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← People and their mental models

Ada Palmer's mental models

3 claims Ada Palmer made fit 3 mental models. Most often: Cognitive biases, Everything decays without maintenance, Second-order thinking. Everything they said here.

Models we see in what they say

Our reading: their claim applies the idea without naming it. The claim is theirs; filing it here is ours.

Cognitive biases

Your mind jumps to conclusions and defends them; look for the evidence against you and use checklists.

Used by 17 others

Anything in the past that feels revolutionary, modern or comfortable should be treated as a warning sign of presentism until the evidence has been checked again.

  1. Ada Palmer Historian of the Renaissance and of the history of ideas Presentism is sometimes conscious, but often unconscious, so mindful historians will pause whenever we see something that feels revolutionary, or progressive, or proto-modern, or too comfortable, to check for other readings, and make triple sure we have real evidence. On Progress and Historical Changeexurbe.com · 4 Jan 2017All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsPresentism is sometimes conscious, but often unconscious, so mindful historians will pause whenever we see something that feels revolutionary, or progressive, or proto-modern, or too comfortable, to check for other readings, and make triple sure we have real evidence.

    ↗On Progress and Historical Changeexurbe.com

    4 Jan 2017

Everything decays without maintenance

Institutions, code, cities and knowledge run down by default; keeping something alive is work that has to be paid for.

Used by 27 others

Machiavelli held that every institution is gradually corrupted and must be reformed back to its foundations or collapse under the weight of that corruption.

  1. Ada Palmer Historian of the Renaissance and of the history of ideas All institutions are gradually corrupted and need to be reformed and returned to their foundations, or they will collapse under the weight of their corruption. Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all time – Ada Palmeryoutube.com · 16 Jun 2026 · 0:35:29 into the videoAll korrents from this video
    Their wordsAll institutions are gradually corrupted and need to be reformed and returned to their foundations, or they will collapse under the weight of their corruption.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:35:29 plays here

    ↗Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all time – Ada Palmeryoutube.com

    16 Jun 2026 · video · 2h 08m · spoken · machine transcript

Second-order thinking

Ask "and then what?": follow a decision past its first effect to the ones that come after.

Used by 86 others

The papacy made Italy uniquely unstable in Europe, because each new pope inherited a precedent that he could overthrow any government he liked.

  1. Ada Palmer Historian of the Renaissance and of the history of ideas And soon we have a precedent that every new pope feels he has the authority to knock down every pawn upon the chessboard if he feels like it. Once that is the norm, even a fairly nice pope still inherits the idea that the pope is going to overthrow and replace governments. And this creates a unique instability within Italy that no other part of Europe is subject to Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all time – Ada Palmeryoutube.com · 16 Jun 2026 · 0:03:25 into the videoAll korrents from this video
    Their wordsAnd soon we have a precedent that every new pope feels he has the authority to knock down every pawn upon the chessboard if he feels like it. Once that is the norm, even a fairly nice pope still inherits the idea that the pope is going to overthrow and replace governments. And this creates a unique instability within Italy that no other part of Europe is subject to

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:03:25 plays here

    ↗Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all time – Ada Palmeryoutube.com

    16 Jun 2026 · video · 2h 08m · spoken · machine transcript