I find that there are two main mental models of the world, mappers and packers.<p>Mappers have a model of the world in their head, much like a puzzle. Any new information is attempted to match up with that puzzle. One interesting thing is when you discover that your map may have large sections that don't line up the way you thought they did. This can happen when you learn a new thing about science, technology, human relationships, history, etc...<p>A mapper will ponder, for minutes, sometimes days, in the background, all the implications of this new knowledge, and often come up with novel and interesting things to try as a result.<p>----<p>Packers, on the other hand, are oriented towards having lists that they can follow to accomplish a task. I once worked with an extreme packer, and it all worked well once I understood that if there were ANY deviations that the instructions didn't cover, I'd get a call about it after they got lost.<p>I wrote change tolerant instructions, and all was well.<p>----<p>This article sounds like someone who understands the idea of mapping, but hasn't committed to embracing it as a view of everything, but has a few different maps packed in their head, instead of one that is consistent with everything.