Ask HN: Which books teach mental models? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Which books teach mental models?

#51

Post by netcan » Mon, May 13, 2019, 9:11 AM UTC

Modern (post renaissance) history, economics and political theory are often totally model focused.

Ibn Khaldun is (in my definitions) the earliest example). He describes mesapotamian history, for example, as a process where barbarians take a city, gradually become soft urbanites and then it happens again. It's a model rather than an occurrence.

It's a predecessor of Adam Smith, Marx, and even 2019 people like Yuval Noah Harari. The thesis is a model. Facts are tests and/or values for the model, not the thesis.

Re: Ask HN: Which books teach mental models?

#52

Post by sus_007 » Mon, May 13, 2019, 9:36 AM UTC

Not exactly a book, but here's a podcast on the topic by Sam Harris with Shane Parrish of the Farnam Street blog.

https://youtu.be/xYoecW3j7u0

Re: Ask HN: Which books teach mental models?

#53

Post by keithnoizu » Mon, May 13, 2019, 10:24 AM UTC

Possibly more abstract than what you are looking for but Object-Oriented Design Heuristics is a decent text.

https://www.amazon.com/Object-Oriented-Design-Heuristics-Art...

Re: Ask HN: Which books teach mental models?

#54

Post by andrenth » Mon, May 13, 2019, 10:35 AM UTC

james_s_tayler wrote: post #43

andrenth wrote: post #11

* Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger * Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger * The Model Thinker: What You Need to Know to Make Data Work for You * The Great Mental Models

I'm reading The Model Thinker at the moment. +1

There is also a course on Coursera taught by the author which goes well with the book.

Re: Ask HN: Which books teach mental models?

#55

Post by kkarakk » Mon, May 13, 2019, 11:08 AM UTC

bartimus wrote: post #24

This question is strange to me. Mental models are simply how your brain works. You don't need to read books about them before they become effective. You don't need to understand how your legs operate before you can learn to walk. The only thing you can learn are concepts. But there's billions of them. It's what education does. It's somewhat useful to understand how the brain operates through mental models. But there'…

And yet training/training manuals exist for running for those who need it(for ultramarathons/sprints etc)

Re: Ask HN: Which books teach mental models?

#56

Post by ForHackernews » Mon, May 13, 2019, 11:16 AM UTC

I'd recommend "The Art and Craft of Problem Solving" by Paul Zeitz, who coached the U.S. International Mathematical Olympiad team. https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471789011/artofprob...

Re: Ask HN: Which books teach mental models?

#57

Post by sonabinu » Mon, May 13, 2019, 11:17 AM UTC

edem wrote: post #39

Not a book, but a course. This one was insanely useful for me and I've applied the models countless times: [Model Thinking][0]. I heartily recommend this to anyone who wants to learn about models and has some spare time: [0]: https://www.coursera.org/learn/model-thinking

Scott Page ( from U Michigan who is the creator of the class) has written a book on models called Model Thinker. I’m currently reading it and think it is pretty good!

Re: Ask HN: Which books teach mental models?

#58

Post by alexpetralia » Mon, May 13, 2019, 11:18 AM UTC

Not a book, but here is a shameless plug for my newsletter where I write regularly about mental models I find interesting: https://alexpetralia.github.io/newsletters

Re: Ask HN: Which books teach mental models?

#59

Post by alexpetralia » Mon, May 13, 2019, 11:22 AM UTC

bitforger wrote: post #13

I wrote a blog post today about how I don't believe in the abstract plane, if you're into it: http://mitchgordon.me/philosophy/2019/05/12/non-existence-of...

I'm surprised there's no mention of consciousness or Cartesian dualism here. That is generally where "abstraction" comes in - as a tool for humans. I don't think anyone is claiming it to be a physical property of the universe.

Re: Ask HN: Which books teach mental models?

#60

Post by mxschumacher » Mon, May 13, 2019, 11:26 AM UTC

stakhanov wrote: post #28

Gabriel Weinberg, Founder-CEO of DuckDuckGo recently wrote one that is about to hit the shelves: "Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models"

he published a long list of mental models in 2016: https://medium.com/@yegg/mental-models-i-find-repeatedly-use...