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← People and their mental models

Henry Farrell's mental models

3 claims Henry Farrell made fit 3 mental models. Most often: Incentives, Lock-in and switching costs, 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.

Incentives

Look at what people are rewarded for; it explains more behaviour than what they say, your own included.

Used by 84 others

AI labs fund social science partly to manage the fact that the AI buildout is unpopular, seeking ways to make it more acceptable to the public.

  1. Henry Farrell Professor of international affairs at Johns Hopkins SAIS and co-author I suspect that some of the labs' willingness to put money into the social sciences stems from the realization of senior people that the practical build out of AI is highly unpopular in the U.S and their urgent desire to figure out how to sugarcoat the pill so that it will get swallowed How should social science think about AI?programmablemutter.com · 12 Sept 2026All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsI suspect that some of the labs' willingness to put money into the social sciences stems from the realization of senior people that the practical build out of AI is highly unpopular in the U.S and their urgent desire to figure out how to sugarcoat the pill so that it will get swallowed

    ↗How should social science think about AI?programmablemutter.com

    12 Sept 2026

Lock-in and switching costs

People stay with what they would not choose again because leaving costs more than staying; watch who sets that cost.

Used by 17 others

A country whose economy and military are deeply entangled with a dominant neighbor will keep getting stuck with choices that run counter to its own national interests.

  1. Henry Farrell Professor of international affairs at Johns Hopkins SAIS and co-author So long as Canada is irrevocably plugged into the US economy, military and other arrangements, it's liable to get stuck with choices that run counter to its national interests. Canada is cosying up to Europeprogrammablemutter.com · 15 Sept 2026All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsSo long as Canada is irrevocably plugged into the US economy, military and other arrangements, it's liable to get stuck with choices that run counter to its national interests.

    ↗Canada is cosying up to Europeprogrammablemutter.com

    15 Sept 2026

Second-order thinking

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

Used by 86 others

Solving a systemic problem by doubling down on the same approach risks creating uncontrollable feedback loops.

  1. Henry Farrell Professor of international affairs at Johns Hopkins SAIS and co-author As a general matter, trying to solve a systemic problem by doubling down risks creating out-of-control feedback loops. The downside of robot solutionismprogrammablemutter.com · 7 Aug 2026All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsAs a general matter, trying to solve a systemic problem by doubling down risks creating out-of-control feedback loops.

    ↗The downside of robot solutionismprogrammablemutter.com

    7 Aug 2026