The Default Book
A short book about the outcomes that happen when no one actively chooses — defaults as a primary explanatory primitive across life, products, and markets.
Overview
The project is intentionally small, sharp, and readable. It’s a “lens” book: the goal isn’t to motivate or prescribe — it’s to make a mechanism visible.
Who It's For
- Builders and designers who shape behavior via defaults
- Operators navigating institutional inertia
- Anyone who wants to separate “chosen” from “allowed to continue”
Thesis
We tend to explain outcomes with preference, intention, and decision. But many forces that shape lives, organizations, and products operate without being selected in the moment. They come pre-filled: inherited options, assumed baselines, entrenched procedures, and paths of least resistance.
A default is the outcome that happens when no one actively chooses.
Structure
The book is organized to move from definition to recognition — making the concept feel sturdy before asking the reader to “see” it in the world.
Quickstart
Builds the concept in layers: from a single sentence to a full essay. Definitions come first, then recognition.
Core
Deepens perception of defaults: how they form, where they hide, why they persist — without prescribing action.
Vignettes
Short scenes where a default becomes briefly visible. The point is recognition, not argument.
Essays
Optional reflections — closer to philosophy than mechanism — kept separate so the core stays clean.
Writing Principles
No Advice
The book avoids “what you should do.” Advice smuggles the wrong premise back in: that the central problem is individual choice. The more foundational skill is perception.
Definition → Recognition
A definition alone doesn’t change perception. Defaults aren’t hidden by secrecy — they’re hidden by familiarity.
The Book As A Product
This is a living project: the website version can evolve faster than a “frozen” edition.
Living Project
The book presents a coherent argument at a given moment in time. The website is the place where language gets clearer, sections grow slowly, and the structure tightens.
Distribution
The primary distribution surface is the site: thedefaultbook.com.
What I Learned
- Small concepts need strong structure (progression beats volume).
- Clarity comes from removing advice-shaped sentences.
- Vignettes do more for recognition than “more argument”.
What's Next
- Expand the vignettes section slowly (high signal only).
- Tighten Core chapters around “does this help the reader notice?”
- Publish a stable edition once the structure stops changing.