Farnam Street (FS) helps you master the best of what other people have already figured out.
Packed with timeless insights, our weekly newsletter offers the mental tools to deal with whatever life throws at you.
Our readers include students, teachers, CEOs, coaches, athletes, artists, leaders, followers, politicians and more. They’re not defined by gender, age, income, or politics but rather by a shared passion for living a meaningful life, doing good, and avoiding problems before they happen.
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Recent Articles
Preserving Optionality: Preparing for the Unknown
March 23, 2020
We’re often advised to excel at one thing. But as the future gets harder to predict, preserving optionality allows us to pivot when the road ahead crumbles. *** How do we prepare for a world that often changes drastically and rapidly? We can preserve our optionality. We don’t often get the advice to keep our […]
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Chesterton’s Fence: A Lesson in Second Order Thinking
March 09, 2020
A core component of making great decisions is understanding the rationale behind previous decisions. If we don’t understand how we got “here,” we run the risk of making things much worse. *** When we seek to intervene in any system created by someone, it’s not enough to view their decisions and choices simply as the […]
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Using Models to Stay Calm in Charged Situations
March 02, 2020
When polarizing topics are discussed in meetings, passions can run high and cloud our judgment. Learn how mental models can help you see clearly from this real-life scenario. *** Mental models can sometimes come off as an abstract concept. They are, however, actual tools you can use to navigate through challenging or confusing situations. In […]
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The Great Mental Models V2
This is the second book in The Great Mental Models series and the highly anticipated follow up to the Wall Street Journal bestseller, Volume 1: General Thinking Concepts.
We tend to isolate the things we know in the domain we learned it. For example:
- What does the inertia of a rolling stone have to do with perseverance and being open-minded?
- How can the ancient process of steel production make you a more creative and innovative thinker?
- What does the replication of our skin cells have to do with being a stronger and more effective leader?
On the surface, these concepts may appear to be dissimilar and unrelated. But the surprising truth is the hard sciences (physics, chemistry, and biology) offer a wealth of useful tools you can use to develop critically important skills like:
- Relationship building
- Leadership
- Communication
- Creativity
- Curiosity
- Problem-solving
- Decision-making
The second volume of the Great Mental Models series shows you how to make those connections. It explores the core ideas from the hard sciences and offers nearly two dozen models to add to your mental toolbox.
You’ll not only get a better understanding of the forces that influence the world around you, but you’ll learn how to direct those forces to create outsized advantages in the areas of your life that matter most to you.
What People are Saying
I'm really glad this exists in the world and I can see that I will be recommending it often.
Matt Mullenweg
CEO of Automattic and founding developer of Wordpress
The Bible for better learning and decision making
