The Great Mental Models, Volume 3: Systems and Mathematics

by Shane Parrish, Rosie Leizrowice, Rhiannon Beaubien Narrated by Not Yet Available

Overview

From the New York Times bestselling author of Clear Thinking and Farnam Street founder, Shane Parrish.

The third book in the timeless Great Mental Models series.

Time and time again, great thinkers such as Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett have credited their success to mental models-representations of how something works that can scale onto other fields.

Mastering a small number of mental models enables you to rapidly grasp new information, identify patterns others miss, and avoid the common mistakes that hold people back.

Volume 3 of The Great Mental Models series focuses on systems and mathematics, simplifying more than twenty-four key concepts from these technical fields into easy-to-understand terms. It provides insights into the unseen mechanisms that influence our environment and teaches you how to apply these principles to benefit your life.

Some of the mental models covered in this book include:

• Margin of Safety: Engineers design for extremes, not averages. To create a robust system, ensure a meaningful gap between what the system is capable of handling and what it is required to handle.

• Compounding: The most powerful force in the universe can work in domains other than money.
• The law of diminishing returns: Inputs to a system lead to more output, up until a point where each further unit of input will lead to a decreasing amount of output.
• Regression to the mean: Above- or below- average performance tends to correct towards the average over the long term.

The Great Mental Models series demystifies once elusive concepts and illuminates rich knowledge that traditional education overlooks. This series is the most comprehensive and accessible guide on using mental models to better understand our world, solve problems, and gain an advantage.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

I’m really glad this exists in the world and I can see that I will be recommending it often.”
— Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress, founder and CEO of Automattic


“If you’ve read Charlie Munger’s Almanack this is the book you deeply crave in its wake. … Learn the big ideas from the big disciplines and you’ll be able to twist and turn problems in interesting ways at unprecedented speeds. … You owe yourself this book.”
— Simon Eskildsen


“This is what non-fiction books should aspire to be like. Informative, concise, universal, practical, visual, sharing stories and examples for context. Definitely, a must-read if you’re into universal multi-disciplinary thinking.”
— Carl Rannaberg


“I can truly say it is one of the best books I’ve ever had the pleasure of getting lost in. I loved the book and the challenges to conventional wisdom and thinking it presents.”
— Rod Berryman


“Want to learn? Read This! This should be a standard text for high school and university students.”
— Code Cubitt

Product Details

BN ID:	2940192719428
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	10/15/2024
Series:	The Great Mental Models Series , #3
Edition description:	Unabridged