6 ms·

Does anybody know of something similar, but written in a more elaborate book-like fashion? It's not about format, of course, it's just that all these model-zoo

by krick 4y ago

Does anybody know of something similar, but written in a more elaborate book-like fashion? It's not about format, of course, it's just that all these model-zoo's are only half of the story — not useless, but rather incomplete. That is, if you learn a lot of them, one day you might remember something and find it useful — or you might not. This is a bit abstract, but I want to say you rarely ever need any special tools of thinking (or maybe even tools in general) — you want a technology. That is, a relatively broad (but precisely defined) instruction of how to identify and approach a set of problems in some domain. I.e., it is more about when to use a tool or technique, rather than being a exhibition of such tools. I mean, there is important difference — that's kinda the difference between going to college and going to a museum. For example, GTD is a technology (doesn't matter good or bad). It tells you when to use tools/techniques suggested (and a better book would have more showcases and exercises to internalize the idea, IMO). This site or coursera's famous "Models Thinking" course — aren't.

rramadass 4y ago
You may find the following useful; * The Thinker's Toolkit: 14 Powerful Techniques for Problem Solving by Morgan Jones. * Mindware: Tools for Smart Thinking by Richard Nisbett.
stevenjgarner 4y ago
"De Bono's thinking course" by Edward de Bono influenced me greatly
kqr 4y ago
I like your question. I don't have much of a concrete answer, but systems theory paired with queuing theory has been broadly useful for me in assessing situations and making back-of-the-napkin consequence estimations of various decisions. Of course, I don't know of any book that teaches systems theory "as a technology" -- it's something I've learned by reading a lot of books on different things and picking up the threads they have in common. Systems theory relies, really, on a complete map of the causal network of a situation. We're not at a point where we can give a step-by-step instruction for inferring the causal network behind situations. We have some ideas on how to statistically do this in a limited fashion (see Judea Perl) but the general problem is still one of creativity, intuition, fact-checking, Bayesian probability, and so on. You get good at it by doing it a lot in various situations and reflecting on your performance -- the way you get good at most mental skills. I may have ended up answering a different question to the one you asked, but these were my thoughts. ---- I guess with all my rambling I'm trying to say that ultimately, "better thinking" boils down to "a more complete understanding of situations" and the best way to get there in my experience has been the scientific method, democracy (in the true sense of the word), and curiosity. These are very complex technologies that are not easy to teach.
- lobocinza 4y ago
  It's not what he asked me but what you said reminded of this blog: https://harishsnotebook.wordpress.com/ https://harishsnotebook.wordpress.com/
donjoe 4y ago
I recommend Haberfellner - Systems Engineering (ISBN 303013430X). The Incose handbook for systems engineering: https://www.incose.org/products-and-publications/se-handbook https://www.incose.org/products-and-publications/se-handbook (You might be able to find an older version for free) Disclaimer: I've been participating in a Systems Engineering master program @ university a while back which was based on both Haberfellner (and is finally available in English also) and Incose.
thomaspaillot 4y ago
You might be interested in reading « The Macroscope » from Joel de Rosnay. A good read if you’re interested in the theory behind systems thinking.
lstamour 4y ago
Has it been so long that folks have forgotten https://gamestorming.com/ https://gamestorming.com/ ? It used to be a classic. https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/gamestorming/9781449391195/ https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/gamestorming/97814... Here’s an updated version, maybe? https://coda.io/@dave-mastronardi/gamestorming-a-toolkit-for-meetings https://coda.io/@dave-mastronardi/gamestorming-a-toolkit-for...
- wodenokoto 4y ago
  > Has it been so long that folks have forgotten https://gamestorming.com/ https://gamestorming.com/ ? Forgotten? I've never even heard of it.
  - lstamour 4y ago
    Interesting. Just searched HN and it seems you’re right, it didn’t get much traction with developers, perhaps because it was billed as a facilitation toolkit and not about how to generate or validate better startup ideas, like Design Sprints. http://eurydice13.com/2019/01/how-to-prepare-for-and-run-a-design-thinking-gamestorming-creative-workshop-and-what-to-do-with-the-outputs-too/ http://eurydice13.com/2019/01/how-to-prepare-for-and-run-a-d... shows something of an example of how it used to work. It made more of a splash in UX and Design circles. For example: https://talks.ui-patterns.com/videos/design-practices-for-co-creation-and-engagement https://talks.ui-patterns.com/videos/design-practices-for-co... There was a point in time where it seemed like I was seeing it everywhere. At conferences, meetings, university classes, hackathons and any number of presentations, etc. Here it was at SXSWi in 2011: https://www.imagethink.net/game-storming-sxswi/ https://www.imagethink.net/game-storming-sxswi/ Also: https://co-learning.eu/tags/gamestorming/ https://co-learning.eu/tags/gamestorming/ It’s true that once Google Venture’s Design Sprints book took off, it became a bit of a benchmark in the space of collaborative idea workshops etc. But before Design Sprints, there was Gamestorming. https://vimeo.com/18880751 https://vimeo.com/18880751 It might seem a bit overblown. I’d call it a brand name that happens to reflect a style of work popular before Agile and Scrum made everything cookie-cutter from a backlog.
caffeine 4y ago
I found the book “Good Strategy, Bad Strategy” was pretty close to what you are talking about. * Good definitions of what is or is not a strategy * How to identify whether you have an actual strategy or just some empty words or a repetition of the objective * A lot of examples of different strategies, bad strategies, and non-strategies https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11721966-good-strategy-bad-strategy https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11721966-good-strategy-b...
- ryloric 4y ago
  Third time I came across this book in less than 10 days. I swear there's a name for this phenomenon..
  - louky 4y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion I've seen references to this terrorist group multiple times this week!
dotancohen 4y ago
> Does anybody know of something similar, but written in a more elaborate book-like fashion? Not book-like, but I put many things that I learn into Anki: https://apps.ankiweb.net/ https://apps.ankiweb.net/ I sync it to my phone with AnkiDroid: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ichi2.anki https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ichi2.anki I occasionally review the actual facts as flashcards. But having the notes already in flashcard format has been my secret weapon for seeming intelligent for years.
- DecayingOrganic 4y ago
  This is something I also did in the past. I would “ankify” the books I read, hoping to maximize my retention of the material. However soon I ran into some problems, turns out I couldn’t remember the cues. The same way you can’t remember the capital of a country if you don’t remember the country itself first! This led me to question the actual value I was getting from this whole ordeal.
  - dotancohen 4y ago
    Thank you for the perspective. Perhaps because I occasionally, but not obsessively, review the material it stick better for me.
  - rsanek 4y ago
    I find this happening over the long term (3-5 years after adding) too, but I think of it as more of a feature than a bug. Anki significantly extends the amount of time concepts stay in my brain, but it's unrealisting for me to expect it to do so over a decade or more without my interacting with the source material outside of simply flashcard review.
  - antman 4y ago
    Did you also create reverse cards? Like: Whose contry's capital is Uagadugu?
    - dotancohen 4y ago
nrjames 4y ago
You might want to check out The Thinker's Toolkit: https://www.amazon.com/Thinkers-Toolkit-Powerful-Techniques-Problem/dp/0812928083/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=thinkers+toolkit&qid=1654606471&s=books&sprefix=thinkers+too%2Cstripbooks%2C49&sr=1-1 https://www.amazon.com/Thinkers-Toolkit-Powerful-Techniques-...
Abishek_Muthian 4y ago
Not a book, But if you'd like an occasional(non-regular) but high quality newsletter serving the same purpose then checkout - https://www.clearerthinking.org/blog https://www.clearerthinking.org/blog . P.S. Not affiliated to them in any way, Just a subscriber.
iNic 4y ago
The Scout Mindset by Julia Galef
antigremlin 4y ago
Many people mentioned the Farnam Street newsletter, but Shane Parrish has also published a book in 3 volumes: The Great Mental Models, see https://fs.blog/books/ https://fs.blog/books/
atakrista 4y ago
Well, the true power of a tool comes from the ability of its user, not from the tool itself Even though someone explains you where you can you a tool, they just share some instences of the endless possibilities For example, a stick can be used to make a fire, to support a structure, to throw and hunt, to have hun with your dog, and for many other things It is all about understanding what the tool is, what its fundamentals are Once you know the basics, you can see the situations where the tools can be used that no one has ever imagined to used them in that way
lumenwrites 4y ago
"Rationality: From AI to Zombies" by Eliezer Yudkowsky.

by krick 4y ago

rramadass 4y ago

You may find the following useful; * The Thinker's Toolkit: 14 Powerful Techniques for Problem Solving by Morgan Jones. * Mindware: Tools for Smart Thinking by Richard Nisbett.

stevenjgarner 4y ago

"De Bono's thinking course" by Edward de Bono influenced me greatly

kqr 4y ago

I like your question. I don't have much of a concrete answer, but systems theory paired with queuing theory has been broadly useful for me in assessing situations and making back-of-the-napkin consequence estimations of various decisions. Of course, I don't know of any book that teaches systems theory "as a technology" -- it's something I've learned by reading a lot of books on different things and picking up the threads they have in common. Systems theory relies, really, on a complete map of the causal network of a situation. We're not at a point where we can give a step-by-step instruction for inferring the causal network behind situations. We have some ideas on how to statistically do this in a limited fashion (see Judea Perl) but the general problem is still one of creativity, intuition, fact-checking, Bayesian probability, and so on. You get good at it by doing it a lot in various situations and reflecting on your performance -- the way you get good at most mental skills. I may have ended up answering a different question to the one you asked, but these were my thoughts. ---- I guess with all my rambling I'm trying to say that ultimately, "better thinking" boils down to "a more complete understanding of situations" and the best way to get there in my experience has been the scientific method, democracy (in the true sense of the word), and curiosity. These are very complex technologies that are not easy to teach.

lobocinza 4y ago
It's not what he asked me but what you said reminded of this blog: https://harishsnotebook.wordpress.com/ https://harishsnotebook.wordpress.com/

donjoe 4y ago

I recommend Haberfellner - Systems Engineering (ISBN 303013430X). The Incose handbook for systems engineering: https://www.incose.org/products-and-publications/se-handbook https://www.incose.org/products-and-publications/se-handbook (You might be able to find an older version for free) Disclaimer: I've been participating in a Systems Engineering master program @ university a while back which was based on both Haberfellner (and is finally available in English also) and Incose.

thomaspaillot 4y ago

You might be interested in reading « The Macroscope » from Joel de Rosnay. A good read if you’re interested in the theory behind systems thinking.

lstamour 4y ago

Has it been so long that folks have forgotten https://gamestorming.com/ https://gamestorming.com/ ? It used to be a classic. https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/gamestorming/9781449391195/ https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/gamestorming/97814... Here’s an updated version, maybe? https://coda.io/@dave-mastronardi/gamestorming-a-toolkit-for-meetings https://coda.io/@dave-mastronardi/gamestorming-a-toolkit-for...

wodenokoto 4y ago
> Has it been so long that folks have forgotten https://gamestorming.com/ https://gamestorming.com/ ? Forgotten? I've never even heard of it.
- lstamour 4y ago
  Interesting. Just searched HN and it seems you’re right, it didn’t get much traction with developers, perhaps because it was billed as a facilitation toolkit and not about how to generate or validate better startup ideas, like Design Sprints. http://eurydice13.com/2019/01/how-to-prepare-for-and-run-a-design-thinking-gamestorming-creative-workshop-and-what-to-do-with-the-outputs-too/ http://eurydice13.com/2019/01/how-to-prepare-for-and-run-a-d... shows something of an example of how it used to work. It made more of a splash in UX and Design circles. For example: https://talks.ui-patterns.com/videos/design-practices-for-co-creation-and-engagement https://talks.ui-patterns.com/videos/design-practices-for-co... There was a point in time where it seemed like I was seeing it everywhere. At conferences, meetings, university classes, hackathons and any number of presentations, etc. Here it was at SXSWi in 2011: https://www.imagethink.net/game-storming-sxswi/ https://www.imagethink.net/game-storming-sxswi/ Also: https://co-learning.eu/tags/gamestorming/ https://co-learning.eu/tags/gamestorming/ It’s true that once Google Venture’s Design Sprints book took off, it became a bit of a benchmark in the space of collaborative idea workshops etc. But before Design Sprints, there was Gamestorming. https://vimeo.com/18880751 https://vimeo.com/18880751 It might seem a bit overblown. I’d call it a brand name that happens to reflect a style of work popular before Agile and Scrum made everything cookie-cutter from a backlog.

caffeine 4y ago

I found the book “Good Strategy, Bad Strategy” was pretty close to what you are talking about. * Good definitions of what is or is not a strategy * How to identify whether you have an actual strategy or just some empty words or a repetition of the objective * A lot of examples of different strategies, bad strategies, and non-strategies https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11721966-good-strategy-bad-strategy https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11721966-good-strategy-b...

ryloric 4y ago
Third time I came across this book in less than 10 days. I swear there's a name for this phenomenon..
- louky 4y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion I've seen references to this terrorist group multiple times this week!

dotancohen 4y ago

> Does anybody know of something similar, but written in a more elaborate book-like fashion? Not book-like, but I put many things that I learn into Anki: https://apps.ankiweb.net/ https://apps.ankiweb.net/ I sync it to my phone with AnkiDroid: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ichi2.anki https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ichi2.anki I occasionally review the actual facts as flashcards. But having the notes already in flashcard format has been my secret weapon for seeming intelligent for years.

DecayingOrganic 4y ago
This is something I also did in the past. I would “ankify” the books I read, hoping to maximize my retention of the material. However soon I ran into some problems, turns out I couldn’t remember the cues. The same way you can’t remember the capital of a country if you don’t remember the country itself first! This led me to question the actual value I was getting from this whole ordeal.
- dotancohen 4y ago
  Thank you for the perspective. Perhaps because I occasionally, but not obsessively, review the material it stick better for me.
- rsanek 4y ago
  I find this happening over the long term (3-5 years after adding) too, but I think of it as more of a feature than a bug. Anki significantly extends the amount of time concepts stay in my brain, but it's unrealisting for me to expect it to do so over a decade or more without my interacting with the source material outside of simply flashcard review.
- antman 4y ago
  Did you also create reverse cards? Like: Whose contry's capital is Uagadugu?
  - dotancohen 4y ago

nrjames 4y ago

You might want to check out The Thinker's Toolkit: https://www.amazon.com/Thinkers-Toolkit-Powerful-Techniques-Problem/dp/0812928083/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=thinkers+toolkit&qid=1654606471&s=books&sprefix=thinkers+too%2Cstripbooks%2C49&sr=1-1 https://www.amazon.com/Thinkers-Toolkit-Powerful-Techniques-...

Abishek_Muthian 4y ago

Not a book, But if you'd like an occasional(non-regular) but high quality newsletter serving the same purpose then checkout - https://www.clearerthinking.org/blog https://www.clearerthinking.org/blog . P.S. Not affiliated to them in any way, Just a subscriber.

iNic 4y ago

The Scout Mindset by Julia Galef

antigremlin 4y ago

Many people mentioned the Farnam Street newsletter, but Shane Parrish has also published a book in 3 volumes: The Great Mental Models, see https://fs.blog/books/ https://fs.blog/books/

atakrista 4y ago

Well, the true power of a tool comes from the ability of its user, not from the tool itself Even though someone explains you where you can you a tool, they just share some instences of the endless possibilities For example, a stick can be used to make a fire, to support a structure, to throw and hunt, to have hun with your dog, and for many other things It is all about understanding what the tool is, what its fundamentals are Once you know the basics, you can see the situations where the tools can be used that no one has ever imagined to used them in that way

lumenwrites 4y ago

"Rationality: From AI to Zombies" by Eliezer Yudkowsky.