Reality Graph

Model

Follow the money. Follow the data. Follow the incentives. Follow the power.

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Human

Human behavior

EstablishedPsychologyDataLabor

Role in the system

Source of demand, labor, attention, and the traces that other systems learn from.

The observable actions, choices, and habits of people. In this model it is the hub: behavior generates data, spends money, supplies labor, and responds to incentives, rankings, and institutions.

Tensions

AutonomyvsDesigned choice architecture
Short-term rewardvsLong-term wellbeing

Main incentives

Seek reward, status, belonging, and reduced effort
Avoid loss, uncertainty, and social exclusion

Inputs / outputs

Inputs

Incentives
Information
Prices
Defaults
Social cues

Outputs

Purchases
Labor
Attention
Data traces
Political signals

Dependencies

Biological needs
Social context
Available options

Who benefits / who bears costs

Benefits

Whoever can predict or shape behavior

Costs

Individuals when externalities are unpaid

Effects

Positive

Coordination, learning, production, care

Negative externalities

Herding, addiction-like loops, polarized attention

Unintended consequences

Systems that optimize a proxy of behavior can distort the behavior itself

Claims & evidence

People respond to prices, defaults, and social information — a robust finding, not a complete theory of mind. (Established)
Digital environments can reshape habits by changing feedback speed and social visibility. (Observed)

Known uncertainties

How stable preferences are versus how much they are constructed by context
How much of observed behavior is choice versus constraint

Related systems

Relationships in this model

Human behavior → AttentionAllocates scarce focus
Human behavior → DataLeaves traces
Human behavior → LaborSupplies work
Human behavior → ConsumptionChooses and spends
Attention → Human behaviorSteers what is done next
Companies → Human behaviorPrices, defaults, jobs
Media → Human behaviorFrames events
AI systems → Human behaviorRecommendations and tools
Human behavior → Data collectionObserved actions
Predictions → Human behaviorInterventions and defaults
Habit → Human behaviorAutomatic repetition

Evidence describes this model, not a complete literature review. Challenge the assumptions.

Node sizeEdgesForces

Educational model

Reality Graph

How the modern world actually works

Follow the money. Follow the data. Follow the incentives. Follow the power.

This is one evidence-weighted model of interconnected systems. Explore the relationships, inspect the incentives, follow the flows, and challenge the assumptions. It is not a forecast, and not a claim that every link is proven cause.

Centered on human behavior

Simplified educational model — not a complete or predictive map of reality.