The OODA insideseven days beforeBecause of the way we humans are wired, the expectation gradient is…Model flattening

The model underneath2021It will probably not come as a surprise to you that we…OODA, unrolled2021In this framing, the OODA jank is the situation when the cycle…The OODA inside2021Because of the way we humans are wired, the expectation gradient is…Before we move on from our discovery of the inner OODA loop, I want to talk about a phenomenon that plays a significant role in our lives and in the amount of jank we produce. I struggled to capture it succinctly, and here’s my current best effort. I call this phenomenon model flattening.

The expectation gradient2021The conflation of “what is” and “what should be” is not the…If we look into the strategies that the inner OODA loop applies in its Decide step, we can loosely identify three, each of non-linearly increasing severity, neatly following that expectation gradient tangent curve.

At the lower end of the curve, the inner OODA loop yields all of the resources to whatever else might need them.

Behavior over time graphs and ways to influence2022If our BOTG curve needs to touch and stick to — or…As the gradient approaches the kink in the curve, the belt begins to tighten. Sensing the approach of the asymptote, the strategy shifts to mobilization. Cutting down anything that might consume resources, our body acts as a ruthless bureaucrat. using a set of powerful tools to make that happen. When this strategy is employed, it almost feels like we are taken over by something else. We know this sensation as the amygdala hijack. “Yeah, buddy. I saw you drive, and that was cool, but it’s time for the pros to intervene. Moooove!”

Learning from the nadir2023In the top quadrant, we are the happiest and perhaps even bored.…Further beyond, the body recognizes that the asymptote territory was reached and shifts into the “freeze” mode, flopping onto the ground and basically waiting for danger to pass. There’s no way to create infinite output to overcome impossible challenges, so we cleverly evolved a shutdown function.

A Classroom for Humanity2019To gain more insights around these questions, I’ve been looking into the…How we engage with LLMs2023It seems popular to write about generative AI and large language models…If you know me, you were probably expecting me to inevitably stir Adult Development Theory (ADT) concepts into this stew. You were right.

Change2022If you’ve read my stories before, you may recognize the familiar stair-step…Very briefly, ADT postulates that through our lives, we all traverse a stair-step like progression of stages. With each stage including and transcending the previous one, we become capable of seeing more and creating and holding more subtle models of the environment. In the context of this narrative, fallback is the short-term reversal of this process, where we rapidly lose access to the full complexity of our models.

Mental models2022I use the term “mental models” a lot, and so I figured…Fallback might be a great way to express how our inner OODA loop achieves resource mobilization. Like that thermal control system for microprocessors, it has first dibs on throttling resources. However, while the microprocessor is just getting its clock speed reduced, the human system does something a little more interesting: it flattens our model of the environment.

The OODA Loop2021One of the lenses for which I tend to reach frequently is…The ODA and OODA stances2023Organizations operating in the OODA stance focus on bettering their mental models.…Slow down2021I wrote this one primarily for myself, though I believe it’s good…OO and DA2021As it usually happens, we find ourselves in a conundrum. When managing…With each progressive strategy, the bureaucrat in charge closes more doors in the metaphorical house of our mind, smashing the delicate filigree of our models into a flatland. As we experience it, this flattening feels like a simplification of our environment. Our surroundings become more cartoon-like, having fewer details and moving parts. Only things that the inner OODA loop judged to have our immediate survival at stake are left within the model. Those connections are strengthened and drawn with thicker lines, and the others are ignored. As a result, the number of imaginable alternatives shrinks. Our OODA loops collapse into OO or DA. You already know what happens next.

Prediction errors and jank2021It seems that the retained mode is our way to compensate for…Cravings and Aversionsthe day after, links hereThough immediate effects of model flattening are already pretty dramatic, its largest…The compounding effects of OODAlinks here, 2021The aversion cycle is the shortest and most brutal of the three.…Radical Candor as fallback notch locatorlinks here, 2022I already mentioned fallback a few times in my writing. It’s this…Touching infinitylinks here, 2022When we’re in the “struggle” cycle, we gain one additional problem. You…The Perspective Ladderlinks here, 2022I’ve been trying to come up with a better way to illustrate…The effect on jank is somewhat different from the one we’ve seen in overheating phones. Sometimes, this flattening will result in Action that we need. Sometimes, it will do the opposite. The flattening can save my butt in a tiger encounter, and it can also ruin a delicate conversation. Model flattening is a blunt instrument and in fluid, ambiguous environments, it is probably the most significant source of prediction error rate, and subsequently – jank. Unless your job involves evading actual tigers, model flattening is likely working against you.