The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts
I have been a big fan of Shane Parrish and his excellent website, Farnam Street, for a number of years now. I first heard about the site from my brother and I quickly became engrossed in the richness and quality of the content which really made me sit back and reflect. Farnam Street covers a wide array of thought-provoking topics; everything from books, decision making and how to learn better. One area that really stood out though was mental models and the detailed understanding of the topic that Parrish shares with his readers. For those who are unfamiliar, mental models can be described as a representation of how something works that we can take away and use to understand the world around us. Mental models allow us to break down complex topics to make sense of them even when all of the information isn’t available to us.
Mental models have existed for a long time, in fact some of them you could argue have been around forever. Despite this, they have remained in obscurity and only in recent years have they really become more prominent. One of the people often cited as being an avid practitioner of mental models and someone who has shone a light on their value is the renowned investor and vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Charlie Munger. The work, impact and wisdom of Munger is deeply rooted in the heritage of Farnam Street and it’s clear Parrish’s perspective on mental models has in part been inspired by both Munger and his legendary colleague, Warren Buffett. In fact, Parrish took inspiration for naming his site from the street address of Berkshire Hathaway’s Omaha headquarters, 3555 Farnam Street.
When I first heard that Parrish had begun developing The Great Mental Models Project, a series of four books which examine the origins, applications and value of the most impactful mental models, I was hooked immediately. This review is concerned with the project’s first volume, The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts, which acts as an introduction to the world of mental models and how we can implement them to improve our day to day thinking and decision-making processes.
Parrish starts off the book with his observations of how the world we learn about through education is often very different to the world that actually exists. Through his own experiences of being thrown headfirst into the chaotic intelligence community post 9/11, the author realised that the ability to make good and effective decisions was a critical skill which he hadn’t really been prepared for. Through his search for answers, he arrived at the work of Munger and subsequently the topic of mental models. Parrish discusses the process of acquiring wisdom and how in many cases avoiding problems can be an effective way of doing this. By understanding the problems which others have faced and by truly appreciating the effects of them, we can become wiser and in turn make better choices. The author also argues that mistakes are inevitable but by understanding those mistakes and pairing the understanding with behavioural change, we have an antidote. In short, Parrish shows us that we need to understand the challenges and then update our processes and actions to benefit from the understanding that we have just gained.
The book moves on to examine nine core mental models which the author believes are essential to forming a solid latticework that can facilitate effective decision-making. Each mental model is afforded its own chapter and an in-depth analysis of its origin, the core ideas that underpin it and the people throughout history who have used it effectively. Some mental models that may already be familiar to you are covered like Occam’s razor, first principles thinking and thought experiments, yet some that I knew little about were there too. In particular I really found value in the study of inversion and how Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes used the mental model to great effect when solving a challenging case. Parrish does a fantastic job in providing context around each mental model and how it can be used in the real world. For example, the author uses a London Underground tube map as tool for describing how the map is not the territory, one of the mental models outlined in the book. The premise of this particular mental model is that maps are useful, but in different ways to different people. In reality, a map is merely a reduction tool, so some of the information has to be omitted. After all, a tube driver would use an entirely different map than a tourist as their requirements are very different. Parrish elegantly articulates that “the map of reality is not reality itself,” which was a splendid insight to reflect upon.
One of the things I really enjoyed about The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts was the logical nature in which the mental models were ordered. Each seemed to build upon the other, and I couldn’t help but go back and forward between them just to see how they all fitted together. Even though I read this book on Kindle, the usage of beautiful illustrations and high-quality images was a significant feature. They really aided my understanding of each mental model by adding that extra bit of context just when it was needed.
Having just finished the book, I have had limited time to put what I have read and thought about into practice. Despite this, learning more about mental models has been an invaluable experience and something I want to dig into deeper in the future. It’s certainly true that future events can be uncertain and that desirable outcomes aren’t always guaranteed but I do believe that the mental models outlined in this book offer us a way to think and respond more rationally and optimally. This book made for an absorbing read and it’s one that I think will act as great reference material going forward. In the future, once every volume has been released, I definitely want to have a copy of each on my bookshelf!
You can find a copy of The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts here.