Ask HN: Which books teach mental models?

#1

Post by wintercarver » Sun, May 12, 2019, 11:55 PM UTC

Read the piece by Mutaschak[1] yesterday and found myself agreeing with components of the piece but distinctly feeling that some well-crafted books take a more active role in conveying and teaching mental models than simply summarized facts (which can be done well, but is subject to being forgotten).

The question, then, is what books effectively introduced a new mental model or perspective?

Two recent examples from my own reading, non-fiction and fiction:

Loonshots (Bahcall) - model & "rules" for structure of innovation in orgs is introduced, discussed from various perspectives, examples given, summarized in text, repeated.

Overstory (Powers) - character stories all reinforce the perspective of an alternative relationship with trees and plants, the giant ecosystem and systems thinking.

[1] https://andymatuschak.org/books/

Re: Ask HN: Which books teach mental models?

#2

Post by sridvijay » Mon, May 13, 2019, 1:41 AM UTC

Competing Against Luck (Christensen) - models on how to think about innovation, and the "jobs to be done" theory (what job is the customer hiring my product/service for)

Such a small shift in perspective, but it makes such a dramatic difference! Really recommend reading if you haven't already.

Re: Ask HN: Which books teach mental models?

#3

Post by wintercarver » Mon, May 13, 2019, 1:43 AM UTC

sridvijay wrote: post #2

Competing Against Luck (Christensen) - models on how to think about innovation, and the "jobs to be done" theory (what job is the customer hiring my product/service for) Such a small shift in perspective, but it makes such a dramatic difference! Really recommend reading if you haven't already.

Has been on my list for a while! Thanks for the nudge. BTW, as a fan of Christensen's classic The Innovator's Dilemma, I thought Loonshots was quite good as an alternative perspective where Product-type and Strategy-type innovations are discussed in comparison to Christensen's sustaining vs disruptive innovations.

Re: Ask HN: Which books teach mental models?

#4

Post by btilly » Mon, May 13, 2019, 2:04 AM UTC

https://superthinking.com/ introduces a whole bunch.

It grew out of https://medium.com/@yegg/mental-models-i-find-repeatedly-use....

I would suggest starting there.

Re: Ask HN: Which books teach mental models?

#5

Post by ineedasername » Mon, May 13, 2019, 2:15 AM UTC

Perhaps a different flavor of mental model, but a great book: "Metaphors We Live By" by George Lakoff

Re: Ask HN: Which books teach mental models?

#6

Post by abhiyerra » Mon, May 13, 2019, 2:31 AM UTC

Really enjoyed Science Strategy and War. Basically using the OODA loop and using mental models to make rapid decisions. The best book on John Boyd’s OODA loop in my opinion.

Re: Ask HN: Which books teach mental models?

#7

Post by JustJacks » Mon, May 13, 2019, 2:45 AM UTC

https://mind-development.eu/ego-autonomy.html

Re: Ask HN: Which books teach mental models?

#8

Post by wintercarver » Mon, May 13, 2019, 2:48 AM UTC

btilly wrote: post #4

https://superthinking.com/ introduces a whole bunch. It grew out of https://medium.com/@yegg/mental-models-i-find-repeatedly-use... . I would suggest starting there.

I guess my interest is actually in finding books that teach _one_ mental model, or at most one with a few variations to really send the point home. There's no shortage of fascinating compilations or general studies (e.g. Thinking Fast & Slow is not a walk-away-with-one-concept book, apart from perhaps "oh damn there's a lot of biases out there!"), but there might be a shortage of books that effectively focus on a single concept.

Re: Ask HN: Which books teach mental models?

#9

Post by quickthrower2 » Mon, May 13, 2019, 2:59 AM UTC

I’ve been thinking I wish someone would write a mental model oriented book converting the models for git, react/frp, OO, prototypical OO, Kubernetes, blockchain, DB indexes, peer to peer networking and whatever else.

Maybe each chapter is a different author.

I think mental model first learning would be a lot faster. Each git command can be explained in the mental model rather than as a stand-alone thing.

You could probably sum each one up in 10 pages or less. No code, no commands, just diagrams and a good explqination.

Re: Ask HN: Which books teach mental models?

#10

Post by schuetze » Mon, May 13, 2019, 3:02 AM UTC

Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella Meadows

Once you start looking for positive and negative feedback loops in the world around you, it's hard to stop. In particular, Meadow's book is great because it also goes beyond +/- loops in isolation, and shows more complicated patterns, such as eroding goal patterns and traps that often cause public policy interventions to fail.