GDPBros.
Carlos Upgrade / An ongoing notebook

Ideas worth keeping.

One carefully researched concept at a time. Across literature, science, philosophy, psychology, mathematics and the real decisions they touch.

Browse the archive at your own pace. Each piece includes a mechanism, its limits, an example, a thinking exercise and sources.

11 articles
An off-white editorial cover reads “NOTHING MATCHES ANYMORE.” in oversized nearly black, forest-green sans serif, with “The Diderot effect” in green italic serif. Below, a premium unbranded emerald-green beverage can rests on a dark stone coaster, separated from two worn silver cans on a pale tray. Natural shadows and subtle greenery frame the still life as a metaphor for the desire to make possessions match.
· History & Consumer Culture

Nothing Matches Anymore

How a new possession changes what feels coherent, and why one packaging upgrade can provoke a costly portfolio redesign.

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An original 4:5 editorial cover on off-white paper reads “LOOKS SIMPLE. EXPLAIN IT.” in oversized near-black bold sans-serif lettering and “The illusion of understanding” in deep-green italic serif. Below, a realistic condensation-covered, unbranded forest-green aluminum beverage can sits on a pale limestone plinth beside a separate metallic pull-tab lid. The familiar can and visible component suggest the gap between recognizing an object and understanding its mechanism.
· Psychology

Looks Simple. Explain It.

The illusion of explanatory depth explains why familiar systems can feel understood until we try to explain how they work. A lesson from zippers to beverage packaging.

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Original 4:5 off-white editorial cover reading “THE SYSTEM REMEMBERS.” in oversized dark-green bold sans serif and “Hysteresis” in green italic serif. A photoreal unbranded forest-green beverage can stands beside a small brushed-metal toggle mechanism on pale limestone, lit by soft daylight.
· Physics

The System Remembers

Why a system’s present state can depend on how it arrived there, even after conditions seem to reset.

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Editorial cover on warm off-white paper reads “TOO MANY VETOES. NOTHING MOVES.” in bold dark-green lettering above “The anticommons problem” in italic forest-green serif. An unbranded green beverage can is visible behind three overlapping frosted-glass panels fitted with separate small brass locks, with several brass keys on a stone ledge. The arrangement symbolizes fragmented access rights.
· Economics

Too Many Vetoes. Nothing Moves.

How fragmented rights to exclude can leave valuable resources unused.

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Minimal off-white editorial cover with oversized dark-green sans-serif words "STAY WITH THE QUESTION." above an elegant forest-green italic subtitle, "Negative capability." A single unbranded, condensation-covered forest-green aluminum can sits on pale limestone, partially obscured by overlapping translucent frosted-glass panels and their soft reflections.
· Literature

Stay With the Question

John Keats on uncertainty, interpretation and the discipline of not forcing an answer.

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Editorial cover on warm off-white paper reading “OLD SIGNAL. NEW WORLD.” in oversized bold black lettering, with “The evolutionary trap” in deep-green italic serif. A condensation-covered unbranded forest-green beverage can stands where two pale-stone retail paths diverge: one leads toward stocked green cans, the other toward a brightly lit but empty display. It is a metaphor, not an ecological experiment.
· Biology

Old Signal. New World.

How a useful cue can become misleading when the environment changes.

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Original off-white editorial cover reading “MORE HANDS. NOT ALWAYS FASTER.” in oversized black sans-serif, “The hidden limit to speed.” in deep-green italic serif, and “AMDAHL’S LAW” below. Five unbranded teal and forest-green cans line up on limestone steps leading into a single brushed-metal inspection arch. The scene is a metaphor for sequential constraints, not a measured production process.
· Engineering

More Hands, Not Always Faster

Why speeding up parallel work cannot eliminate sequential constraints.

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Warm off-white editorial cover reading “SAME CHOICE. DIFFERENT VERDICT.” in oversized black type, with “The problem of moral luck” in green italic serif. Two identical, unbranded dark-green aluminum cans rest on adjacent pale limestone blocks. One stands upright while the other lies on its side, spilling a golden beverage over the edge.
· Philosophy

Same Choice, Different Verdict

Why we sometimes judge equivalent choices differently when luck changes the outcome.

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Editorial 4:5 cover on warm off-white paper. Oversized forest-black sans-serif text reads “WHAT YOU SEE CAN CHANGE WHAT YOU HEAR.” Under it, deep forest-green italic serif text reads “The McGurk effect.” Two unbranded silver beverage cans stand on a limestone shelf behind separate translucent teal and amber panels, which tint their appearance differently.
· Psychology

When Seeing Changes Hearing

A classic finding about how sight and sound can combine in speech perception.

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Editorial cover on a warm off-white background with the headline “EVERY OPTION CAN WIN.” in oversized black sans-serif, “And still lose.” in forest-green italic serif, and “THE CONDORCET PARADOX” in small type. Three photoreal unbranded forest-green, teal, and sage beverage cans stand on separate pale limestone platforms.
· Mathematics

When the Majority Has No Winner

How individually consistent preferences can produce a collective voting cycle.

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Off-white 4:5 editorial poster reading “YOU LOOKED. YOU MISSED IT.” in large black letters and “The change blindness effect” in forest-green italic text. Below, two nearly identical unbranded forest-green beverage cans, each with a cream-colored leaf motif and condensation, stand on pale stone shelves separated by a narrow divider, with a softly blurred retail backdrop.
· Psychology

Seeing Is Not the Same as Noticing

A surprising limit of visual attention, and what it means for retail design.

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