How the exceptional mind works

According to Warren Buffett, his business partner, Charlie Munger has ‘the best 30-second mind in the world. He goes from A to Z in one move. He sees the essence of everything before you even finish the sentence’ (Forbes, January 22, 1996).

How does he do it?

Well, fortunately, Mr. Munger has explained his approach in lectures and books. Essentially, he has grabbed the BIG IDEAS from disciplines as diverse as physics and psychology. He has a list of these ideas (mental models) in his mind and quickly picks the one(s) applicable to the given situation, much as a pilot automatically goes through a checklist prior to take-off.

This website, inspired by the work of Charles Munger, provides over 100 checklists that can be brought consciously to mind to aid the thinking process.

Each model is described by at least one distinguished user. Examples include Warren Buffett, Richard Feynman, Robert Rubin and Peter Drucker, among others.

The blog examines current events with the mental model technique.

~

The Process

During an average day, we receive many stimuli from our environment - new information, a question, a problem, a sales pitch - and we respond.

Most people make a quick judgement and then respond. This is likely a function of evolution and the environment in which humans had to survive for most of their existence.

Humans tend to make these judgements not by searching selectively, but through simply recognizing the relevant cues in situations, which are similar to those they have experienced before (solution by recognition).

In contrast -

   “The better decision maker has at his/her disposal repertoires of possible actions; checklists of things to think about before he acts; and he has mechanisms in his mind to evoke these, and bring these to his conscious attention when the situations for decision arise.” (Herbert Simon, Nobel Laureate)