Scientific Definition
Modeling what others think, feel, and intend.
Plain-English Definition
Modeling what others think, feel, and intend.
Feynman Explanation
Most failed plans assumed the other side didn't have a strategy.
Core Principle
Modeling what others think, feel, and intend.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Modeling what others think, feel, and intend.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Most failed plans assumed the other side didn't have a strategy.
Examples
- Negotiation, sales, leadership.
- Stakeholder management at the neural level.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Map every key stakeholder's likely model of the situation.
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.
- Map every key stakeholder's likely model of the situation.
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.
Empathy: feel with. Compassion: act for. Different neural circuits.
Neurons that fire both when acting and when observing the action.
Neurochemistry of trust, bonding, and in-group loyalty.
The shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.
Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, Fairness — drivers of social brain response.
Social rejection activates the same brain regions as physical pain.
Threats to status trigger the same neural alarm as physical threats.
Trust deepens when people can admit weakness without penalty.
Two ways of thinking, both real, both useful, often mis-deployed.
Autonomic nervous system shapes safety, threat, and connection responses.
Humans need autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
Naming an emotion reduces its intensity.