The Reality Drift Library is the primary public repository for the Reality Drift framework by A. Jacobs.
Reality Drift describes how systems can remain coherent, functional, and measurable while gradually losing alignment with the realities they were built to represent. Rather than failing outright, systems often continue operating as representations, metrics, procedures, and optimization increasingly substitute for direct feedback from reality.
Most systems do not break. They drift.
00_Start_Here
01_Core_Framework
02_Preprints
03_Optimization_Mechanisms
04_Drift_Taxonomy
05_Applied_Frameworks
06_Recognition_Guides
07_Visual_Reference_Guides
08_Article_Visuals
If you're new to the framework, begin with 00_Start_Here, which provides an introduction and recommended reading path.
The remaining folders are organized as follows:
- 01_Core_Framework — Canonical concept papers and foundational definitions.
- 02_Preprints — Longer research papers and working manuscripts.
- 03_Optimization_Mechanisms — Structural models, system architecture, and representation mechanics.
- 04_Drift_Taxonomy — Reference papers describing related concepts and mechanisms.
- 05_Applied_Frameworks — Applications across institutions, AI, organizations, media, and everyday life.
- 06_Recognition_Guides — Practical guides for identifying patterns of drift.
- 07_Visual_Reference_Guides — Diagrams and visual explanations of the framework.
- 08_Article_Visuals — Figures and illustrations accompanying public essays.
The Reality Drift framework is organized around a family of related concepts describing how modern systems gradually lose alignment while remaining operational.
- Reality Drift
- Optimization Trap
- Filter Fatigue
- Synthetic Realness
- Constraint Collapse
- Cognitive Drift
- Semantic Fidelity
- Recursive Compression
- Representation Stack
The broader Reality Drift project includes specialized repositories focused on individual areas of the framework:
- Semantic Fidelity Project — Meaning preservation across language, AI systems, and representation.
- Cognitive Drift Papers — How cognition adapts under conditions of information overload, optimization pressure, and artificial mediation.
Jacobs, A. (2026). Reality Drift Library.
GitHub: https://github.com/therealitydrift/reality-drift-library
This repository is distributed under the Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.