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The Incentives Lab
HBT-COG-0022 · Dimension COG · Cognition

Agent Provocateur

Someone who incites others to take illegal or rash action, often to expose or discredit them.

Strategy·Mental Model·Grade B·draft· enriching…

Scientific Definition

Someone who incites others to take illegal or rash action, often to expose or discredit them.

Plain-English Definition

Someone who incites others to take illegal or rash action, often to expose or discredit them.

Feynman Explanation

The match that blames the fire.

Core Principle

Someone who incites others to take illegal or rash action, often to expose or discredit them.

Mechanisms

Psychological

Pending editorial review.

Behavioral Economic

Someone who incites others to take illegal or rash action, often to expose or discredit them.

Neurological

Pending editorial review.

Evolutionary

Pending editorial review.

Sociological

Pending editorial review.

Computational

Pending editorial review.

Systems

Watch for third parties who profit from your internal conflict.

Inputs (Triggers)

Pending editorial review.

Outputs (Behaviors)

Pending editorial review.

Behavioral Signature

The match that blames the fire.

Examples

Everyday
  • A planted employee encourages a strike to justify management crackdown.
Modern (Organizational)
  • Watch for third parties who profit from your internal conflict.
Historical

Pending editorial review.

Famous Experiments

Pending editorial review.

Design Principles

  • Trace who benefits when a conflict escalates unexpectedly.

Measurement Approaches

Pending editorial review.

Evidence

Evidence Grade
B (A strongest → E speculative)
Replication
★★★☆☆
Intervention Confidence
3 / 5
Consensus
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Limitations
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Open Research Questions

Pending editorial review.

Primary References

Pending editorial review.

Signature Section

The Perverse Incentive Lens™

How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.

Exploitation
Watch for third parties who profit from your internal conflict.
Amplifying Incentives
Watch for third parties who profit from your internal conflict.
Org Failure Modes
Watch for third parties who profit from your internal conflict.
Societal Failure Modes
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Ethical Considerations
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Redesign Strategies
Trace who benefits when a conflict escalates unexpectedly.
Diagnostic Questions
  • Trace who benefits when a conflict escalates unexpectedly.
Warning Signs

Pending editorial review.

Red Flags

Pending editorial review.

Intervention Playbook
Individual
Trace who benefits when a conflict escalates unexpectedly.
Team
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Organization
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Policy
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
AI Implications
Detection
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Measurement
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Mitigation
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Responsible Use
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).

Interactive Mini Network

Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.

HBT-COG-0022 · COG
Agent Provocateur
APWL3-Way Life Optimizat…ACAdaptive ChallengeADAdvantageous Diverge…AOArt of WarAWAsymmetric WarfareBaBackcastingCoCounterinsurgencyCoCounterpropagandaCFCynefin FrameworkDeDemoralization

Knowledge Graph Neighbors

Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.

Version History

v1.1.0 · 2026-06-28Initial auto-seed from corpus.