Top Mental Models - Doctor Paradox

Top Mental Models for Thinkers

Mental models are different ways of mapping or viewing a system or a problem. They are frameworks that help explain what’s going on, and predict what’s likely to happen next.

Model thinking is an excellent way of improving our cognition and decision making abilities. Thinking in models helps us understand how new concepts fit with older observations, and what theories and metaphors are likely to endure.

I will continue to add to this list over time as well as fill in the number of holes that remain in the set. Learning about new mental models is one of my favorite activities — it’s the closest thing to a superpower I can think of.

Term	Type	Topic	Definition
80/20 rule	Model	Economics	Also known as a power law, or the Pareto Principle
absolute advantage	Term	Economics	The ability of a party to produce a product or service more efficiently than any of its competitors.
absolute value	Term	Math	the value of a function irrespective of its sign (positive or negative)
accessibility	Term	Psychology	How easy something is to call to mind
acquittal	Legal precedent	Law	A judgment of not guilty in a criminal trial
activation energy	Term	Science	A chemistry term that describes the minimum energy required for a chemical system to react
adverse selection	Term	Economics	Insurance phenomenon in which buyers or sellers in a transaction can use insider knowledge to unfairly get a better advantage over the other party or parties
a fortiori	Logic	Logic	From the Latin, "from a stronger argument," the phrase refers to conclusions for which there is stronger evidence than a previously accepted one
akrasia	Term	Psychology	A state of mind where someone acts against their own better judgment due to weakness of will.
alea iacta est	Metaphor	Metaphor	In Latin, "the die is cast" -- attributed to Julius Caesar as he crossed the river Rubicon, leading an attack on Rome: a metaphor for a point of no return
allocation	Method	Economics	Distributing resources, assets, or funds amongs recipients
"All the world's a stage“	Metaphor	Arts	Shakespearean metaphor likening culture to a theatrical performance: "And all the men and women merely players;They have their exits and their entrances ..."—William Shakespeare, As You Like It
Amara's Law	Theory	Science & Technology	We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run
annuity	Term	Economics	a series of regular payments
antifragility	Model	Economics	when something grows stronger under stress; when there is more upside to downside of experiencing a shock to the system
antimatter	Theory	Science & Technology	Antimatter particles are the precise opposite charge and spin from their matter counterparts, but identical otherwise
a priori	Logic	Philosophy	Information deduced from logical precedents versus empirical observation
arbitrage	Model	Economics	A method of turning profit via simultaneous purchase and sale of the same assets in different markets, benefiting from the differences in listed price in various geographical regions.
archetypes	Symbol	Philosophy	An ideal type; a model after which others are fashioned.
arrow of time	Unsolved Mystery	Science & Technology	Although human beings perceive the past as being different from the future -- and that we remember the past, but not the future -- intrinsically there is nothing in the structure of the universe that defines past from future. Time is instead an emergent feature.
artificia docuit fames	Ancient Wisdom	Philosophy	Latin saying meaning, "sophistication is born out of hunger" -- a metaphor for innovation and genius being awakened by challenge, difficulty, and constraints
ASCII	Term	Science & Technology	American Standard Code for Information Interchange: a standard character translation table used by computers to convert numerical representations into printable characters
asking a fish about water	Metaphor	Metaphor	There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the hell is water?”
astroturfing	Method	Politics	The deceptive political practice of paying operatives to pose as members of the public engaging in "grassroots protest" as a way of adding plausible deniability as well as amplification of their point of view
asymmetric encryption	Term	Computer Science	Also known as public-key cryptography, asymmetric encryption encrypts and decrypts the data using two separate keys that are related mathematically (a public and a private key)
asymptotes	Term	Math	The graph of a curve is approaching a numerical value or limit, but never quite reaches it.
autophagy	Experimental finding	Biology, Medicine	The body's way of cleaning out damaged cells and replace them with newer, healthier cells. Literally, "self-eating"
availability bias	Model	Psychology	Cognitive distortion arising from the unconscious preference for information that is recent rather than what is representative.
averages	Method	Math	a measure of central tendency of a set of data, whether the mean, media, or mode
balance sheet	Method	Economics	A financial document showing the book value of a company, i.e. how much it's worth.
balancing loop	Model	Systems theory	A balancing loop attempts to move a current state (the way things are) to a desired state (goal or objective) though an action (thing(s) done to reach the goal).The balancing loop is one of the two foundational structures of systems thinking, along with the Reinforcing Loop. A balancing loop is representative of any situation where there is a goal or an objective and action is taken to achieve that goal or objective.
Baldwin Effect	Model	Science & Technology	As organisms learn to shape their environment, they can alter the path of evolution. For example, with the advent of dairy farming, selection pressures began favoring lactose absorption genes in humans.
bank reserves	Term	Economics	Cash minimums banks must have on hand to meet regulatory requirements ensuring the financial system is equipped to handle periodic shocks in demand for withdrawals.
bank run	Term	Economics	Economic term for when a large group of bank depositors withdraw their money all at once -- once a common occurrence that rarely happens anymore in the modern world.
base conversion		Math	The base is how many numbers there are in a number system; we use base 10 primarily, and computers use base 2, aka binary. Base conversion is the method of converting numbers from one base system to another.
Base Rate Fallacy		Psychology
base weighting
Bayes' Theorem	Method	Math	an algebraic method of determining the updated probability of a certain event or case, given new information
bend the knee	Metaphor	Social psychology
beta	Method	Economics	In finance, a term that refers to investments tracking the broad market performance of an exchange or industry sector
The Big Bang	Term	Science & Technology	The massive explosion which spawned our entire universe, back at the beginning of time.
The Big Crunch	Theory
binary numbers	Term	Math
binomial distribution	Term	Statistics
Binomial Theorem	Theory	Math
black hole	Theory	Physics
Black-Scholes model	Model	Economics
Black Swan	Model	Economics
blockchain	Term	Science & Technology	The basis of cryptocurrency, blockchain technology is a kind of public ledger or shared database that records transactions transparently and out in the open, in a way that anyone can access or verify.
boiling frog	Metaphor	Philosophy	A metaphor for the common occurence of slow, gradual changes over time not being noticed, like the (contested) legend of a scienfitic experiment that boileg a frog alive by starting with tepid water and slowly turning up the temperature.
bond		Economics
Boyle's Law	Scientific Law
boundary object
bounded rationality	Experimental finding	Psychology	A central challenge to the c. 1776 ideas of Adam Smith regarding the Invisible Hand of markets, this 20th c. psychological theory posits that rather than making optimized rational decisions, at most times the average person is "satisficing" or making the most expedient choice under considerable constraints and lack of available information
bricolage	Method	Arts	Combination of many types and forms into one piece; a pastiche or mashup of style and cultural referents
broken windows theory	Theory	Law
Butterfly Effect	Model	Science & Technology
bystander effect	Experimental finding	Social psychology
cadence	Term	Arts
camel's nose	Metaphor	Philosophy	a metaphor describing how allowing a smaller innocuous act may lead to larger acts that are undesirable
capital gains	Term	Economics	Money that is earned as a result of a stock investment appreciating in value — the capital "gains in value"
capital requirements		Economics	Actual cash on hand for banks to theoretically offer at a given time, with the rest lended out as leverage
carbon-14	Scientific Law	Science & Technology
carbon dating	Method	Science & Technology	A way to scientifically determine the age of an object
carpe diem	Ancient Wisdom	Philosophy	in Latin, "seize the day" -- a reference often used to motivate oneself and others to act boldly and live vigorously in the moment
cartel		Economics
catalyst	Model	Science & Technology
categorical data		Statistics
causa-sui project	Theory	Psychology
cellular automata		Math
central limit theorem	Scientific Law	Statistics
central tendency		Statistics	a measure of the midpoint of a data set; includes mean, median, and mode
ceteris paribus	Method	Economics	"all other things being equal"; holding the effects of other variables constant to determine the effects on a single variable of interest
charge preservation		Science & Technology
charlatan		Psychology	one who aspires to wealth &/or fame through trickery and deception
Chesterton's Fence	Model	Metaphor
chilling effect	Term	History
cognitive bias	Experimental finding	Psychology
collapse	Model	Systems theory
comparative advantage		Economics
composite events		Statistics	in probability
compound interest	Model	Economics
conditionals		Math
Condorcet Jury Theorem	Ancient Wisdom	Statistics
confidence interval		Statistics	the range of values over which a predicted outcome may lie; the amount of certainty one has about the predicted value falling within the estimated range
confirmation bias	Experimental finding	Psychology
conflation		Psychology
consent of the governed	Philosophy	Politics	Concept of political philosophy in which a government's legitimacy and right to use state power is only justified if consented to by the people over whom said power is wielded.
consequentialism		Philosophy
conservation of energy	Scientific Law	Chemistry	In a closed system, total energy remains constant.
conservation of mass	Scientific Law	Physics	In a closed system, mass remains constant.
conservation of momentum	Scientific Law	Physics	In a closed system, momentum remains constant.
constraints		Math
Consumer Sentiment Index		Economics
continuous vs. discrete variables		Statistics
Copernican theory of the solar system	Scientific Law	Science & Technology
correlation		Statistics
correlation coefficient		Statistics
cosine		Math
counterfactual
countervailing power		Economics	Economist John Kenneth Galbraith's concept for how collective worker power is needed to balance against growing corporatism in the economy
creative destruction		Economics	Economist Joseph Shumpeter's idea for how the business cycle works: by innovation disrupting established processes and industries and forcing change into markets, often destructively and swiftly
credo quia absurdum			"I believe because it is absurd" — Tertullian's defense of belief in the miracles attributed to Christ
critical mass		Science & Technology
crossing the Rubicon	Metaphor	History	Making a decision from which there is no turning back; a reference to Julius Caesar's overthrow of the Roman republic to found the Roman Empire in 49 BCE
cross-sectional data		Math
crowdfunding		Economics
crowdsourcing		Systems theory
cryptocurrency		Economics
Dark Matter	Theory	Physics
dead hand of the past	Philosophy	History	Problem inherent in constitutional political philosophy, where eventually a people becomes ruled by "masters" no longer alive, who rule by "fiat" via a document, from beyond the grave (Thomas Jefferson's concept)
death spiral
decision theory		Systems theory
decision tree		Systems theory
de minimis	Legal precedent	Law
depreciation	Method	Economics
derivatives		Math
diminshing marginal utility (DMU)	Model	Economics
directory structure		Computers
dispersion		Statistics	the amount of variation within a set of data; how spread out the data points are from each other
distributions		Statistics
divergent thinking		Psychology
diversity
Diversity Prediction Theorem
dividend payments		Economics	Periodic, usually quarterly, payouts to stockholders of the company when posting profits. Along with capital gains, one of the 2 primary reasons to invest in stocks.
Dodd-Frank Act of 2010	Legal precedent	Economics	definitive financial regulation of the financial industry following the 2007-8 financial crisis
domain dependence
double helix
doxa		Social psychology	common belief or opinion
Drake Equation	Model	Science & Technology	1961 estimation of the number of technological civilizations that might exist in the universe, conceived by Dr. Frank Drake
dualism		Philosophy
Dunbar number	Theory	Psychology
Dunning-Kruger Effect	Experimental finding	Psychology	A cognitive bias in which people mistakenly assess their cognitive ability as higher than it actually is, because they cannot recognize their incompetence in comparison to others.
Duverger's Law	Ancient Wisdom	Politics	Holds that plurality-rule elections within single member districts — such as the structure found in the U.S. — tend to favor two-party systems
Easterlin paradox	Experimental finding	Economics	Beyond a certain point, countries don't get happier as they get richer
economies of scale		Economics
edge case	Metaphor
elasticity; price elasticity		Economics	the ability of pricing mechanisms to respond quickly or less quickly to changes in prevailing conditions
elasticity of demand
elasticity of supply
electromagnetic spectrum	Scientific Law	Science & Technology
electron cloud	Model	Science & Technology	refers to the true nature of an electron's existence around an atom, wherein its location in space is not a definite point, but a fuzzy region of probable occurence
elephants and flies	Metaphor	Economics	sales concept to quickly segment leads into size buckets, from elephants > deers > rabbits > mice > flies
elephant and rider	Model	Psychology	psychological idea about how our unconscious and semi-conscious desires dominate us, but can be directed by reason (Jonathan Haidt et al)
embargo
Emperor's New Clothes	Metaphor
encryption		Math
ensemble learning		Science & Technology
entropy	Scientific Law	Science & Technology	The disorder of a system increases over time.
epistemology		Philosophy
e pluribus unum	Symbol	Politics	Latin: "one out of many" — one of several phrases on the American dollar bill, it refers to the unity of the nation as made up of its many peoples and as such, signifies the republic.
equilibrium		Science & Technology
equity		Economics
equity crowdfunding		Economics
error-embracing		Psychology
event horizon	Scientific Law	Physics	A boundary beyond which events cannot affect on observer, such as the edge of a black hole
exception handling	Method	Computer programming	The process of responding to the occurrence of exceptions -- unexpected conditions that throw the application into an error state and must be resolved before continuing.
exchange rates		Economics	The value of one country's currency as measured against another
existentialism
exit strategy		Economics
externalities		Economics
extrapolation		Statistics
factorial		Math
factum tacendo, crimen facias acrius		Philosophy	He who does not stop a crime is an accomplice.
fact /value problem		Philosophy
fake news		Media
false positives		Science & Technology
false consensus effect		Social psychology
falsifiability		Science & Technology	ability to be proven untrue; a requirement for a theory to be called scientific
Feynman Technique		Science & Technology	A method of learning and remembering difficult concepts by simplifying them until you can explain it to a new student or layperson who knows nothing about that concept.
fiat money		Economics
fiduciary duty		Economics
fifth column		Politics	a group who unites in secret to undermine a larger group from within
file system	Metaphor	Computers
filter bubble	Metaphor	Social psychology
first principles		Philosophy
fishing expedition	Metaphor
fitness function	Term	Science & Technology	in AI, refers to a set of selection criteria applied to a set of potential solutions to a problem to allow only the better candidates to survive to the next generation
flâneur	Term	Arts
force multiplier		Science & Technology
fractals		Math
fractional reserve banking	Method	Economics
fractions	Term	Math
fragility		Philosophy
framing		Psychology
free trade	Method	Economics
free will	Philosophy	Philosophy
freshwater vs. saltwater economists		Economics
Friend of the Court filing		Law
FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt)		Social psychology
fundamental attribution error	Experimental finding	Psychology
future value		Economics
gain	Term	Arts	in audio recording, a control that allows more or less of the source sound into the channel being recorded
game theory		Math
Gates' Law	Theory	Philosophy	the idea that software development speed halves every 18 months, negating the acceleratory effects of Moore's Law and preventing computing from leaping greatly forward
Gaussian distribution	Term	Statistics	the Normal distribution
GDP (Gross Domestic Product)	Model	Economics	the sum of all public and private goods produced within a given period; a measure of a country's economic health
generalists and specialists		Philosophy
genetic algorithms		Science & Technology	an approach to AI based on evolutionary models, in which multiple candidate solutions to a problem are generated randomly by mutation and recombination, then iterated over thousands of generations through fitness functions to weed out the best of each generation
germ theory of disease	Scientific Law
Gettier problem		Philosophy
GOFAI		Science & Technology	"Good Old-Fashioned Artificial Intelligence" — reference to the style and general algorithmic approach of early artificial intelligence work, which fell out of popularity over the decades in favor of more organic neural net and evolutionary approaches
Golden calf
Golden Mean	Theory	Philosophy	Aristotelian theory of an ideal balance point between the many extremes we face in life; he advocated harmony between the various spheres of life for an experience of happiness
Golden Rule	Ancient Wisdom		"Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you" is the essence of this ancient wisdom, often used as a shorthand version of Jesus's core teaching.
Goldilocks Zone	Model
gold standard	Legal precedent
gravity waves		Physics
habeas corpus	Legal precedent	Law
habitus	Theory	Social psychology
Hanlon's Razor	Model	Philosophy	never attribute to malice what is adequately described by carelessness
hard determinism		Philosophy
harmonics		Arts
hearts and minds		Politics
hedge funds		Economics
hedonism	Philosophy	Philosophy
Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle	Theory	Science & Technology
hexadecimal numbers	Term	Math	base 6
heuristics		Psychology	Mental shortcuts that we do as a matter of routine, especially when we're stressed or under other types of cognitive constraints.
hormesis		Science & Technology	When a small dose of a toxic substance is actually beneficial to the living thing that ingests it
hydra		Metaphor
iatrogenics		Health	harm done by the healer
ice core dating	Method	Science & Technology
id, ego, superego	Model	Psychology	Freud's psychological model of the conscious and unconscious mind.
implicit cost		Economics
Imposter Syndrome	Model	Psychology	A psychological pattern in which one doubts their own accomplishments and has a generalized fear of being exposed as a fraud.
index number; indexing		Statistics
inferior goods		Economics
inflation		Economics
inflection point		Math	The point of a curve at which a change in the direction of the curve occurs.
interest	Model	Economics
interest rate		Economics
internal rate of return (IRR)		Economics
Internet of Things (IoT)	Term	Science & Technology
intersection		Math
interventionism		Social psychology
IP addresses	Term	Science & Technology
iron law of oligarchy	Theory	Politics	Political theory positing that no matter how democratic a group may start out, over time it will develop into a bureaucracy ruled by a small handful
It from Bit	Theory	Physics	John Wheeler's theory about the fundamental informational nature of the universe
Keynesian economics	Theory	Economics
Keynesian Put	Model	Economics
Kronos Effect	Model	Economics	the tendency of a successful corporation to seek to acquire and/or drive its upstart competitors out of business
Laffer Curve	Theory	Economics
law of excluded middle
Law of Large Numbers	Scientific Law	Math	As the number of coin tosses approaches infinity, the number of heads encountered will converge on 0.5; helpful in calculations of probability.
least-barricaded gate	Metaphor	Politics	Trotsky's metaphor of how social revolutions can take hold more easily in already weakened societies
lecturing birds how to fly	Metaphor	Metaphor
length contraction	Model	Physics
less is more	Philosophy	Metaphor
L'etat c'est moi	Philosophy	Politics	"I am the state“
leverage		Economics
lifeboat ethics	Philosophy	Philosophy
light-weight process		Computers
limit of a function	Term	Math	if the graph of an equation seems to approach a numerical value but never quite reaches it, we say that number is the limit of the function (approaching from the negative or positive direction; sometimes directionality is important)
limiting factor		Systems theory
linear regression	Method	Math
liquidity		Economics
local min	Model	Systems theory	idea that to grow out of a stasis or plateau, you likely have to endure a period of "setback" that is a lower dip or minimum value from where you are now, but is what's required to get over the activation energy to reach the next level
locus of control
logarithm		Math
logical fallacies		Philosophy
long tail	Theory	Statistics	In a power law distribution (of population, ages, items, etc.), the region of the graph that tapers off quickly after the initial segment of high data points
loss aversion	Experimental finding	Psychology
Lost Einsteins	Theory		http://doctorparadox.net/models/lost-einsteins/
loyalists and mercenaries	Metaphor	Systems theory
maker's time and manager's time	Model	Systems theory
M1		Economics
M2		Economics
mandala	Ancient Wisdom	Religion	Introcate and elaborate patterns created with colored sand by Buddhist monks, who blow away their creations at the end to signify their celebration of impermanence.
Manichaean	Ancient Wisdom	Philosophy	a narrowly-defined dualistic worldview of good against evil
man on horseback	Metaphor		Synonym for a demagogue. Comes from French general Georges Ernest Boulanger, and refers to a military leader who presents himself as the savior of the country during a crisis and either assumes or threatens to assume dictatorial powers.
map is not the territory	Metaphor	Metaphor
margin of error		Statistics
marginal benefit		Economics
marginal cost		Economics
marginal returns		Economics
marginal utility		Economics
market share		Economics
Markov chain	Term	Math
Maslow's Hierarchy of needs	Model	Psychology
mean	Term	Statistics	the average value of the numbers in a data set; take the sum of all values and divide by the total number of values in the set
median	Term	Statistics
Median Voter Theorem	Theory	Politics
megalopsychon	Philosophy	Philosophy	Concept in Aristotelian ethics of living with grandeur and taking risks with dignity; being nonsmall
mens rea	Legal precedent	Law	"guilty mind" — establishing the intent of a perp can help to establish criminal liability
mercantilism	Theory	Economics
meritocracy	Model	Systems theory
metaphysics	Philosophy	Philosophy
mirror neurons	Experimental finding
mode	Term	Statistics
monopoly		Economics	Market condition in which there exists only one seller of a resource
monopsony		Economics	Market condition in which there exists only one buyer of a resource
Moore's Law	Theory	Science & Technology	Named after Gordon Moore, the model predicts the doubling of transistors on a circuit of equivalent size every 18 months to 2 years. This has many consequences for both technology and economics, including the predictable drop in price of generating the same amount of computing power each period.
moral hazard		Economics	when one party takes on additional risk, knowing that other parties will bear the brunt of the risk in event of a loss
Moravec's Paradox
MVP (minimum viable product)	Term	Economics
naive cynicism		Psychology	State of mind in which people believe others to have more egocentric bias than is warranted or is actually the case.
Nash Equilibrium	Theory	Math
nasty, brutish, and short	Ancient Wisdom	Philosophy
natural laws		Science & Technology
natural selection	Scientific Law	Science & Technology
necessity is the mother of invention	Common Wisdom	Myth/Metaphor
negative externalities		Economics
neomania		Social psychology	love of the modern for its own sake
neural net	Term	Science & Technology
net present value (NPV)	Model	Economics
neuroplasticity		Science & Technology
Newton's first law	Scientific Law	Physics	an object in motion will stay in motion, unless acted upon by a force
Newton's second law	Scientific Law	Physics	F = ma, or an object of mass m feeling a force F will accelerate by an amount a
nodes	Term	Math
noosphere		Data science	Sphere of human thought — all interacting minds on earth. An early 1900s concept from Teilhard de Chardin
nominal figures		Economics
nonlinearity		Math
Normal distribution	Scientific Law	Statistics
normal goods		Economics
normalized weighted average		Statistics
normative and descriptive		Philosophy
noumena		Philosophy
novus ordo seclorum	Symbol	Government	A new order for the ages; Latin phrase seen on the dollar bill
null hypothesis	Method	Science
observer effect	Experimental finding	Science
Ockham's Razor	Theory	Philosophy	A philosophical rule of thumb that favors the simplest explanation. Also known as the "law of parsimony"
octal numbers		Math	base 8
oligopoly		Economics
omphalos		Politics
opportunity cost	Model	Economics	What you miss out on by using a resource in a certain way -- what you would have done with the resource otherwise; what alternative use you would have put it to.
options		Economics
orders of magnitude	Scientific Law	Math
ordinally ranked data		Statistics
organizational debt		Economics
oscillations		Science
out-group bias	Experimental finding	Social psychology
outlier	Model	Statistics
paradox	Model
paragon	Model	Culture	A standard against which something can be judged — an exemplar example of a thing
path dependent
pax Romana	Legal precedent	History
pearls before swine	Metaphor	Myth/Metaphor
P/E Ratio	Method	Economics	Price to earnings ratio: standard measure of relative stock performance
permutations		Math
Peter Principle	Theory	Systems theory
phase shift		Science
philosopher kings
Philosopher's Stone	Unsolved Mystery
phonemes
plant a seed	Metaphor
Platonic forms	Model
Platonicity		Philosophy	adherence to crisp abstract theory & forms that blind us to the mess of actual reality
Plato's Cave	Model	Philosophy	allegory in The Republic about a cave dweller whose only picture of reality is the shadow on the cave wall thrown by the fire
pluralism		Government
point of no return	Metaphor	Myth/Metaphor
polling	Method	Statistics
Pollyanna Principle	Model	Psychology	tendency for people to remember pleasant events more accurately than unpleasant ones
populism		Government
positron	Scientific Law	Physics	an antimatter electron
Potemkin Village Effect	Model	Systems theory	tendency of systems to create the appearance of functioning normally — to appease the operators who wish it so — even when they are not
precision		Math
present value		Economics	the expected current value of an income stream
price ceiling		Economics
price floor		Economics
prima facie
principle of indifference		Statistics	in probability, when there is no basis to choose some outcomes as more likely than others, they are given equal weight (1/2 chance of a particular side of a coin, 1/52 to get a particular card from a deck, etc.)
prisoner's dilemma	Thought Experiment	Math
private equity (PE)		Economics
probability		Math
probability distribution		Statistics
Procrustean bed	Metaphor	Philosophy
profit		Economics
propaganda		Social psychology	originally, a way to "propagate" any idea; used by both sides in WWI, it thereafter took on a sinister connotation when American & British citizens felt hoodwinked by their govt's use of it
proper frame		Physics	in physics, the frame of reference that accelerates with you and determines your age
proportionality	Model	Math
prospect theory		Psychology
proximate cause
proxy war		Politics
pseudoscience
PTSD		Psychology
punctuated equilibrium	Model	Science & Technology
Pygmalian Effect		Social psychology
Pyrrhic victory	Metaphor	Myth/Metaphor
quantum computing		Science
quantum entanglement	Theory	Physics
qubit		Science
quid pro quo	Legal precedent	Law
quota
r > q			Thomas Piketty's elegant demonstration of the rise of inequality
random walks		Math
range		Statistics	in a set of numbers, the difference between the highest value and the lowest value in the data set
rara avis		Myth/Metaphor	"rare bird" in Latin
rate of return		Economics
realism		Philosophy
recursion	Method	Math
red shift		Physics
reductio ad absurdo		Philosophy	collapsing things too far, in a way that destroys real significance
reductio ad finem		Philosophy	To analyze to the end — break the concept down into its conponent parts.
redundancy		Systems theory	having multiple pathways within a system to accomplish the same task or achieve the same objective
reference frame		Physics	a frame that does not accelerate; also known as a Lorentz frame
regnat populus
regression analysis	Method	Statistics
reincarnation	Unsolved Mystery	Religion
reinforcing loop		Systems theory
relativity	Theory	Physics	Einstein's central insight that the experience or perceived passage of time depends greatly on the conditions of the observer, particularly with respect to velocity and gravity
resilience		Systems theory	ability to bounce back into shape after having been pressed or stretched; elasticity. The ability to recover quickly.
respice finem			"consider that you will die" — i.e. live life as you would in order to be proud of it by the time it's over
res publica		Government	pertaining to the state
retrodiction
revenue		Economics
risk	Legal precedent	Economics
risk-weighted assets (RWAs)		Economics
root cause
rounding		Math
rounding error		Math
run on the bank
sampling	Method	Statistics
samsara		Religion
scarcity		Economics
Schelling's Tipping Model
search intent	Term	Media
second-order thinking
selection bias	Experimental finding	Psychology
self-governance	Philosophy
set theory		Math
ship of Theseus	Metaphor	Myth/Metaphor
SIFI		Economics	systemically important financial institution; post-2008 financial crisis designation for banks deemed "too big to fail" (currently, firms holding more than $50b in assets)
sigma		Statistics	standard deviation, named for the Greek letter denoting the statistical term
signal path		Physics
significant figures		Math	aka "sig figs"
simulation		Philosophy
sine	Term	Math
sine wave	Term	Physics
singularity	Theory	Physics
SIR model	Model	Science	contagious disease modelling based on possible patient states (susceptible, infected, recovered)
site navigation	Method	Media
six degrees of separation	Theory	Statistics
six sigma	Method		Motorola-originated concept of ensuring quality control to a very fine point, by ensuring that parts or other production outputs are manufactured to be within a certain quality range up to 6 times the standard deviation.
situational preparedness
squaring the circle	Unsolved Mystery		A notorious philosophical problem first posed by Plato, the phrase has come to be used to allude to the grandiosity and infeasibility of someone's plans.
skew		Statistics
skin in the game	Ancient Wisdom	Economics
slope of a line		Math
social contract	Philosophy	Philosophy	Profoundly impactful document in political philosophy from Jean Jacques Rousseau in 18th c. France, refuting the rights of monarchs to rule the people
Socratic method	Method	Philosophy	Technique of instruction or conversation where the teacher or moderator proceeds by asking the student or pupil a serious of questions, enticing her or him to come up with their own answers to the issues related to the subject at hand.
solipsism
sorting		Math
speech act theory	Theory	Philosophy	British philosopher J.L.Austin's concept that all uses of speech carry a performative aspect
speed of light (c)	Scientific Law	Physics	approx. 300 million meters per second
Single point of failure (SPoF)	Term		A part of a system that, when it fails, brings down the entire rest of the system or stops it from working properly
spread		Statistics
standard deviation		Statistics
standing waves	Term
stare decisis	Legal precedent	Law	"it has been decided" — terminology used by a judge or court to indicate that the matter before them has already been decided by a previous ruling
status quo		Culture
stochastic terrorism	Term	Social psychology
stocks and flows	Model	Systems theory
Stoicism	Ancient Wisdom	Philosophy
Streisand Effect	Metaphor	Social psychology	when the act of attempting to hide information only makes it more prominently spread, especially via the Internet
strict father morality			George Lakoff's terminology to describe the conservative worldview
strict liability		Law	crimes which have no mens rea requirement, such as rear-ending of another vehicle (where it is always the rear-enders' fault no matter what the circumstances
subsidy		Economics
success to the successful		Systems theory	reinforcing loop within complex system — especially economies — wherein the spoils of victory include the means to alter the rules of the game further in the favor of the previous winners
summum malum	Ancient Wisdom	Politics	ultimate evil — some posit cruelty as this ultimate evil
supply and demand	Model	Economics
supply chain	Term	Economics
sword of Damocles	Metaphor
symmetric encryption	Term
tabula rasa			Blank slate
tachyon		Physics	hypothetical particle that travels faster than the speed of light
tangent		Math
tariff
tempus edax rerum	Ancient Wisdom	Arts	"Time devours everything." — Ovid
tempus fugit	Ancient Wisdom		Time flies
tempus neminem manet	Ancient Wisdom		time waits for no man
Third Story	Thought Experiment	Philosophy	the story an impartial third-party observer might tell; a version of events any unbiased person could agree on
Thucydides Trap
tilting at windmills	Metaphor	Arts	A reference to the novel Don Quixote, denoting the ongoing pursuit of useless attacks against an implacable enemy
time dilation	Thought Experiment	Physics
time series data	Method	Statistics	A collection of measurements taken over time that create a graph when plotted.
time value of money	Theory	Economics
tipping point	Model	Systems theory
too many cooks in the kitchen	Metaphor
touchstone	Metaphor	Myth/Metaphor	A black stone once used to judge the purity of gold or silver — now signifying a standard against which something should be judged.
Tower of Babel	Metaphor	Religion	A tale in the book of Genesis in the Bible that purports to explain the origins of different languages, via narrative about God confounding the speech of humans trying to build a tower to reach Him.
trade-offs	Model	Economics
tragedy of the commons	Theory	Systems theory	An economic term for a situation in which unfettered access to a resource can lead to resource depletion through uncoordinated behavior -- a classic example is overfishing.
transitivity	Term	Math
trolly problem	Thought Experiment	Philosophy
turtles all the way down	Theory	Philosophy
twin paradox	Thought Experiment	Physics
tyranny of choice	Theory	Systems theory
Unicode	Term	Computers
union	Term	Math	In set theory, a union of sets is a set which consists of all the members of all the sets.
universal law	Philosophy	Philosophy
usury	Term	Economics	the act of charging interest on borrowed money; for thousands of years there have been religous proscriptions against lending money with interest in various societies
utility		Philosophy
variance	Term	Statistics
Veil of Ignorance	Model	Philosophy	Philosopher John Rawls' model for making better ethical decisions, in which the decider chooses a course of action based on the predicate that s/he will not know which of the groups or persons affected by the decision they personally would be. This method creates natural incentives to find the fairest outcome for all groups, since the decider doesn't know which group they will "end up in" on the other side of the decision.
Venn diagram	Model	Statistics
via negativa	Method	Philosophy	indirect description of a thing by describing what that thing is not
Volcker rule	Legal precedent	Economics	financial rule preventing consumer lending banks from speculative trading in securities for their own profit
wave function	Scientific Law	Physics
wave-particle duality	Theory	Physics
wheel of life	Symbol	Religion
when life gives you lemons	Metaphor	Philosophy	You try to make lemonade! Another way of saying, "let's try and make the best of this unfortunate situation."
winner-take-all market		Economics
wisdom of crowds	Model	Social psychology	derived from the Diversity Prediction Theorem: the average prediction of a group of individuals will be more accurate than the prediction of one average member
wolves and sheep	Metaphor	Philosophy
wormhole	Theory	Physics	A sort of tunnel formed on the surface of a black hole that may connect two different regions of space
worst case scenario	Model	Myth/Metaphor
zero sum game	Model	Math
z score	Term	Statistics