The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts, Vol. I
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- Create Date：2021-04-15 13:56:21
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Shane Parrish
- ISBN：1999449002
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Summary
The old saying goes， "To the man with a hammer， everything looks like a nail。" But anyone who has done any kind of project knows a hammer often isn't enough。
The more tools you have at your disposal， the more likely you'll use the right tool for the job — and get it done right。
The same is true when it comes to your thinking。 The quality of your outcomes depends on the mental models in your head。 And most people are going through life with little more than a hammer。
Until now。
The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts is the first book in The Great Mental Models series designed to upgrade your thinking with the best， most useful and powerful tools so you always have the right one on hand。
This volume details nine of the most versatile， all-purpose mental models you can use right away to improve your decision making， productivity， and how clearly you see the world。 You will discover what forces govern the universe and how to focus your efforts so you can harness them to your advantage， rather than fight with them or worse yet— ignore them。
The more tools you have at your disposal， the more likely you'll use the right tool for the job — and get it done right。
The same is true when it comes to your thinking。 The quality of your outcomes depends on the mental models in your head。 And most people are going through life with little more than a hammer。
Until now。
The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts is the first book in The Great Mental Models series designed to upgrade your thinking with the best， most useful and powerful tools so you always have the right one on hand。
This volume details nine of the most versatile， all-purpose mental models you can use right away to improve your decision making， productivity， and how clearly you see the world。 You will discover what forces govern the universe and how to focus your efforts so you can harness them to your advantage， rather than fight with them or worse yet— ignore them。
Reviews
Amir Zainudin
，
To be clear， I read fs。blog and listen to the TKP podcast。 I think Shane Parrish is very clever and I enjoy the content he produces in those mediums so I had pretty high expectations for this book。 Unfortunately， as much as this book offers to provide you with a "latticework of mental models" it falls short and only gives you a cursory overview of the concepts。 There are some genuinely useful concepts like 'inversion'， 'first principles' etc。 but some of the material like 'thought experiment' co To be clear， I read fs。blog and listen to the TKP podcast。 I think Shane Parrish is very clever and I enjoy the content he produces in those mediums so I had pretty high expectations for this book。 Unfortunately， as much as this book offers to provide you with a "latticework of mental models" it falls short and only gives you a cursory overview of the concepts。 There are some genuinely useful concepts like 'inversion'， 'first principles' etc。 but some of the material like 'thought experiment' comes across as fluff。 In fact， I feel that some material are better explained or elaborated in the blog than in the book。 Overall - OK as an introduction but not essential reading if you regularly read books like this。 。。。more
Bálint
，
Cool， although a bit abstract。 The second half of the book provides more examples which I liked。
Samuel Veloso
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No spoilers ;）This book is a must-read for everyone who likes to distill ways of thinking that rule how you show up to the world。 Parrish brings an impressive feat of the brightest and most influential scientists， philosophers， business people， authors， and politicians of humankind and its history。On top of that， Parrish knits all stories in a fluent， well-thought， and impacting narrative。 Along with Don Miguel Ruiz's and Timothy Geithner's pieces， The Great Mental Models has become one of my fa No spoilers ;）This book is a must-read for everyone who likes to distill ways of thinking that rule how you show up to the world。 Parrish brings an impressive feat of the brightest and most influential scientists， philosophers， business people， authors， and politicians of humankind and its history。On top of that， Parrish knits all stories in a fluent， well-thought， and impacting narrative。 Along with Don Miguel Ruiz's and Timothy Geithner's pieces， The Great Mental Models has become one of my favorite books。 。。。more
Mert Zorlu
，
Honestly not like a very practical book but I think it changed the way I think about certain situations and it will help me train my mind with time when I can get comfortable with this style of thinking。
Vladimir
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Nicely written， easy to follow， just like the blog。
Simon Håkansson
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3。5 really
Vannesa
，
Here’s something to remember for life: “The world does not isolate itself into discrete disciplines。 We only break it down that way because it makes it easier to study it。”When confronted with a problem， will you put all your eggs in one basket and rely on a single tool？ Or would you rather have a whole set to support it？ If you’d rather have a backup， mental models are for you。 Mental models are chunks of knowledge from different fields of study that help you see the world as a whole。 Charlie M Here’s something to remember for life: “The world does not isolate itself into discrete disciplines。 We only break it down that way because it makes it easier to study it。”When confronted with a problem， will you put all your eggs in one basket and rely on a single tool？ Or would you rather have a whole set to support it？ If you’d rather have a backup， mental models are for you。 Mental models are chunks of knowledge from different fields of study that help you see the world as a whole。 Charlie Munger， vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway， calls them "a latticework of theory"。 They’re like tools， in the sense that they provide you with ways of handling a problem。 They’re like lenses， in the sense that they give you multiple perspectives。 They are like maps， for they allow you to see the bigger picture。 On top of that， they’re also useful for - differentiating what is relevant from what is irrelevant in a given case。 - not only solving problems， but also preventing themThe term ‘mental models’ may modern， but they have existed for a long time。 They were discovered by great thinkers such as Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein。 What the author does in this book is explain them in an accessible manner， and give you a practical method to apply them。Here’s an example with the “inversion” principleA） What’s inversion？ It’s dealing a problem， not by pondering hard over how to fix it， but by coming up with a way of stopping it from happening altogether。 When you get stuck， think forwards and backwards （instead of only forwards， from the beginning to the endpoint） so that you can see the problem form various angles。 Inversion has the additional advantage of promoting innovation。 B） How do we apply it？ -tAssume that what you’re trying to prove is either true or false。 Then， think about the consequences of said assumption。 Finally， think of other conditions that would have to be true under this assumption -tAsk yourself “what would make things worse？” and stop doing that。 If possible， eliminate everything that compels you to do so -tA 5-step method （force field analysis， Kurt Lewin） 1。 Identify the problem 2。 Define your objective 3。 Identify the forces that support change towards your objective 4。 Identify the forces that impede change towards the objective （so that you know what needs to be removed – this is just as powerful as finding supporting forces）5。 Strategize a solutionC） a real-life example: how Edward Bernays got women into smoking Lucky Strike cigarettes by completely changing the environment they lived in。 So instead of asking "how do we convince women to smoke cigarettes？"， he asked "what conditions would be true in a world where women already enjoyed smoking cigarettes？" “To tackle the idea of smoking as a slimming aid， he mounted a large anti-sweets campaign。 After dinner， it was about cigarettes， not dessert。 Cigarettes were slimming， while desserts would ruin one’s figure。 But Bernays’s real stroke of genius lay not just in coming out with adverts to convince women to stay slim by smoking cigarettes; “instead， he sought nothing less than to reshape American society and culture。” He solicited journalists and photographers to promote the virtues of being slim。 He sought testimonials from doctors about the health value of smoking after a meal。 He combined this approach with （。。。） altering the very environment， striving to create a world in which the cigarette was ubiquitous。 He mounted a campaign to persuade hotels and restaurants to add cigarettes to dessert-list menus， and he provided such magazines as House and Garden with feature articles that included menus designed to preserve readers ‘from the dangers of overeating'。 The idea was not only to influence opinion but to remold life itself。 "In each chapter， before explaining each principle， the people involved are presented。 Along the way， some ideas that support the main principle are provided as well。 This might seem like an interruption， but it’s a matter of preference and a minor complain that can be easily dealt with。 The explanations are accompanied by illustrations as well。 I won’t rate this book yet because I’m planning to read another book on mental models and I’d rather compare both before giving a final rating。 Nonetheless， I can say for now that this book was well-structured， practical and helpful， even though we’re introduced to few mental models。 Admittedly， some suggestions are obvious， but others do provide interesting insights。 “Using the lenses of our mental models helps us illuminate these interconnections。 The more lenses used on a given problem， the more of reality reveals itself。 The more of reality we see， the more we understand。 The more we understand， the more we know what to do” 。。。more
Ashley
，
A great general framework for thinking about thinking。While I know the series goes into mental models specific to particular disciplines， it's nice to have this overview。A quick example:Take gravity。 It's a concept （really） that says that objects have weight - and that that weight draws other objects with lesser weight near。 The further an object is from the weight of another， the less "influence" that object has over its satellite。This is a mental model， that influences/applies to all sorts of A great general framework for thinking about thinking。While I know the series goes into mental models specific to particular disciplines， it's nice to have this overview。A quick example:Take gravity。 It's a concept （really） that says that objects have weight - and that that weight draws other objects with lesser weight near。 The further an object is from the weight of another， the less "influence" that object has over its satellite。This is a mental model， that influences/applies to all sorts of phenomena。Economics - the bell curve， supply and demandLogic/Rhetoric -Band wagon fallacy - "join the trend"Neuroscience - neurological pathways build off of and around each other。Relationships/Sociology - Social influencers， having someone "in your orbit" or being "in their gravity"。So， the idea here is that gravity itself is the physics version of this mental model。 And that as we apply these fundamental principles across objects or phenomena we encounter in our own lives - they can help us see said phenomena from a number of different perspectives。Pretty cool！Four stars because some of the assertions in this framework aren't well defended - or rely on too many assumptions that aren't thoroughly investigated in this first volume。 。。。more
Martin
，
Relevant but vagueThe models described in the book are all relevant。 The form of examples， which are more self-evident was vague。 Worth reading though
Viktor Nilsson
，
Nothing here is really revolutionary， it is all rather simple things that are very often forgotten。 The format is great， and it is all very easy to grasp and internalize。 Only negative is that I found it slightly boring at times， possibly because of the less than stellar performance of the audiobook narration。 Still， very useful reading。 Read one chapter per day and you will make better decisions in life！
Nimit Kanani
，
A great insight into some of the basic mental models and how to keep them in mind to avoid errors in decisions and think in the correct direction。 Many of these mental models seem very intuitive when we read， but we often do not use them when required。 The author uses a wide range of very interesting real-life examples， stories and quotes from successful people in all walks of life to explain the models better。The Mental models covered in this volume are: 1。 The Map is not the territory2。 Circle A great insight into some of the basic mental models and how to keep them in mind to avoid errors in decisions and think in the correct direction。 Many of these mental models seem very intuitive when we read， but we often do not use them when required。 The author uses a wide range of very interesting real-life examples， stories and quotes from successful people in all walks of life to explain the models better。The Mental models covered in this volume are: 1。 The Map is not the territory2。 Circle of Competence3。 First principles thinking4。 Thought Experiment5。 Second order thinking6。 Probabilistic thinking7。 Inversion8。 Occam's Razor9。 Hanlon's Razor。 。。。more
Ardon Pillay
，
Nice summary of some good concepts and general models to be aware of。 Antifragility was quite an interesting new concept for me; it refers to objects whose values are often enhanced by volatility and a lack of predictability。 Therefore， to make the best of this， we can approach these objects with an upside optionality mentality and prepare for the worst case scenarios to minimise harm。 I thought that the most important “mental model” discussed was probably Rawl’s veil of ignorance; truly the mos Nice summary of some good concepts and general models to be aware of。 Antifragility was quite an interesting new concept for me; it refers to objects whose values are often enhanced by volatility and a lack of predictability。 Therefore， to make the best of this， we can approach these objects with an upside optionality mentality and prepare for the worst case scenarios to minimise harm。 I thought that the most important “mental model” discussed was probably Rawl’s veil of ignorance; truly the most versatile of all the models and one which is critically important。 A worthwhile read for anyone looking for a quick rundown on some useful ways to improve productivity and predictive accuracy。 However， I think those who have read a lot of the more popular productivity books （Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World， Black Box Thinking: Why Some People Never Learn from Their Mistakes - But Some Do， etc） will have come across these ideas before， so this book may be of limited value to them， beyond simply reiterating those same concepts。 。。。more
Brian
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A quick read overview of mental modelsThis book is adapted from a series of blog posts， which makes it a good overview and quick read。 Each chapter speaks to one mental model， describing it and then providing 2-3 examples from history。 The only negative for me was that in a couple chapters I felt the examples were a bit of a stretch to support the theory he just defined。 I didn’t quite believe it and he even acknowledges in one that he can’t truly know what led a historical figure to make a cert A quick read overview of mental modelsThis book is adapted from a series of blog posts， which makes it a good overview and quick read。 Each chapter speaks to one mental model， describing it and then providing 2-3 examples from history。 The only negative for me was that in a couple chapters I felt the examples were a bit of a stretch to support the theory he just defined。 I didn’t quite believe it and he even acknowledges in one that he can’t truly know what led a historical figure to make a certain decision。 Nothing in the book was brand new to me， but I liked the framing of each as mental models as I can now tie the concepts more neatly together when discussing with colleagues at work。 。。。more
Kwame Som-Pimpong
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Very helpful book to read。 I disagree with one or two of the mental models， and appreciated the opportunity to work out my reasoning while reading。 Highly recommend。
Denis
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It’s a compilation of different ideas with no added value。 The author own notes are shallow or sometimes just plain harmful or wrong （“。。。proving axioms。。。”）。 At best the book is useful for teenagers as a reference for future reading。
Ugis
，
I expected way more from Shane Parrish。 I do like the Farnam Street and his Podcast。 But this book was too short and too random。 Some good concepts inside nevertheless。 [reading time: 4h1m]
Charles
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In this book Shane Parrish outlines mental models as frameworks we can use to make better sense of the world。As a reader of Shane's blog for a little over a year now， most of the concepts inside the book aren't particularly new。 However， some of the examples expand on the real world applications of some of these models。The best insights come from the first third of the book。 Everything else is just as well summarized on the blog itself。 Still a good read for anyone wanting to make better decisio In this book Shane Parrish outlines mental models as frameworks we can use to make better sense of the world。As a reader of Shane's blog for a little over a year now， most of the concepts inside the book aren't particularly new。 However， some of the examples expand on the real world applications of some of these models。The best insights come from the first third of the book。 Everything else is just as well summarized on the blog itself。 Still a good read for anyone wanting to make better decisions。 。。。more
Neil Pasricha
，
Do you read the Farnam Street blog？ You should！ Shane Parrish and his team are putting out some of the highest quality content on the internet and it’s all clean， thoughtful prose about how we think。 They summarize big books， share mental models， and help people master the best of what other people have already figured out。 It’s no wonder The New York Times profiled Shane under the headline “How A Former Canadian Spy Helps Wall Street Mavens Think Smarter。” Shane and his team pick at big issues Do you read the Farnam Street blog？ You should！ Shane Parrish and his team are putting out some of the highest quality content on the internet and it’s all clean， thoughtful prose about how we think。 They summarize big books， share mental models， and help people master the best of what other people have already figured out。 It’s no wonder The New York Times profiled Shane under the headline “How A Former Canadian Spy Helps Wall Street Mavens Think Smarter。” Shane and his team pick at big issues and this book is a neatly packaged exploration of mental models that can be used to strengthen your thinking again and again。 。。。more
Ajinkya Jadhav
，
Benchmark was set too high for this one。 Barely an average one-time read。 If you've read anything by Dan Kanheman or Tversky， this one can be skipped。Good for beginners or someone starting out on their B-school journey Benchmark was set too high for this one。 Barely an average one-time read。 If you've read anything by Dan Kanheman or Tversky， this one can be skipped。Good for beginners or someone starting out on their B-school journey 。。。more
Lewis
，
This book recommends building a latticework of mental models to utilize as you encounter problems throughout life。 It lists 9 and walks through each one chapter by chapter。1。 The map is not the territory。 All models， maps， representations are approximations。 They are not the real thing， and they always subtract， modify and possibly add to the reality they attempt to represent。2。 Circle of Competence: we all have experience in a specific area thereby making us more expert than anyone could possib This book recommends building a latticework of mental models to utilize as you encounter problems throughout life。 It lists 9 and walks through each one chapter by chapter。1。 The map is not the territory。 All models， maps， representations are approximations。 They are not the real thing， and they always subtract， modify and possibly add to the reality they attempt to represent。2。 Circle of Competence: we all have experience in a specific area thereby making us more expert than anyone could possibly become in a significantly less amount of time no matter how much smarter they are。3。 First Principles Thinking: 5 Why's / Socratic Thinking4。 Thought Experiment5。 Second-Order Thinking6。 Probabilistic Thinking7。 Inversion8。 Occam's Razor9。 Hanlon's RazorI just can't finish this list。 It's not that interesting or apparently important。 I finished the book。 Nonetheless， it's blah。 。。。more
Manish Gvalani
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It's on the lines of Seeking Wisdom by Peter Bevlin。。 It's a good read for serving as a reminder for the mental models that can be used for better decision making。。 It's on the lines of Seeking Wisdom by Peter Bevlin。。 It's a good read for serving as a reminder for the mental models that can be used for better decision making。。 。。。more
Ashutosh Jha
，
The book was a good summary of a bunch of mental models that have been espoused over the last few decades。I enjoyed Shane's views particularly on Hanlon's Razor and Second-Order Thinking。Would keep a copy to keep referring to from time to time！ The book was a good summary of a bunch of mental models that have been espoused over the last few decades。I enjoyed Shane's views particularly on Hanlon's Razor and Second-Order Thinking。Would keep a copy to keep referring to from time to time！ 。。。more
Andrew Clinton
，
I started following fs。blog a few months ago after seeing an article or two。 That progressed to me subscribing to Shane's weekly newsletter， Brain Food。 I enjoy drinking my Sunday morning coffee while getting lost in rabbitholes on fs。blog。 Some of the articles on the blog led me to be interested in The Great Mental Models volumes。 This book is a quick read in terms of overall words， but not a quick read in terms of understanding。 Each chapter is about an individual mental model， and each needs I started following fs。blog a few months ago after seeing an article or two。 That progressed to me subscribing to Shane's weekly newsletter， Brain Food。 I enjoy drinking my Sunday morning coffee while getting lost in rabbitholes on fs。blog。 Some of the articles on the blog led me to be interested in The Great Mental Models volumes。 This book is a quick read in terms of overall words， but not a quick read in terms of understanding。 Each chapter is about an individual mental model， and each needs to be chewed on for a bit after reading。 I will be picking up Volume 2， and will certainly be picking this book up from time to time to refresh the way I approach decisions。 。。。more
Daniel
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I love this so much。 It's like a short guidebook for life， reminding us of principles and mental models to help us make better， smarter decisions。 Some examples of the mental models are First Principles， Probabilistic Thinking， Occam's Razor， Circle of Competence， and more！ I love that it's nice and short so that you can pick it up and re-read the models to refresh yourself when you're conjuring conspiracy theories in your brain。 "Oh， wait。 The simplest explanation is probably the most likely ex I love this so much。 It's like a short guidebook for life， reminding us of principles and mental models to help us make better， smarter decisions。 Some examples of the mental models are First Principles， Probabilistic Thinking， Occam's Razor， Circle of Competence， and more！ I love that it's nice and short so that you can pick it up and re-read the models to refresh yourself when you're conjuring conspiracy theories in your brain。 "Oh， wait。 The simplest explanation is probably the most likely explanation。 Democratic politicians are not worshiping satan， eating humans， and abusing children。 Thank you， Occam。" Can't wait for the subsequent volumes！ 。。。more
Tim Gayton
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Short， sharp and precise little read。 As the title suggests， the book provides awareness into different ways of thinking， how to observe from a different angle， and gain your own perspective through understanding。I quite enjoyed the gems that the chapters provided， mainly focused around inverting the way I can think about a problem， such as， 'If we never learn to take something apart， test our assumptions about it， and reconstruct it， we end up bound by what other people tell us- trapped in the Short， sharp and precise little read。 As the title suggests， the book provides awareness into different ways of thinking， how to observe from a different angle， and gain your own perspective through understanding。I quite enjoyed the gems that the chapters provided， mainly focused around inverting the way I can think about a problem， such as， 'If we never learn to take something apart， test our assumptions about it， and reconstruct it， we end up bound by what other people tell us- trapped in the way things have always been done。'Some others that I thought to be beneficial， 'Understanding only becomes useful when we adjust our behavior and actions accordingly。''There is no shortcut to understanding。 Building a circle of competence takes years of experience， of making mistakes， and of actively seeking out better methods of practice and thought。''When the environment changes， we just continue as if things were the same， making costly mistakes along the way。'A big takeaway from this book， is learning to think better， which I believe to be healthy， and overall。 I found this book helpful。 。。。more
Mahesh
，
These mental models are somewhat useful， but is not going to make you Warren Buffett。 The book describes a few of the popular mental models。 Actually I dislike calling these concepts of thinking as mental models， but anyway that's a different story。 But the list chosen for this book was a good start。 I am giving it four stars because the book could use better writing， and better examples。 Things like Hanlon's razor could be shorter as well。 These mental models are somewhat useful， but is not going to make you Warren Buffett。 The book describes a few of the popular mental models。 Actually I dislike calling these concepts of thinking as mental models， but anyway that's a different story。 But the list chosen for this book was a good start。 I am giving it four stars because the book could use better writing， and better examples。 Things like Hanlon's razor could be shorter as well。 。。。more
Stefanie Kahn
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Excellent readShane is a world-class thinker and consummate learner。 This book is just another of example of his unique ability to take the knowledge of others and distill it in a digestible manner for others。
Brian
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I thought this book was very disconnected， the examples of mental models don’t translate well and it felt very scatterbrained jumping from place to place。 I think If the writer would have said Mental Model #1 given a short narrative and how it’s applies to the world that would have been more informative。 Unfortunately that didn’t happen
Stefan Sava
，
Great mental models written by Shane Parrish is an essential guide book that creates a lot of value and build lens that makes the world we're leaving in clearer Great mental models written by Shane Parrish is an essential guide book that creates a lot of value and build lens that makes the world we're leaving in clearer 。。。more
Olle Qvarnström
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