#15: Mental Models

📋 Today At A Glance

• Article - Mental Models
• Quote from Michael Seibel
• Talk - The Future Of Programming
• Personal Updates

🧠 Mental Models

Mental models are how we understand the world. Not only do they shape what we think and how we understand but they shape the connections and opportunities that we see.

I found the article, Mental Models: The Best Way to Make Intelligent Decisions, to be quite comprehensive. It lists the mental models from physics, biology, economics, systems, etc.

The 3 mental models that I find myself often using for reasoning:

1. First principle thinking - throw everything away and start from the basics.
2. Opportunity cost - if you're doing one thing, you're not doing any other things.
3. First-conclusion bias - the first solution you think might not be the most suitable.

🎤 Talk: The Future Of Programming

The most dangerous thought you can have as a creative person is to think you know what you're doing. Because once you think you know what you're doing you stop looking around for other ways of doing things and you stop being able to see other ways of doing things. You become blind.

Bret Victor gave the talk The Future Of Programming in 2013, and he took the attendees back to 1973. This is the best tech talk I've ever seen. I guarantee it to be one of the best 30 minutes you'll ever spend on YouTube.

📜 Quote

In a game where 99.9% of people die, the average is death. If you are slightly above average founder, your company dies. You have to be willing to do things that look different from the people around you. It's the fear of sticking out that stops the people from doing the innovative thing.

Michael Seibel, Managing Director, YC on The Coral Capital Podcast, Episode 2

🙋 Personal Updates

Last week, I didn't get a chance to write this newsletter. But I'm back from this week. You'll also notice that I'm sending this on Monday instead of Sunday. Earlier I used to write it on Saturdays and send it on Sunday. But I have decided to adopt the habit of not sitting in front of a computer on Saturdays. So from now on, I'll write it on Sundays, and I'll be sending it out on Monday mornings.

I've been watching the sitcom Roseanne recently, and one episode(S04E16) had a Doogie Howser cameo. I got a cross-over I didn't know I wanted. A surprise to be sure but a welcome one.

I also finished the main storyline of Horizon Forbidden West yesterday. After completing the penultimate mission, I was like:

In the last two weeks, I also interviewed Hazumu Yamazaki, co-founder of Empath, and Lawrie Cate, CTO of Mymizu, for my podcast. I've been working on the post-production. I expect to publish at least one episode this month.

In the coming weekend, I'm going to Kyoto for a week. I promise to share whatever I find interesting in the next issue.

Cheers! Have a productive day.
Prashant Anand (@primaprashant)