Concepts
The irreducible epistemic atoms underlying the curriculum. 4,828 atoms across 8 types
Information and attention have an inverse relationship
a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.
Increasing options decreases satisfaction and increases…
Increasing options decreases satisfaction and increases decision paralysis.
Creation and evaluation are distinct cognitive operations…
Creation and evaluation are distinct cognitive operations that interfere when run simultaneously.
The ratio of creative hits to total output is roughly…
The ratio of creative hits to total output is roughly constant across attempts for any given creator.
Single-loop learning adjusts actions within existing…
Single-loop learning adjusts actions within existing assumptions; double-loop learning questions the assumptions themselves.
The number of unique communication channels in a team of n…
The number of unique communication channels in a team of n people is n(n-1)/2.
A production system produces results; roughly 94%…
A production system produces results; roughly 94% of production problems are system problems, not individual capability problems.
Raw experience, without reflection, does not produce…
Raw experience, without reflection, does not produce learning.
Memory is reconstructive, not reproductive—humans rebuild…
Memory is reconstructive, not reproductive—humans rebuild past experiences from fragments rather than retrieving accurate recordings.
Defensive routines operate below conscious awareness…
Defensive routines operate below conscious awareness and automatically filter threatening information before it reaches conscious processing.
Expert performance in complex domains requires deliberate…
Expert performance in complex domains requires deliberate practice targeting specific weaknesses at the edge of current ability with immediate feedback.
Skilled tool use changes the brain's representation…
Skilled tool use changes the brain's representation of the body to incorporate the tool.
The time required to reach a target increases…
The time required to reach a target increases logarithmically with the ratio of distance to target size.
Humans exhibit automation complacency — reducing monitoring…
Humans exhibit automation complacency — reducing monitoring effort and critical engagement when automated systems perform reliably.
Signal-to-noise ratio determines the capacity…
Signal-to-noise ratio determines the capacity of a communication channel.
Human auditory processing is omnidirectional, continuous…
Human auditory processing is omnidirectional, continuous, and involuntary — the brain processes all sounds within range before filtering.
Cognitive performance follows an inverted-U relationship…
Cognitive performance follows an inverted-U relationship with environmental arousal level — both too little and too much arousal degrade performance.
Dopamine neurons fire when a reward is anticipated based…
Dopamine neurons fire when a reward is anticipated based on a learned cue, not when the reward is received — dopamine is a prediction signal, not a pleasure signal.
When a habit forms, neural activity spikes at the cue…
When a habit forms, neural activity spikes at the cue and reward but drops during the routine, making the routine more modifiable than the cue-reward association.
Variable-ratio reinforcement schedules produce behaviors…
Variable-ratio reinforcement schedules produce behaviors extraordinarily resistant to extinction.
Thoughts and behaviors can be separated from core identity…
Thoughts and behaviors can be separated from core identity and treated as objects of analysis rather than definitions of self.
Habit automaticity develops along a logarithmic curve…
Habit automaticity develops along a logarithmic curve — rapid early progress followed by diminishing returns as behavior approaches an asymptotic plateau.
Humans discount future rewards hyperbolically, with value…
Humans discount future rewards hyperbolically, with value dropping steeply in the near term and flattening further out.
Self-monitoring of behavior produces significant…
Self-monitoring of behavior produces significant and consistent positive effects on goal attainment.