If you’re interested in goals and theory the way I am, then an article about “cross-training for the mind” and different ways of thinking in various disciplines is like catnip. When I saw the article, and that it was going to work through 113 different mental models, I couldn’t NOT click on that bait. In fact, their goal in the article is based on the following:

The overarching goal is to build a powerful “tree” of the mind with strong and deep roots, a massive trunk, and lots of sturdy branches. We use this tree to hang the “leaves” of experience we acquire, directly and vicariously, throughout our lifetimes: the scenarios, decisions, problems, and solutions arising in any human life.

Mental Models: The Best Way to Make Intelligent Decisions (113 Models Explained)

The more mental models you have, the more roots and branches you have to build on. What types of models? How about:

General Thinking Concepts (11)

1. Inversion
2. Falsification / Confirmation Bias
3. Circle of Competence
4. The Principle of Parsimony (Occam’s Razor)
5. Hanlon’s Razor
6. Second-Order Thinking
7. The Map Is Not the Territory
8. Thought Experiments
9. Mr. Market
10. Probabilistic Thinking (See also: Numeracy/Bayesian Updating)
11. Default Status

Numeracy (14)

1. Permutations and Combinations
2. Algebraic Equivalence
3. Randomness
4. Stochastic Processes (Poisson, Markov, Random Walk)
5. Compounding
6. Multiplying by Zero
7. Churn
8. Law of Large Numbers
9. Bell Curve/Normal Distribution
10. Power Laws
11. Fat-Tailed Processes (Extremistan)
12. Bayesian Updating
13. Regression to the Mean
14. Order of Magnitude

Systems (22)

1. Scale
2. Law of Diminishing Returns
3. Pareto Principle
4. Feedback Loops (and Homeostasis)
5. Chaos Dynamics (Sensitivity to Initial Conditions)
6. Preferential Attachment (Cumulative Advantage)
7. Emergence
8. Irreducibility
9. Tragedy of the Commons
10. Gresham’s Law
11. Algorithms
12. Fragility – Robustness – Antifragility
13. Backup Systems/Redundancy
14. Margin of Safety
15. Criticality
16. Network Effects
17. Black Swan
18. Via Negativa – Omission/Removal/Avoidance of Harm
19. The Lindy Effect
20. Renormalization Group
21. Spring-loading
22. Complex Adaptive Systems

Physical World (9)

1. Laws of Thermodynamics
2. Reciprocity
3. Velocity
4. Relativity
5. Activation Energy
6. Catalysts
7. Leverage
8. Inertia
9. Alloying

The Biological World (15)

1. Incentives
2. Cooperation (Including Symbiosis)
3. Tendency to Minimize Energy Output (Mental & Physical)
4. Adaptation
5. Evolution by Natural Selection
6. The Red Queen Effect (Co-evolutionary Arms Race)
7. Replication
8. Hierarchical and Other Organizing Instincts
9. Self-Preservation Instincts
10. Simple Physiological Reward-Seeking
11. Exaptation
12. Extinction
13. Ecosystems
14. Niches
15. Dunbar’s Number

Human Nature & Judgment (23)

1. Trust
2. Bias from Incentives
3. Pavlovian Mere Association
4. Tendency to Feel Envy & Jealousy
5. Tendency to Distort Due to Liking/Loving or Disliking/Hating
6. Denial 
7. Availability Heuristic
8. Representativeness Heuristic
   1. Failure to Account for Base Rates
   2. Tendency to Stereotype 
   3. Failure to See False Conjunctions
9. Social Proof (Safety in Numbers)
10. Narrative Instinct
11. Curiosity Instinct
12. Language Instinct
13. First-Conclusion Bias
14. Tendency to Overgeneralize from Small Samples
15. Relative Satisfaction/Misery Tendencies
16. Commitment & Consistency Bias
17. Hindsight Bias
18. Sensitivity to Fairness
19. Tendency to Overestimate Consistency of Behavior (Fundamental Attribution Error)
20. Influence of Authority
21. Influence of Stress (Including Breaking Points)
22. Survivorship Bias
23. Tendency to Want to Do Something (Fight/Flight, Intervention, Demonstration of Value, etc.)

Microeconomics & Strategy (14)

1. Opportunity Costs
2. Creative Destruction
3. Comparative Advantage
4. Specialization (Pin Factory)
5. Seizing the Middle
6. Trademarks, Patents, and Copyrights
7. Double-Entry Bookkeeping
8. Utility (Marginal, Diminishing, Increasing)
9. Bottlenecks
10. Prisoner’s Dilemma
11. Bribery
12. Arbitrage
13. Supply and Demand
14. Scarcity

Military & War (5)

1. Seeing the Front
2. Asymmetric Warfare
3. Two-Front War
4. Counterinsurgency
5. Mutually Assured Destruction

The article has lots of links to the models to explain them. It’s like a treasure-trove of mental improvement rabbit-holes. And perhaps the grounds for 113 new blog posts by me as I work through each of them! Mind-blowing.