10+ Best Articles on Mental Models
The most useful articles on mental models from around the web—beginners to advanced—curated by thought leaders and our community. We focus on timeless pieces and update the list whenever we discover new, must-read articles or videos—make sure to bookmark and revisit this page.
Top 5 Mental Models Articles
At a glance: these are the articles that have been most read, shared, and saved on mental models by Refind users in 2023 so far.
What is ...?
New to #mental models? These articles make an excellent introduction.
An Introduction to Mental Models
Discover how the smartest people in the world use a latticework of mental models to make better decisions, avoid problems, and achieve better results.
How to ...?
How to think better
Learn how to think better with a guide on decision-making frameworks, cognitive biases, mental models, and tools for thought.
«metacognitive skills allow people to bring their thought processes to the foreground, so they can be analysed, and potentially improved.»
How to evaluate the validity and reliability of your mental models
Mental models are shortcuts for reasoning. They are a set of ideas and beliefs that we consciously or unconsciously form based on our experiences to shape our representation of how the world works.…
«In scientific research, validity is the extent to which a concept is accurately measured. To put it simply: are we measuring the right thing?»
Trending
These links are currently making the rounds on mental models on Refind.
Three Simple, Brilliant Mental Models for Better Collaboration
To avoid pitfalls in group decision-making and problem-solving
«Key Strategy to Avoid this Pitfall: Before a significant change is undertaken, use the “Five Why’s” to determine why the thing to be changed was set up in the first place. This will help drill down to some non-obvious deeper cues about the item in question.»
Short Articles
Short on time? Check out these useful short articles on mental models—all under 10 minutes.
The Science of Getting Started: Activation Energy and Why We Need It
Starting is hard. Let's face it, not everyone wakes up with a fire in their belly and a hunger for productivity. Some of us need a little extra push to get going, whether it's a cup of coffee, a quick…
«Visualising your desired outcome and focusing on the positive impact of your actions can also provide motivation and increase your internal drive.»
Survivorship Bias: How Success Stories Deceive Us (And How To Avoid It)
We focus on success stories and ignore silent evidence. And it distorts our reality. Here's how to avoid getting fooled by survivorship bias:
«Look for failures — or as Nassim Taleb calls it silent evidence.»
Present bias: how instant gratification impacts your long-term goals
The present bias is our tendency to seize short-term opportunities, settling for a small present reward rather than waiting for a larger future reward.
«staying mindful of your long-term goals so you don’t fall prey to the dangers of instant gratification»
7 Mental Models for Learning
What better way to learn than to learn about learning? These mental models for learning will help you stay curious and progressing.
«The circle of competence is an essential tool to understanding your limitations. Thus, find the best way to learn and improve your knowledge.»
Tit For Tat
Tit for tat is a strategy which, according to game theory, is the most effective choice for iterated games based on mutual cooperation or defection.
«Under tit for tat, a player will begin by cooperating, then in subsequent iterations will replicate whatever their opponent did last time.»
Long Articles
These are some of the most-read long-form articles on mental models.
The Pursuit of Worldly Wisdom
Charlie Munger explains how worldly wisdom can help you go further and faster than experts. You don't need to outwork if you can outsmart.
«From each discipline the thoughtful person draws significant mental models, the key ideas that combine to produce a cohesive understanding»
Ten Mental Models for Learning
Ten central ideas to keep in mind whenever you need to learn anything new.
«How much you’re able to learn depends on what you already know. Research finds that the amount of knowledge retained from a text depends on prior knowledge of the topic»
The Map Is Not the Territory
The map of reality is not reality. Even the best maps are imperfect. That's because they are reductions of what they represent. If a map were to represent the territory with perfect fidelity, it would…
«A model might show you some risks, but not the risks of using it. Moreover, models are built on a finite set of parameters, while reality affords us infinite sources of risks.»
Mental Models I Find Repeatedly Useful
Update: Since this post came out, I co-authored a book about it called Super Thinking. Get notified about book updates here (currently…
«you can learn through coursework, mentorship, or first-hand experience.»
A Lesson on Elementary Worldly Wisdom
Charlie Munger's famous lecture on the art of stock picking as a subdivision of the art of worldly wisdom.
«So occasionally, scaling down and intensifying gives you a big advantage. Bigger is not always better.»
Publications
We monitor hundreds of publications, blogs, newsletters, and news sources in Mental Models, including:
Ness Labs
The learning community for ambitious knowledge workers. Join us to think better, learn faster, and work happier: http://nesslabs.com/membership 🧠✨
Behavioral Scientist
Original, thought-provoking reports from the front lines of behavioral science. Learn more: http://behavioralscientist.org
Scott Young
My book, ULTRALEARNING, is out now: https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/ultralearning/
What is Refind?
Every day Refind picks the most relevant links from around the web for you. Picking only a handful of links means focusing on what’s relevant and useful. We favor timeless pieces—links with long shelf-lives, articles that are still relevant one month, one year, or even ten years from now. These lists of the best resources on any topic are the result of years of careful curation.
How does Refind curate?
It’s a mix of human and algorithmic curation, following a number of steps:
- We monitor 10k+ sources and 1k+ thought leaders on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
- In addition, our users save links from around the web using our Save buttons and our extensions.
- Our algorithm processes 100k+ new links every day and uses external signals to find the most relevant ones, focusing on timeless pieces.
- Our community of active users gets the most relevant links every day, tailored to their interests. They provide feedback via implicit and explicit signals: open, read, listen, share, mark as read, read later, «More/less like this», etc.
- Our algorithm uses these internal signals to refine the selection.
- In addition, we have expert curators who manually curate niche topics.
The result: lists of the best and most useful articles on hundreds of topics.
How does Refind detect «timeless» pieces?
We focus on pieces with long shelf-lives—not news. We determine «timelessness» via a number of metrics, for example, the consumption pattern of links over time.
How many sources does Refind monitor?
We monitor 10k+ content sources on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
Which sources does Refind monitor on mental models?
We monitor hundreds of sources on mental models, including Ness Labs, Behavioral Scientist, Scott Young, and many more.
Can I submit a link?
Indirectly, by using Refind and saving links from outside (e.g., via our extensions).
How can I report a problem?
When you’re logged-in, you can flag any link via the «More» (...) menu. You can also report problems via email to hello@refind.com
Who uses Refind?
200k+ smart people start their day with Refind. To learn something new. To get inspired. To move forward. Our apps have a 4.9/5 rating.
Is Refind free?
Yes, it’s free!
How can I sign up?
Head over to our homepage and sign up by email or with your Twitter or Google account.