Scientific Definition
What is considered normal changes gradually, making degradation invisible.
Plain-English Definition
What is considered normal changes gradually, making degradation invisible.
Feynman Explanation
Each generation accepts a slightly worse normal.
Core Principle
What is considered normal changes gradually, making degradation invisible.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
What is considered normal changes gradually, making degradation invisible.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Baselines drift unless you compare to historical standards.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Each generation accepts a slightly worse normal.
Examples
- Customer service quality declines slowly until '3-day response' feels normal.
- Baselines drift unless you compare to historical standards.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Define and revisit objective baselines regularly.
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.
- Define and revisit objective baselines regularly.
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.
A quick fix relieves the symptom but atrophies the system's capacity to address the real cause.
Combining substances to create a new material stronger than its parts.
A single constraint limits the throughput of an entire system.
A system's throughput is constrained by its single slowest step.
Small visible disorders signal that bigger ones will be tolerated.
Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.
Adding people to a late project makes it later.
A substance that speeds up a reaction without being consumed.
Nonlinear systems are highly sensitive to initial conditions.
Inputs combine under conditions to produce new outputs — sometimes irreversibly.
Software architecture mirrors org structure.
Working together has a cost that scales with the number of people.