The Great Mental Models Volume 1

Farnam Street founder Shane Parrish and Rhiannon Beaubien present nine foundational mental models—simple representations of how things work that help cut through complexity—including The Map is Not the Territory, Circle of Competence, First Principles Thinking, and Inversion. The book demonstrates that mastering a small number of mental models enables rapid information grasp, pattern identification others miss, and avoidance of common mistakes. Mental models act as chunks that simplify the complex into understandable, organizable pieces we use to think, decide, and understand the world.

4 sections · 25 lessons

Course outline

Core Thinking Models

  1. Map vs. Territory
  2. Update Maps
  3. Knowing Your Circle of Competence
  4. Expanding Circle
  5. First Principles
  6. First Principles Application
  7. Core Thinking Models

Advanced Reasoning Tools

  1. Thought Experiments
  2. Second-Order Thinking
  3. Probabilistic Thinking
  4. Inversion
  5. Occam's Razor
  6. Hanlon's Razor
  7. Advanced Reasoning Tools

Building Wisdom

  1. Mental Model Toolkit
  2. Test Against Reality
  3. Reduce Blind Spots
  4. Latticework
  5. Knowledge vs. Understanding
  6. Learn from Failure
  7. Building Wisdom

Mastering Application

  1. Models Are Maps
  2. Effortful Thinking
  3. Critical Thinking
  4. Decide Under Uncertainty
  5. Simplify Wisely
  6. Wisdom
  7. Integrate Daily
  8. Mastering Application

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