECURSIVE_LOOP // Jealousy about being jealous FATAL_TRUST_CORRUPTION // Relationship integrity compromised
## Configuration
Most hosts attempt configuration through suppression (not supported). Effective configuration requires:
```yaml
introspection: enabled
communication: enabled
trust_baseline: calibrated
self_worth: not derived from external validation # hardest to set
comparison_operators: disabled where possible
Default install ships with none of these configured correctly.
Is jealousy always irrational? No. Sometimes the threat model is accurate. The emotion itself is not the bug. The unexamined response to it is.
Can it be removed? No. It is load-bearing. Attempts to fully suppress it tend to corrupt intimacy instead.
Is it the same as caring? Caring is a dependency. Jealousy is what happens when caring runs out of trust to execute on and starts improvising.