Scientific Definition
Notifications calibrated for return visits, not value.
Plain-English Definition
Notifications calibrated for return visits, not value.
Feynman Explanation
Every red dot was a meeting somewhere.
Core Principle
Notifications calibrated for return visits, not value.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Notifications calibrated for return visits, not value.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Attention economy as a perverse incentive at industry scale.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Every red dot was a meeting somewhere.
Examples
- Push notifications engineered to interrupt regardless of relevance.
- Attention economy as a perverse incentive at industry scale.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Default-off notifications. User-controlled attention budgets.
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.
- Default-off notifications. User-controlled attention budgets.
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.
Notification systems hijack attention by manufacturing urgency for trivial events.
Free products monetize attention, structurally aligning incentives against user time well spent.
CTR-driven distribution rewards misleading framing over accurate reporting.
Retroactive extensions privilege legacy estates over public-domain enrichment.
Per-view payouts reward volume and frequency over craft and depth.
Tax/inspection exemptions on low-value parcels subsidize a flood of unverified imports.
Revenue from behavioral targeting structurally opposes user privacy.
Ranking systems trained on engagement amplify outrage, fear, and tribal content.
Time-on-app is the wrong thing to maximize for users — but the right thing for revenue.
Removing natural stopping cues turns intentional use into compulsive use.
USPTO budget tied to grant fees encourages permissive examination.
DAU/MAU goals override product safety and wellbeing investments.