Scientific Definition
Overthinking a situation so that decision-making stalls.
Plain-English Definition
Overthinking a situation so that decision-making stalls.
Feynman Explanation
The more you think, the less you do.
Core Principle
Overthinking a situation so that decision-making stalls.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Overthinking a situation so that decision-making stalls.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
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Complexity is sometimes a disguise for fear of accountability.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
The more you think, the less you do.
Examples
- A committee requests six more studies before approving a trivial purchase.
- Complexity is sometimes a disguise for fear of accountability.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Set a decision deadline and a maximum information budget.
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.
- Set a decision deadline and a maximum information budget.
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 will I feel about this in 10 minutes / 10 months / 10 years?
Inattention or forgetfulness caused by low attention, hyperfocus, or distraction.
Forgetting to compare an offer with the next-best alternative.
Outcomes that could have happened but did not.
The first number on the table silently sets the range for every number after it.
Tversky & Kahneman's classic: identical outcomes flip from 'risk averse' to 'risk seeking' when framed as lives saved vs. lives lost.
Our perception is shaped by what we selectively pay attention to.
Favoring suggestions from automated systems over conflicting human judgment.
A color appears different depending on adjacent colors.
Decisions are constrained by available information, cognitive limits, and time.
The ability to focus on one voice in a noisy environment.
Binding the future self with a present cost-of-defection to overcome impulse and inertia.