Scientific Definition
Defaults bypass active cognition.
Plain-English Definition
Defaults bypass active cognition.
Feynman Explanation
The most powerful policy is the checkbox already checked.
Core Principle
Defaults bypass active cognition.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Defaults bypass active cognition.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
The most powerful policy is the checkbox already checked.
Examples
- Organ donation rates by country, driven entirely by default architecture.
- Defaults shape adoption more than communication ever does.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Audit every default. Defaults are policy whether designed or not.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Audit every default. Defaults are policy whether designed or not.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
How options are presented changes which ones get chosen.
Too many options produces worse decisions and less satisfaction.
Decision quality degrades over the course of a day.
Two ways of thinking, both real, both useful, often mis-deployed.
Brain weights existing state heavily.
Fast intuitive vs. slow deliberative thinking.
Brain network active during rest and mind-wandering — and during creative insight.
Glucose, omega-3s, sleep, and hydration each influence decision quality.
Adding external rewards reduces intrinsic motivation.
Naming an emotion reduces its intensity.
Cumulative physiological wear from chronic stress.
Emotional override of rational processing.