Mental Models, Frameworks, and Terminology for Thinkers

A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q
Term	Definition	Topic	Image	Related
80/20 rule	Also known as a power law, or the Pareto Principle	Economics
absolute value	the value of a function irrespective of its sign (positive or negative)	Math
accessibility	How easy something is to call to mind	Psychology
activation energy	A chemistry term that describes the minimum energy required for a chemical system to react	Science
adverse selection
akrasia	A state of mind where someone acts against their own better judgment due to weakness of will.
alea iacta est
Amara's Law	"We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run"	Science & Technology
annuity	a series of regular payments	Economics		see also: interest rates
antifragility		Economics
antimatter		Science & Technology
arbitrage		Economics
archetypes	An ideal type; a model after which others are fashioned.	Philosophy
arrow of time		Science & Technology
ASCII	American Standard Code for Information Interchange: a standard character translation table used by computers to convert numerical representations into printable characters	Science & Technology
asking a fish about water
asymmetric encryption
asymptotes	A line is approaching a limit, but never quite reaches it.	Math
availability bias		Psychology
averages	a measure of central tendency of a set of data, whether the mean, media, or mode	Math
balancing loop		Systems theory
Baldwin Effect	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.	Science & Technology
base conversion
Base Rate Fallacy		Psychology
base weighting
Bayes' Theorem	an algebraic method of determining the updated probability of a certain event or case, given new information	Math
bend the knee		Social psychology
beta	In finance, a term that refers to investments tracking the broad market performance of an exchange or industry sector	Economics
The Big Bang	The massive explosion which spawned our entire universe, back at the beginning of time.	Science & Technology
The Big Crunch
binary numbers		Math
Binomial Theorem		Math
Black-Scholes model		Economics		https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blackscholes.asp
Black Swan		Economics
blockchain
Boyle's Law
boundary object
bounded rationality	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	Psychology		see also: Kahneman and Tversky
bricolage	Combination of many types and forms into one piece; a pastiche or mashup of style and cultural referents	Arts
broken windows theory
Butterfly Effect		Science
bystander effect
cadence		Arts
capital gains	Money that is earned as a result of a stock investment appreciating in value — the capital "gains in value"	Economics
carbon-14
carbon dating
catalyst		Science
categorical data		Statistics
causa-sui project
central limit theorem		Statistics
central tendency	a measure of the midpoint of a data set; includes mean, median, and mode	Statistics
ceteris paribus	"all other things being equal"; holding the effects of other variables constant to determine the effects on a single variable of interest	Economics		see also: scientific method
charge preservation		Science & Technology
charlatan	one who aspires to wealth &/or fame through trickery and deception	Psychology		Social psychology
chilling effect		History
cognitive bias		Psychology		see also: Common psychological biases, logical fallacies, and cognitive distortions
collapse		Systems theory
comparative advantage
composite events	in probability
compound interest		Economics
conditionals		Math
Condorcet Jury Theorem
confidence interval	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	Statistics		see also: margin of error
confirmation bias		Psychology
conflation		Psychology
consequentialism		Philosophy
constraints		Math
Consumer Sentiment Index		Economics
continuous vs. discrete variables
Copernican theory of the solar system		Science		replaced the geocentric Ptolemaic system
correlation		Statistics		see also: causation
correlation coefficient
counterfactual
creative destruction	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	Economics
credo quia absurdum	"I believe because it is absurd" — Tertullian's defense of belief in the miracles attributed to Christ
critical mass		Science		see also: activation energy
crossing the Rubicon	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	History
cross-sectional data		Math
crowdfunding		Economics
crowdsourcing		Systems theory
cryptocurrency		Economics
dead hand of the past	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)	History		https://concurringopinions.com/archives/2014/08/on-jeffersons-proposed-solution-to-the-dead-hand-problem-and-the-futility-thereof.html
decision theory		Systems theory
decision tree		Systems theory
depreciation		Economics
derivatives		Math
diminshing marginal utility (DMU)		Economics
directory structure
dispersion	the amount of variation within a set of data; how spread out the data points are from each other	Statistics		see also: variation, spread, standard deviation, range, central tendency
distributions		Statistics
divergent thinking		Psychology
Diversity Prediction Theorem
dividend payments	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.	Economics
Dodd-Frank Act of 2010	definitive financial regulation of the financial industry following the 2007-8 financial crisis	Economics
doxa	common belief or opinion	Social psychology		see: Pierre Bourdieu
Drake Equation	1961 estimation of the number of technological civilizations that might exist in the universe, conceived by Dr. Frank Drake	Science
Dunbar number		Psychology		Social psychology
Dunning-Kruger Effect		Psychology
Duverger's Law		Math
economies of scale		Economics
elasticity; price elasticity	the ability of pricing mechanisms to respond quickly or less quickly to changes in prevailing conditions	Economics
electromagnetic spectrum		Science
elephants and flies	sales concept to quickly segment leads into size buckets, from elephants > deers > rabbits > mice > flies	Economics
elephant and rider	psychological idea about how our unconscious and semi-conscious desires dominate us, but can be directed by reason (Jonathan Haidt et al)	Psychology		see also: id, ego, Superego
encryption		Math
ensemble learning		Science & Technology
epistemology		Philosophy
e pluribus unum	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.	Politics
equity		Economics
equity crowdfunding		Economics
error-embracing		Psychology
event horizon		Physics
exchange rates	The value of one country's currency as measured against another	Economics
exit strategy		Economics
externalities		Economics		see also: unintended consequences
extrapolation		Statistics
factorial		Math
factum tacendo, crimen facias acrius	He who does not stop a crime is an accomplice.
fact /value problem
fake news		Media		see also: Fake news / role of social media in politics tracker , Fake news outlets list , Fake news lexicon | Propaganda terminology
false positives		Science
false consensus effect		Social psychology
falsifiability	ability to be proven untrue; a requirement for a theory to be called scientific	Science & Technology
Feynman Technique	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.	Science & Technology		https://mattyford.com/blog/2014/1/23/the-feynman-technique-model
fiduciary duty		Economics
fifth column	a group who unites in secret to undermine a larger group from within	Politics
filter bubble		Social psychology
first principles		Philosophy
fitness function	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
force multiplier		Science
fractals		Math
fractions
fragility		Philosophy
framing		Psychology		see also: anchoring
freshwater vs. saltwater economists		Economics
Friend of the Court filing		Law
FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt)		Social psychology		see also: propaganda
fundamental attribution error		Psychology
future value		Economics		see also: present value, net present value
game theory		Math
Gates' Law	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	Philosophy		see also: Moore's Law
Gaussian distribution	the Normal distribution	Statistics
GDP (Gross Domestic Product)	the sum of all public and private goods produced within a given period; a measure of a country's economic health	Economics
generalists and specialists		Philosophy		see also: foxes and hedgehogs
genetic algorithms	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	Science & Technology
GOFAI	"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	Science & Technology
Golden Mean	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	Philosophy
gravity waves		Physics		gravitons, in particle form
habeas corpus		Law
habitus		Social psychology
Hanlon's Razor	never attribute to malice what is adequately described by carelessness	Philosophy
hearts and minds		Politics
hedge funds		Economics
Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle		Science & Technology
hexadecimal numbers	base 6	Math
heuristics	Mental shortcuts that we do as a matter of routine, especially when we're stressed or under other types of cognitive constraints.	Psychology		see also: Common psychological biases, logical fallacies, and cognitive distortions
iatrogenics	harm done by the healer	Health
ice core dating		Science & Technology
id, ego, Superego		Psychology
Imposter Syndrome		Psychology
index number; indexing		Statistics
inflation		Economics
inflection point		Science
internal rate of return (IRR)		Economics
intersection		Math		see also: union
interventionism		Social psychology
IP addresses		Science & Technology
iron law of oligarchy		Politics
Keynesian economics		Economics
Keynesian Put		Economics
Kronos Effect	the tendency of a successful corporation to seek to acquire and/or drive its upstart competitors out of business	Economics
Laffer Curve		Economics
law of excluded middle
Law of Large Numbers	As the number of coin tosses approaches infinity, the number of heads encountered will converge on 0.5; helpful in calculations of probability.	Math
least-barricaded gate	Trotsky's metaphor of how social revolutions can take hold more easily in already weakened societies
lecturing birds how to fly
length contraction		Physics
leverage		Economics
lifeboat ethics
limit of a function	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)	Math
limiting factor		Systems theory
linear regression		Math
local min	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	Systems theory
logarithm		Math
logical fallacies		Philosophy		https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/
long tail	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	Statistics
loss aversion		Psychology
loyalists and mercenaries		Systems theory
maker's time and manager's time		Systems theory
Manichaean	a narrowly-defined dualistic worldview of good against evil	Philosophy
map is not the territory
marginal returns		Economics
Markov chain		Math
Maslow's Hierarchy of needs		Psychology
mean	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	Statistics
median		Statistics
Median Voter Theorem		Politics
mens rea	"guilty mind" — establishing the intent of a perp can help to establish criminal liability
mode		Statistics
Moore's Law	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.	Science
moral hazard	when one party takes on additional risk, knowing that other parties will bear the brunt of the risk in event of a loss	Economics
Moravec's Paradox
MVP (minimum viable product)				see also: perfect is the enemy of good