I see most people make daily decisions like goldfish do— with a short memory, and zero foresight. But rational people? They try to think beyond the knee-jerk reaction and predict the chaos that could follow.
This mental habit to foresee the consequences of your decisions, and the consequences of those consequences, is Second-Order Thinking.
The Mental Model of ‘Second-Order Thinking’ – Avoiding Disaster
If you use it, you make better decisions. If you don't, you are likely to suffer from unintended consequences. No one wants that. Let's understand this with an example: