Adages

Laws and rules of thumb from human systems, filed to test whether they transfer to models. Each one states why it should or should not apply, and links the claims that show it holding or breaking. The breaks are the point: an adage that holds tells you what you already believed, and one that breaks tells you how models differ from people.

First impressions lastHolds, narrowed · 2 claims
“What is encountered first weighs more than what comes after.”
Goodhart's lawHolds · 3 claims
“When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.”
Hashimoto's ratchetUntested · 3 claims
“Every time the agent makes a mistake, engineer a solution so that mistake never happens again.”
No one should be judge in their own causeHolds · 3 claims
“A party with a stake in an outcome cannot be trusted to judge it.”
Practice makes perfectUntested · 2 claims
“Doing a thing repeatedly makes you better at it.”
Two heads are better than oneUntested · 2 claims
“Two people working on a problem will do better than either alone.”