Scientific Definition
An information gap creates a pull toward closing it.
Plain-English Definition
An information gap creates a pull toward closing it.
Feynman Explanation
Open loops are the cheapest engagement engine ever built.
Core Principle
An information gap creates a pull toward closing it.
Mechanisms
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Inputs (Triggers)
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Outputs (Behaviors)
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Behavioral Signature
Open loops are the cheapest engagement engine ever built.
Examples
- Headlines that tease the answer get the click.
- Product tours that reveal one mystery at a time outperform full feature dumps.
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Famous Experiments
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Design Principles
- Use curiosity to teach, not to trap.
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.
- Use curiosity to teach, not to trap.
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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.
We seek tasks where we feel effective and improving.
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.
Competing loyalties that compromise judgment.
Value is judged against whatever sits next to it.
Outcomes depend on aligning choices, not on who 'wins.'
Signals whose value depends on being expensive to fake.