The Nitzu Effect: Technological Mediation, Interdependence Visibility, and the Miscalibration of Human Self-Sufficiency

The Nitzu Effect is a proposed cognitive framework concerning a specific calibration error in technologically mediated environments. The central claim is not that technology necessarily reduces human interdependence, but that it can reduce the perceptual visibility of the human contributions that sustain an outcome. When contribution becomes less visible while objective dependence remains substantial, individuals may infer that dependence itself has declined and may consequently overestimate their own self-sufficiency. The framework distinguishes objective interdependence, interdependence visibility, perceived interdependence, and perceived self-sufficiency. It introduces the Nitzu Paradox—the possibility that actual human interdependence can increase while perceived interdependence decreases—and the Nitzu Gap, a proposed discrepancy between objective and perceived human interdependence. The framework is presented as a proposed cognitive effect requiring preregistered empirical testing, measurement validation, peer review, and independent replication. Canonical publication v1.0. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23481086Official project website: https://www.nitzueffect.com