The Great Mental Models, Volume 2: Physics, Chemistry and Biology
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- Create Date：2021-06-07 07:52:33
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Shane Parrish
- ISBN：1999449037
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Reviews
Jig
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A good introductory book for kids。 Will be a 4 star for my future kids。
Shane Orr
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This is another great volume of mental models。 This time， there are great models from various scientific disciplines， such as chemistry， physics， and biology that are applied to life。 Even better， there are current/modern examples that help to tie everything together。 This is definitely a great follow-up to the first volume and a must-read for anyone who wants to make better decisions and to think more rationally。
Tim G
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My anchor for this book and review， was from Volume 1 in the series， which I thought to be a resourceful and worthwhile read。Volume 2: Physics， Chemistry and Biology， and perhaps due to the science based focus， I found to be less engaging。 The book was longer， and felt to be a longer duration to consume。I do have an interest in Science， and while the correlations of the science headings to extract the learnings， this science aspect just didn't seem to resonate and constituted in a less engaging My anchor for this book and review， was from Volume 1 in the series， which I thought to be a resourceful and worthwhile read。Volume 2: Physics， Chemistry and Biology， and perhaps due to the science based focus， I found to be less engaging。 The book was longer， and felt to be a longer duration to consume。I do have an interest in Science， and while the correlations of the science headings to extract the learnings， this science aspect just didn't seem to resonate and constituted in a less engaging novel。However， sections do have merit， and after rereading my highlight，s I was reminded of the some good tidbits which are littered throughout。 Although， these were less in comparison with the first book in the series。I was also able to use the book as a reference for one of my uni assignments， so there was an added benefit。 Some of the standout highlights: 'Many， many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now。 Happily， some of them kept records of their troubles。 You’ll learn from them—if you want to。 Just as someday， if you have something to offer， someone will learn something from you。 It’s a beautiful reciprocal arrangement。' - J。D Salinger。'When it comes to reciprocity， we need to understand， “We are driven more strongly to avoid losses than to achieve gains。''Eventually your competitors will match your strength or find innovative ways to neutralise it。' 。。。more
Vinka Maharani
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I love how the epilogue explains how the 2nd volume made， without any intention to connect between the mental models， one another。 Shane literally asked us， the reader to connect it， build our own lattice works。 Which is great！ Can't wait for the 3rd volume at September ❤️ I love how the epilogue explains how the 2nd volume made， without any intention to connect between the mental models， one another。 Shane literally asked us， the reader to connect it， build our own lattice works。 Which is great！ Can't wait for the 3rd volume at September ❤️ 。。。more
Mike Scull
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Not really what I expected at all， but very nicely done。 Good wisdom - hopefully I remember some when I need it！
Mario Lopez
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Muy bueno， me gustó。。。 definitivamente una serie que voy a seguir con atención。。。 muy recomendable para emprendedores。
Siddharth Gupta
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Much of this book's appeal lies in the fact that a book on this topic ought to exist， and there was none before this came along。 Anyone with a better than average understanding of the natural sciences - stuff that is taught in high school - would have an intuitive feel for these concepts。 It is therefore， great that those concepts have been modelled by the author for use beyond their original discipline。I would have happily given the book the full monty if it delved deeper。 Many models were back Much of this book's appeal lies in the fact that a book on this topic ought to exist， and there was none before this came along。 Anyone with a better than average understanding of the natural sciences - stuff that is taught in high school - would have an intuitive feel for these concepts。 It is therefore， great that those concepts have been modelled by the author for use beyond their original discipline。I would have happily given the book the full monty if it delved deeper。 Many models were backed up by anecdotal evidence。 This surely makes the book readable but a lack of epistemological slant makes the book less practical， in my humble opinion。 A modicum of hard evidence to back up the application of the model to any setting/industry/era， should elevate the work to a whole new level。 I hope that to this end， at-least the book achieves mass readership which it so deserves。 Eagerly looking forward to the third volume in the series。 。。。more
Madhusudhan
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It gets deep and technical， but to make user relate or provide scientific evidence to support a thesis。 Its like reading a research paper。 I thoroughly enjoyed it！
Dylan Houck
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Interesting and helpful overview of scientific concepts reframed for practical application。 Reminds me of Epstein’s chapter on analogies in Range。
Adam
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Mildly interesting for the anecdotes， but the application of any of these hasn't really hit home。 I see some of them in my day to day， but feel like I already have mental models （e。g。， activation energy vs。 critical mass， alloying vs。 greater than the sum of their parts， niches vs。 specialization vs。 T's and I's）。 I'll try to keep the concepts in mind， but it definitely didn't hit home while reading。 Mildly interesting for the anecdotes， but the application of any of these hasn't really hit home。 I see some of them in my day to day， but feel like I already have mental models （e。g。， activation energy vs。 critical mass， alloying vs。 greater than the sum of their parts， niches vs。 specialization vs。 T's and I's）。 I'll try to keep the concepts in mind， but it definitely didn't hit home while reading。 。。。more
Jodi Harstrom
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Excellent。 Easily digestible。 Most of this was a review from psych literature but I need that from them to time。 Easily understood by everyone。
Dale
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PlanningThis is a really good planning book。 The mental models suggested are interesting and insightful。 I recommend this book for my planner and business friends。
Nimex10
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“Charlie” here we go。。。！Can’t wait for Volume 3。I like the fact that the book introduces the models in a pretty simple， general and understandable manner。。。 but I experienced it will take a whole different level of research and application of the models in order to let it stick。。。 and remain as a lattice-work in my/your head as someone suggested。。。 Love it！
Kilian Markert
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Second part of the series on mental models， this one is much longer and in my opinion way too long。 The book goes into even more length than part 1 trying to give real life examples connected to the mental models。Some of them didn't really fit， while a few where quite interesting and others left me asking， so what？ Also a lot of it is just pretty obvious and not containing any valuable lesson for your life。Valuable take aways however where:1。 Relativity and limited perspective "You will always h Second part of the series on mental models， this one is much longer and in my opinion way too long。 The book goes into even more length than part 1 trying to give real life examples connected to the mental models。Some of them didn't really fit， while a few where quite interesting and others left me asking， so what？ Also a lot of it is just pretty obvious and not containing any valuable lesson for your life。Valuable take aways however where:1。 Relativity and limited perspective "You will always have limitations to your frame of reference that you need to account for in an effort to better understand reality。 You have a limited perspective。 Many problems become clearer if you extend the timeline。 What does this situation look like in the weeks， months， and years ahead？ Assuming different perspectives allows you to gain a more complete understanding of what’s really going on。"2。 Loss aversionpeople are willing to risk losing $ 100 for every $ 250 of potential gains。 The loss aversion coefficient is 1: 2。5。3。 Speed vs velocity "Velocity is often confused with speed， but the two concepts are very different。 Speed is just movement; even if you are running in place， you have speed。 Velocity has direction。 You must go somewhere in order to have velocity。 This model teaches us that it’s much more important to pay attention to where you are going and not how fast you are moving。 "4。 Fun fact about goosebumps"The human goosebump reaction to stress or fear is a vestigial response， based on how our ancestors would have fluffed up their fur to look bigger when confronted with a predator。" 5。 Reminder about cognitive dissonance "Humans don’t like cognitive dissonance—“the state of tension that occurs whenever a person holds two cognitions （ideas， attitudes， beliefs， opinions） that are psychologically inconsistent。” And then justifying things irrationally to avoid that dissonance。 。。。more
Javier Rivero
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This is not a book about mental models， in it’s lengthy entirety， this work describes fundamental concepts from physics， chemistry and biology。 So if you didn’t attend high school and don’t know what Evolution or Velocity mean， then this book will probably help you out understanding this basic principles。To add more， each concept forces an example/analogy from outside the hard sciences such as “how the tea is so popular worldwide” and makes it feel cramped just to fit the original concept， and w This is not a book about mental models， in it’s lengthy entirety， this work describes fundamental concepts from physics， chemistry and biology。 So if you didn’t attend high school and don’t know what Evolution or Velocity mean， then this book will probably help you out understanding this basic principles。To add more， each concept forces an example/analogy from outside the hard sciences such as “how the tea is so popular worldwide” and makes it feel cramped just to fit the original concept， and worst of all， this “examples/analogies” are not just forced but tedious and way prolonged 。。。more
Joanne McKinnon
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Much required Just reading the author’s newsletter improved my decision making。 I am now less vulnerable to manipulations。 The mental models are based on facts not fiction。 A way to reinforce your logical mind。
Sven Kirsimäe
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I wish I was taught subjects like this at my university。 For many of the topics， though， a personal experience might be in need。 Thus， I'm humbled to learn them now， and in some cases even be able to associate from personal experience。 I wish I was taught subjects like this at my university。 For many of the topics， though， a personal experience might be in need。 Thus， I'm humbled to learn them now， and in some cases even be able to associate from personal experience。 。。。more
Vitalijus Sostak
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This book reads like a strongly simplified selection of some fundamental concepts in physics， chemistry and biology。 They're supposed to be practical and applicable in various aspects in life， but it simply does not work for me。First， it's not a science book， even a very simplified one。 There is no system， criteria by which concepts are chosen and their explanation is also inconsistent in structure and details。Second （and I had exactly same gripes with the first book in the series）， the level of This book reads like a strongly simplified selection of some fundamental concepts in physics， chemistry and biology。 They're supposed to be practical and applicable in various aspects in life， but it simply does not work for me。First， it's not a science book， even a very simplified one。 There is no system， criteria by which concepts are chosen and their explanation is also inconsistent in structure and details。Second （and I had exactly same gripes with the first book in the series）， the level of "obviousness" is through the roof。 Readers that maybe had not attended primary school or do not read at all will find a level of revelation that's exciting， but for the vast majority - nope。 Most people， I surmise， know that alloys allow to create new materials with different， useful features than the original components - that's not anything new or even worth reminding。 The question is - how do one uses it in a practical way in everyday life？ No answer here。In result， the entire book may be summarized by a dozen or so commandments of mostly trivial quality， like "sometimes the result of using several ingredients is in some way better than any ingredient by itself"。 But in the end - what to do with that？Was it a time well spent （reading this book）？ For me - rather not。 。。。more
Ivaylo Durmonski
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There is a good reason why the ideas from physics， chemistry， and biology discussed in this book are worth learning。 We exist， in this very moment， thanks to thousands of years of evolution。The energy circling around and the substances that flow in our bodies and in the bodies of everyone else are what make the world works。 And by understanding these forces， you’ll uncover truths about our surroundings that are essential for a happy life。By backing up the scientific concepts mentioned in the sub There is a good reason why the ideas from physics， chemistry， and biology discussed in this book are worth learning。 We exist， in this very moment， thanks to thousands of years of evolution。The energy circling around and the substances that flow in our bodies and in the bodies of everyone else are what make the world works。 And by understanding these forces， you’ll uncover truths about our surroundings that are essential for a happy life。By backing up the scientific concepts mentioned in the subtitle of the book with real-world stories and practical steps， Shane Parrish gives us more ways to understand and apply ideas and concepts that are foundational for the life we live in。 In other words， by learning the most common scientific laws that move the world， you’ll make better decisions in the world。The short chapters and the supporting stories mentioned make this book a must-have addition to your library。 The Great Mental Models Vol。 2 is designed to be frequently used and referred to when you’re dealing with baffling situations in your real life。Key takeaway:When in trouble， look at nature。 Nothing in nature is created without a reason。 Everything has a purpose。 By observing how animals solve problems – search for food， fly， even move – we can learn to approach our own problems in a new， better way。Read the full summary:https://durmonski。com/book-summaries/。。。 。。。more
Aritra Bose
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My introduction to mental models has been through Shane’s works， and this book is just another step towards that goal。 The first one in the series introduced me to number of new models altogether， this one takes concepts from known subjects （speed， velocity， alloys to name a few） and synthesises a new paradigm to watch the world through。 To internalise these， one needs to devote time， and more importantly commitment， but once you get hooked， there’s no looking back。 I found more analogies cited My introduction to mental models has been through Shane’s works， and this book is just another step towards that goal。 The first one in the series introduced me to number of new models altogether， this one takes concepts from known subjects （speed， velocity， alloys to name a few） and synthesises a new paradigm to watch the world through。 To internalise these， one needs to devote time， and more importantly commitment， but once you get hooked， there’s no looking back。 I found more analogies cited in this version than the previous one， which was welcome。 Overall， it is deep work， and one with very high ROIs if one is sufficiently invested。 The book does a very good job of bringing together multi disciplinary concepts and asking the reader to start looking through those 。。。。 the view out there is altogether new。 。。。more
Rishabh Srivastava
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This was a frustrating book to read。 While the authors brought up some interesting principles/mental models， there was a lot of pseudoscience （like "It is probable that that people first discovered catalysis when alcohol was invented"， or "Although the science continues to advance， we lack a comprehensive definition or how many catalysts actually work"）Moreover， they were limited in treating the interesting mental models they did bring up。 As an example， Andy Grove and Naval Ravikant treat Lever This was a frustrating book to read。 While the authors brought up some interesting principles/mental models， there was a lot of pseudoscience （like "It is probable that that people first discovered catalysis when alcohol was invented"， or "Although the science continues to advance， we lack a comprehensive definition or how many catalysts actually work"）Moreover， they were limited in treating the interesting mental models they did bring up。 As an example， Andy Grove and Naval Ravikant treat Leverage as something to build so you can get more output with less input， while the authors bafflingly treat is something that can be used to exploit others。Having said that， there were some interesting mental models that I meditated on thanks to this book （interesting raisins hidden in a lot of turd）1。 Autocatalysis is when the outputs of a reaction are the same catalysts needed to start it。 When this happens the reaction becomes self-sustaining and happens rapidly2。 The Red Queen Effect: You can’t stop adapting， because no one around you is stopping。 If you do， your competitive position declines， bringing your survival into question。 Every living thing is constantly on the lookout for opportunity， the place to accrue advantage。 From Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: the Red Queen tells Alice， “Now， here， you see， it takes all the running you can do， to keep in the same place。”3。 Gause’s Law: perfect competition between two species requiring the same resources to survive in the same niche is impossible。 Two species of bacteria requiring the same resources could not coexist in a petri dish。 One species will find its own niche by becoming increasingly specialized to require different resources from the otherOn the whole， would not recommend 。。。more
Jerry
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Wonderful read， as usually from Shane Parrish， on mental models。 This is the 2nd volume in their work。 While some of this is repeated from the great work Shane's team does on the Farnam Street website， there is some great stuff here。 The writing is succinct but well written， and making it easy to follow and easy to learn from。 I really enjoyed the models and examples here， plus some tips at the end on how to implement this。 Great stuff。 Keep up the good work Shane！ Wonderful read， as usually from Shane Parrish， on mental models。 This is the 2nd volume in their work。 While some of this is repeated from the great work Shane's team does on the Farnam Street website， there is some great stuff here。 The writing is succinct but well written， and making it easy to follow and easy to learn from。 I really enjoyed the models and examples here， plus some tips at the end on how to implement this。 Great stuff。 Keep up the good work Shane！ 。。。more
Will Bowers
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An excellent application of scientific principles to thought patterns。 This book is intriguing throughout。 I say this being totally unbiased by my appearance in the acknowledgements。
Nizami
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Much better than Volume 1。 better researched， but still not very well connecting science with mental models。
Scott Wozniak
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This book takes some of the major scientific ideas of our day and then applies them in metaphorical ways to life and leadership。 For example， inertia can be used to understand why it's hard to change habits and the second law of thermodynamics （everything slides to disorder/decay unless acted on by an outside energy source） can be used to show how we need to keep pouring new ideas and tools and people into our organizations to keep them healthy and strong。It's well written and easy to read， espe This book takes some of the major scientific ideas of our day and then applies them in metaphorical ways to life and leadership。 For example， inertia can be used to understand why it's hard to change habits and the second law of thermodynamics （everything slides to disorder/decay unless acted on by an outside energy source） can be used to show how we need to keep pouring new ideas and tools and people into our organizations to keep them healthy and strong。It's well written and easy to read， especially good at explaining the science in a way that doesn't require prior technical knowledge。 However， the author couldn't resist making disparaging comments about worldviews and cultures that he doesn't agree with， distracting from the flow of the book for me。 To be clear， I like thoughtful challenge， but the single sentence added to the end of the paragraph without any explanation or evidence was unhelpful， especially in a book about how scientific thinking was a helpful way to think。 Still worth reading， though， as the main points were good food for though。 。。。more
Akarsh Dhaiya
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One of the best books， I have had my hands on。 Highly recommend
Ryan
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For whatever reason， the idea of limiting reactants from high school chemistry class has been a "mental model" that I have applied to many other areas of life。 I enjoyed sharing notes and getting some new ideas in these areas that I have such little experience in。 I look forward to the volume that will cover math。。。 For whatever reason， the idea of limiting reactants from high school chemistry class has been a "mental model" that I have applied to many other areas of life。 I enjoyed sharing notes and getting some new ideas in these areas that I have such little experience in。 I look forward to the volume that will cover math。。。 。。。more
Ivars
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Waiting for volume 3The second volume of mental models is great， even more insightful than the first one。 Been following Farnam st blog and podcast for years and Mental Models are at the heart of their thinking about life。 Recommended
Joey
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Didn't love this as much as volume 1 but still a good book to read。 I didn't agree with the author's use of certain models， but still found it enlightening and well worth reading。 Note that this volume is about 2x long （and probably 2x as dense for the average reader） when compared with volume 1。 Didn't love this as much as volume 1 but still a good book to read。 I didn't agree with the author's use of certain models， but still found it enlightening and well worth reading。 Note that this volume is about 2x long （and probably 2x as dense for the average reader） when compared with volume 1。 。。。more
Dumitru
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