Shallow Dives

A classic example of perverse incentives shows how well-intentioned interventions can backfire spectacularly when we fail to account for how systems respond to our actions. Understanding this pattern helps us design better solutions.

Complex systems don't respond instantly to our interventions—they behave like filling or draining a bathtub. Understanding stocks and flows explains why policies take years to show results and why our intuitions about change are often wrong.

In most legal systems, your intentions matter when determining guilt. But strict liability cases flip this principle on its head—holding people accountable for outcomes regardless of their state of mind. This legal concept reveals how rules can shape behavior through pure incentive design.