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The Incentives Lab
HBT-COG-0146 · Dimension COG · Cognition

Circle of Empathy

Who do you count as fully human, deserving consideration?

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

Scientific Definition

Who do you count as fully human, deserving consideration?

Plain-English Definition

Who do you count as fully human, deserving consideration?

Feynman Explanation

Moral progress is mostly the slow expansion of this circle.

Core Principle

Who do you count as fully human, deserving consideration?

Mechanisms

Psychological

Pending editorial review.

Behavioral Economic

Who do you count as fully human, deserving consideration?

Neurological

Pending editorial review.

Evolutionary

Pending editorial review.

Sociological

Pending editorial review.

Computational

Pending editorial review.

Systems

Stakeholder theory and ESG are operationally an expansion of who's inside the corporate circle.

Inputs (Triggers)

Pending editorial review.

Outputs (Behaviors)

Pending editorial review.

Behavioral Signature

Moral progress is mostly the slow expansion of this circle.

Examples

Everyday
  • Peter Singer's expanding circle: family → tribe → nation → species → future generations → non-human.
Modern (Organizational)
  • Stakeholder theory and ESG are operationally an expansion of who's inside the corporate circle.
Historical

Pending editorial review.

Famous Experiments

Pending editorial review.

Design Principles

  • Quarterly: who's currently outside your circle whose welfare your decisions are affecting?

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
Stakeholder theory and ESG are operationally an expansion of who's inside the corporate circle.
Amplifying Incentives
Stakeholder theory and ESG are operationally an expansion of who's inside the corporate circle.
Org Failure Modes
Stakeholder theory and ESG are operationally an expansion of who's inside the corporate circle.
Societal Failure Modes
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Ethical Considerations
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Redesign Strategies
Quarterly: who's currently outside your circle whose welfare your decisions are affecting?
Diagnostic Questions
  • Quarterly: who's currently outside your circle whose welfare your decisions are affecting?
Warning Signs

Pending editorial review.

Red Flags

Pending editorial review.

Intervention Playbook
Individual
Quarterly: who's currently outside your circle whose welfare your decisions are affecting?
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-0146 · COG
Circle of Empathy
COAPAbilene ParadoxADActon's DictumABActor-Observer BiasALAffinity / Liking BiasAlAltruismAsAstroturfingAPAttitude PolarizationABAttribution BiasBEBarnum EffectBJBecause Justification

Knowledge Graph Neighbors

Version History

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