Scientific Definition
Individual productivity gains hide collective output degradation.
Plain-English Definition
Individual productivity gains hide collective output degradation.
Feynman Explanation
Everyone moves faster. The product gets worse.
Core Principle
Individual productivity gains hide collective output degradation.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Individual productivity gains hide collective output degradation.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Local optimization producing global quality erosion.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Everyone moves faster. The product gets worse.
Examples
- AI-generated code that's faster to write and harder to maintain.
- Local optimization producing global quality erosion.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Measure outcomes, not throughput.
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.
- Measure outcomes, not throughput.
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.
Autonomous agents deployed before liability frameworks exist.
AI generates content; AI scrapes content; AI trains on its own output.
Models optimized for plausible-sounding answers can hallucinate confidently rather than say 'I don't know.'
Confident incorrect outputs may rank higher than hedged correct ones.
Recommenders optimizing engagement produce radicalization as a byproduct.
Designed for collaboration; produces measurable productivity decline.
Discount framing nudges people to buy things they wouldn't otherwise want.
Productivity targets compress visits, raising misdiagnosis and burnout.
A federal mandate intended to lower drug costs for the poor became a profit engine for hospitals and contract pharmacies.
Earn-outs designed to retain founders often demotivate the team they bought.
Funnels rewarded for new logos under-invest in retention and lifetime value.
Free products monetize attention, structurally aligning incentives against user time well spent.