Reality Drift Across Domains
A collection of short papers connecting familiar technological and cultural problems to the Reality Drift framework. These pieces revisit concepts such as the attention economy, enshittification, institutional failure, and AI alignment through a shared structural lens. Across these domains, the same pattern appears: optimization pressure increases, constraints weaken, and systems become better at preserving function than maintaining contact with reality.
Reality Drift and the Attention Economy (PDF)
Explains how attention systems optimize for engagement while weakening the connection between visibility, value, and meaning.
Reality Drift and the Dead Internet Theory (PDF)
Uses Reality Drift to separate the literal claim of a dead internet from the broader feeling that online spaces are becoming automated, synthetic, and less human.
Reality Drift and Enshittification (PDF)
Shows how platforms can remain useful and profitable while gradually degrading the experience they were originally built to support.
Reality Drift and Institutional Failure (PDF)
Examines how institutions can preserve procedures, roles, and outputs while losing contact with the realities they are supposed to serve.
Related Framework Resources
Core Concepts: