Scientific Definition
Subcortical structures that store and execute habits and procedural skills.
Plain-English Definition
Subcortical structures that store and execute habits and procedural skills.
Feynman Explanation
Where conscious behavior goes to retire.
Core Principle
Subcortical structures that store and execute habits and procedural skills.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Subcortical structures that store and execute habits and procedural skills.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Habit infrastructure is biological. Building habits builds basal ganglia routines.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Where conscious behavior goes to retire.
Examples
- Damage produces difficulty initiating routine action.
- Habit infrastructure is biological. Building habits builds basal ganglia routines.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Design repetition deliberately. Behavior outsourced to basal ganglia frees PFC.
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.
- Design repetition deliberately. Behavior outsourced to basal ganglia frees PFC.
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?
Basics first (health/finances), then depth (mastery/impact), then altruism (widening circle).
A group decides on a course of action that nobody actually wants, because everyone assumes others prefer it.
Inattention or forgetfulness caused by low attention, hyperfocus, or distraction.
Deriving general rules from specific examples; the leap from instance to concept.
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
We attribute our own actions to situations but others' actions to their character.
Your capacity to learn, unlearn, and relearn faster than the environment changes.
The brain evolved to reason adaptively, not always truthfully, to reduce the cost of errors.
A problem whose solution requires people to change their values, beliefs, or habits — not just apply expertise.
We solve problems by adding, even when subtracting would be better.
Holding a different — and correct — set of tools than everyone else.