About Me

A. Jacobs is an independent systems theorist, writer, and originator of the Reality Drift framework, a structural model for understanding how modern systems maintain operational coherence while gradually losing contact with reality.

His work examines how compression, optimization, mediation, and proxy substitution reshape cognition, institutions, and perception across digital and social environments. Through essays, visual frameworks, and conceptual archives, he maps recurring patterns of drift across domains including artificial intelligence, algorithmic media, institutional trust, semantic systems, and cognitive overload.

Core concepts within this framework include Reality Drift, Synthetic Realness, Filter Fatigue, Optimization Trap, Constraint Collapse, and Semantic Fidelity.

Drawing from systems theory, cybernetics, media theory, and philosophy, Jacobs’ work synthesizes and extends traditions associated with Gregory Bateson, Marshall McLuhan, Niklas Luhmann, Karl Polanyi, and Norbert Wiener into a contemporary framework for diagnosing structural misalignment in modern life.

This archive contains both canonical and developmental materials. Canonical texts represent the most stable and current formulations of the Reality Drift framework. Earlier essays, working papers, and visual guides remain public as part of the developmental history of the project.