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The Incentives Lab

HBOS · Observatory

Human Behavior Observatory™

The Atlas, read as an instrument. Watch the 12 dimensions fill in, scan the perverse-incentive shelf, and play with the Behavioral Equation. Every dot here links to a live HBE, and every contribution is versioned and cited back to the Human Behavior Atlas.

Dimension density

How much editorial mass each dimension currently carries. Thin dimensions are where new contributions have the highest marginal value.

COG
Cognition
725

Perception, memory, reasoning, mental models, heuristics, biases.

EMO
Emotion
14

Affective states that energize, prioritize, and regulate behavior.

MOT
Motivation
7

Internal forces directing behavior toward goals.

INC
Incentives
299

Rewards, punishments, constraints, and structures shaping action.

SOC
Social
41

Cooperation, competition, trust, leadership, norms, status.

IDN
Identity
26

Stories, roles, values, and self-concepts that guide consistent behavior.

TIM
Time
16

Temporal dynamics — discounting, habits, momentum, compounding.

ENV
Environment
8

Context — often changes behavior more than personality.

BIO
Biology
84

Genes, hormones, neurochemistry, sleep, energy, health.

SYS
Systems
33

Interconnected systems — feedback, emergence, complexity.

CUL
Culture
8

Shared meaning — traditions, language, symbols, narratives.

CSN
Consciousness
6

Awareness, reflection, agency — automatic vs. examined behavior.

The perverse-incentive shelf

The HBEs the Lens reaches for most often. Click any to open it in the Atlas — or submit a new pattern below.

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HBT-INC-0001
'Spend to Save' Promotions
Discount framing nudges people to buy things they wouldn't otherwise want.
HBT-INC-0002
15-Minute Appointments
Productivity targets compress visits, raising misdiagnosis and burnout.
HBT-INC-0003
340B Discount Arbitrage
A federal mandate intended to lower drug costs for the poor became a profit engine for hospitals and contract pharmacies.
HBT-INC-0004
Acceptable Use Policy (AI)
Written rules about how AI may be used internally.
HBT-INC-0005
Acquisition Earn-Outs
Earn-outs designed to retain founders often demotivate the team they bought.
HBT-INC-0006
Acquisition-Only Marketing
Funnels rewarded for new logos under-invest in retention and lifetime value.
HBT-INC-0007
Ad-Supported Business Models
Free products monetize attention, structurally aligning incentives against user time well spent.
HBT-INC-0008
Adjunctification
Tenure-track jobs replaced by low-paid adjuncts, lowering cost and quality.
HBT-INC-0009
Adoption Curve (AI)
Innovators → early adopters → majority → laggards, AI-specific.
HBT-INC-0010
Aesthetic-First Fitness
Training for appearance can crowd out mobility, longevity, and mental health.
HBT-INC-0011
Agent
AI system that takes actions to achieve goals, often across tools.
HBT-INC-0012
Agentic Liability
When the agent acts, who's responsible?
HBT-INC-0013
Aggressive Cost-Cutting
Cuts that lift margin this quarter erode product quality and brand equity over years.
HBT-INC-0014
Agricultural Subsidy Lock-In
Per-bushel subsidies reward overproduction of specific crops regardless of soil, market, or nutritional need.
HBT-INC-0015
AI Agent Liability Vacuum
Autonomous agents deployed before liability frameworks exist.
HBT-INC-0016
AI as Coach vs. AI as Replacement
Augmentation strategy vs. substitution strategy.
HBT-INC-0017
AI Audit Trail
Logging of AI inputs, outputs, and decisions.
HBT-INC-0018
AI Bill of Materials
Inventory of models, data, tools, and dependencies in an AI system.
HBT-INC-0019
AI Bill of Materials Auditability
Tracing AI components for risk and compliance.
HBT-INC-0020
AI Council / Committee
Cross-functional governance body for AI decisions.
HBT-INC-0021
AI Governance Vacuum
Agents deployed before anyone owns the consequences.
HBT-INC-0022
AI Maturity Model
Stages of organizational AI capability.
HBT-INC-0023
AI Productivity Mirage
Individual productivity gains hide collective output degradation.
HBT-INC-0024
AI Productivity Paradox
AI investment outpacing measurable productivity gains.

The Behavioral Equation, live

Behavior = f(Cognition × Emotion × Motivation × Incentives × Identity × Social × Time × Environment × Biology × Systems × Culture × Consciousness)

Multiplication is intentional. Drag any dimension to zero and watch the predicted behavior collapse — that is the engineering claim behind the HBT. Save a configuration to submit it as a snapshot, versioned and cited to the dimensions it stresses.

COG · Cognition0.60
EMO · Emotion0.60
MOT · Motivation0.60
INC · Incentives0.60
SOC · Social0.60
IDN · Identity0.60
TIM · Time0.60
ENV · Environment0.60
BIO · Biology0.60
SYS · Systems0.60
CUL · Culture0.60
CSN · Consciousness0.60
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Snapshots are versioned and auto-cited to the top elements in your three weakest dimensions (COG · EMO · MOT). Editors review before public surfacing.

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