Scientific Definition
Decisions made to be defensible, not to be right.
Plain-English Definition
Decisions made to be defensible, not to be right.
Feynman Explanation
Write everything down — except the truth.
Core Principle
Decisions made to be defensible, not to be right.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Decisions made to be defensible, not to be right.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Decision quality erodes when CYA dominates.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Write everything down — except the truth.
Examples
- Risk-averse memo language that obscures the actual recommendation.
- Decision quality erodes when CYA dominates.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Separate decision documentation from defense documentation.
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.
- Separate decision documentation from defense documentation.
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.
Charging by time rewards inefficiency and prolongs disputes.
Police agencies that keep seized assets gain a direct fiscal interest in seizures.
Fixed compliance costs scale punitively for small firms and entrench large ones.
Compliance programs designed to satisfy regulators, not prevent harm.
Stacking fines on low-income defendants creates debt traps and recidivism.
Mandatory federal sourcing from prison factories crowds out small business and entrenches inefficient production.
Contingency-fee structures shape which cases get filed.
Fixed sentencing rules remove judicial discretion and inflate incarceration without reducing crime.
Trial penalties pressure even innocent defendants to plead guilty to avoid risk.
Per-inmate funding makes incarceration a budgetary asset for jurisdictions and contractors.
Caseloads far above professional norms guarantee weak defense for the poor.
Confidential settlements buy silence and prevent precedent that would deter future harm.