The Geometry of Recovery: Accessibility Expansion, Insight, and Adaptive Change
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) June 20, 2026 Treasure Hunt
Psychedelic compounds like psilocybin increase neural entropy and flexibility, but why this leads to adaptive recovery rather than disorganization is unclear. This paper proposes that the missing factor is accessibility—which futures remain reachable and recoverable within a landscape of possibilities. Entropy is a perturbative mechanism that temporarily reorganizes accessibility structure, expanding the set of reachable trajectories. Insight is the recognition of newly reachable futures, and psychological flexibility reflects expanded access to multiple viable pathways. Recovery occurs when systems regain access to constrained or collapsed pathways. Adaptive change requires perturbation to remain bounded by viability and recoverability constraints, offering a unified account of psychedelic-assisted change as restored reachability.