Daily Archives: December 31, 2025

White Paper: “Sweet Disposition” and the Anatomy of a “Sweet Disposition” Under Pressure

Posted on December 31, 2025 by nathanalbright

Focus: what The Temper Trap have said about the song’s meaning, and what the lyric’s “songs of desperation” plausibly refer to. Executive summary The Temper Trap’s “Sweet Disposition” became widely received as a romance anthem, but frontman/lyricist Dougy Mandagi has … Continue reading →

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White Paper: When Rewards Undermine Purpose: The Perversity of Incentives and Why Incentive Design So Often Goes Wrong

Posted on December 31, 2025 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary Incentives are among the most powerful tools available to institutions, markets, and governments. Properly aligned, they can encourage diligence, innovation, and cooperation. Poorly designed, they reliably produce distortion, moral hazard, gaming, corruption, and collapse of trust. This white … Continue reading →

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White Paper: Powerful Yet Fragile: The Institutional Paradox of Overwhelming Influence and Structural Vulnerability

Posted on December 31, 2025 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary Modern institutions often present themselves—and are experienced by individuals—as overwhelmingly powerful, opaque, and unassailable. They appear capable of shaping behavior, controlling narratives, enforcing compliance, and outlasting generations of leadership. Yet history repeatedly demonstrates that these same institutions are … Continue reading →

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White Paper: Formation and Its Failure in Contemporary Society

Posted on December 31, 2025 by nathanalbright

Modern societies are increasingly marked by dysfunction in attention, self-regulation, moral reasoning, vocational stability, civic trust, and interpersonal responsibility. These failures are often attributed to individual psychological weakness, political polarization, or the disruptive effects of technology. While each of these … Continue reading →

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White Paper: The Gig Economy and Executive Function: Structural Instability and Cognitive Impacts on Workers

Posted on December 31, 2025 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary The gig economy has reshaped labor markets globally, offering flexibility, autonomy, and novel income streams. However, its lack of traditional structure presents unique challenges for workers’ executive function—the suite of cognitive processes responsible for planning, organization, impulse control, … Continue reading →

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