Reality Drift Cultural Glossary 2022 — Early Vocabulary of AI-Era Distortion

This glossary introduces a new cultural vocabulary for the algorithmic age. Where older anchors like media ecology (McLuhan) or simulation (Baudrillard) describe broad theory, these terms capture lived distortions: filter fatigue as discernment overload, synthetic realness as polished simulations that feel more vivid than life, and optimization trap as the moment efficiency backfires.

The glossary functions as field notes for navigating modern unreality, covering concepts such as simulated intimacy, corporate simulation, and post-authenticity. These are not academic abstractions but practical handles to recognize when reality feels off-script.

Since its original circulation, several of these phrases including filter fatigue and synthetic realness have appeared in mainstream conversations on AI and digital culture, with echoes in outlets like Wired and Financial Times. This positions the Reality Drift Glossary as an emerging foundation for the next-generation language of cultural and cognitive distortion.

1. The Reality Drift Frameworks


A Cultural Reality Map for the Age of AI



Reality Drift is an ongoing project exploring how modern life distorts our sense of meaning, attention,
and connection. These visual frameworks offer tools for making sense of a world increasingly shaped
by algorithmic feedback loops, performance pressure, and the rise of synthetic realness.

Each diagram distills a core idea—from authenticity erosion to cognitive drift—and serves as a
reference point for future cultural analysis and design thinking.


© 2025 Reality Drift Project


Key Concepts: Cognitive Drift · Synthetic Realness · Simulated Intimacy · Filter Fatigue ·

Performativity Spiral · Reality Drift · Optimization Trap

2. Diagram 1
The Cognitive Drift Cycle
Discernment overload in the age of infinite content

This diagram captures the quiet exhaustion caused by too much choice, too much spin,
too many tabs open. Filter fatigue isn’t about how much information you see—it’s about
how much mental effort it takes to sort truth from gloss. In health, it’s choosing between
18 conflicting diet experts. In parenting, it’s toggling between trauma TikTok and
Montessori reels. The cost is clarity.

3. Diagram 2
The Authenticity Stack
When relentless improvement erodes meaning

This loop captures how self-improvement culture can backfire. Whether it's the 12-step
morning routine, the AI-optimized parenting schedule, or the pressure to "eat clean"
while on three apps tracking it—it’s easy to lose the point. In health, optimization
becomes a full-time job. In work, it leads to burnout disguised as productivity. This is
where hustle meets hollowness.

4. Diagram 3
The Reality Check Framework
How signaling replaces sincerity

In a performativity spiral, the goal isn’t connection—it’s display. This dynamic shows up
in schools ("growth mindset" bulletin boards), on LinkedIn ("vulnerable" promotions),
and even at home ("gentle parenting" clips that feel staged). When every action is
filtered through an audience, realness erodes—and we begin living as if always being
watched.

5. Diagram 4

The Reality Drift Spectrum

A gradient from Authentic Experience to Complete Simulation

This spectrum helps map where an experience sits—genuine, performative, or fully
synthetic. In parenting, it’s the difference between a real messy bedtime moment and
posting a curated sleep training tip for likes. At work, it’s the slide from honest dialogue to
Slack signals and corporate-speak. Most of us now live in the middle: drifting through
synthetic realness, filtered connection, and performance loops.

6. The Reality Drift Glossary


Field Notes for Navigating the Warping of Modern Life

This is a living glossary of terms that describe the strange distortions of modern
life—the subtle warping of reality we’re all swimming in, even if we can’t quite name it.
These aren’t academic definitions. They’re cognitive tools—mental handles to help
you recognize when something feels “off” in a world that’s increasingly optimized,
curated, and simulated.



Reality Drift

The slow, ambient shift in how life feels—like the world is still here, but somehow off-script.
Texture is thinner. Choices feel prewritten. The volume of realness is turned down.
Example: “Reality Drift isn’t a glitch. It’s the new atmosphere.”

Synthetic Realness

A performative gloss that imitates authenticity—often created by AI, branding, or
algorithmic aesthetics. Feels real enough to pass, but lacks depth.
Example: “That ad had synthetic realness: soft lighting, diverse cast, zero soul.”
Related: Simulated sincerity, glossy institutional tone, deepfake empathy

Engineered Authenticity

Authenticity deliberately constructed for emotional impact or strategic branding. Sincerity
becomes a tactic.
Example: “That tearful founder video? Engineered authenticity.”
Related: Brand vulnerability, post-authenticity, performative rawness

Simulated Intimacy

Faux closeness designed to mimic connection—through AI companions,
algorithmic personalization, or parasocial media.
Example: “The chatbot remembered my dog’s name. That’s simulated intimacy.”
Related: AI empathy, synthetic connection, digital warmth

7. Filter Fatigue
Mental exhaustion caused by the nonstop need to filter noise, spin, ads, and contradictions. It’s
not information overload—it’s discernment overload. Example: “I don’t need more content. I
need less filter fatigue.”
Related: Curated exhaustion, ambient anxiety, doomscroll burnout

Curated Exhaustion
Burnout caused not by chaos, but by the labor of making things look effortless. Choosing the
perfect meal, mood, or lifestyle from infinite menus. Example: “Even self-care feels like work.
That’s curated exhaustion.”
Related: Aesthetic fatigue, optimization pressure, lifestyle performativity

Performativity Spiral
The social loop where authenticity is replaced by performance. Everyone’s signaling,
optimizing, curating—until it’s hard to tell who’s real and who’s rehearsed. Example: “Corporate
culture isn’t toxic—it’s stuck in a performativity spiral.”
Related: Microcelebrity behavior, LinkedIn speak, performative survival

Corporate Simulation
The gamified performance of work inside modern institutions—culture decks, mission mantras,
feedback rituals—all mimicking meaning. Example: “I’m not working—I’m roleplaying in a
corporate simulation.”
Related: Feedback theater, OKR rituals, productivity cosplay

Co-Cognition
The collaborative process of thinking alongside AI. Not just using a tool, but outsourcing
fragments of cognition to a synthetic partner. Example: “I didn’t write this alone. It’s co-
cognition.”
Related: Prompt engineering, AI-assisted creativity, synthetic ideation

Emulated Life
A lifestyle assembled from aspirational fragments—borrowed routines, influencer habits, and
productivity hacks—that looks real but doesn’t feel lived. Example: “My days were optimized
but empty. It was an emulated life.”
Related: Simulation spiral, lifestyle scripting, identity as aesthetic

8. Post-Authenticity

A cultural state where even realness is staged. Authenticity becomes an aesthetic—curated,
monetized, and filtered until it loses truth value.
Example: “Her ‘vulnerable’ video felt like post-authenticity in action.”
Related: Sincerity economy, brand transparency, curated honesty

Mythic Substitution

The quiet replacement of deep cultural myths with shallow narratives optimized
for engagement. Today’s stories mimic meaning, but lack mythic depth.
Example: “That startup didn’t offer vision—just another mythic substitution wrapped in UX.”
Related: Archetype collapse, narrative thinness, digital myths

The Optimization Trap

The point where relentless self-improvement—of body, brand, or workflow—
backfires. Optimizing everything can strip it of meaning.
Example: “My morning routine had 12 steps. That’s when I knew I was in the optimization
trap.”
Related: Hustle fatigue, diminishing returns, life-hack burnout

Narrative Debt

The overuse of dramatic storytelling structures (heroes, awakenings, crises)
without refreshing their content. Society borrows old meaning without repaying it.
Example: “Every brand is saving the world now. We’re drowning in narrative debt.”
Related: Crisis branding, story inflation, symbolic decay

Crisis Theater
When systems pretend to address problems by staging symbolic action. Seen in healthcare,
politics, and corporate DEI efforts.
Example: “They didn’t fix anything—just more crisis theater.”
Related: Gesture politics, symbolic solutions, institutional spectacle