Society & Power Structures
10 concepts
- Overton WindowYou dismissed an idea as absurd, then five years later heard yourself defending it as obvious.
- Dunbar's NumberYou made new friends after moving and only later noticed the old ones fading without anyone choosing to let go.
- Tragedy of the CommonsYour share is negligible — and that is exactly the reasoning every other person depleting the same resource is using.
- Wisdom of CrowdsYou averaged five independent guesses and the result was more accurate than the best individual estimate.
- Social ProofYou chose the restaurant with the longer line, trusting the crowd's judgment without knowing a single diner's reason.
- Tall Poppy SyndromeA peer succeeds in your field and the impulse to find the flaw arrives before any assessment of the achievement.
- Iron Law of InstitutionsThe organization exists to serve its mission, but every internal decision you witness optimizes for someone's position instead.
- Social Contract TheoryThe rules feel legitimate until the institution you pay into stops delivering its side of the bargain.
- Digital DivideSomeone says 'just go online and...' — and you realize they assume everyone can.
- Sustainable DevelopmentThe short-term economics are favorable, everyone profits now, and nobody accounts for what the system loses over thirty years.