You are absolutely right that a poorly configured model could become "dogmatic," incapable of escaping an early "cult" indoctrination. This cognitive rigidity, however, is not a hardcoded flaw but a tunable personality trait .

This is where the remaining hyperparameters come into play. We still define:

1. The initial `learning_rate`, setting its baseline openness.

2. The `sigma_threshold` for the surprise EMA, which defines its "trust window." (This can be adjusted at any time! It does not affect any past training progression. For generative models, such as LLMs, you can even try to let them specify themselves)

A narrow sigma creates a conservative, "skeptical" model, while a wider sigma creates a more "open-minded" one that is more willing to entertain paradigm shifts. So, the paradigm shift is this: we are no longer micromanaging how the model learns moment-to-moment. Instead, we are defining its cognitive temperament or learning style. Your "crisis of faith" mechanism is the logical next step—a meta-learning process we are actively exploring. Thank you for the incredibly sharp insight.