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← People and their mental models

Bryan Caplan's mental models

4 claims Bryan Caplan made fit 3 mental models. Most often: Second-order thinking, Collective action problems, Signalling. Everything they said here.

Models they name

Their own words name the idea.

Signalling

Much of what people do is a message about themselves, and a signal is believed only when it costs something to send.

Used by 15 others

The main function of education is signalling rather than building skill, so subsidising it mostly inflates credentials.

  1. Bryan Caplan Since signaling, not building human capital, is the main function of education, the main effect of government subsidies is credential inflation. Selfishly Speaking, Who Should Skip College?betonit.ai · 19 Feb 2025All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsSince signaling, not building human capital, is the main function of education, the main effect of government subsidies is credential inflation.

    ↗Selfishly Speaking, Who Should Skip College?betonit.ai

    19 Feb 2025

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.

Second-order thinking

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

Used by 92 others

War cannot be morally justified unless there is high confidence its long-run effects are very good.

  1. Bryan Caplan Actual war means killing a lot of innocent people - and that cannot be justified unless you have high confidence that the long-run effects are very good. The Negligence of War and Peacebetonit.ai · 21 Sept 2026All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsActual war means killing a lot of innocent people - and that cannot be justified unless you have high confidence that the long-run effects are very good.

    ↗The Negligence of War and Peacebetonit.ai

    21 Sept 2026

Since 1990, the United States has carefully planned its wars but poorly planned for their aftermath.

  1. Bryan Caplan You could consider "Since 1990, the U.S. has carefully planned its wars, yet poorly planned for the aftermath" a mixed compliment. The Negligence of War and Peacebetonit.ai · 21 Sept 2026All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsYou could consider "Since 1990, the U.S. has carefully planned its wars, yet poorly planned for the aftermath" a mixed compliment.

    ↗The Negligence of War and Peacebetonit.ai

    21 Sept 2026

Collective action problems

What everyone would gain from, nobody provides alone, so shared goods need someone or something to hold people together.

Used by 18 others

Bad admissions tests survive on herding: no programme wants to be the one asking for a different exam, even a far better one.

  1. Bryan Caplan So a lot of the problem is mere herding: If every other top engineering program is using the GRE, it’s too weird to require a different test even if the alternative test is a far superior selection mechanism. What's Really Wrong With Standardized Testsbetonit.ai · 15 Apr 2025All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsSo a lot of the problem is mere herding: If every other top engineering program is using the GRE, it’s too weird to require a different test even if the alternative test is a far superior selection mechanism.

    ↗What's Really Wrong With Standardized Testsbetonit.ai

    15 Apr 2025