Definitions
1,059 definitions · page 16 of 23
Stated values
the values you claim to prioritize or believe are important, which represent aspirations or beliefs about what matters rather than actual behavioral optimization patterns
Cognitive dissonance
the psychological discomfort experienced when there is inconsistency between one's beliefs and behavior, which triggers defensive mechanisms that reduce the discomfort without actually resolving the contradiction
Values clarification
a methodology that distinguishes genuine values from mere preferences, beliefs, or aspirations through seven criteria including choosing, prizing, and acting
Reflection-in-action
concurrent reflection that happens during an experience when something surprises you or disrupts your expectations, revealing values that operate automatically
Narrative identity
the internalized and evolving life story that each person constructs to make sense of their experience, which encodes values through specific narrative patterns and themes
Behavioral evidence
records of priorities such as calendar, bank statements, browser history, and time allocation that reveal consistent patterns of choice and resource allocation
Emotional evidence
emotional responses that contain information about what matters to you, with specific emotional signals indicating boundary violations, alignment, mismatch, and internal conflict
Counterfactual evidence
imagined futures that reveal values through emotional pull and resistance when considering trade-offs between different values
Peak experience
a moment of unusual aliveness, deep engagement, or profound satisfaction that reveals core values by stripping away daily noise and social performance, where the experience is self-validating and carries its own intrinsic value rather than being produced by external accomplishment
Resentment
a sustained, specific emotional response that functions as a diagnostic signal indicating a value violation, where the emotional system alerts the individual to a pattern violation that threatens their moral standing as a full agent, distinct from momentary frustration or explosive anger
Value provenance
the systematic examination and tracing of the origins of one's values to determine whether they were deliberately chosen or absorbed through socialization, cultural transmission, or personal experience
Inherited values
values that were absorbed from environmental sources before an individual had the cognitive capacity to evaluate them, operating as invisible defaults until consciously examined
Value change
the natural evolution of values over time as individuals gain experience, encounter new perspectives, and move through different life stages, occurring through automatic environmental adaptation and effortful reflective revision mechanisms
Core values
terminal values that define what a good life means to you, serving as ends in themselves rather than means to other outcomes
Means-ends inversion
the structural vulnerability where an instrumental value absorbs so much attention and identity that it functionally replaces the core value it was meant to serve
Terminal values
desirable end-states of existence that describe what you are ultimately living toward, constituting conditions that would constitute a life well-lived
Value pluralism
the philosophical position that great human values are genuinely plural, often incompatible, and sometimes incommensurable — meaning they cannot be measured on a single scale
Lexicographic ordering
a formal structure for ranking values where each value is strictly prioritized over all lower-ranked values, such that no amount of benefit from a lower-ranked value can justify sacrificing a higher-ranked value
Values hierarchy
a strict, written ordering of one's values that tells which value takes precedence when two values cannot both be fully satisfied simultaneously
Value conflict
the inevitable consequence of having a rich, multi-dimensional value system where genuine ends pull in opposite directions, not an error or failure to think clearly
Operative hierarchy
the actual ranking of values within an individual that is revealed through simulated trade-off scenarios under pressure, as opposed to the abstract hierarchy stated in verbal declarations
Sacred value
a value that possesses transcendental significance that precludes comparisons, trade-offs, or mingling with secular values, and is genuinely non-negotiable even under sufficient pressure
False consensus effect
the cognitive bias where individuals overestimate how many others share their choices, attitudes, and values, and perceive those who disagree as more extreme and revealing of character flaws, with the mechanism being anchoring on one's own values and insufficient adjustment
Perspective-taking
the cognitive skill of constructing a model of another person's viewpoint including the values that generate it, which is distinct from empathy (feeling what someone feels) and enables understanding of different value hierarchies without surrendering one's own values
Values-based decision-making
the process of using a ranked hierarchy of one's own values as a filter for difficult choices, where decisions are made by determining which option best serves the highest-ranked values, and where the decision becomes principled rather than arbitrary when one knows their own values and their hierarchy
Values alignment
the degree to which daily actions serve deeply held values, creating energy, motivation, and a sense of meaning through autonomous self-regulation rather than controlled self-regulation
Values misalignment
the structural contradiction between personal values and daily actions that produces chronic energy drain, psychological discomfort, and physiological stress through continuous self-regulation demands
Vitality
the experience of energy available to the self that can be directed, sustained, and recovered from, specifically generated through autonomous self-regulation rather than controlled self-regulation
Moral injury
the psychological distress that results from actions, or the lack of actions, that violate a person's moral code, producing symptoms including shame, guilt, loss of trust, and existential disorientation
Values as compass
the conceptual framework where core values function as directional guides rather than endpoints or goals, providing orientation and agency under pressure by focusing on movement toward values rather than achieving specific outcomes
Values check-in: a recurring structured self-assessment…
Values check-in: a recurring structured self-assessment practice conducted quarterly that audits behavioral patterns, maps emotional signals, and analyzes gaps between stated values and operative behavior to ensure priorities remain aligned with who you are becoming
Sovereign choice
the capacity to direct one's own life according to standards that have been examined and endorsed rather than standards that have been inherited and never questioned
Eudaimonia
the condition of a human being who is functioning well, living in accordance with their deepest capacities, and expressing excellence or virtue in activities that constitute their life, achieved through values alignment and authentic self-expression
Boundary
a line of demarcation between what is yours and what is not yours that defines your domain of responsibility, your limits of tolerance, and your conditions for engagement
Fusion
a state in which individuals become enmeshed with the emotions and needs of others, leading to a blurring of boundaries and a loss of individuality where you cannot tell the difference between your anxiety and your partner's anxiety
Emotional boundary
a psychological boundary that defines whose feelings you carry, determining whether you can sit with a friend who is suffering without absorbing their suffering as your own
Cognitive boundary
a psychological boundary that defines whose thoughts and beliefs you treat as authoritative, distinguishing between 'I have evaluated this and reached a conclusion' and 'I have imported someone else's conclusion without evaluation'
Wall
a complete barrier that blocks all input or output, creating isolation rather than selective filtering
Genuine boundary
a statement about what you will accept and what you will not, combined with the willingness to enforce it, with three components: clarity about the limit, communication, and enforcement
Cognitive overload
a state where the total information demanding processing exceeds available working memory capacity, causing performance degradation and qualitatively worse decisions
Extraneous load
the unnecessary complexity imposed by how information is presented or organized that consumes working memory capacity without contributing to germane processing
Energy boundaries
practices that protect high-value cognitive work from being drained by low-value obligations by recognizing differential energy costs of activities
Emotional contagion
an automatic, pre-conscious neurological process by which people mimic and absorb others' emotional states through facial expressions, vocalizations, postures, and movements, producing corresponding emotional experiences and influencing subsequent behavior and cognition
Empathic distress
emotional response that activates the anterior insula and anterior midcingulate cortex, producing aversive feelings of overwhelm and decreased capacity to help, resulting from feeling another's pain as if it were one's own
Strategic ignorance
the deliberate decision not to know something because the cost of knowing exceeds the value of the knowledge, representing resource management rather than anti-intellectualism
Ambient information
the constant background stream that modern devices produce (notifications, badges, counters, previews, auto-playing content) that appears because platforms have an economic incentive to capture attention, not because you requested it
Performative information
content consumed to maintain a social identity rather than to inform thinking, driven by self-image rather than genuine epistemic need
Anxiety-driven information
content consumed to manage emotional states rather than to acquire knowledge, where the information itself is almost irrelevant and the act of checking provides brief anxiety reduction