Scientific Definition
As more facts are learned about a topic, retrieving any one fact slows.
Plain-English Definition
As more facts are learned about a topic, retrieving any one fact slows.
Feynman Explanation
The more you know, the harder it is to find the right thing at the right time.
Core Principle
As more facts are learned about a topic, retrieving any one fact slows.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
As more facts are learned about a topic, retrieving any one fact slows.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Knowledge management must organize, not just accumulate.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
The more you know, the harder it is to find the right thing at the right time.
Examples
- Experts can be slower to answer simple questions because they know too much.
- Knowledge management must organize, not just accumulate.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Use structured frameworks and retrieval cues.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Use structured frameworks and retrieval cues.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
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.
Unusual or bizarre material is more memorable than common material.
Believing previously learned misinformation even after it has been corrected.
A conditioned response changes disproportionately when reinforcement changes.
Forcing yourself to explain a concept reveals exactly where your understanding is hollow.
IQ scores have risen substantially over generations.
Items that stand out are more likely to be remembered.
Your capacity to learn, unlearn, and relearn faster than the environment changes.
Malcolm Knowles's principles of adult learning: self-direction, experience as resource, readiness, problem-centered orientation, intrinsic motivation.
Amishi Jha's research: attention is a finite, depletable, but trainable cognitive resource — short daily mindfulness measurably improves it.
Approach a situation as if you knew nothing.
Hierarchy of cognitive learning: Remember → Understand → Apply → Analyze → Evaluate → Create. Benjamin Bloom, 1956 (revised 2001).
Wallace J. Nichols: proximity to water reliably shifts the nervous system toward a calmer, more creative state.