Psychology & Behavior
Dunning-Kruger Effect
People with low ability in a domain consistently overestimate their competence, while experts tend to underestimate theirs.
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Science & Systems
Swiss Cheese Model
The Swiss Cheese Model explains how accidents happen when holes in multiple safety barriers align, allowing hazards to slip through.
Psychology & Behavior
The Halo Effect
The halo effect is our tendency to let one positive trait overshadow and influence our judgment of all other traits.
Psychology & Behavior
Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive dissonance is the uncomfortable mental tension you feel when holding contradictory beliefs, values, or attitudes simultaneously.
Psychology & Behavior
The Bystander Effect
The more people who witness an emergency, the less likely any individual is to help.
Psychology & Behavior
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow's Hierarchy suggests humans have five levels of needs that must be satisfied in order, from basic survival to self-fulfillment.
Economics & Decision-Making
Nash Equilibrium
Nash Equilibrium is the point in any strategic situation where no player can improve their outcome by unilaterally changing their strategy.
Business & Strategy
The Pareto Principle
The Pareto Principle states that roughly 80% of effects come from 20% of causes.
Psychology & Behavior
Loss Aversion
Loss aversion is our tendency to feel the pain of losing something roughly twice as intensely as the pleasure of gaining the same thing.
Economics & Decision-Making
The Prisoner's Dilemma
The Prisoner's Dilemma shows how two rational people might not cooperate even when it's in their mutual interest to do so.
Economics & Decision-Making
Opportunity Cost
Opportunity cost is the value of the best alternative you give up when making a choice.
Business & Strategy
The Innovator's Dilemma
The Innovator's Dilemma explains why successful companies often fail not despite doing everything right, but because of it.