Mental Models

A collection of cognitive biases, psychological effects, laws, and thinking tools. Some are well-known, some are obscure. All are worth having names for.

Biases & Effects

Baader-Meinhof Effect — the frequency illusion. You learn a new word, suddenly it's everywhere.

Barnum Effect — why horoscopes feel accurate. Vague statements accepted as personal.

Dunning-Kruger Effect — low skill, high confidence. High skill, low confidence.

Nocebo — the opposite of placebo. Expecting harm causes harm.

Laws & Principles

Hyrum's Law — with enough users, every observable behavior becomes a contract.

Forgetting Is the Norm — we lose most details. The question is why we remember anything at all.

Stubs

Logical Fallacies — to be expanded.

Prophetic Past Tense — to be expanded.