Reality Drift — Conceptual Foundations (Early Papers)
A collection of early conceptual papers by A. Jacobs developed during the initial formation of the Reality Drift framework. These documents capture first attempts to articulate recurring structural patterns across cognition, culture, and mediated systems.
They focus on identifying cross-domain dynamics, proposing minimal conceptual models, and translating diffuse observations into portable explanatory principles. Many of the ideas introduced here were later refined, expanded, and formalized in subsequent research papers.
These papers are preserved as part of the framework’s development history. They provide insight into how key concepts emerged, evolved, and stabilized over time.
Section 1 — Core Concepts
The Drift Principle (PDF)
A conceptual framework showing how recursive compression reduces contextual fidelity, allowing systems to remain functional while meaning and alignment erode. [DOI]
Semantic Fidelity Collapse (PDF)
A model describing how meaning degrades as lived experience is compressed into language, metrics, and optimized representations. [DOI]
Cognitive Compression Failure Modes (PDF)
A framework explaining how different cognitive compression styles destabilize when systems remove constraint, grounding, and feedback. [DOI]
Section 2 — Conceptual Extensions
Compression Without Fidelity: A Model of Drift (PDF)
A conceptual model showing how systems drift when compression efficiency increases faster than contextual fidelity.
Glossary of Drift Concepts (PDF)
A structured glossary mapping key forms of drift across culture, cognition, economics, and language within the broader Reality Drift framework.
Reality Drift Glossary Expansion: Emerging Cultural Concepts (PDF)
An extended glossary introducing emerging terms for AI-mediated culture, synthetic intimacy, ambient anxiety, and generative drift conditions.
Explore The Framework
Core Framework
Visual & Conceptual
Applications & Expansion
Note: This site functions as a public reference layer for Reality Drift, collecting essays, notes, and framework documents on AI systems, optimization, media, and modern digital life.
Part of Reality Drift Framework by A. Jacobs