Takeaways From My March and April Books

In keeping with my 2024 commitments to reflect and write on what I’ve learned and what I might start doing differently as a result...here are my insights from March and April books. The big themes I noted:

• Know and apply a strong set of mental models to help you think more clearly and consistently make better decisions.
• Recognize that multiple, conflicting things can - and often are - true at the same time. These days, this way of thinking is often skewered "bothsides-ism" - but what I've read this month is a reminder that nuance and the ability to hold two opposing thoughts at the same time is a mark of knowledge and critical thinking.
• Bring skepticism and questioning to what you hear and read. So many headlines and even my entire understanding of the history of humankind are based on relatively flimsy evidence or a particular way of extrapolating the data. That doesn't mean everything I read is wrong, but that for me to adopt things as fact (particularly the things that shape my business decisions), I need to understand the actual research, data and methodology behind the headlines, and determine what elements are true and which are questionable.

Note: They are written for me personally (and aren't intended to be recommendations or critiques!). I hope they are valuable for you and encourage you to (1) share a book idea with me and (2) share more about how what you're reading is changing your life.

• Not the End of the World (Hannah Ritchie)
• The Dawn of Everything (David Graeber, David Wengrow)
• Inciting Joy (Ross Gay)
• Poor Charlie’s Almanac (Peter D Kaufman, Charlie Munger)
• Clear Thinking (Shane Parrish)
• The Great Mental Models (Book 1) (Shane Parrish, Rhiannon Beaubien)
• The Great Mental Models (Book 2) (Shane Parrish, Rhiannon Beaubien)
• Sum it Up (Pat Summit and Sally Jenkins)
• Good Inside (Dr. Becky Kennedy)
• Pathways to Possibility (Rosamund Stone Zander)
• The Creative Act (Rick Rubin)
• Influence (Robert Cialdini)

Not the End of the World (Hannah Ritchie)

Hannah Ritchie is an inspiration. At 31, she is the Deputy Editor and Lead Researcher at Our World in Data, and a researcher at the Oxford Martin Programme in Global Development, at the University of Oxford. She is whip smart at understanding what data can tell you and (perhaps more importantly) how easy it is to manipulate data and/or use half-assed analyses of data to tell the wrong story - sometimes in such a way that it leads to counterproductive advice or behavior.

Her basic premise is that (1) climate change is very real, is a major cause for concern, and requires countries, citizens, businesses and organizations to act with urgency, and - at the same time - (2) humans (perhaps with the exception of small hunter-gatherer societies) have always lived in a way that is detrimental to our planet and that we are actually currently in a better position than almost any other time in the history of humankind to make the changes needed to prevent global warming levels from exceeding 1.5-2 degrees. 

Her book is a study in the concept that “two seemingly opposing things can be true at the same time.” She refers back to this concept time and again throughout her book.

She works through seven major environmental (and ethical) issues - Air Pollution, Climate Change, Deforestation, Food, Biodiversity Loss, Ocean Plastics and Overfishing - and for each, she first dismantles commonly held misconceptions (often perpetuated by alarmist and false or not well grounded headlines), then typically shares how humanity has already made tremendous strides - often having already reached the “peak” or per capita “peak” of the challenge, and what data and experts suggest are the most powerful levers we have to fully mitigating each of these issues going forward. 

• Almost all human societies have been “unsustainable”: Using the definition of sustainability - “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” - societies in the past have not been sustainable. For thousands of years, humans haven’t been environmentally sustainable - we’ve hunted animals to extinction, cut down vast swaths of forests, and polluted air from burning wood and charcoal. She also argues that most societies (even ones that were achieving environmental sustainability) were often not meeting the needs of “today” - because they had such high rates of child mortality. “That is the challenge we face” - we need to make sure everyone in the world can live a good life and we need to reduce our environmental impacts so that future generations can flourish too. No previous generation had the knowledge, technology, political systems, or international cooperation to do both at the same time. We have the opportunity to be the first generation that achieved sustainability. Let’s do it” 
• Environmental Kuznets Curve: This concept is repeated in almost every chapter. The concept is that if we plot an environmental metric against nationwide income, it forms an upside down U - the impact per person is very low when nations are poor, rises to reach peak at middle income levels, then falls when nations get richer. This is a powerful concept. We typically assume that economic growth is at odds with environmental progress, but this curve would suggest that it is in our planet’s best interest to accelerate the economic development of nations as quickly as possible. Because of this, she celebrates and leans into economic development as a core strategy for the environmental movement. 
• Peaks: Ritchie shows - with robust data - that for many issues, we have passed “peak” per capita emissions / extraction / pollution, particularly in developed nations. For example:
• She scoffs at population control as a key lever, dismissing it as inhumane and impractical: There is a common narrative that population control is the key lever to addressing climate change - we simply have too many humans on the planet to live sustainability. Ritchie brushes this off for a variety of reasons. She argues compellingly that (1) while human population expanded rapidly in the last two centuries (in 1800, there were one billion people - today there are more than 8 billion of us), demographers expect the world population to peak in the 2080s and population growth has already peaked in wealthy nations, (2) unless we promote horrific acts to proactively and rapidly decrease current populations, any population control approaches would have a negligible impact on our population growth trends when compared to likely scenarios without population control measures - driven in part by economic development and women’s empowerment; and (3) earlier societies were most certainly not living as sustainably as individual humans are today - there is no “idyllic past” to return to by reducing population. The idea that a cultural or political focus on population to solve climate change can quickly lead to inhumane policies is a compelling one (and not one I have spent a lot of time thinking about). Thomas Malthus, who 200 years ago believed we were headed for a population bomb, argued for moral restraint, forced sterilization, criminal punishments for unprepared parents, and more - no sane person would push for these types of policies. Once again, our best lever is to push for economic development, recognizing that this (esp when coupled with women’s empowerment) naturally leads to a slowdown in population growth.  
• Across many chapters, Ritche talks about how a single data point, poorly conveyed or misleading research, etc lead people to make counterproductive decisions or attack the wrong aspects of a problem. Examples where accepted headlines are leading to problematic behavior:
• Key Actions Consumers and Citizens Can Take:

The Dawn of Everything (David Graeber, David Wengrow)

According to this book, the myth of human progress being inextricably linked to agricultural which inherently drives societies built on hierarchy and power dynamics (argued for in texts such as Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens, Jared Diamond’s The World Until Yesterday and Francis Fukuyama’s The Origins of Political Order) are false. These books share a common assumption: as societies become larger, more complex, wealthy and “civilized”, they inevitably become less equal. Early humans lived like the foragers of the Kalahari, in small, mobile bands that were generally egalitarian and democratic. This Rousseau paradise or Hobbesian hell (views differ) disappeared with the dawn of agriculture, which requires labor and land. 

Graeber and Wengrow argue that while the narrative is so appealing because it can be strategically leveraged by radicals, liberals and conservatives alike, historical evidence actually shatters this accepted “fact” that foragers lived simple, isolated lives and that agriculture and the growth of societies / civilizations inherently drives hierarchy. 

The book is a blast to read and takes you through example after example of ancient civilizations, some of which I’d been familiar with but many I had previously never learned about. Graeber and Wengrow do a tremendous job casting doubt and reshaping notions of history.

That said, they don’t necessarily do a great job proving that their alternative conclusions (that there is a way to successfully structure large complex societies without hierarchy) are correct. 

They never answer the questions of (1) if the shift to power structures and hierarchy isn’t an inevitable part of increasingly larger societies, why is it that societies have all moved in this direction (even when “how” power and hierarchy have manifested are different) and (2) what does all of this mean for the world today. 

As a non-archeologist, the takeaways I personally found most interesting include:

• Question everything: Things we think are fact are often not proven facts. I’ve read Sapiens and Guns, Germs and Steel – and left those books feeling confident about my understanding of the dawn of civilization. But these “conclusions” (particularly when thinking about ancient civilizations) are based on theories and often fairly little evidence. These then become woven into what we have come to believe are fact or inevitabilities. 
• It would be easy to take the question everything approach way too far though! There are so many things we know are not perfectly factual or proven but should still dictate how we operate (it is hard not to think about covid when writing this - a time when we may not have had many perfectly proven facts, but recognized that our best course of action was to adopt habits that would help us manage the spread of the virus based on the best information we had available). FIguring out how to question things without simultaneously becoming paralyzed or losing all sense of clarity about the world is a tough question and tradeoff that I’m not sure the answer to!
• Primitive people and indigenous peoples were intellectually powerful, politically astute and had lifestyles and societies that were heavily respected and admired by Europeans / settlers – in fact settlers who became part of indigenous communities tended to stay; but not vice versa. This intuitively makes sense to me, but it is cool to see how much evidence is there to back up this point. 
• There is power to their writing style - which was essentially strawman argument after strawman argument, often in a patronizing and angry (and sometimes amused) tone. It draws readers in and engages them as peers in the narrative journey. But this approach does not leave a reader convinced. Incorporating this style (without fully adopting it) may be beneficial in certain circumstances. 

Inciting Joy (Ross Gay)

This book is poetry through and through, with so many beautiful (albeit heartbreaking) ways of looking at the world and reflecting on one’s own history through the lens of joy. 

Quotes and concepts I loved from it include the following. This is a book to reread often.

• Joy, the thinking goes, is that room at the top of a flight of stairs that upon entering washes you with clean air and glad music and comfy furniture and gentle warmth emanating from the white pine floors, suffused with light pouring in from the enormous windows with a sweet window seat where you can read a happy book. The joy room, the thinking goes, is snug with every good and nice and cozy thing. You get my point, its a kids fantasy to imagine any emotion discrete from others. But it strikes me as a particularly dangerous fantasy because we often think of joy as meaning without pain or without sorry. But what happens if joy is not separate from pain? What if joy and pain are fundamentally tangled up with one another. Or even more to the point, what if joy is not only entangled with pain or suffering or sorrow, but is also what emerges from how we care for each other through those things. What if joy, instead of refuge or relief from heartbreak is what effloresces from us as we help each other carry our heartbreaks?
• Out of time (time: the fourth increment): Either way, there is a barbed-wire tether between time and virtue, by which I mean probably obviously the proper usage of time in this regime - i.e. not fucking off - is considered virtuous. And why wouldn’t it be? Our bodies, maybe someone has already said this, are COGS in a machine that can’t stop won’t stop and to step out of cogness is in fact an assault of capitalism. Capitalism preaches the gospel of scarcity and - as such - demands we see scarcity everywhere. And if scarcity is nowhere to be found, it will be imposed. Among those imposed scarcities of health of food of clean water of adequate shelter or comfort of community of meaning of a future - is that of time. And to believe otherwise - in enough, say in abundance - say, in gratitude, say, in the unmitigated, unbounded HANG - say - makes you blasphemous. Or a heathen. Or a criminal. Or out of your goddamn mind. 
• Insurgent hoop (Pickup basketball: the ninth incitement): Which is to say, pickup doesn’t abide the settler. Try that shit on a real court and tell me how it goes. Nor does a pickup court abide the grudge, or the fixed opponent, or the enemy, given that whoever pissed you off earlier in the day—crossed you so hard you fell on your hands and knees and everyone hollered and laughed, or elbowed you in your throat making space in the post, or shouted every time you caught the ball beyond fifteen feet, let him shoot!—will probably end up, if not in a couple games, then in a couple days, on your team, passing you the ball. And in that way, too, the pickup court laughs in the face of purity—a five, as we call the team we’ve gathered for this game, as long as we stay on (score more points than the other team), is momentary, ephemeral, miscegenal as hell. 
• Insurgent hoop (Pickup basketball: the ninth incitement): There is only us, ten of us at a time (depending on the court), assembling and disassembling and reassembling, in perpetual negotiation of the rules, in perpetual common wonder of how we’re going to be together today. What’s going to be a foul, what’s going to be a carry, what’s going to be a walk, what’s going to be our mode of protest, our mode of acquiescing, our mode of negotiation, changing with every game. I’ve heard it called a swarm. I like to think of murmuration, a school’s not bad either, and I like to think it suggests we belong to each other, or are practicing at it anyway. Without which there’s no game. Which is to say, belonging to each other is what we’re playing at. And belonging to each other means belonging to the game. Belonging to each other is the game. It reminds us, this game, the true version, to almost quote Paul D talking to Sethe in Toni Morrison’s Beloved: we are each other’s best thing.
• On a pickup basketball court, no matter how good you are, you ask to be let on a team, and into the game.
• Dispatch from the ruins (school: the eleventh incitement): But equally important—or maybe more important, for those of us with some chops anyway—is getting past our desire for mastery, for making it right or doing it well, because a poem isn’t like that. A poem is often naughty if not outright bad. Disobedient, at the least. Well-behaved, god please no. Hates the clothes you think it should wear. At its best, a good poem, like any good art, is unruly, insubordinate, uncoachable, insolent, and churlish. Surly sometimes, too. Knows your little rules inside and out and thumbs its nose. Sometimes a good poem just don’t wanna.”
• The final definition of “fix" that I'll trouble you with is this: To pin down or stick a pin through or hold in place, which is also a kind of killing. Because isn't the point of beautiful art, again, like a person, like a life, that it is unfixable and unfixing, that it changes as we change, that it unmoors us, calls into question what we thought we knew and who we thought we were? Don't we often need and love, some of us anyway, that art asks more than we could ever answer—or this, or this, or this, or this? It says, no, no, there's more. It tells us to go deeper, and, come back again. It asks, “and this and this and this,” it interrupts, and in so doing unfixes those of us who encounter it.
• If you think of art as something you wonder about, or listen to, or get lost in the making of, as something that might be trying to show you something, you do not yet know how to understand, something that again, unfixes us, perhaps we can practice making and heeding that. And if you imagine a classroom as a place where we do this unfixing work together, where we hold each other and witness each other through our unfixing? Well, that sounds to me like school.
• But when we allow and expect each other to change and, even more to the point, when we witness the learning, the changing, the grieving, with curiosity and patience and care and love; when we make room for a witness and invite each other’s unfixing and so are unfixing ourselves; when we join the grieving, or when we join in grieving, and when we do it again and again, making of that soft mutual curious, groundless witnessing not only an endeavor but also a practice; when we do these things, we fall apart into one another. We fall into each other.
• And sometimes I’ll ask what people have recently—say in the last day or two—come to realize they love, a question that at first seems to be difficult for some of them, as they say, “I like” this, or “I like” that, to which I try to lean on them by saying, “No, no, I said, what do you love?” Because sharing what we love is dangerous, it is vulnerable, it is like baring your neck, or your belly, and it reveals that, in some ways, we are all commonly tender.

Poor Charlie’s Almanac (Peter D Kaufman, Charlie Munger)

Kaufman brings together the wisdom of the great Charlie Munger - with his personal insights and reflections on investing, business, life, and decision making strategies. 

Split into several sections:

Chapter 1: A Portrait of Charles T Munger

Chapter 2: Remembering: The Children on Charlie

Chapter 3: The Munger Approach to Life

Chapter 4: Eleven Talks (transcripts from eleven of Munger’s speeches).

Points shared that are worth coming back to time and again:

As John Muir observed about the interconnectedness of nature, “when we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” Charlie seeks to discover the universe hitched to each of his investment candidates by gaining a firm grasp on all, or at least most, of the relevant factors comprising both its internal and external environment. When properly collected and organized, his multiple mental models (about 100), provide a context or latticework, that leads to remarkable insights as to the purpose and nature of life. HIs models supply analytical structure that enables him to reduce the inherent chaos and confusion of a complex investment problem into a clarified set of fundamentals. 

Munger comes back to several mental models, investment principles, and success principles time and again. Here are some concepts he shares:

• Risk: All investment evaluations should begin by measuring risk, especially reputational
• Independence: Only in fairy tales are emperors told they are naked. Mimicking the herd invites regression to the mean (merely average performance)
• Preparation: The only way to win is to work, work, work and hope to have a few good insights. Develop into a lifelong learning through reading. Cultivate curiosity and strive to become a little bit wiser every day.
• Intellectual humility: Acknowledging what you don’t know is the dawning of wisdom. 
• Analytical rigor: Use of the scientific method and effective checklists minimizes errors and omissions. 
• Allocation: Proper allocation of capital is an investors number one job
• Patience: Resist the natural human bias to act. 
• Decisiveness: When proper circumstances present themselves, act with decisiveness and conviction
• Change: Live with change and accept unremovable complexity
• Focus: Keep things simple and remember what you set out to do

Don’t sell anything you wouldn’t buy yourself. Don’t work for anyone you don’t respect and admire. Work with people you enjoy.

Mental models seem underlie how Munger thinks: He talks at length about the laticework of mental models in your head. You need to hang your actual experience and your vicarious experience that you get from reading on this latticework of powerful models. And with that system, things gradually get to fit together in a way that enhances your cognition. 

• At some point he is asked - what are the mental models, and he is quick to say that its lazy to simply read them. You have to draw them out from your own life experiences, understanding of history, conclusions from your own readings, etc. 

He believes ideology does some strange things and distorts cognition terribly. “If you get a lot of heavy ideology young, and then you start expressing it, you are really locking your brain into a very unfortunate pattern. And you are going to distort your general cognition….this is a very complicated system. And life is one damn relatedness after another. It’s all right to think that, on balance, you suspect civilization would be better if it raises the minimum wage or lowers it. Either position is okay. But when people are totally sure on issues like that with a strong, violent ideology, it - in my opinion - turns you into a lousy thinker. So beware of ideology-based mental malfunctions. I have what I call an iron prescription that helps me keep sane when I drift dowards preferring one intense ideology over another. I feel that I’m not entitled to have an opinion unless I can state the arguments against my position better than the people who are in opposition. I’m only qualified to speak only when I’ve reached that state.”

Charlie laments the lack of understanding most people have (including professors) about psychology. “Just open a psychology textbook, turn to the index, and look up envy. The Jewish people, back when they were herding sheep, knew all about envy. Its just that psychology professors don’t know about envy. Books that thick are teaching psychology course without envy? And with no simple psychological denial? And no incentive-caused bias? And psychological texts don’t deal adequately with combinations of factors. I told you earlier to be aware of the lollapalooza effect - when two or three or more forces are operating in the same direction.”

25 principles of social psychology / tendencies. These are just amazing. Keeping them in mind when navigating decisions and people is a game changer. 

1. Reward - and publishment - super response tendency - highlights the complex interplay between motivation and behavior. By fostering mindfulness and empathy, we can better navigate these cognitive biases and make informed decisions for positive outcomes.
2. Liking / loving tendency - The tendency to judge in favor of people and symbols we like is called the bias from liking or loving. We are more likely to ignore faults and comply with wishes of our friends or lovers rather than random strangers. We favor people, products, and actions associated with our favorite celebrities.
3. Disliking / hating tendency - This tendency acts as a conditioning device that makes the disliker or hater tend to: Ignore virtues in the object of dislike. Dislike, people, products, and actions merely associated with the object of his dislike. Distort other facts to facilitate hatred.
4. Doubt-avoidance tendency - This bias is what happens when we are unsure of what to do. In these situations, we tend to make quick, ill-informed decisions to avoid all doubt. In situations of danger, this triggers our automatic fight-or-flight response.
5. Inconsistency-avoidance tendency - The brain of man conserves programming space by being reluctant to change, which is a form of inconsistency avoidance. We see this in all human habits, constructive and destructive. 
6. Curiosity tendency - Curiosity Tendency. We tend to be curious about new things. Like other mammals, we have an innate curiosity.
7. Kantian fairness tendency - The Kantian Fairness Tendency refers to the pursuit of perfect fairness which causes a lot of terrible problems. Stop expecting the world to be fair and adjust your behavior accordingly. To learn about this mental model we turn to Charlie Munger, who mentioned it twice.
8. Envy / jealousy tendency - “Envy is a really stupid sin because it’s the only one you could never possibly have any fun at. There’s a lot of pain and no fun. Why would you want to get on that trolley?” The sins of jealousy and envy drive huge swaths of human behavior, but if we work to understand it and see it in ourselves and others, it doesn’t have to drive ours.
9. Reciprocation tendency - automatic tendency for humans to try to reciprocate in kind what others have done for us. And it's a powerful force. 
10. Influence-from-mere-association tendency - We perceive people or things differently depending on who/what they are associated with.
11. Simple, pain-avoiding psychological denial - The reality is too painful to bear, so one distorts the facts until they become bearable. 
12. Excessive self-regard tendency - Natural tendency to overestimate your own abilities. Excessive Self-Regard Tendency is more pronounced if you don't know much about the subject at hand. The more incompetent people are, the less they realize they are incompetent. 
13. Overoptimism tendency - The inclination to overestimate the likelihood of encountering positive events in the future and to underestimate the likelihood of experiencing negative events. 
14. Deprival-super reaction tendency - This bias is characterized by an intense reaction to losing or the threat of losing something, especially something that one perceives as almost possessed but never fully owned.
15. Social-proof tendency - people assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behavior for a given situation. In essence, it's the notion that, since others are doing it, I should be doing it, too.
16. Contrast-misreaction tendency - causes people to take actions which are potentially detrimental, because they appear insignificant or appear positive when compared to other actions. Munger uses an analogy of the human eyes to illustrate how this tendency works: humans only see items which contrast with their environment. In the same way, humans find it difficult to differentiate perceptions where there is little in the way of contrast. For example, a man may buy a $1,000 leather dashboard, even if overpriced, when considered in combination with the fact that the vehicle cost is a much larger $65,000.
17. Stress-influence tendency - We tend to overreact in situations when we are under heavy stress. Light stress can improve performance, but heavy stress can cause dysfunction.
18. Availability-misweighting tendency - We tend to overemphasise information that is widely available. An idea or fact is not worth more merely because it is available to you.
19. Use it or lose it tendency - The use-it-or-lose-it tendency is the inclination of skills to decline over time if unused. Here is how to prevent skill depreciation. 
20. Drug-misinfluence tendency - Our brains make irrational decisions under the influence of drugs. Drugs accentuate the Simple, Pain-Avoiding Psychological Denial tendency.
21. Senescence-misinfluence tendency - With advanced age, there comes a natural cognitive decay, differing among individuals in the earliness of its arrival and the speed of its progression. Practically no one is good at learning complex news skills when very old.
22. Authority-misinfluence tendency - The tendency to follow/obey authority figures and because they are authority figures, put more trust than usual in them. What is if the authority is wrong? Or the authority ideas are not received correctly? Thinking for ourselves can be helpful instead of blindly following instructions.
23. Twaddle tendency - The twaddle tendency is the need to speak confidently on something we don't know enough about. 
24. Reason-respecting tendency - people want the answers to something but don't care to know the background information or reasoning to gain a better understanding. 
25. Lollapolooza tendency - occurs when different attitudes and desires converge to drive people in the same direction.

“We should always heed the general lesson implicit in the injunction of Ben Franklin: If you would persuade, appeal to interest and not to reason. This maxim is a wise guide to a great and simple precaution in life: Never, ever think about something else when you should be thinking about the power of incentives.”

Clear Thinking (Shane Parrish)

Shane Parrish has a great podcast (The Knowledge Project) that I would listen to if I was a podcast listener. He is committed to helping people think more clearly and make better decisions. 

He is - in many ways - a bit of a disciple of Charlie Munger, and draws on a lot of Munger’s methods and wisdom, turning it into guidance that is more directive for readers. 

Part 1: The Basics 

Introduces the fundamental principles of clear thinking, such as the importance of first principles thinking, the danger of confirmation bias, and the power of mental models. 

• First principles thinking is the process of breaking down a problem or issue into its basic foundations and components to solve the challenge at hand. This helps you to identify the root causes of problems and develop more effective solutions.
• Know your biases! Common biases include: 
• Mental models are frameworks that we use to understand the world around us. If you have strong, disciplined mental models, the are helpful. If you have shallow, more emotional / gut based mental models, they can also lead us astray. By developing a robust set of mental models, we can improve our ability to think clearly and make better decisions. Examples:

Part 2: Thinking in Practice 

Applies principles of clear thinking to real-world situations, such as decision-making, problem-solving, and learning. 

• The best decisions are based on evidence, not emotion. 
• Need to use frameworks for strong decision-making, especially under pressure. A good approach to decision making includes:
• Take a deep breath 
• Give yourself some time - don’t rush into decisions.
• Recognize that decisions are not binary - i.e. yes or no. Binary decision making pressures you into something but there are often third or fourth options to consider.

• Don’t make decisions when you're tired, hungry or overly stressed.
• Consider the different perspectives on the issue and try to be objective. Ask for advice from trusted friends.
• Make a decision and then stick to it, even if you have doubts later on.
• Employ 5 Whys - ask yourself "Why?" five times to get to the root cause of a problem.
• Six Sigma methodology for process problems.

Part 3: The Mindset of Clear Thinking

Shares the importance of developing a clear and critical thinking mindset. 

• Critical thinking is the ability to evaluate information and arguments objectively. It is the ability to identify and analyze assumptions, biases, and logical fallacies. Critical thinking is essential for making informed decisions and solving problems effectively.
• Be willing to change your mind. If you are presented with new evidence that contradicts your beliefs, be willing to change your mind. This is - in some ways - the mark of true intelligence, critical thinking and confidence.
• Be aware of your own biases. We all have biases, but it is important to be aware of them so that we can avoid letting them cloud our judgment.
• Consider all sides of an issue. Don't just focus on the information that confirms your existing beliefs. Seek out information that challenges your beliefs as well.
• Evaluate information critically. Don't accept information at face value. Question the source of the information and the evidence that is presented.
• Be open to new ideas. Don't be afraid to change your mind if you are presented with new evidence.
• Reflective thinking is the ability to think about your own thinking. It is the ability to identify your strengths and weaknesses as a thinker, and to develop strategies for improving your thinking skills. Reflective thinking is essential for continuous learning and growth.
• Open-mindedness is the willingness to consider new ideas and perspectives. It is the ability to see things from different points of view. Open-mindedness is essential for creativity and innovation.
• Be willing to challenge your own beliefs. Don't be afraid to question your own beliefs, even if they are deeply held.
• Be open to new ideas and perspectives. Be willing to listen to and consider new ideas, even if they are different from your own.

The Great Mental Models (Book 1) (Shane Parrish, Rhiannon Beaubien)

This (with The Great Mental Models Book 2 - which I am halfway through) is my favorite read from the past two months! 

Parrish and Beaubien have pulled together four books that outline, chapter by chapter, the mental models people should know and use when considering information and making decisions. 

In the intro, Parrish writes how he created the book after being asked by his children - who presumably have to listen to Parrish talk about mental models and Charlie Munger at the dinner table all the time - where can I find a book about all of these models? To which he responds that there isn’t a single book…until now.

This first mental models book covers nine timeless, foundational mental models that will sharpen your critical thinking skills and help you make better decisions.

• The map is not the territory: Frequently, we don’t understand our maps, their limits, or the fact that we’re using maps in the first place (versus the real thing). We can be so reliant on abstraction that we frequently use an incorrect model simply because we feel any model is preferable to no model. (Reminding one of the drunk looking for his keys under the streetlight because “That’s where the light is!”)
• Circle of competence: Understanding where you have an edge (your circle of competence) and where you don't can help you prevent problems, spot opportunities others miss, and rapidly learn.
• First principles thinking: A method of thinking and problem-solving that involves breaking down complex issues into their most basic and fundamental parts. Once you understand the underlying “first principle” you can problem solve and make decisions from the foundation. 
• Thought experiment: A thought experiment is an experiment that is described verbally but not actually performed. You carry it out in your mind, using reasoning and logic, and forecast likely scenarios and outcomes.
• Second-order thinking: Think about how your decisions will influence your future decisions instead of simply the immediate ones. Think about how your current decisions will impact others and set of chain reactions. This is a great tool to help us think beyond initial benefits by considering second-order consequences (aka. hidden consequences) to help make better decisions for the long-run.
• Probabilistic thinking: Estimate, using some tools of math and logic, the likelihood of any specific outcome coming to pass.
• Inversion: Approach a problem from the end you typically don’t consider. We tend to approach challenges directly: by looking at the problem first and then searching for the solution. However, the direct approach sometimes fails, especially when the problem demands a creative or counterintuitive solution. When it does, try looking at the problem from the opposite angle that you started from.
• Occam’s Razor: The simplest explanation is preferable to one that is more complex. Simple theories are easier to verify. Simple solutions are easier to execute.
• Hanlons Razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. It is a philosophical razor that suggests a way of eliminating unlikely explanations for human behavior.
• Falsifiability: The only way to test the validity of any theory was to prove it wrong, a process he labeled falsification. And it turns out we’re quite bad at falsification.
• Necessity and Sufficiency: A necessary condition is a condition that must be present for an event to occur. A sufficient condition is a condition or set of conditions that will produce the event.
• Causation vs. Correlation: A correlation between variables does not automatically mean that the change in one variable is the cause of the change in the values of the other variable. 

The Great Mental Models (Book 2) (Shane Parrish, Rhiannon Beaubien)

The second book in this series draws from the core principles of physics, chemistry, and biology - applying them to life and decision making. For me, it is part “decision making frameworks” and part “getting re-immersed in high school science concepts (in the best way possible).”

Part 1: Physics Concepts and Mental Models

Theory of Relativity: There is more than one way to see everything (i.e. perspective). Solve problems by shifting your perspective in multiples ways:

• Zooming in or out of the problem
• Extending your timeline to weeks, months, or even years
• Assuming the perspective of other stakeholders
• Filtering a problem through multiple perspectives layered together to reduce your blind spots and offer you a version of reality that’s closer to the truth.

Every Action has an Equal and Opposite Reaction: While this is an obvious physics concept, it is fun to think about this in terms of human dynamics, where the theory is really about reciprocity - i.e. what you give to others drives what you get in return. "It pays to go positive and go first." Reciprocal behavior is embedded in our DNA. You were more likely to survive if you received help from others, and you were more likely to receive help if you offered assistance. Win-win interactions are essential to a fulfilling and successful life - so , if you want to receive help, start by first offering help to others.

Thermodynamics: This was a fun chapter! It refers to four laws that provide the ultimate foundation for how the world works:

1. The First Law: energy cannot be created nor destroyed; it can only be transferred from one form to another.
2. The Second Law: Entropy (the measure of disorder) of an isolated system always increases.
3. The Third Law: As temperature approaches absolute zero, the system’s entropy approaches a constant value.
4. The Zeroth Law: If two objects are in thermal equilibrium with a third object, then those two objects are in thermal equilibrium with each other.

Chaos is the default state and energy and effort is required in order to maintain structure and organization. In general, that effort is worthwhile, because chaos is not a recipe for societal success.

Inertia: Objects in motion tend to stay in motion. Objects at rest tend to stay at rest. This is physics but also human nature in a nutshell. Real change requires force, and force requires effort. The longer you've been doing something, the harder it is to change that habit. The amount of effort needed to change a habit is proportional to the length of time you've had it. Getting started is the hardest part. But once you get moving in a direction, it's much easier to keep going.

Friction and Viscosity: Friction is what opposes the movement of objects that are in contact with each other. Viscosity is the measure of how hard it is for one layer of fluid to slide over another. While often hidden, friction and viscosity work against us anytime we try to do something. They are similar concepts to each other, especially when applied to decision making, human nature and taking action.  

Friction is also the (real or imagined) force that must be overcome to achieve an outcome. We often get caught up looking for ways to use more force to overcome resistance and achieve a goal, when merely reducing the friction or viscosity will do. 

Velocity: This is another great chapter! Speed is just movement; velocity has direction. It's much more important to pay attention to where you're going instead of how fast you're going. Progress is not about how fast you're moving, but whether or not you are making sustained progress in the right direction. 

Leverage: Leverage is like magic. Humans have been using levers for millennia to amplify their force and many of the world’s man made wonders (i.e. pyramids) have levers to thank for their construction. In business and life, leverage refers to the concept of achieving results far greater than the force you put in. You want to understand:

1. How do I know when I have leverage?
2. Where and when should I apply leverage?
3. How do I keep leverage?

Part 2: Chemistry

Activation Energy: Activation energy is the energy required in a chemical system to initiate a reaction. Without an initial input of sufficient energy, the reaction won't occur.

When it comes to making changes in life or business, or just getting a decision going - you need enough activation energy to make it happen. Real change requires more than just enough energy to get started, but enough energy to see the entire process through. The bigger and more challenging the need for change, the more activation energy is required.

[This is where I am at the end of April! Need to finish the book and summary in May.]

Sum it Up (Pat Summit and Sally Jenkins)

I adored this book and could not put it down. Summit coached the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team from 1974 (she was 21 when she started!) to 2012 and in that time, became the winningest (love that word!) coach in NCAA basketball history and helped lift the sport (and women’s sports in general) from being an afterthought to a prime time act. Her proudest stat is that 100% of her players who completed their eligibility graduated. Some takeaways for me personally from the book:

• Childhood and parenting shapes so much about a person, even when that childhood isn’t necessarily “good” (in our current definition of the word): Summit opens the book up talking about her childhood, which was both raucous and wild with her many brothers all of whom adored basketball, and intensely structured and disciplined. Her father, Richard Head, instilled fear-driven work ethic in his five children on the family’s Tennessee farm. The kids had extensive responsibilities on the farm (most which would be currently considered questionable in terms of age appropriateness) and were expected to get things done or be met with consequences. “If you disobeyed him, he would come after you with his belt, or a tobacco stick, or a switch, or a milk strap, or whatever else came to hand.” Richard Head did not show affection of love - Summit was 43 when she received her first hug from her father. Summit is quick to dismiss any notions that her father was “abusive” (how we would describe him today), and really credits him with her career. She shares that she knew she was always loved and supported, and describes how when they learned that she couldn’t play basketball because her high school did not have a team, her father said, “well, we’ll just move then” and did just that, despite the fact that it meant leaving the first nice, established home they had ever been in. It is inspiring how Summit reflects on her father and childhood in general, framing her relationships and experiences with pride and recognition that whatever the difficulties, all of it is what made her who she became as an athlete and a coach.
• Work ethic and discipline, and the deep seeded desire to succeed and win: As an athlete, Summit pushes herself with a physical discipline I can’t even fathom. Her college basketball career ends abruptly with a knee injury four games into her first season that doctors said will make her unable to play basketball again. While her college basketball career did end, she committed to recovery and training and became the co-captain of the 1976 Olympic Women's Basketball Team, playing in Montreal and getting silver - the first year the Olympics had a women's basketball event. As Summitt describes the practices she put her players through, I almost got jealous. Having a coach expect that much out of you, pushing you to limits that you hate at the time but take deep pride in after the fact - it is a rare gift that many (including me) have never experienced before. 
• Trailblazing in the world of women’s sports: When Summit started playing girls basketball, the sport was a half court game (three on one side, and three on the other) because people didn’t think women had the stamina to run up and down the court. Throughout her career, she saw women’s basketball go full court, become an olympic sport, the number of female college athletes rise from 16,000 to 200,000, and rivalries (such as that of the Tennessee Lady Vols and the Uconn Huskies) become heavily watched and tracked by the general public. This year was a wild and wonderful one for women’s basketball, and it is easy to think the sport has now “arrived” with Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese becoming household names - but reading this book is a reminder that every decade since Title IX has seen waves of incredible momentum forward and excitement about women’s basketball. The sport’s current success didn’t just happen, it was a result of consistent pushing and achievement from coaches like Summit and players over the past 50 years.
• There are many ways to be a feminist: To me, Summit is a feminist through and through. She saw herself and her players as equal to male counterparts and pushed to make dramatic changes to the sport. But its a word she is openly uncomfortable with in the book. She saw the word to embody “activism” which wasn’t her style. She made change through finesse, working to bring on powerful male allies who would help drive the improvements she wanted to see - in the sport, in her facilities, etc. She also took pride in being considered a “lady” a concept many see as counter to feminism. Reading this is fascinating - its a good reminder that some of us are working within the system and we make change largely through our work, while some are working outside of the system and drive change through activism. 
• The best part of the book is how she describes the sport of basketball and how she describes the game and the individual spirits / personality of her players and teams. It is clear that while her motivation was success and winning, the joy she looks back on was in getting to understand her players, what made them tick, and bring out the best - on and off the court - in them. 
• She was also imperfect and very open about that: Summit reflects on players whose relationships she sees now that she did not navigate successfully. She acknowledges that she failed some of her players and/or coached them with manipulation or a sole reliance on work ethic. She gradually matures as a coach (in part due to motherhood), allowing herself to see individual players more clearly, recognize what they uniquely need and adjusting her coaching style accordingly for each.
• The seamless transition from competitiveness to friendship: The sport is full of friendships that are also rivalries. Many of her players went on to become coaches on opposing teams. Many of her Olympic teammates became rival coaches. The deep respect she has for rival coaches and rival players is a joy to read, and a lesson for all of us. We want to be in a sport or industry or place where we see any competitors with deep respect. 
• Parenting: Summit talks openly about her many miscarriages and then the arrival of her first and only child - Tyler Summit. She incorporates Tyler into her life, having her nanny bring him to practices and games. As Tyler grows up, he becomes part of the spirit of her teams (often part of their superstitions as well). I love reading memoirs of female leaders because they talk so openly and with vulnerability of their parenting, often using the book as a place to grapple with what they are proud of and what they worry they did wrong. It is clear that Tyler is Pat’s greatest victory, and the relationship they seem to have had is a beautiful one.
• Alzheimer's: At 59, Summit is diagnosed with Alzheimers. Throughout the book, Sally Jenkins (her author) asks her a series of personal questions about how she is processing her illness - what she remembers, what she forgets, what her goals are and fears are, etc. These dialogues are incredibly intimate. These, coupled with the efforts Summit takes to successfully coach an additional year after her diagnosis serve as a reminder that Alzheimer’s is not an immediate death sentence. There are many ways people with Alzheimer’s can engage in and contribute to the world.
• Staying in something for a long time is part of what drives success: This is, perhaps the most important takeaway for me. We live in a world where people (including me) jump from career to career and hope for relatively quick wins and outs. Summit was a coach for the same team for almost 40 years. This longevity, the ability to continuously learn and improve in a single setting, the respect she garnered, the relationships she made and cultivated - all helped drive a lot of her success. 

Good Inside (Dr. Becky Kennedy)

A fun parenting book, especially as my kids get older and their emotions and needs more complex. Themes, that can be extrapolated to adult relationships as well:

• Two conflicting things can be true at the same time: This is a theme in my readings for the month and seeing it applied to parenting as well is helpful. It can be simultaneously true that I am not allowing my child to do a thing at the moment (play, watch television, wear a certain outfit, etc) while also acknowledging and respecting their deep desire to do so and the anger and frustration this creates in them. Calmly accepting these conflicting points is a key to bringing a level head and heart to tough dynamics.
• Behavior is a clue to feelings and needs: When my 5 year old throws an insane tantrum, it isn’t that “she is a brat”, it is a clue to something else - perhaps she feels rejected or isolated, she is tired, she is hungry, she misses her friend, etc. This is a great reminder for me, because I think how my kids act in a situation is often how I would act if it were socially appropriate to do so (i.e. I’d love to throw a tantrum when I am deeply disappointed or exhausted as well!) This frame also allows for calm and kindness, which is not my natural tendency in these times. 
• Connection and phone-free time: She often comes back to connection as currency. Finding bouts of quality (phone-free) time when you are fully dialed in builds their emotional bank account. A healthy amount in this emotional bank account sets kids up to be stronger and more confident, and sets our relationship with them to be more resilient.
• Repair: She talks at length about how successfully repairing after a bad interaction with your child (or really, with anyone) is an incredible way to build their confidence and identity, and strengthen the foundation of your relationship. I love this because it reframes emotional responses that I and many parents have in the moment as an opportunity to strengthen our bonds with our kids (versus as moments of failure for us to look back on with shame). I’m not immune to yelling at the kids. Taking the time to acknowledge those moments, apologize, and then reconnect can create stronger relationships than they may have even been had the yelling not happened in the first place.
• Embedding their sense of self in what is inside the child, not outside: This is a tough one but I see its importance time and again. Celebrating effort (you practices so hard) versus outcomes (you won the game) is so important…and so damn hard to remember.
• Playfulness: Bringing a playful, joyful energy to the kids’ tantrums / whining / etc is one of the best remedies. I am not a naturally playful person but I see this work time and again. Good reminder though, because of how successfully this approach diffuses a situation.

Some great quotes that exemplify these points:

• “As a result, many parents see behavior as the measure of who our kids are, rather than using behavior as a clue to what our kids might need.”
• “Finding the good inside can often come from asking ourselves one simple question: “What is my most generous interpretation of what just happened?”
• “Building resilience is about developing the capacity to tolerate distress, to stay in and with a tough, challenging moment, to find our footing and our goodness even when we don’t have confirmation of achievement or pending success.”
• “if we don’t build a sturdy foundation with our kids—one based in trust, understanding, and curiosity—then we have nothing keeping them attached to us. I think about the term “connection capital” a lot. It refers to the reserve of positive feelings we hopefully build up with our children, which we can pull from in times of struggle or when the relationship between us gets strained. If we don’t build this up during our children’s earlier years, well, we have nothing to draw on when our kids are adolescents and young adults”
• “When you make a decision you believe in but you know will upset your child, you might say as much to your kid: “Two things are true, sweetie. First, I have decided that you cannot watch that movie. Second, you’re upset and mad at me. Like, really mad. I hear that. I even understand it. You’re allowed to be mad.” You don’t have to choose between firm decisions and loving validation. There’s no trade-off between doing what feels right to you and acknowledging the very real experience of your child. Both can be true.”
• “Imagine your child has an emotional bank account. The currency in this bank account is connection, and their behavior at any moment reflects the status of their account, how full or depleted it is. I mentioned earlier the idea of this “connection capital”—when we really connect with a child, see their experience, allow for their feelings, and make an effort to understand what’s going on for them, we build our capital. Having a healthy amount of connection capital leads kids to feel confident, capable, safe, and worthy. And these positive feelings on the inside lead to “good” behavior on the outside—behavior like cooperation, flexibility, and regulation. So in order to create positive change, we have to first build connection, which will lead kids to feel better, which will then lead them to behave better. But note, behavior comes last. We cannot start there. We must start with connection.”
• “The best match for a child’s whining is an adult’s playfulness. When we respond to a whine with silliness or humor, we offer what a child needs the most: connection and hopefulness, both of which are present in lighthearted moments. (Though, it’s important to remember that playfulness is not mockery. The first is intended to connect and add levity, the second is distancing and adds shame.) The next time your child says, “I need you to get me my pajamaaaaaas!” take a deep breath, remind your body you are safe, and then try something like, “Oh no oh no oh no . . . the whines again! How the heck did they”—walk over to the window, look around outside—“get in here again?” Continue with your monologue, and watch your child loosen up. “Okay, I don’t know how they got in, but let’s get some of those out. Throw them onto some other kids!” Walk over to your child and pretend to “take” the whines out of their body, then throw those whines out the window or door or something else. Then return to your child and say something like, “Okay, sorry, what? Oh, you want your pajamas?” You can get them for your child at this point. You aren’t “reinforcing” the whine, you are just adding playfulness and connection.”
• “Circuitry for self-confidence depends on a child’s ability to locate identity over observable behavior; this comes from growing up in a family that focuses more on what’s “inside” a child (enduring qualities, feelings, ideas) than what is “outside” (accomplishments, outcomes, labels). In regard to your child’s sports team, for example, inside stuff might be her effort in practice, her attitude when winning and losing, and her willingness to try new things; outside stuff might be her number of goals or home runs, or labels like “most valuable player.” When it comes to academics, inside stuff might be willingness to try a bonus math problem, spending time on studying, and showing enthusiasm about a subject; outside stuff might be a grade, a test score, or a label like “smartest kid in class.”
• “When children are rude or even downright defiant, parents have two choices: we can view the behavior through the lens of disrespect for us (“My child does not respect me!”) or through the lens of emotion dysregulation for them (“My child is having a hard time right now”). It’s tempting to default to that first lens—it’s the easier, often more ingrained route. But think about yourself—why are you rude to people sometimes? Why would you talk back to or disobey your boss? I come up with the same reason, every time: I feel misunderstood. I am looking to feel seen and don’t. I feel frustrated that someone else isn’t really hearing me, and my relationship with that person isn’t as strong as it could be in that moment. Knowing what would make me act out helps guide my approach to rudeness or defiance in kids.”

Pathways to Possibility (Rosamund Zander)

I LOVED the Art of Possibility and was excited to see what Zander’s follow up book was about. Zander’s premise in Pathways to Possibility is that so much of how we behave is based on old patterns developed during childhood and the resulting story we tell ourselves – and that we have the power to change that story. 

Breaking old patterns and telling a new story can transform our own lives and our relationships with every single person around us. By gaining a new understanding of ourselves and our place within an interconnected world, we can take powerful action in the collective interest, and gain a sense of deep connection to the universe.

While its not as groundbreaking (it repeats a lot of things from Art of Possibility and does so with a bit less passion and musicality), there are some good points to remember:

• Transform by rewriting our old stories to change the worldview we’ve had since childhood (often completely unknown to us). Examples of old stories are: “Mom never supported me” or “Dad loved my sister more than he loved me” or “All dogs bite”
• You know you have a childhood story if it’s absolute (you deeply believe it will never change) and shapes the way you react, think and/or behave. 
• These stories keep us in patterns of thought and behavior that hold us back well into adulthood. 
• As adults, we are creative, open, and flexible and “willing to entertain new thoughts and feelings without the need to protect ourselves.” 
• Stop seeing yourself as the center of the universe. We are part of a greater, interconnected world (and we are fairly insignificant in that world). None of our lives happens in a closed system. Despite the fact that we are starring in our own television show, we aren’t - we aren’t important to everything and aren’t responsible for everything. 
• When we focus on partnerships and possibilities, opportunities abound. 
• Imagine you are rafting down a river, Zander explains. “If you see the world in a wider frame, you can say, ‘I worked with the river, and together we arrived at the landing, and then the river went on.’ After all, isn’t the whole universe at play wherever we are?” 

The Creative Act (Rick Rubin)

Rubin believes everyone is creative and offers helpful mental frames for creating and moving through roadblocks. Some nuggets of wisdom: 

• Creativity is universal: “Creativity is not a rare ability. It is not difficult to access. Creativity is a fundamental aspect of being human. It’s our birthright. And it’s for all of us.”
• Being an artist is a way of seeing the world (not a profession): “To live as an artist is a way of being in the world. A way of perceiving. A practice of paying attention. Refining our sensitivity to tune in to the more subtle notes. Looking for what draws us in and what pushes us away. Noticing what feeling tones arise and where they lead.” “Living life as an artist is a practice. You are either engaging in the practice or you’re not. It makes no sense to say you’re not good at it. It’s like saying, “I’m not good at being a monk.” You are either living as a monk or you’re not. We tend to think of the artist’s work as the output. The real work of the artist is a way of being in the world.”
• Creation is not about commerce - “We aren’t creating to produce or sell material products. The act of creation is an attempt to enter a mysterious realm. A longing to transcend. What we create allows us to share glimpses of an inner landscape, one that is beyond our understanding. Art is our portal to the unseen world.”
• Nature and our inner world - “Our inner world is every bit as interesting, beautiful, and surprising as nature itself. It is, after all, born of nature. When we go inside, we are processing what’s going on outside. We’re no longer separate. We’re connected. We are one.”
• Follow your energy - “To the best of my ability, I’ve followed my intuition to make career turns, and been recommended against doing so every time. It helps to realize that it’s better to follow the universe than those around you.”
• Getting unstuck - “Consider moving forward with the more accurate point of view that it’s a small work, a beginning. The mission is to complete the project so you can move on to the next. That next one is a stepping-stone to the following work. And so it continues in productive rhythm for the entirety of your creative life.”
• Navigating two types of doubt - self-doubt (not believing you are capable of the art you want to create) and doubting the quality of your work. While the second can be harmful, it can also motivate you to find ways to improve your work. 

• Small steps - Write one sentence every day. Or, if writing isn’t your thing - break your work into the smallest possible sense of progress as a means for getting traction.
• Change your environment - Go somewhere new, rearrange your furniture, or play with lighting. Do things that shake up the environment in which you create.
• Change the stakes - Imagine this is the last time you will ever do XYZ [paint, write, sculpt, sing, etc] again. Then do it.
• Vary your inputs - “To vary your inspiration, consider varying your inputs. Turn the sound off to watch a film, listen to the same song on repeat, read only the first word of each sentence in a short story, arrange stones by size or color, learn to lucid dream.”
• Test your ideas - Don’t just use your mind to evaluate ideas. Create small experiments to test them. 
• Phases of creation:
• Innovative work - Anything that’s innovative is likely to polarize people. You will attract as many people as you alienate. If everyone loves what you’re doing, it may not be as good as it can be. A helpful barometer for any work though is to make sure that you love it. That’s the purpose of the art, and without it, you’re not doing your job as an artist.
• Don’t hoard ideas - Don’t live in a scarcity mindset. Give every piece of work the best ideas you have. Don’t save those ideas for a later time when you have a bigger audience or so that your creative well does not run dry. Creative material is infinite if you let it run through you. 
• Experimenters vs. finishers - Experimenters enjoy playing in the early stage of creation. They like to dream, fiddle with ideas, and plant seeds. Finishers enjoy moving to the end of their work. Experimenters struggle to finish their work; finishers struggle to spend enough time playing and experimenting. Work to adopt both qualities well to make great art.
• Wait for the waves - “Just as a surfer can’t control the waves, artists are at the mercy of the creative rhythms of nature. This is why it’s of such great importance to remain aware and present at all times. Watching and waiting.”
• Be wary of advice - “Established artists generally draw from their personal experience and recommend the solutions that worked for them. These tend to be specific to their journey, not yours. It’s worth remembering that their way is not the way.”
• Follow the excitement - “The call of the artist is to follow the excitement. Where there’s excitement, there’s energy. And where there is energy, there is light.”
• Don’t chase the “truth” - “Sincerity, however, is an elusive characteristic. It is different from other goals we may have. Where greatness is a target worthy of our aim, setting our sights on sincerity may be counterproductive. The more we stretch to reach it, the farther away it recedes.”

Influence (Robert Cialdini)

I didn’t love this book - which surprised me as I have been told to read it over twenty times. But I got through it and while I wish it had been pithier, I do recognize some great concepts in it. Interestingly, many of those concepts draw from Charlie Munger’s principles of psychology (and some draw from Shane Parrish’s concepts of clear thinking and mental models) so it is always rewarding to see this level and reinforcement of ideas come through in what I’m reading.

Six principles of persuasion - commonly used by what Cialdini refers to as “compliance practitioners” (which refers to sales people, fundraisers, etc) - to fuel an almost mechanical, unthinking reaction and response in their favor. He claims that these principles work via near-automatic response – a “nearly mechanical process by which the power within these weapons can be activated, and the consequent exploitability of this power by anyone who knows how to trigger them.”

1. Reciprocation: When you’re nice to someone, they are nice back. Go first and go positive. We are more likely to trust someone who trusts us. We want to help people who help us. This is echoed in The Great Mental Models (every action and has an equal and opposite reaction - which he frames as reciprocation.)

2. Consistency: Once we make a decision, make a choice, showcase a preference, etc, we then encounter personal and interpersonal pressures to behave consistently with that commitment. In general, people will comply with requests they see as consistent with what they’ve already said or indicated about themselves. If you can get someone to share their self image in a way that aligns with your goals, they will likely comply naturally with requests that are consistent with this view of themselves. .

3. Social Proof: People rely on the cues of others to decide on proper behavior for ourselves.

People will likely say yes when they see others doing it, too. Consider walking into a restaurant in a foreign city. You’re starving and have no idea what’s good. Luckily, there is a section of the menu labeled “most popular dishes,” that’s exactly what you’re likely to order.

4. Liking: You are more likely to purchase something or be influenced by someone you like than you don’t like. Tupperware parties work on the principle of liking. Who can say no to a good friend? One way to use this principle is to find ways to make you seem similar to the people you are trying to work with. Do you like golf? Me too. Do you like football? Me too. Do you like reading? 

5. Authority: People tend to be persuaded by authority figures who demonstrate knowledge, confidence, and credibility.

6. Scarcity: When you offer something rare or scarce, people are more likely to want it.