Topic2 articles7 research documents2 open problems
ADHD & attention
Writing
2Paying yourself to do your own tasks: what the incentive trials show, and whether an earn-back subscription could workFinancial incentives move behaviour while they run, and losses move people more than equal gains. Paying yourself a wage from your own pocket removes most of what the trials rely on; a subscription you earn back by doing the work is a loss-framed stake, and the research rates it the version most likely to work. Nobody has tested it.Article10 Oct37 quotes · 1 source · 8 minMissed workouts and broken streaks: how fast strength, mood and habit actually decayTwo weeks away from the gym costs almost nothing in muscle — strength holds and the body keeps a record that makes the regain fast. What drains in that time is mood, dopamine tone and the automatic habit, which is exactly what restarting runs on.Article10 Oct57 quotes · 1 source · 10 min
Open problems
2Inner speech in ADHDNo study had looked specifically at inner speech in ADHD as of a 2015 review, and no study has tested whether naming a feeling calms it less in ADHD.Open problem4 OctCash micro-incentives for task completion in adults with ADHDNo randomised trial tests whether small, immediate payments move task completion in adults with ADHD. The one adaptive-incentive study (Lee et al. 2023) was null. Open until a document reports a trial.Open problem1 Oct
Research
7Why Self-Directed Tasks Stall While Imposed Work Gets Done: Open Loops, Prospective Memory, Effort Costs and the Self-Service MediumPeople who never miss a shift but cannot book a doctor's appointment or finish a form are not showing a character flaw. They are showing what happens when the job lends them an executive system (cues, sequence, time structure, deadlines, c…Research18 Oct54k charactersUber for Your Own To-Do List: Feasibility and Prior-Art Review of a Paid, AI-Dispatched Task QueuePrior art: Nobody has built "Uber for your own tasks". The nearby products are commitment-stake apps (Beeminder, stickK, Forfeit), pay-for-health apps (Sweatcoin, Evidation), RPG and gamified task managers (Habitica, Finch)…Feasibility review1 Oct52 figures · 13 sourcesBig Swings, Pressure-TestedShip the newsletter first, as the inventory engine. Build it on Amazon SES ($0.10 per 1,000 emails, $24.95/month standard dedicated IP) with a Cloudflare control plane. Cloudflare's own FAQ says Email Service "is intended…Research27 Sep95 figures · 77 sourcesThe Momentum Trap: Neurobiology and Behavioral Mechanics of ADHD Habit CollapseMomentum is real and mechanistically distinct from starting fresh: established behavior is protected by "behavioral momentum" (reinforcement-built resistance to disruption) and by context-cued automaticity that offloads…Research27 Sep24 figures · 20 sourcesContent That Is the Ad: Buying Curious Attention in Late 2026, and the Stack Behind ItBottom line: The cheapest curious readers are still on the old feeds.ResearchSep30 figures · 23 sourcesDiagnosing the Feed: Why Scrolling Works, Why X Feels Like a Town Square, Where Content Turns Into Advertising, and How CANOPTICON Can Use All ThreeThe best-supported reason people keep scrolling isn't a "dopamine slot machine.ResearchSep44 figures · 17 sourcesNarrow the Goal or Broaden the Substitutes? The Neurobiology and Behavioral Science of Intention Specificity, Goal Substitution, and ADHD Exercise AdherenceThe evidence does not support "narrow the goal to gym-only" for most people with ADHD.Build briefSep11 figures · 8 sources
Key figures
22ChatGPT ads reached a $1B annualized run rate "in less than 200 days after launch," according to OpenAI's August 31, 2026 announcement.Content That Is the Ad: Buying Curious Attention in Late 2026, and the Stack Behind It$1BSparkLoop runs $4–7 but brings higher early open rates.Content That Is the Ad: Buying Curious Attention in Late 2026, and the Stack Behind It$4–7Run "Boosted Collision Cards → Daily Deck" for four weeks on $500.Content That Is the Ad: Buying Curious Attention in Late 2026, and the Stack Behind It$500Ads launched with a $60 CPM and a reported six-figure minimum.Content That Is the Ad: Buying Curious Attention in Late 2026, and the Stack Behind It$60On August 31, 2026, OpenAI said ads had reached a $1B annualized run rate in less than 200 days and opened self-serve across Europe, India and MENA.Content That Is the Ad: Buying Curious Attention in Late 2026, and the Stack Behind It$1BDavid Dugan, OpenAI's head of global ads solutions, told a Cannes Lions briefing in June 2026 that "roughly 20% of queries in ChatGPT have a direct commercial intent." So most conversations are curiosity, not shopping.Content That Is the Ad: Buying Curious Attention in Late 2026, and the Stack Behind It20%Gupta Media's tracker put Meta at a $6.59 CPM and $0.68 per link click (October 2025).Content That Is the Ad: Buying Curious Attention in Late 2026, and the Stack Behind It$6.59Another reports large B2C newsletters happily paying $3–$5 at scale, while some clients need under $1.25 to break even on day one.Content That Is the Ad: Buying Curious Attention in Late 2026, and the Stack Behind It$3–$5
All 22 in the Library