The sentiment, on my part, comes from the pretentiousness of the expression "mental models", and from the intent of the people using it. You could make a list

The sentiment, on my part, comes from the pretentiousness of the expression "mental models", and from the intent of the people using it. You could make a list of "ideas", "thoughts", "observations", or "analogies", with the same content and be a lot less pretentious. Instead people use the term "mental models" because Charlie Munger or whomever popularized the term like he discovered some groundbreaking truth about thinking, to try and jump on the gravy train and sell their newsletter/consulting services or whatever.