Mental Models

Mental Models Help You Think Effectively

A Mental Model Is A High Level Overview Of How Something Works


Mental Models - Help you think effectively  and are a high level overview of how something works. A graphic of a head with lots of objects feeding into it.

Mental Models - Overview

Mental models are high level representations of how thing work.

They help you think effectively and thus are fully aligned with the objectives and purpose of this site.

According to Charlie Munger:



    “...developing the habit of mastering the multiple models which underlie reality is the best thing you can do.”


Munger is referring here to mental models.

Two broad categories of mental models that are particularly useful are those that help us understand how:

[1] The world works and thus to predict the future.

[2] To see connections and opportunities

Our world is multi-dimensional and our problems are complex. Most problems cannot be solved using one model alone, thus it follows that the more models you have in the toolkit, the better equipped you will be to solve your problems because you can look at the problem from a variety of perspectives and increase the odds that you will come to a better solution.

But if you don’t have the models, you become the proverbial man with a hammer to whom every problem looks like a nail.

Another important consideration is how you prioritise your learning. Trying to keep up-to-date with all the latest information will lead to us chasing our tails, therefore Charlie Munger says that we should focus on things that change slowly:



    "The models that come from hard science and engineering are the most reliable models on this Earth."














Latticework Of Mental Models


Charlie Munger - quote about mental models.


Since it is impossible to keep all of the details of all of the information that you absorb in your brain, you use models to simplify the complex into understandable and organisable chunks.

Mental models shape how you reason and how you understand, and they also shape the connections and opportunities that you see, and also why you consider some things more relevant than others.

The quality of your thinking processes is proportional to the models in your head and their applicability to the situation under consideration.

The more models you have the better quality will be your thinking processes and decision making ability, however most people are specialists.



    What we need is a latticework of mental models spanning many different domains of information and experience.


  • Many people know a little about a little.
  • Most people with training and skills in a particular discipline or scope of proficiency know a lot about a little.
  • The person with a latticework of mental models knows a little about a lot.
  • The serious thinker has a latticework of mental models that enable him/her to know a lot about a lot.


“You don’t have to know everything. A few really big ideas carry most of the freight.”

"It’s kind of fun to sit there and out-think people who are way smarter than you are because you’ve trained yourself to be more objective and more multidisciplinary. Furthermore, there is a lot of money in it, as I can testify from my own personal experience."



Latticework of mental models.


Charlie Munger: Adding Mental Tools to Your Toolbox

Mental Models  - Resources











How To Prioritise Learning Mental Models


Charlie Munger quote about the power of reading.


    “The more basic knowledge you have … the less new knowledge you have to get.”




Further reading:

How to prioritise learning

In the words of Charlie Munger:



    “...take a simple idea and take it seriously.”








How Do Mental Models Align With The Themes Of This Site?

The purpose of this site is to show you how to cope in tough times, and to provide you with the tools to do this successfully. Mental models are an integral part of all this. Here is how it all hangs together.






FULL LISTING - Mental Models


Mental Models: The Best Way to Make Intelligent Decisions (109 Models Explained)






Mental Models - Resources



Mental Models - General Thinking Concepts

What Is Truth - How To Tell A Partial Truth From The Whole Truth?

The Map Is Not The Territory

Circle Of Competence

First Principles Thinking

Second Order Thinking

Occams Razor

Hanlons Razor

Probabilistic Thinking

Inversion

The Power Of Opposite Thinking

Iatrogenics - "Do Something Syndrome"

Asking The Right Questions

Finding Signal In The Noise

The Unseen Margins

Ergodicity

How To Make Better Decisions - By Avoiding The Narrative Trap


Mental Models - Human Nature

Heuristics

Algorithms to Live By

Availability Heuristic                                                                      

Representativeness Heuristic

Affect Heuristic

Cognitive Distortions

Confirmation Bias

Why You Should Embrace Anomalies

Fundamental Attribution Error

Hindsight Bias

Survivorship Bias

Herd Mentality


Mental Models - Productive Thinking

Deep Work

Applied Rationality and The Scout Mindset

The One Thing

The Pomodoro Technique

Less Is More - Subtractive Solutions

Thinking Fast and Slow

The Long Game

Knowing When To Quit

Atomic Habits

Delayed Gratification

The Challenges Of The Road Less Traveled

The Gap And The Gain

Root Cause Analysis

Inflection Points

Nassim Taleb

Black Swans

Antifragile

Living Antifragile

Skin In The Game

Satisficing

Keeping Things Simple

The Art Of Saying No

Getting Things Done

Just Do It

Positive Asymmetry

Slack

Fat Tail Fractal Factor

Going The Extra Mile

Finish What You Start

How Not To Be Stupid

Checklist Manifesto

Signal In The Noise

Unseen Margins


Mental Models - Physics, Chemistry & Biology

Speed and Velocity

Leverage

The Red Queen Effect

Incentives


Mental Models - Systems

Margin Of Safety


Mental Models - Numeracy

Compounding

Pareto Principle

Fat Tail Fractal Factor

Regression To The Mean

Multiplying By Zero



Food For Thought: Using Models to Stay Calm in Charged Situations

Return from "Mental Models" to: How To Think

















English Chinese (Traditional) Russian French German Italian Spanish Vietnamese




If you have found this site helpful and would like to support our work


LATEST ARTICLES

  1. Curiosity Skilled The Cat - Optimize For Interesting

    Curiosity Fuels Excellence The old adage, “Curiosity killed the cat,” warns of the dangers of venturing too far into the unknown. But what if we reimagine it not as a risk but as a gateway to developi…

    Read More

  2. Let Stillness Speak - Living Within A Complex System

    To let stlllness speak is to learn it's first major lesson: you are not your thoughts. To let stillness speak is about stepping back from the constant chatter of your mind and allowing a deeper, quiet…

    Read More

  3. Understanding Complex Systems Thinking - It's Not Complicated

    Understanding, and being able to work with, complexity is an important thinking skill. We are all working with complex systems, and we do so every day. The biggest one is life itself. We automaticall…

    Read More

  4. Stay On The Bus - When To Keep On Going

    The Helsinki Bus Station Theory Have you ever started a new project, initiative or role with a big vision and a determination to make a difference? Initially you were full of enthusiasm and highly mo…

    Read More

  5. Zen Thoughts Email Series

    Conversations With A Friend Zen Thoughts is an email series of 50 short messages spread over 3 months. The messages are written in the style of a conversation with a friend who is going through a toug…

    Read More

  6. How to Get What You Value by Changing What You Measure

    Give Up Control & Gain Influence To Get What You Want The metrics we choose to focus on can significantly shape our outcomes, sometimes in ways we don't intend. The challenge is to make sure that you…

    Read More

  7. How to Become A Master At Overcoming Hard Moments

    "The best in the world are not the best because they win every point. It's because they lose again and again and have learned how to deal with it." This quote from Roger Federer has got a lot of cover…

    Read More

  8. Drop The Story - Deal With Your Demons and Transform Your Experience

    Are you living your life from the stories you tell yourself? Learning how to drop the story and deal with that voice in your head can be a game changer. When you can do this you will have a powerful t…

    Read More

  9. Standing In The Gap Between No Longer And Not Yet

    Standing In The Gap In Conditions Of Imposed Change. This is about imposed change and surviving a dire and desperate situation where you are stuck in a difficult or seemingly impossible set of circums…

    Read More

  10. Preparing The Ground - For Things You Can Not See

    We plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the ground. The phrase "preparing the ground" is a metaphor for making the necessary preparations to create the favourable conditions for something to…

    Read More

  11. Easing The Weight Of Expectation

    Don’t you often feel like you are carrying the weight of the world on your back? Our start point is understanding that the ego has a very clear idea of how things ought to be, and its intention and ex…

    Read More

  12. Coram Deo - Living In Consciousness

    In you there is a dimension of consciousness far deeper than thought. It is the very essence of who you are. Coram Deo is about living in consciousness. It is a Latin phrase which literally means “to…

    Read More

  13. The Power Of Patience - Why You Need The World's Toughest Quality

    Nothing in the world can take the place of patience. Patience and persistence are omnipotent. In everyday life, patience is often overshadowed by the desire for immediate results. We live in an era of…

    Read More

  14. Demonizing The Other and Personal Acts Of Compassion

    What Does Demonizing The Other Mean? Demonizing the other refers to the act of portraying a group of people or an individual as inherently evil, threatening, or inferior. It often serves to justify di…

    Read More

  15. Why You Should Embrace Anomalies - The Incredible Value Of Disconfirming Evidence

    Is Your Desire To Be Right Greater Than Your Desire To Have Been Right? An anomaly is a deviation from what is expected or commonly regarded as the norm. It often appears as an unexpected observation…

    Read More




3 Keys Solutions



The Balanced Toolkit