I recently came across fs’s (Farnham Street’s) list of “Mental Models”. While I don’t love the phrasing “mental model” (“thinking tool” is a more accurate description in my opinion), I really love the idea of one centralized list of all useful “mental models” / “thinking tools”, with a clear, concise definition for each model / tool. While their implementation of the idea could be improved, the idea is still amazing.
I also realized, in my short time blogging so far, one of the major topic areas I’ve written about is thinking tools / tips (especially as of late with the compound interest series: (I, II, III, IV, and V). Given this, I’m absolutely going to “fork” the idea (to use git lingo), or “remix” it (the musical equivalent).
Some quick ideas I have:
Add some models
Remove some models
Better description / definitions
Model prioritization:
Some models, while very useful, will be very niche
The most widely applicable models should be at the top of the list and get more attention / the best explanations
More easily skimmable, like a checklist you could quickly go through for any situation you have at hand
Practical tips about how to apply the model in real life