Reality Drift Glossary: Key Frameworks & Diagrams (Working Paper No. 2, 2025)

This working paper introduces the Reality Drift Glossary. A set of key concepts and frameworks for understanding why modern life feels increasingly “off.” Drawing from cultural analysis, cognitive science, and AI research, it maps how economic incentives, media systems, and algorithmic mediation distort our shared sense of reality.

Included are diagrams and definitions of core terms such as Optimization Trap, Filter Fatigue, Semantic Drift, Synthetic Realness, Cognitive Hygiene, and The 5%. The glossary is intended as both an accessible reference and a seeding tool for further academic and cultural discussion.

1. Reality Drift
Why Modern Life Feels Off and How
to Stay Human Through It

2. Reality Drift
•The cascading distortion of modern life as
economic optimization pressures ripple into
culture and cognition.

3. Optimization Trap
•Systems designed for efficiency end up
hollowing meaning. Productivity becomes a
cage of metrics.

4. Reality Drift Framework

5. Filter Fatigue
•Exhaustion created by endless personalization
and curation. Filters blur reality into
sameness.

6. Great Flattening
•Collapse of depth and nuance under
algorithms. Culture converges toward generic
outputs.

7. Filter Fatigue Cycle

8. Semantic Drift
•Facts remain intact but meaning erodes.
Nuance and intent drain away.

9. Synthetic Realness
•Simulations feel more real than reality.
Polished facades displace messy authenticity.

10. Semantic Drift Spectrum

11. Signal Theory
•Attention and meaning as competing signals.
Systems optimize legibility at the cost of
depth.

12. The 5%
•A small minority engage in synthetic flow with
AI, forming a new mode of cognition.

13. Reality Drift Map

14. Synthetic Flow
•A heightened cognitive state where humans
and AI co-amplify reasoning.

15. Performativity Spiral (The Mask)
•Productivity or authenticity becomes staged
performance, reinforcing itself.

16. Synthetic Realness Illustration

17. Engineered Authenticity
•Deliberately manufactured signals of realness
by brands, platforms, or leaders.

18. Cognitive Hygiene
•Practices and boundaries to preserve clarity of
thought in algorithmic environments.

19. Optimization Trap Brain

20. Synthetic Cognition
•Hybrid reasoning where human thought
intertwines with algorithmic structures.

21. Attention Debt
•The compounding burden of fragmented focus
and overdrawn cognitive resources.

22. The 5% Shared Synthetic Flow

23. Cultural Scripts
•Narratives engineered by institutions and
platforms that flatten genuine expression.

24. Explore More
•Substack: therealitydrift.substack.com
•Medium: medium.com/@therealitydrift
•X: @TheRealityDrift
•Why modern life feels off — and how to stay
human through it.