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Reviews
The Great Mental Models Volume 1: General Thinking Concepts by Shane Parrish, Rhiannon Beaubien
spav's review against another edition
3.0
Good content awfully narrated, to the point that at times was distracting.
jasperburns's review against another edition
4.0
Shane Parrish's website Farnam Street is one of my favorite on the internet. His collection of mental models there is complete, clear, and concise. When I found out he was writing a book on mental models (or more precisely, a series of books), I was ecstatic, and preordered this months ahead of time.
It was good. He spoke through a number of the important mental models, cognitive distortions, and more. I took many useful notes. I found his organization of writing unique in that he introduced all the characters up front at the beginning of each chapter, and this was a novel technique I appreciated. If I were to find fault in the book, it would be that some of his examples don't fully represent the models he is trying to illustrate. Still, they worked well enough.
Highlights I found particularly interesting:
"The author and explorer of mental models, Peter Bevelin, put it best: 'I don’t want to be a great problem solver. I want to avoid problems—prevent them from happening and doing it right from the beginning.'"Avoiding problems is better than solving them
"Our failures to update from interacting with reality spring primarily from three things:.. The first flaw is perspective. We have a hard time seeing any system that we are in... The second flaw is ego. Many of us tend to have too much invested in our opinions of ourselves to see the world’s feedback—the feedback we need to update our beliefs about reality... The third flaw is distance. The further we are from the results of our decisions, the easier it is to keep our current views rather than update them. When you put your hand on a hot stove, you quickly learn the natural consequence. You pay the price for your mistakes. Since you are a pain-avoiding creature, you update your view. Before you touch another stove, you check to see if it’s hot. But you don’t just learn a micro lesson that applies in one situation. Instead, you draw a general abstraction, one that tells you to check before touching anything that could potentially be hot. Organizations over a certain size often remove us from the direct consequences of our decisions. When we make decisions that other people carry out, we are one or more levels removed and may not immediately be able to update our understanding." Failure to convert bad intuition to rational decision-making is due to perspective, ego, and distance
"As Confucius said, 'A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it, is committing another mistake.'"
"The map of reality is not reality. Even the best maps are imperfect. That’s because they are reductions of what they represent. If a map were to represent the territory with perfect fidelity, it would no longer be a reduction and thus would no longer be useful to us... The truth is, the only way we can navigate the complexity of reality is through some sort of abstraction. When we read the news, we’re consuming abstractions created by other people. The authors consumed vast amounts of information, reflected upon it, and drew some abstractions and conclusions that they share with us. But something is lost in the process. We can lose the specific and relevant details that were distilled into an abstraction." No model is perfect
"Karl Popper wrote “A theory is part of empirical science if and only if it conflicts with possible experiences13 and is therefore in principle falsifiable by experience.” The idea here is that if you can’t prove something wrong, you can’t really prove it right either. Thus, in Popper’s words, science requires testability: “If observation shows that the predicted effect is definitely absent, then the theory is simply refuted.” This means a good theory must have an element of risk to it—namely, it has to risk being wrong. It must be able to be proven wrong under stated conditions." Falsifiability
"When it comes down to it, everything that is not a law of nature is just a shared belief. Money is a shared belief. So is a border. So are bitcoin. So is love. The list goes on." Intersubjective collective fictions
"Let’s think about another chaotic system we’re all familiar with, the weather. Why is it that we can predict the movement of the stars but we can’t predict the weather more than a few weeks out, and even that is not altogether reliable? It’s because weather is highly chaotic. Any infinitesimally small error in our calculations today will change the result down the line, as rapid feedback loops occur throughout time. Since our measurement tools are not infinitely accurate, and never will be, we are stuck with the unpredictability of chaotic systems." Chaotic versus non-chaotic systems
"Our initial intuition of what is fair is likely to be challenged during the “veil of ignorance” thought experiment. When confronted with the question of how best to organize society, we have this general feeling that it should be fair. But what exactly does this mean? We can use this thought experiment to test the likely outcomes of different rules and structures to come up with an aggregate of “most fair.”"
"Warren Buffett used a very apt metaphor once to describe how the second-order problem is best described by a crowd at a parade: Once a few people decide to stand on their tip-toes, everyone has to stand on their tip-toes. No one can see any better, but they’re all worse off." Second-order effects example
"Garrett Hardin smartly addresses this in Filters Against Folly: Those who take the wedge (Slippery Slope) argument with the utmost seriousness act as though they think human beings are completely devoid of practical judgment. Countless examples from everyday life show the pessimists are wrong…If we took the wedge argument seriously, we would pass a law forbidding all vehicles to travel at any speed greater than zero. That would be an easy way out of the moral problem. But we pass no such law." Relying too heavily on slipper-slope arguments is stupid
"Whenever correlation is imperfect, extremes will soften over time. The best will always appear to get worse and the worst will appear to get better, regardless of any additional action. This is called regression to the mean, and it means we have to be extra careful when diagnosing causation." When bad things get better, or good things get worse, it might not be causal—it might just be regression to the mean
"Why are more complicated explanations less likely to be true? Let’s work it out mathematically. Take two competing explanations, each of which seem to equally explain a given phenomenon. If one of them requires the interaction of three variables and the other the interaction of thirty variables, all of which must have occurred to arrive at the stated conclusion, which of these is more likely to be in error? If each variable has a 99% chance of being correct, the first explanation is only 3% likely to be wrong. The second, more complex explanation, is about nine times as likely to be wrong, or 26%. The simpler explanation is more robust in the face of uncertainty." Occam's Razor explained in math
View my best reviews and a collection of mental models at jasperburns.blog.
It was good. He spoke through a number of the important mental models, cognitive distortions, and more. I took many useful notes. I found his organization of writing unique in that he introduced all the characters up front at the beginning of each chapter, and this was a novel technique I appreciated. If I were to find fault in the book, it would be that some of his examples don't fully represent the models he is trying to illustrate. Still, they worked well enough.
Highlights I found particularly interesting:
"The author and explorer of mental models, Peter Bevelin, put it best: 'I don’t want to be a great problem solver. I want to avoid problems—prevent them from happening and doing it right from the beginning.'"Avoiding problems is better than solving them
"Our failures to update from interacting with reality spring primarily from three things:.. The first flaw is perspective. We have a hard time seeing any system that we are in... The second flaw is ego. Many of us tend to have too much invested in our opinions of ourselves to see the world’s feedback—the feedback we need to update our beliefs about reality... The third flaw is distance. The further we are from the results of our decisions, the easier it is to keep our current views rather than update them. When you put your hand on a hot stove, you quickly learn the natural consequence. You pay the price for your mistakes. Since you are a pain-avoiding creature, you update your view. Before you touch another stove, you check to see if it’s hot. But you don’t just learn a micro lesson that applies in one situation. Instead, you draw a general abstraction, one that tells you to check before touching anything that could potentially be hot. Organizations over a certain size often remove us from the direct consequences of our decisions. When we make decisions that other people carry out, we are one or more levels removed and may not immediately be able to update our understanding." Failure to convert bad intuition to rational decision-making is due to perspective, ego, and distance
"As Confucius said, 'A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it, is committing another mistake.'"
"The map of reality is not reality. Even the best maps are imperfect. That’s because they are reductions of what they represent. If a map were to represent the territory with perfect fidelity, it would no longer be a reduction and thus would no longer be useful to us... The truth is, the only way we can navigate the complexity of reality is through some sort of abstraction. When we read the news, we’re consuming abstractions created by other people. The authors consumed vast amounts of information, reflected upon it, and drew some abstractions and conclusions that they share with us. But something is lost in the process. We can lose the specific and relevant details that were distilled into an abstraction." No model is perfect
"Karl Popper wrote “A theory is part of empirical science if and only if it conflicts with possible experiences13 and is therefore in principle falsifiable by experience.” The idea here is that if you can’t prove something wrong, you can’t really prove it right either. Thus, in Popper’s words, science requires testability: “If observation shows that the predicted effect is definitely absent, then the theory is simply refuted.” This means a good theory must have an element of risk to it—namely, it has to risk being wrong. It must be able to be proven wrong under stated conditions." Falsifiability
"When it comes down to it, everything that is not a law of nature is just a shared belief. Money is a shared belief. So is a border. So are bitcoin. So is love. The list goes on." Intersubjective collective fictions
"Let’s think about another chaotic system we’re all familiar with, the weather. Why is it that we can predict the movement of the stars but we can’t predict the weather more than a few weeks out, and even that is not altogether reliable? It’s because weather is highly chaotic. Any infinitesimally small error in our calculations today will change the result down the line, as rapid feedback loops occur throughout time. Since our measurement tools are not infinitely accurate, and never will be, we are stuck with the unpredictability of chaotic systems." Chaotic versus non-chaotic systems
"Our initial intuition of what is fair is likely to be challenged during the “veil of ignorance” thought experiment. When confronted with the question of how best to organize society, we have this general feeling that it should be fair. But what exactly does this mean? We can use this thought experiment to test the likely outcomes of different rules and structures to come up with an aggregate of “most fair.”"
"Warren Buffett used a very apt metaphor once to describe how the second-order problem is best described by a crowd at a parade: Once a few people decide to stand on their tip-toes, everyone has to stand on their tip-toes. No one can see any better, but they’re all worse off." Second-order effects example
"Garrett Hardin smartly addresses this in Filters Against Folly: Those who take the wedge (Slippery Slope) argument with the utmost seriousness act as though they think human beings are completely devoid of practical judgment. Countless examples from everyday life show the pessimists are wrong…If we took the wedge argument seriously, we would pass a law forbidding all vehicles to travel at any speed greater than zero. That would be an easy way out of the moral problem. But we pass no such law." Relying too heavily on slipper-slope arguments is stupid
"Whenever correlation is imperfect, extremes will soften over time. The best will always appear to get worse and the worst will appear to get better, regardless of any additional action. This is called regression to the mean, and it means we have to be extra careful when diagnosing causation." When bad things get better, or good things get worse, it might not be causal—it might just be regression to the mean
"Why are more complicated explanations less likely to be true? Let’s work it out mathematically. Take two competing explanations, each of which seem to equally explain a given phenomenon. If one of them requires the interaction of three variables and the other the interaction of thirty variables, all of which must have occurred to arrive at the stated conclusion, which of these is more likely to be in error? If each variable has a 99% chance of being correct, the first explanation is only 3% likely to be wrong. The second, more complex explanation, is about nine times as likely to be wrong, or 26%. The simpler explanation is more robust in the face of uncertainty." Occam's Razor explained in math
View my best reviews and a collection of mental models at jasperburns.blog.
artex's review against another edition
4.0
I'm a big fan of The Knowledge Project. However, I wouldn't say that this book is tremendously practical, since application, now an awareness is the biggest challenge with mental models. Also I would be glad to have the structure of narrative less typical and predictable, but it's only because of high bar from other Shane Parrish's mediums. All in all, the books is well written and useful (especially if you are not familiar with lettuce from classical sources).
saaraa96's review against another edition
4.0
کتاب به طور کلی شاید چیز جدیدی نمیگفت ؛ همونطور که اولش خودش هم گفته بود. اما واقعن گاهی نیاز داریم یه سری چیزهایی که میدونیم رو، با دسته بندی درست و بررسی های بهتر دوباره از یه جای دیگه بشنویم/بخونیم.
البته تو مثال هاش خودم کلی چیز جدید یاد گرفتم.
یه تیکه هاییشو میذارم بمونه:
داستانی که برنیز برا افزایش فروش سیگار به خانمها راه انداخته بود خیلی توجهم رو جلب کرد:
طرف شروع کرده بود با تبلیغ اینکه سیگار لاغر میکنه، هماهنگی با رستوران ها که تو منوشون کنار مثلن شیرینیجات چاق کننده به عنوان دسر، سیگار هم بذارن که کسایی که میخوان چاق نشن استفاده کنند و هماهنگی با سازنده های کابینت های خونه ها که محلی برا سیگار به طور دیفالت درست کنند و... ادامه داده بود؛ و موفق شد.
بخوایم بگیم منتال مدل چیه خودش یه توضیحی داده بود:
این تیکه برا اینکه چرا یه سری چیز رو یاد نمیگیریم هم جالب بود:
اینرسی ای که آدم داره برا فکر کردن/نکردن
▪ Understanding only becomes useful when we adjust our behavior and actions accordingly.
یاپ. همین که میگه.
البته تو مثال هاش خودم کلی چیز جدید یاد گرفتم.
یه تیکه هاییشو میذارم بمونه:
داستانی که برنیز برا افزایش فروش سیگار به خانمها راه انداخته بود خیلی توجهم رو جلب کرد:
طرف شروع کرده بود با تبلیغ اینکه سیگار لاغر میکنه، هماهنگی با رستوران ها که تو منوشون کنار مثلن شیرینیجات چاق کننده به عنوان دسر، سیگار هم بذارن که کسایی که میخوان چاق نشن استفاده کنند و هماهنگی با سازنده های کابینت های خونه ها که محلی برا سیگار به طور دیفالت درست کنند و... ادامه داده بود؛ و موفق شد.
Bernays’s efforts to make smoking in public socially acceptable had equally startling results. He linked cigarette smoking with women’s emancipation. To smoke was to be free. Cigarettes were marketed as “torches of freedom.” He orchestrated public events, including an infamous parade on Easter Sunday in 1929 which featured women smoking as they walked in the parade. He left no detail unattended, so public perception of smoking was changed almost overnight. He both normalized it and made it desirable in one swoop.
بخوایم بگیم منتال مدل چیه خودش یه توضیحی داده بود:
A mental model is simply a representation of how something works. We cannot keep all of the details of the world in our brains, so we use models to simplify the complex into understandable and organizable chunks. Whether we realize it or not, we then use these models every day to think, decide, and understand our world. While there are millions of mental models, some true and some false, these volumes will focus on the ones with the greatest utility—the all-star team of mental models.
این تیکه برا اینکه چرا یه سری چیز رو یاد نمیگیریم هم جالب بود:
The biggest barrier to learning from contact with reality is ourselves. It’s hard to understand a system that we are part of because we have blind spots, where we can’t see what we aren’t looking for, and don’t notice what we don’t notice.
Our inability to learn from the world because of our ego happens for many reasons, but two are worth mentioning here. First, we’re so afraid about what others will say about us that we fail to put our ideas out there and subject them to criticism. This way we can always be right. Second, if we do put our ideas out there and they are criticized, our ego steps in to protect us. We become invested in defending instead of upgrading our ideas.
اینرسی ای که آدم داره برا فکر کردن/نکردن
▪ It’s much easier to go on thinking what we’ve already been thinking than go through the pain of updating our existing, false beliefs.
▪ We also tend to undervalue the elementary ideas and overvalue the complicated ones. Most of us get jobs based on some form of specialized knowledge, so this makes sense. We don’t think we have much value if we know the things everyone else does, so we focus our effort on developing unique expertise to set ourselves apart. The problem is then that we reject the simple to make sure what we offer can’t be contributed by someone else. But simple ideas are of great value because they can help us prevent complex problems.
▪ Understanding only becomes useful when we adjust our behavior and actions accordingly.
▪ We are afraid to learn and admit when we don’t know enough. This is the mindset that leads to poor decisions.
یاپ. همین که میگه.
The Map is not the Territory
▪ We can’t use maps as dogma. Maps and models are not meant to live forever as static references. The world is dynamic. As territories change, our tools to navigate them must be flexible to handle a wide variety of situations or adapt to the changing times. If the value of a map or model is related to its ability to predict or explain, then it needs to represent reality. If reality has changed the map must change.
▪ The reason we have such difficulty with overconfidence—as demonstrated in studies which show that most of us are much worse drivers, lovers, managers, traders (and many other things) than we think we are—is because we have a problem with honest self-reporting. We don’t keep the right records, because we don’t really want to know what we’re good and bad at. Ego is a powerful enemy when it comes to better understanding reality.
▪ When it comes down to it, everything that is not a law of nature is just a shared belief. Money is a shared belief. So is a border. So are bitcoin. So is love. The list goes on
Fallacy of Conjunction:
we’re deeply affected by vivid, available evidence, to such a degree that we’re willing to make judgments that violate simple logic. We over-conclude based on the available information. We have no trouble packaging in unrelated factors if they happen to occur in proximity to what we already believe.
Failing to prioritize stupidity over malice causes things like paranoia. Always assuming malice puts you at the center of everyone else’s world. This is an incredibly self-centered approach to life. In reality, for every act of malice, there is almost certainly far more ignorance, stupidity, and laziness.
yates9's review against another edition
5.0
The author is well known for his blog called FS, and the book is a bit “bloggy” but it also is a lovely accessible list of key mental models that everyone should know. I love the simplicity of the writing.
lavenderlazarus's review against another edition
3.0
This book is good as an introduction to the concepts listed with examples to help understand them better. But it falls short of showing how and where they can be applied knowing what you know about these concepts. I wish it lived up the description of the book series on the Farnam Street blog where I discovered it existed, which was a deeper exploration of these topics. It's a curation of them, but I wouldn't call it a deeper exploration. Which is quite a shame since I've enjoyed reading many of the articles on the blog.
It's a great jumping off point and it does give you something to think about, provided you can stick with it. I wasn't a big fan of how this was structured and I did take a long break in the middle of reading the book but I'd still say that it's a good book if you're just starting out and learning about psychology/philosophy. If you're already familiar with the concepts discussed, it's a quick refresher.
It's a great jumping off point and it does give you something to think about, provided you can stick with it. I wasn't a big fan of how this was structured and I did take a long break in the middle of reading the book but I'd still say that it's a good book if you're just starting out and learning about psychology/philosophy. If you're already familiar with the concepts discussed, it's a quick refresher.
careydnelson's review against another edition
3.0
I do not recommend the audio version of this book. I will be looking for the physical book in hopes of revising my rating.
bechols's review against another edition
4.0
Clear and concise summary of some important ideas - would have been great to read in high school.
jtwpanda's review against another edition
5.0
Good for come interesting perspective
I think that this is a really read for those that want some interesting perspective on the different happenings in your life. it’s also good for those who want to change how they view their own life.
I think that this is a really read for those that want some interesting perspective on the different happenings in your life. it’s also good for those who want to change how they view their own life.
brycejohnson's review against another edition
4.0
The content is absolutely excellent. Shane addresses a great need in this book: putting into words and processes the critical thinking and skills we perform often, if not daily, but which has not been laid out in a compiled and anecdotally illustrated form.
That said, there is still room for improvement in the medium I experienced this book. This book was released early for audible, and I couldn't wait to delve in. However, the occasional spelling out of URLs for visual examples seems tacky to me in an audio-only format. A PDF version will be available for free in the future, and I think that would be the ideal way to experience this book, namely for the URLs and visual examples.
I've followed Shane's podcast for years now and have been extremely pleased, and would highly recommend this book, his podcast, and weekly Brain Food newsletter for any person with interest in critical thinking, self awareness, and broadening expertise in a multitude of topics.
That said, there is still room for improvement in the medium I experienced this book. This book was released early for audible, and I couldn't wait to delve in. However, the occasional spelling out of URLs for visual examples seems tacky to me in an audio-only format. A PDF version will be available for free in the future, and I think that would be the ideal way to experience this book, namely for the URLs and visual examples.
I've followed Shane's podcast for years now and have been extremely pleased, and would highly recommend this book, his podcast, and weekly Brain Food newsletter for any person with interest in critical thinking, self awareness, and broadening expertise in a multitude of topics.