Blowback, or unintended consequences, are an important mental model to understand. We can't foresee every interaction our decisions will have with future states. This effect becomes even more pronounced the further into the future we try to project.
Understanding that blowback exists can change the way we think about decisions. Trying to determine what blowback might occur is a higher-order type of thinking. When making decisions, what second-order or third-order effects might occur as a result? Which ones are important?