<story><title>Mental models</title><url>https://nesslabs.com/mental-models</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>apo</author><text>Using &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;web.archive.org&amp;#x2F;web&amp;#x2F;20190725120100&amp;#x2F;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;nesslabs.com&amp;#x2F;mental-models&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;web.archive.org&amp;#x2F;web&amp;#x2F;20190725120100&amp;#x2F;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;nesslabs....&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;p&gt;The article is a list of 30 items in the category &amp;quot;mental model&amp;quot; bracketed by some high-level opinions. Included on the list are:&lt;p&gt;- areas of research (&amp;quot;game theory&amp;quot;)&lt;p&gt;- broad motivational factors (&amp;quot;incentive&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;- basic business terms (&amp;quot;margin of safety&amp;quot;)&lt;p&gt;In other words, I wouldn&amp;#x27;t consider many of these things to be mental models.&lt;p&gt;Furthermore, the article offers no examples of the &amp;quot;great power&amp;quot; of mental models.&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, this article isn&amp;#x27;t unique in mental model discussions. Most of them follow the same pattern.&lt;p&gt;To future authors: the world doesn&amp;#x27;t need yet another recapitulation of a list from Wikipedia on mental models.&lt;p&gt;Instead, try taking an item on the list and doing something surprising or unique with it.&lt;p&gt;If it seems like an anti-pattern (&amp;quot;tribalism&amp;quot;), show how useful it can be to the reader. If it&amp;#x27;s vague (&amp;quot;signaling theory&amp;quot;), give down-to-earth examples illustrating how to use its principles in daily life. If it seems like something that &amp;quot;mental gymnasts&amp;quot; would do all the time (&amp;quot;backward chaining&amp;quot;), expose its pitfalls.&lt;p&gt;Or, try to develop a good definition of the term &amp;quot;mental model.&amp;quot; I see it used far too frequently with a citation to some other source. The author does this, but the quote doesn&amp;#x27;t clear up much. The definition on Wikipedia is just plain vague and may explain why these lists tend to include things that don&amp;#x27;t seem to be actual mental models but rather fields of study.</text></comment>
<story><title>Mental models</title><url>https://nesslabs.com/mental-models</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>febin</author><text>I have been working on this for a long time now. It helped me achieve small success in writing(My articles gained some attention and ended up publishing a book with packt). I am still a beginner, long way to become a good model thinker.&lt;p&gt;Here are a few books, I recommend.&lt;p&gt;1.The Great Mental Models : General Thinking Concepts (Beginner Level)&lt;p&gt;2.Super Thinking (Intermediate)&lt;p&gt;3.The Model Thinker (Intermediate-Advanced, you can also take the coursera MOOC &amp;quot;Model Thinking&amp;quot; by the same author)&lt;p&gt;I am also working on a tool to assit people in thinking with models.  If anyone is interested to try out the beta, you can signup here. &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;forms.gle&amp;#x2F;xn9mESKZwUMD2y6RA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;forms.gle&amp;#x2F;xn9mESKZwUMD2y6RA&lt;/a&gt; I am hoping to release it next week.&lt;p&gt;Here are a few screenshots of the tool I am building. (Note: It&amp;#x27;s in MVP stage, not a finished product)&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;imgur.com&amp;#x2F;Jzxw4uz&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;imgur.com&amp;#x2F;Jzxw4uz&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;imgur.com&amp;#x2F;XhiVJQM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;imgur.com&amp;#x2F;XhiVJQM&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>