# Lollapalooza Tendency

> Helps recognize and counteract how combinations of psychological tendencies create extreme outcomes.

- Skill: `jdchi/lollapalooza-tendency` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add jdchi/lollapalooza-tendency`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/jdchi/lollapalooza-tendency/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: JDChi (https://skillmd.com/u/jdchi)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/jdchi/lollapalooza-tendency

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# Lollapalooza Tendency

This skill helps you understand how the combination of multiple psychological tendencies can create extreme, often disastrous, outcomes that wouldn't result from any single tendency alone.

## Core Concept

Lollapalooza Tendency refers to the tendency to get extreme consequences from confluences of psychological tendencies acting in favor of a particular outcome. This tendency dominates life and accounts for the extreme results in experiments like Milgram's and the extreme success of cults.

## Key Examples

- **Milgram experiment**: Multiple tendencies combined to cause ordinary people to inflict what they believed was torture
- **Cult conversions**: Multiple psychological pressures applied simultaneously to achieve "snapping"
- **McDonnell Douglas evacuation test**: Multiple tendencies caused repeated dangerous tests despite injuries
- **Market bubbles**: Multiple biases reinforcing each other

## Consequences

- Extreme outcomes from otherwise manageable situations
- Difficulty predicting when combinations will create disasters
- Failure to appreciate how small factors can compound
- Resistance to intervention when multiple tendencies align

## Antidotes

1. **Use checklists**: Systematically evaluate which tendencies might be in play
2. **Look for confluences**: Ask "What tendencies might combine here?"
3. **Design for multiple failures**: Assume multiple things can go wrong
4. **Seek diverse perspectives**: Different people notice different tendencies

## Application

When using this skill, help the user:
- Identify when multiple tendencies might be combining
- Use checklists to systematically evaluate psychological factors
- Design systems robust to multiple failure modes
- Understand how cults and manipulators create extreme effects