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Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models

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Re: Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models

#61

Post by manojlds »

yegg wrote: post #2

A few years ago I published a large list of mental models I find repeatedly useful ( https://medium.com/@yegg/mental-models-i-find-repeatedly-use... ), discussed at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12040707 . I've spent my spare time since (day job is running DuckDuckGo) with my co-author (statistician, researcher, and wife!) turning that list into this book, which weaves the 300+ mental models into nine narrativ…

Hey, for an Audible user, any reason you would recommend the book over the audiobook?

Re: Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models

#62

Post by rathish_g »

mathrawka wrote: post #36
seonsakke wrote: post #20

Congrats on the new book. How come the ebook (Kindle) is more expensive than the physical one? With higher commissions (and no printing or logistics costs) for the ebook, I'd expect the other way around.

For me, on Amazon, I see the ebook as $14.99, hardcover as $19.60 and paperback as $24.87. I'm surprised the hardcover is cheaper than the paperback.

Pre-ordered paperback for approx $8 from India

Re: Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models

#63

Post by theNJR »

rmets wrote: post #33
yegg wrote: post #2

A few years ago I published a large list of mental models I find repeatedly useful ( https://medium.com/@yegg/mental-models-i-find-repeatedly-use... ), discussed at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12040707 . I've spent my spare time since (day job is running DuckDuckGo) with my co-author (statistician, researcher, and wife!) turning that list into this book, which weaves the 300+ mental models into nine narrativ…

This is awesome, thanks. It would be cool to gamify these mental models in an app to help train. If this has been done or gets done, please post :)

Thats a really good idea. Even providing them as an Anki deck would be helpful.

Re: Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models

#64

Post by stronglikedan »

nnx wrote: post #60
stareatgoats wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looks great! and something I'm more or less obsessed with myself (abstractions of any kind, really). Will definitely buy one! Somewhat OT, but I'm confused by the pricing on Amazon: Hardcover is $19.60 (20 used from 22.65, and 34 new from $14.00), paperback $28.92 (2 used from $34.32), Kindle 23.27, and more. Maybe I'm not used to Amazon, but this seems weird. How come so many used copies of a new book for example. A…

Somehow I don’t find a Kindle edition. Did you find an alternate product page?

This is the link I get (after deobfuscation), which has Kindle at $14.99 (along with the peculiar used > new pricing):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525533583/ref=as_li_tl?ie...

Re: Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models

#65

Post by the-dude »

fheld wrote: post #54
mikorym wrote: post #52

Don't you think that by trading off complexity of the models you use general usefulness? For example, the 80-20 principle is not about the numbers 80 and 20, but it is just an x-y principle where 80 and 20 are areas of a (particular) curve. If you teach it as "the 80-20 principle" then maybe at best it's a mnemonic for some people in productivity. I'm sorry, but I'm not a fan of productivity tools based on improperly…

I have never heard of "HNs anti-procrastinator" - can you point me somewhere?

It is in your profile: noprocrast, maxvisit, minaway

Re: Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models

#66

Post by imglorp »

manojlds wrote: post #58
stareatgoats wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looks great! and something I'm more or less obsessed with myself (abstractions of any kind, really). Will definitely buy one! Somewhat OT, but I'm confused by the pricing on Amazon: Hardcover is $19.60 (20 used from 22.65, and 34 new from $14.00), paperback $28.92 (2 used from $34.32), Kindle 23.27, and more. Maybe I'm not used to Amazon, but this seems weird. How come so many used copies of a new book for example. A…

Kindle says $5 for me.

Oh man we're being played by the AWS algorithm. This is what I see (not signed in, clean browser with no cookies).

    Kindle   $14.99
    Hardcover  $19.60
    Paperback  $24.87

Re: Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models

#67

Post by myth_buster »

yegg wrote: post #10
ducttape12 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You wrote two books and you run DDG? Got any advice on balancing it all? (also thanks for DDG!)

You're welcome. Sorry for being self-referential, but we really did put our best productivity advice in the book -- Chapter 3: Spend Your Time Wisely. Here are the "Key Takeaways" from that chapter (there is a little section at the end of each). * Choose activities to work on based on their relevance to your north star. * Focus your time on just one of these truly important activities at a time (no multitasking!), ma…

> Consider whether you can reframe the problem.

This to me has been perhaps one of the most useful tool when I'm struggling with something. The fable of NASA's space pen [0] is good marker to invoke this.

[0] https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-write-stuff/

Re: Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models

#68

Post by greymalik »

yegg wrote: post #10
ducttape12 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You wrote two books and you run DDG? Got any advice on balancing it all? (also thanks for DDG!)

You're welcome. Sorry for being self-referential, but we really did put our best productivity advice in the book -- Chapter 3: Spend Your Time Wisely. Here are the "Key Takeaways" from that chapter (there is a little section at the end of each). * Choose activities to work on based on their relevance to your north star. * Focus your time on just one of these truly important activities at a time (no multitasking!), ma…

How would you tackle multiple priorities/north stars? What if I want to be the best parent I can be and save enough for retirement? I can't put off being a parent until I have enough to retire on, nor can I wait to start saving for retirement until after I'm "done" being a parent.

Re: Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models

#69

Post by zild3d »

greymalik wrote: post #68
yegg wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're welcome. Sorry for being self-referential, but we really did put our best productivity advice in the book -- Chapter 3: Spend Your Time Wisely. Here are the "Key Takeaways" from that chapter (there is a little section at the end of each). * Choose activities to work on based on their relevance to your north star. * Focus your time on just one of these truly important activities at a time (no multitasking!), ma…

How would you tackle multiple priorities/north stars? What if I want to be the best parent I can be and save enough for retirement? I can't put off being a parent until I have enough to retire on, nor can I wait to start saving for retirement until after I'm "done" being a parent.

* Use the Pareto principle to find the 80/20 in any activity and increase your leverage at every turn.

Re: Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models

#70

Post by AnimalMuppet »

greymalik wrote: post #68
yegg wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're welcome. Sorry for being self-referential, but we really did put our best productivity advice in the book -- Chapter 3: Spend Your Time Wisely. Here are the "Key Takeaways" from that chapter (there is a little section at the end of each). * Choose activities to work on based on their relevance to your north star. * Focus your time on just one of these truly important activities at a time (no multitasking!), ma…

How would you tackle multiple priorities/north stars? What if I want to be the best parent I can be and save enough for retirement? I can't put off being a parent until I have enough to retire on, nor can I wait to start saving for retirement until after I'm "done" being a parent.

Stronger: I can't put being a parent on hold to write my book. Not if I already have kids. I can't put it on hold to build my career, or launch my startup. They need you today, not when your "north star" is done.
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