What is Reality Drift?

Reality Drift describes the gradual misalignment that emerges when systems continue functioning at the level of representation while losing contact with the realities they were meant to track.

What is Synthetic Realness?

Synthetic Realness names the production of signals that feel authentic or grounded while being shaped by optimization, mediation, and performance logic.

What is Filter Fatigue?

Filter Fatigue is the exhaustion that results from navigating environments defined by constant curation, sorting, and signal overload.

What is the Optimization Trap?

The Optimization Trap occurs when a system begins optimizing the metric or proxy rather than the underlying thing it was meant to preserve.

What is Semantic Fidelity?

Semantic Fidelity refers to how well meaning is preserved as language and information move across contexts and transformations.

A stack of old hardcover books beside a plain folder on a wooden desk, symbolizing archived knowledge and cultural documentation.

The Age of Drift (2025) — Preserved Archive

January 28, 2026

A preserved archival record of The Age of Drift (2025), documenting the early development of the Reality Drift framework through its initial essays, chapter structures, and conceptual models. This archive retains selected chapters, reference materials, and supporting artifacts from the original manuscript, preserving the formative structure of the work while the complete volume is no longer maintained as a standalone text.

As the first extended attempt to map recurring patterns of distortion across cognition, institutions, and digital systems, The Age of Drift introduced many concepts that were later expanded, formalized, or separated into independent papers and archival collections, including Reality Drift, Filter Fatigue, Synthetic Realness, Optimization Trap, and Recursive Compression. This archive is maintained for provenance, historical continuity, and long-term reference, and some current canonical definitions may differ from these earlier formulations.

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Reference Appendices

Supporting materials for deeper exploration:

Note: Note: This archive preserves working papers, conceptual definitions, reference appendices, and developmental materials connected to the broader Reality Drift framework.

Substack • GitHub • DOI • Slideshare

Part of Reality Drift Framework by A. Jacobs (2023-2026)

Reference Appendices

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