Report
The Cognitive Drift Glossary: Key Concepts for Understanding Cognitive Distortion in the Age of AI (Working Paper Series)
| Title: | The Cognitive Drift Glossary: Key Concepts for Understanding Cognitive Distortion in the Age of AI (Working Paper Series) |
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| Authors: | Cognitive Drift Institute |
| Publisher Information: | Zenodo |
| Publication Year: | 2025 |
| Collection: | Zenodo |
| Subject Terms: | cognitive drift, attention debt, contextual amnesia, cognitive hygiene, synthetic flow, co-cognition, co-thinking, cognitive symbiosis, synthetic intimacy, the 5%, recursive compression theory, semantic drift, synthetic realness, filter fatigue, reality drift |
| Description: | This glossary presents key concepts of Cognitive Drift—a framework for understanding how perception, attention, and meaning are subtly distorted by human interaction with algorithmic and AI systems. It defines and contextualizes terms such as Attention Debt, Contextual Amnesia, Cognitive Hygiene, Synthetic Flow, Co-Cognition, Co-Thinking, Cognitive Symbiosis, Synthetic Intimacy, The 5%, and Recursive Compression Theory. Together, these concepts provide a shared vocabulary for analyzing how cognition adapts under conditions of digital mediation. The glossary also situates Cognitive Drift within adjacent theories of distributed cognition, extended mind, and systems thinking. It is published as part of the broader Reality Drift Project, which explores cultural and cognitive distortion in the algorithmic age. This version supersedes Cognitive Drift Glossary v1.0, expanding definitions and incorporating additional concepts. By naming and mapping these distortions, the glossary contributes to ongoing discussions about attention, meaning, and authenticity in an era of synthetic cognition. |
| Document Type: | report |
| Language: | English |
| ISBN: | 978-0-262-58146-2 0-262-58146-9 |
| Relation: | https://thecognitivedrift.substack.com/; https://zenodo.org/records/17162775; oai:zenodo.org:17162775; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17162775 |
| DOI: | 10.5281/zenodo.17162775 |
| Availability: | https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17162775 https://zenodo.org/records/17162775 |
| Rights: | Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International ; cc-by-4.0 ; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode ; © 2025 Cognitive Drift Institute |
| Accession Number: | edsbas.440A2B99 |
| Database: | BASE |
| ISBN: | 9780262581462 0262581469 |
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| DOI: | 10.5281/zenodo.17162775 |