Scientific Definition
Behavior that benefits genetic relatives at cost to oneself.
Plain-English Definition
Behavior that benefits genetic relatives at cost to oneself.
Feynman Explanation
Hamilton's rule beats HR's handbook.
Core Principle
Behavior that benefits genetic relatives at cost to oneself.
Mechanisms
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Inputs (Triggers)
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Outputs (Behaviors)
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Behavioral Signature
Hamilton's rule beats HR's handbook.
Examples
- Family businesses sacrifice growth for legacy in ways non-kin firms don't.
- Founders treat early hires like kin; the dynamic breaks at scale.
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Famous Experiments
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Design Principles
- Don't assume institutional loyalty inherits the warmth of kin loyalty.
Measurement Approaches
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Evidence
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The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Don't assume institutional loyalty inherits the warmth of kin loyalty.
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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.
Asymmetric information attracts the worst counterparties.
Clear ownership of outcomes, not just tasks.
We defer to perceived expertise, rank, or uniform.
Vastness that exceeds existing schemas dissolves the self briefly.
Negative feedback returns a system toward a target.
Membership in a group is a baseline human need.
Individually rational choices that produce a collectively bad outcome.
We seek tasks where we feel effective and improving.
Competing loyalties that compromise judgment.
Value is judged against whatever sits next to it.
Outcomes depend on aligning choices, not on who 'wins.'
Signals whose value depends on being expensive to fake.