EVIDENCE BY CHAPTER

Chapter 27: Living in Cycles, Not Programs

Evidence records connected to this chapter of The Human OS Manual.

The entries below follow the chapter’s printed endnotes into the digital Evidence Map.

The printed notes preserve the source trail attached to the first edition. The digital record adds a current interpretation of what the evidence supports, what it does not establish, and whether anything has changed since publication.

Behavior-change theories treat maintenance over time as a problem with requirements that are not identical to those involved in starting change.

Pattern System · Adaptation System

Book reference: Starting behavior change and maintaining it over time are different problems., Maintaining behavior after an initiating structure ends is a different problem from starting it.

Last reviewed: August 11, 2026

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Control-theory models describe self-regulation as a feedback process in which discrepancies between a current state and a reference state guide adjustment.

Awareness Meta-Layer · Adaptation System

Book reference: Self-regulation uses feedback about discrepancy to guide adjustment.

Last reviewed: August 11, 2026

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Capacity to disengage from unattainable goals and reengage with alternatives is associated with quality of life, with effect size and direction varying by outcome and context.

Strong human evidence

Adaptation System · Pattern System

Book reference: Adaptive adjustment can include disengaging from an unattainable target and redirecting effort elsewhere.

Last reviewed: August 11, 2026

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From the book chapter

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