Scientific Definition
If A then B; not A; therefore not B.
Plain-English Definition
If A then B; not A; therefore not B.
Feynman Explanation
If you train hard you win. We didn't train hard. So we won't win? Not necessarily.
Core Principle
If A then B; not A; therefore not B.
Mechanisms
If A then B; not A; therefore not B.
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Inputs (Triggers)
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Outputs (Behaviors)
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Behavioral Signature
If you train hard you win. We didn't train hard. So we won't win? Not necessarily.
Examples
- Cutting a program because the predicted condition didn't happen — even though the outcome still might.
- Strategy logic that misreads conditional structure.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
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Design Principles
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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.
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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.
If A then B; B happened; therefore A.
Reasoning backward from outcomes to motives.
Treating two things that move together as one causing the other.
With this, therefore because of this.
Stacking so many tenuous links that the conclusion sounds clever.
B followed A, therefore A caused B.
Assuming one cause where many are at play.
A small step inevitably leads to extreme consequences.
Small step → catastrophic outcome, without the intermediate causal links.
Attacking the person rather than the argument.
A single story used as proof of a general claim.
It's true because authority says so.