Mental Models I Find Repeatedly Useful (2016)

Two similar lists:<p>Kent Beck&#x27;s: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.facebook.com&#x2F;notes&#x2F;kent-beck&#x2F;a-searching-and-fearless-intellectual-inventory&#x2F;1179765038723025" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.facebook.com&#x2F;notes&#x2F;kent-beck&#x2F;a-searching-and-fea...</a><p>Another one: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.defmacro.org&#x2F;2016&#x2F;12&#x2F;22&#x2F;models.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.defmacro.org&#x2F;2016&#x2F;12&#x2F;22&#x2F;models.html</a>

I would add one: 90% of the time someone acts irrationally (and they&#x27;re not mentally ill) it&#x27;s due to insecurity of some sort.

Don&#x27;t miss out on two of the biggest benefits: mapping your own rather than trying to learn someone else&#x27;s list, and then refactoring the list you wind up with for more compact representation. The easy way to do this was I just noted down any time I noticed myself using a mental model for about 2 weeks. Once new entries started tapering off I did the compression by trying to spot ways I could organize the list into categories or relations. This significantly improved the clarity of my thinking.

Farnam Street curation is also good <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;fs.blog&#x2F;mental-models&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;fs.blog&#x2F;mental-models&#x2F;</a>

(2016)<p>Previously: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=12040707" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=12040707</a>

Trying to remember the items in the list of enumerated mental models described is a feat in itself. This does not seem like a very practical approach for an MM &#x27;n00b&#x27; ...

I like Polya&#x27;s method as well:<p>1. Understand the problem<p>2. Devise a plan<p>3. Execute said plan<p>4. Review and reflect<p>This is a nice framework to attack any problem with. It won&#x27;t necessarily give you a solution but it provides a nice springboard.

If I were to pick one of these. BATNA has been the most profitable one for me. It&#x27;s truly amazing what this unlocks in negotiations if you have actively considered it.

This looks very nice. If you have an excellent grasp of each item in this list, you should be able to interact well well with any kind of thinking person.

<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;fs.blog&#x2F;mental-models&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;fs.blog&#x2F;mental-models&#x2F;</a>

He finds 189 different models to be &quot;repeatedly useful&quot;? Hmmmm...

I don’t understand the point of this list. It’s just a list of concepts on various degrees of commonality. What’s the motivation of making a list like this? What’s the benefit?

This was originally submitted with a title something like &quot;Mental Models the DuckDuckGo founder finds useful&quot;, and the mods have apparently changed it to the title on Medium.<p>I think that in instances like this, who &quot;I&quot; is is important context to HN readers scrolling through the front page. Perhaps it would be better to do the brackets thing editors do when clarifying something in a quote:<p>&quot;Mental Models I [the founder of DuckDuckGo] Find Repeatedly Useful&quot;