My running list of 52 frameworks, mental models, heuristics, and first principles I find interesting/useful:
| System | Tags |
|---|---|
| Abilene Paradox | decisionssocial |
| Bounded Rationality | decisionseconomics |
| Goodhart’s Law | decisionsorganization |
| Secretary problem | decisions |
| Watermelon Effect | decisionsorganization |
|
Bezos’ 70% Rule limited info |
decisions |
|
Hats, Haircuts, Tattoos limited info |
decisions |
|
Lasers and Compasses limited info; h/t to Zack Smith for this one |
decisions |
| Behavorial Finance > Efficient Market Hypothesis | economicspsychology |
| Disposition Effect | economicspsychology |
| Sunk Cost Fallacy | economicsdecisions |
| Opportunity Cost | economicsdecisions |
| Comparative Advantage (Ricardo) | economics |
| Time Preference Theory | economics |
| Tragedy of the Commons | economicssocial |
| Moral Hazard | economics |
| Moral Pollution and Licensing Effect ↗ | economicspsychology |
| Principal-Agent Problem | economicsorganization |
| E.F. Schumacher’s “Small is Beautiful” | economics |
|
Cantillon Effect inequality framework |
economics |
|
The “Great Decoupling” (Brynjolfsson/McAfee) inequality framework |
economicstechnology |
|
“Hollowing out” hypothesis (Autor) inequality framework |
economics |
|
Piketty’s r > g formula inequality framework |
economics |
|
Skill-biased technological change (SBTC) inequality framework |
economicstechnology |
|
Literacy Threshold Theory Meaningful knowledge acquisition requires reaching certain threshold levels of literacy. The answer to why the average bloke can’t pick up and bang through Infinite Jest—I’m including myself here. (Also the Matthew Effect.) |
epistemology |
|
Knowledge-wisdom gap we’ve got an ever-widening one |
epistemology |
|
Fallacies be ever vigilant (e.g., argumentum ad populum) |
epistemology |
| Dunning-Kruger Effect | epistemologypsychology |
| Replication crisis | epistemology |
|
Cunningham’s Law prêcher le faux pour savoir le vrai |
epistemologysocial |
|
Cut flowers theory beware of discarding things just because they’re old |
history |
|
Chesterton’s Fence beware of discarding things just because they’re old |
historydecisions |
|
Lindy Effect beware of discarding things just because they’re old |
history |
|
Tytler’s Cycle ↗ are we headed toward bondage? |
history |
| Tainter’s Collapse of Complex Societies | historyorganization |
| Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy | organization |
|
Value Capture v. Value Creation Loop ↗ when firms/orgs can extract high margins there is reduced pressure to allocate resources efficiently (e.g., bloat in US four-year universities) |
organizationeconomics |
| Conway’s Law | organizationtechnology |
| Kidlin’s Law | problem-solving |
|
Cognitive biases ↗ Availability Heuristic, etc. |
psychologydecisions |
|
Status/Signaling Veblen goods, stated vs. revealed preferences |
psychologysocialeconomics |
|
Personal Utility Function and Financial Calculation Gap gap between monetary returns and full economic utility (e.g., housing rent vs. buy calculation) |
psychologyeconomics |
| Enantiodromia ↗ | psychology |
| Network effects and Dunbar’s Number ↗ | socialtechnology |
|
Game theory concepts Prisoner’s Dilemma, coordination problems |
socialdecisions |
| Nassim Taleb’s Skin in the Game principle | socialdecisions |
| Jevons Paradox | technologyeconomics |
| Ellul Principle | technology |
| Collingridge Dilemma | technologydecisions |
| Heidegger’s Critique of Tech | technology |
| Neil Postman’s Technopoly | technology |
|
Pareto Principle which even extends to food (Hara hachi bu) |
miscellaneaproblem-solving |