Scientific Definition
Value is judged against whatever sits next to it.
Plain-English Definition
Value is judged against whatever sits next to it.
Feynman Explanation
The $9 wine looks cheap next to the $90 wine on purpose.
Core Principle
Value is judged against whatever sits next to it.
Mechanisms
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Inputs (Triggers)
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Outputs (Behaviors)
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Behavioral Signature
The $9 wine looks cheap next to the $90 wine on purpose.
Examples
- A decoy plan makes the 'real' plan feel like a bargain.
- Pricing pages engineer the comparison so the middle option always wins.
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Famous Experiments
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Design Principles
- Evaluate options in isolation before any side-by-side.
Measurement Approaches
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Evidence
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The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Evaluate options in isolation before any side-by-side.
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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.
Clear ownership of outcomes, not just tasks.
Asymmetric information attracts the worst counterparties.
We defer to perceived expertise, rank, or uniform.
Vastness that exceeds existing schemas dissolves the self briefly.
Negative feedback returns a system toward a target.
Membership in a group is a baseline human need.
Individually rational choices that produce a collectively bad outcome.
We seek tasks where we feel effective and improving.
Competing loyalties that compromise judgment.
Outcomes depend on aligning choices, not on who 'wins.'
Signals whose value depends on being expensive to fake.
An information gap creates a pull toward closing it.