“Clear thinking” by Shane Parrish

Cheers to a new week!

I spend hours putting these takeaways together, so I’d love to hear your thoughts on making them better (and book suggestions too)

Just hit reply - I write back to everyone :)

And before we get into today's book, a quick thanks to our sponsor…

The author 🖋

Shane Parrish is a New York Times bestselling author and former cybersecurity expert for the Canadian intelligence agency.

He’s also a well respected critical thinking expert, the founder of Farnam Street - a popular blog and learning platform - and the host of The Knowledge Project podcast.

Key takeaways 🎓

1. Using mental models 

Mental models are frameworks for understanding the world and making decisions.

They ensure we don't become trapped in a single way of seeing things and help avoid various cognitive biases that hinder our thinking.

By building what Parrish calls the "latticework" of mental models, we can approach problems from different angles which leads to better decisions.

2. Overcoming default reactions

Sometimes, we react to things without thinking.

Parrish identifies 4 default reactions that hinder clear thinking: the emotion default (our feelings), the ego default (our pride), the social default (what others think) and the inertia default (sticking to old habits).

By identifying and addressing these default reactions, we can significantly improve our ability to think clearly.

3. Second-order thinking 

Most people make decisions based on surface-level results, without considering the longer-term impacts.

Clear thinking requires considering not just the immediate consequences of a decision, but also the ripple effects - thinking ahead and considering how our choices will affect us in the long run.

By thinking beyond the obvious, we can anticipate unintended outcomes and avoid short-sighted choices.

Closing thoughts 🧠

The book is a valuable guide to improving decision-making and critical thinking.

Parrish provides valuable insights and practical strategies for applying a structured approach to making better decisions in our everyday life.

He also was kind enough to share a free chapter of the book.

Hope you also learned something cool!

- Monty

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