The Great Mental Models – Vol. 1

Author: Farnam Street

You may have seen Farnam street referenced a few times across this site. They are a blogging and podcasting site that I discovered in the last year or so, and really enjoy. They talk a lot about mental models, and using a multi-disciplinary approach to problem solving instead of leveraging our narrow areas of expertise.

Fun fact, the .blog TLD (top level domain) they use is owned by the company I work for currently (Automattic) and we host their site. Our CEO was on one of their podcast episodes as well.

The purpose of their sites and their books is to help people master the basics of what others have already learned. Conceptually, they argue that we should focus on and master the ideas and concepts that have stood the test of time. Principles like biology, mathematics, some psychology, etc.

This first book is an overview of their goals, and goes through various different thinking and mental model techniques like first and second principles reasoning. Lots of interesting topics that I could see myself coming back to.

They are producing more volumes but right now there is just volumes one through three. Volume two focuses on physics, chemistry and biology, and volume three is focused on systems and mathematics.

The books are really nicely designed and can be read cover to cover, but are also designed to act as a reference book that you can easily come back to if you want to just dive into a certain topic.

Bonus points, Automattic sponsored the books and allowed us to expense them if we wanted them which I took advantage of. It’s cool to see your employer sponsoring something you really respect.