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We've been thinking about human behavior all wrong

We've been thinking about human behavior all wrongWe've been thinking about human behavior all wrongWe've been thinking about human behavior all wrong

Every why question leads to one answer: 

The ALPHA DRIVE:

the drive for perceived control and agency

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the alpha drive in action

Why smart people do self-sabotaging things

Why "knowing better" rarely fixes behavior - but changing your perceived control does

Why people can be so quick to anger and divide into opposing groups

You can know exactly what to do and still not do it because the brain picks the option that preserves control right now. Self-sabotage is often a control strategy: If I don't fully try, I can't fully fail."

Why people can be so quick to anger and divide into opposing groups

Why "knowing better" rarely fixes behavior - but changing your perceived control does

Why people can be so quick to anger and divide into opposing groups

We’ve all seen people snap into anger and instantly sort the world into “us vs them." Certainty and belonging feel like control when life seems unstable. Picking a side and attacking the other is a fast way to regain agency and reduce ambiguity—even if it makes everything worse long-term.

Why "knowing better" rarely fixes behavior - but changing your perceived control does

Why "knowing better" rarely fixes behavior - but changing your perceived control does

Why "knowing better" rarely fixes behavior - but changing your perceived control does

Insight doesn’t change the brain’s moment-to-moment sense of safety and control...the old control strategies still fire under stress. Change perceived control—what feels possible, predictable, and survivable—and the unhealthy behavior usually changes because the workaround is simply no longer necessary.

Alpha Drive Theory's Story

ALPHA DRIVE THEORY is a meta-theory of human behavior: when perceived control and agency are threatened, 

people shift into predictable “control-restoration” strategies—healthy or not.
This site is the public home for the theory and the book-in-progress.


Lesa Warren, MSW. 


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The ALPHA DRIVE in 5 Minutes - CHANGE YOUR LIFE

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