Either-Or Trap (more refined false dichotomy) is constraining the option set to bias the decision. It sits in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-COG-0265, within the Definition Fallacy family. The core principle: constraining the option set to bias the decision. In incentive terms, it matters because it changes the payoff people perceive before they choose — which means it can be designed for, or exploited.
Scientific Definition
Constraining the option set to bias the decision.
Plain-English Definition
Constraining the option set to bias the decision.
Feynman Explanation
Two options is a sales technique, not a strategy.
Core Principle
Constraining the option set to bias the decision.
Mechanisms
Constraining the option set to bias the decision.
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Inputs (Triggers)
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Outputs (Behaviors)
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Behavioral Signature
Two options is a sales technique, not a strategy.
Examples
- 'Either we acquire them or we lose.' (Also possible: do nothing. Or partner.)
- Option-set engineering is more powerful than option-set analysis.
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Original analysis from The Incentives Lab — how this element behaves inside real payoff structures.
Why this element matters to incentive design
The mistake with this element is treating it as irrationality. It is almost always a rational response to a payoff nobody wrote down. The mechanism underneath it is straightforward: constraining the option set to bias the decision. You can recognize it in the field by its signature: two options is a sales technique, not a strategy. Every element in the Cognition dimension changes the perceived payoff of an action before the action happens, which is exactly where incentive design has leverage.
How it gets exploited
Left undesigned, option-set engineering is more powerful than option-set analysis. It is amplified whenever option-set engineering is more powerful than option-set analysis. Inside organizations that shows up as option-set engineering is more powerful than option-set analysis. The pattern is the same one Goodhart's Law describes: the measurable proxy attracts the effort, and the purpose behind it quietly loses funding.
How the Lab designs around it
The redesign move is to make the desired behavior observable, remove whatever currently pays for its opposite, and attach the reward to the behavior rather than to the noisy outcome downstream of it. The leverage is not in explaining the behavior to people. It is in changing what the behavior earns.
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.
Treating two things as comparable when they're not.
Assuming the conclusion in the premise.
The conclusion is hidden inside the premise.
What's true of the parts is assumed true of the whole.
Because there's no sharp line, no distinction exists.
Quietly redefining a term mid-argument.
What's true of the whole is assumed true of the parts.
Insisting on a word's original meaning over its current one.
Assuming the truth must lie between two extremes.
Deriving 'is' from 'ought.'
Changing success criteria whenever the prior criteria are met.
Deriving 'ought' from 'is.'
Where Either-Or Trap (more refined false dichotomy) is cited in the corpus
Essays, field guides, and diagnostics from The Incentives Lab that apply this element.
- EssayGoodhart's Law in the Real World
How measurable proxies capture judgment.
- EssayThe Perverse Incentives Hiding in Your KPIs
Cognitive shortcuts turned into scorecards.
- ReferenceThe incentive glossary
Definitions for every mental model, bias, and fallacy in the corpus.
- ReferenceThe Periodic Table of Human Behavior
The full 1,267-element map this page belongs to.
Questions about Either-Or Trap (more refined false dichotomy)
- What is Either-Or Trap (more refined false dichotomy)?
- Either-Or Trap (more refined false dichotomy) is constraining the option set to bias the decision. It sits in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-COG-0265, within the Definition Fallacy family. The core principle: constraining the option set to bias the decision. In incentive terms, it matters because it changes the payoff people perceive before they choose — which means it can be designed for, or exploited.
- What is an example of Either-Or Trap (more refined false dichotomy)?
- Option-set engineering is more powerful than option-set analysis. The Incentives Lab catalogs everyday, organizational, and historical instances of this element on its Human Behavior Taxonomy™ page (HBT-COG-0265).
- How is Either-Or Trap (more refined false dichotomy) exploited?
- Option-set engineering is more powerful than option-set analysis.
- How do you design around Either-Or Trap (more refined false dichotomy)?
- Name the behavior you want in observable terms, remove what currently pays for the opposite, attach the reward to the behavior rather than a lagging proxy, and publish how you will detect gaming.
- Which behavioral dimension does Either-Or Trap (more refined false dichotomy) belong to?
- Either-Or Trap (more refined false dichotomy) is classified in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™, family "Definition Fallacy", class "Logical Fallacy". Its permanent identifier is HBT-COG-0265 and its evidence grade is B.