Concepts
The irreducible epistemic atoms underlying the curriculum. 4,828 atoms across 8 types
Craving
the specific, visceral, often uncomfortable emotional need that a habit loop is designed to satisfy, distinct from surface-level goals or pleasurable rewards, and identifiable through systematic observation and substitution testing
Cue
the environmental or internal trigger that initiates a habit loop, identifiable through systematic observation across multiple instances using five dimensions — time, location, emotional state, social context, and preceding action — that must be consistently present for the habit to occur
Reward
the specific outcome or satisfaction that reinforces a habit loop, which must directly address the underlying craving for the habit to sustain itself, and can be measured through substitution testing to determine if it actually satisfies the craving
One-variable principle
the behavioral modification principle that when changing a habit, only one element of the cue-routine-reward loop should be altered at a time to maintain behavioral momentum and enable controlled experimentation
Craving engineering
the proactive method of deliberately constructing anticipatory desire for a behavior by consistently pairing the behavior with a specific, immediate, sensory-rich reward until the brain learns to anticipate the reward at the moment of the cue
Variable reward
a reward schedule that delivers reinforcement after an unpredictable number of responses or time intervals, creating higher response rates and dramatically greater resistance to extinction compared to fixed reward schedules
Behavioral chain
a sequence of discrete actions in which the completion of each action serves as the discriminative stimulus for the next action in the sequence, operating as a functional unit where each completion automatically triggers the next without additional conscious initiation at each step
Work startup chain
a behavioral sequence that automatically transitions a knowledge worker from physical arrival at their workspace to first meaningful productive output, consisting of six links each taking under two minutes and eliminating decision-making points to bypass executive function demands and enable habit-based initiation
Shutdown chain
a behavioral sequence that systematically transfers all open cognitive commitments from working memory to a trusted external system at the end of a workday, consisting of four links that perform open-loop sweep, tomorrow's launch list creation, workspace reset, and shutdown cue execution to achieve psychological detachment and prevent Zeigarnik effect interference
Transition
the space between links in a behavioral chain where one behavior has ended and the next has not yet started, characterized by a gap in cue signals and vulnerability to competing behaviors
Chain-of-chains architecture
a modular behavioral design where a long chain is segmented into sub-chains of three to five links each, with each sub-chain having its own independent anchor and terminal reward, to prevent cascading failures and maintain cognitive manageability
Restart protocol
a structured procedure for recovering from a behavioral chain break that involves accepting the break without judgment, returning to the physical location and body position of the first link, executing the first link immediately, letting momentum carry the sequence forward, and using shortened chains when time is limited
Default agent
an automatic cognitive agent that was installed without conscious input through repetition, social conditioning, cultural norms, or childhood experiences, operating through environmental cues without requiring conscious deliberation
Agent
a cognitive process or behavioral protocol that operates automatically based on specific triggers and conditions, which can be documented, reviewed, refined, and shared when written down in explicit form rather than existing only in tacit knowledge within an individual's mind
Trigger
the specific event, cue, or condition that initiates behavior, serving as the entry point that makes behavior start in the present moment rather than theoretically at some point, requiring an initiating signal distinct from motivation or ability
Internal trigger
a thought, emotion, or physical sensation that initiates a behavior without external prompting
External trigger
any stimulus in your environment that initiates a behavior, including sounds, notifications, visual cues, events, or other people's actions
Reliable trigger
a trigger that is both specific enough to identify a single moment in time and observable enough that it can be consistently detected when it occurs
Channel factor
a small situational feature that facilitates or blocks behavior with disproportionately large influence compared to personality traits or motivation, working by reducing the friction between intention and action rather than increasing desire to act
Trigger
a condition-response pairing that fires automatically when the right situation is recognized, enabling behavior initiation without conscious deliberation and freeing conscious attention for genuinely novel or ambiguous situations
Choice architecture
the deliberate design of environments in which people make decisions, with defaults as the most powerful tool for influencing outcomes without removing genuine choice
Blameless postmortem
a structured review of decisions or incidents that explicitly focuses on systems and processes rather than individual fault, assuming good intentions and reasonable actions given available information, and producing specific procedural changes rather than emotional catharsis or blame
Feedback loop
a closed-loop system mechanism that observes its own output, compares it to a reference standard, and adjusts future behavior based on the comparison, enabling systems to learn and adapt
Loose feedback loop
a feedback mechanism where the delay between action and reliable signal about effectiveness is long enough that course-correction is impossible, causing persistent ineffective behavior that compounds over time