
Ask HN: What books to read on developing mental models and increasing cognition? - technology
Books that might help in these areas:<p>1) Better Thinking techniques and Systems<p>2) Overcoming Cognitive Bias<p>3) Creativity/Innovation<p>4) Problem Solving/Decision Making<p>5) Any other similar area in business/life.<p>For example:<p>Peter Bevelin - Seeking Wisdom - From Darwin to Munger<p>The Personal MBA - Josh Kaufman<p>Charlie Munger - The Psychology of Human Misjudgment<p>Predictably Irrational - by Dan Ariely<p>Daniel Kahneman - Thinking, Fast and Slow<p>The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life - Twyla Tharp<p>Michael Michalko - Creative Thinkering<p>Thinking in Systems: A Primer - Donella H. Meadows<p>The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt
======
mixu
How about some books that aren't pop-sci / business books? I am kind of
biased, since I love this area of psychology.

\- The Sciences of the Artificial by Simon

\- The Psychology of Problem Solving by Davidson & Sternberg

\- The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance (Cambridge
Handbooks in Psychology) by Ericsson, Charness, Feltovich & Hoffman

\- Minds, Brains and Computers - The Foundations of Cognitive Science: An
Anthology (Blackwell Philosophy Anthologies)

\- Choices, Values, and Frames by Kahneman & Tversky

The Sciences of the Artificial is a small but deep book by Herbert Simon, who
is considered a key figure in founding the study of these areas
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Simon> ).

Davidson & Sternberg focuses on problem solving
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Sternberg> ).

The Cambridge Handbooks (there are many others) in particular are excellent as
they contain classic articles in Cognitive Science and Psychology, with
introductions and overviews by people who actually research this area. The one
on Expertise and Expert performance is edited by K. A. Ericsson
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._Anders_Ericsson> )

Minds, Brains and Computers is another collection of classics, from a more
model-based perspective.

Finally, Kahneman and Tversky offer a more economics-centric viewpoint.
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Kahneman> &
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_Tversky> )

If you read scientific articles in this area, you'll notice that many of these
author's names will keep popping up...

~~~
sayemm
"The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance" is an awesome
read, I recently bought it and started reading it.

Here are some really cool excerpts from the book:

[http://www.psy.fsu.edu/faculty/ericsson/ericsson.exp.perf.ht...](http://www.psy.fsu.edu/faculty/ericsson/ericsson.exp.perf.html)

[http://www.psy.fsu.edu/faculty/ericsson/ericsson.mem.exp.htm...](http://www.psy.fsu.edu/faculty/ericsson/ericsson.mem.exp.html)

------
omarchowdhury
Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson - [http://www.amazon.com/Prometheus-
Rising-Robert-Anton-Wilson/...](http://www.amazon.com/Prometheus-Rising-
Robert-Anton-Wilson/dp/1561840564)

A proposition offered by Wilson on the nature of the human mind - "Whatever
the Thinker thinks, the Prover proves."

"Of course it is fairly easy to see that other peoples minds operate this way;
_it is comparatively much harder to become aware that one's own mind is
working that way also_."

Realize that when you think X, all of your successive thoughts attempt to
reconcile or solidify the notion of X. In this way, we are the artists of our
realities, everyone's reality being different than others since all of it is
based on conceptions. Your conceptions and ideas rule you, from who you think
you are to what you think the world or your environment is about. It is how
you make sense of all sensory data. Not everyone organizes their reality in
the same way you do, because they all went through a difficult accumulation of
sense data (and subsequent reaction to and organization of said data)
throughout their lives to get to where they are.

More: <http://deoxy.org/wiki/The_Thinker_and_the_Prover>

The question then becomes, can we then transcend our conceptions and perceive
reality as it is? We may have to consult the Buddha on this one.

~~~
etherdoc
find any quarters lately?

~~~
omarchowdhury
I find this comment to be mocking -- there is a wide range of topics that can
be discussed regarding Prometheus Rising, but you pick a petty one.

~~~
etherdoc
It was meant to be humorous. I enjoyed the book.

------
Luc
Good list. I'd add 'The Checklist Manifesto' by Atul Gawande (
[http://www.amazon.com/Checklist-Manifesto-How-Things-
Right/d...](http://www.amazon.com/Checklist-Manifesto-How-Things-
Right/dp/0312430000/) ), about how experts with decades of experience in
highly complex tasks can still benefit from simple, short and obvious
checklists.

~~~
AJ007
I read that book, and I think everyone should, but I don't think it falls in
the category of developing mental models.

As for cognition, the book is a reminder, or a message, that humans have
imperfect memories and we must use outside factors rather than obsessing an
idealized form of godlike memory.

~~~
technology
maybe it is indeed part of some mental model, when we talk about systems we
also talk about having checklists for systems, so its good :)

Here's some quotes from the book notes of Seeking Wisdom by Peter Bevelin:

"Take all the main models from psychology and use them as a checklist in
reviewing outcomes in complex systems." [1]

"It's a great overview of the lessons of Charlie Munger (partner of Warren
Buffett) - and his approach to checklists of multi-disciplinary models to
guide clear thinking" [1]

"Simplify and standardize processes, and use checklists to decrease the
likelihood of operator errors." [1]

[1] <http://sivers.org/book/SeekingWisdom>

------
bane
"The Psychology of Intelligence Analysis" -

[https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-
intellig...](https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-
intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/psychology-of-intelligence-
analysis/PsychofIntelNew.pdf)

Is a great book on learning to overcome cognitive bias and dealing with a
foggy understanding of a problem set.

~~~
Fliko
When you say overcoming cognitive bias, do you also mean it will help being
able to step back from a problem and think outside the box?

~~~
bane
Not exactly, stepping back is part of it, thinking outside the box is not.

It means overcoming preconceived ways of thinking, ways that you would tend to
think given limited information or denying contrary evidence because it
doesn't fit what you think ahead of time -- fitting facts to a theory (bad)
rather than building a theory based on facts (good).

For example (and to use a constant source of flame wars here on HN), suppose
I'm a huge Apple fan. Apple announces a developer policy change, say, 70% of
all app revenue goes to Apple instead of the smaller percentage today.

If I have a cognitive bias (Apple can do no wrong), I might think that this
change would only increase app quality since high quality apps already sell a
lot, and the change would drive out low quality (low volume) apps that confuse
the competitive marketspace and thus increase sales for the high quality apps.

Since I'm biased _for_ Apple, I'm preconditioned to think that anything Apple
does is good (even when it's not). I may even go through all manner of fact
dismissal, evidence twisting, etc. to make sure Apple comes out looking good
over this issue in my mind. In other words, I have a theory and I'm making
darn sure the facts fit that theory.

See pretty much any Daring Fireball post for an example of some of the best
textbook cognitive bias I've ever seen in print in the tech space.

If I'm able to overcome my cognitive bias I might see this for what it is, a
money grab.

Now going the other way, say I'm preconditioned to dislike Apple. In this
scenario Apple may announce a new device, say a watch that understands voice
commands and has a pico projector so I can see things on a largish screen, the
iWatch or some such. I might make remarks that this will be a failure because,
who wants to watch movies on their watch? And the Timex Datalink was a huge
failure. And as everybody knows voice command of computers sucks. But I'm
biased _against_ Apple and will try to find a way to hate anything they make.

Now if I were able to overcome this bias, I might be able to come to the
conclusion that it's not a bad idea, but I don't have enough information to
come to a judgement so I'll wait, read reviews, try it out a bit, and if it's
cool and useful maybe get it. If not, I'll ignore it and move on.

It's about critical thinking and rational thought and is one of the hardest
things for people to do, even when they think they are.

------
billswift
I will definitely second Atul Gawande's _Checklist Manifesto_.

Eliyahu Goldratt's books (I have read _Critical Chain_ and _It's Not Luck_ as
well as _The Goal_ ) are not as original as often claimed. They are very
readable introductions, but a good project management text will cover most of
what they do and more. The project management book that I have found most
helpful is _Project Management With Cpm, Pert and Precedence Diagramming_ ;
despite its age (1983) it covers a wider variety of techniques with more
detail and less extraneous crud than any of the others I have seen (note I am
still researching this area, anyone who has a favorite book can leave it in a
comment). [http://www.amazon.com/Project-Management-Pert-Precedence-
Dia...](http://www.amazon.com/Project-Management-Pert-Precedence-
Diagramming/dp/0442254156/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322244392&sr=8-1)

Jonathan Baron's _Thinking and Deciding_ is one of the best books on improving
your thinking in general that I have ever read.
[http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Deciding-Jonathan-
Baron/dp/05...](http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Deciding-Jonathan-
Baron/dp/0521680433/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322244137&sr=8-1)

------
haasted
I enjoyed Pragmatic Thinking and Learning
([http://pragprog.com/book/ahptl/pragmatic-thinking-and-
learni...](http://pragprog.com/book/ahptl/pragmatic-thinking-and-learning)).
It's quite accessible, and doesn't feel too pop or new age.

If you're quick, you can get it rather cheaply during the Black Friday sale.
(<http://media.pragprog.com/newsletters/2011-11-21.html>)

------
imants
Sequences from <http://lesswrong.com> . Not a book though, but the reading
material is available in .pdf, .epub and .mobi.

~~~
celer
I would add that the material tends to be academic without requiring a great
deal of prior knowledge, though you do have to deal with a bit of preaching
about statistics if your focus is on cognition.

------
lpolovets
Category 1:

\- Simple Heuristics That Make Use Smart by Gigerenzer, et al.
([http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Heuristics-That-Make-
Smart/dp/0...](http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Heuristics-That-Make-
Smart/dp/0195143817/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322242265&sr=1-1)). I have
heard good things about this book but have not read it yet.

Category 2:

\- Think Twice by Mauboussin ([http://www.amazon.com/Think-Twice-Harnessing-
Power-Counterin...](http://www.amazon.com/Think-Twice-Harnessing-Power-
Counterintuition/dp/1422176754))

\- Influence by Cialdini ([http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-
Persuasion-Busine...](http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-
Business-Essentials/dp/006124189X))

Category 3:

\- You already mentioned Michalko, but his other book, Thinkertoys, is also
very good ([http://www.amazon.com/Thinkertoys-Handbook-Creative-
Thinking...](http://www.amazon.com/Thinkertoys-Handbook-Creative-Thinking-
Techniques-2nd/dp/1580087736))

Category 5:

\- Switch by the Heath brothers is excellent ([http://www.amazon.com/Switch-
Change-Things-When-Hard/dp/0385...](http://www.amazon.com/Switch-Change-
Things-When-Hard/dp/0385528752/))

------
technology
The Minto Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing, Thinking, & Problem Solving by
Barbara Minto ([http://www.amazon.com/Pyramid-Principle-Writing-Thinking-
Pro...](http://www.amazon.com/Pyramid-Principle-Writing-Thinking-
Problem/dp/0960191046))

Some Mental Models are available here for free :

<http://www.focusinvestor.com/FocusSeriesPart3.pdf>

<http://www.focusinvestor.com/MungerModels.pdf>

For systems :

Lean Thinking by James Womack

\--------------

Some thought provoking personal effectiveness titles :

The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz ([http://www.amazon.com/Four-Agreements-
Practical-Personal-Fre...](http://www.amazon.com/Four-Agreements-Practical-
Personal-Freedom/dp/1878424319))

The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz
([http://www.amazon.com/Paradox-Choice-Why-More-
Less/dp/006000...](http://www.amazon.com/Paradox-Choice-Why-More-
Less/dp/0060005696/))

The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz

------
Corvus
Mind Performance hacks ([http://my.safaribooksonline.com/book/personal-
productivity/0...](http://my.safaribooksonline.com/book/personal-
productivity/0596101538)) by Ron Hale-Evans, and his web site
(<http://www.ludism.org/mentat>).

~~~
pataprogramming
There's also the sequel, Mindhacker, which was published by Wiley earlier this
year. Ron's stuff is great, and absolutely worth checking out. Info on the new
book is at <http://http://www.ludism.org/mentat/Mindhacker>

(Disclaimer: I contributed two hacks to Mindhacker.)

------
maxprogram
"Streetlights and Shadows: Searching for the Keys to Adaptive Decision
Making", Gary Klein

"Normal Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies", Charles Perrow

"Chaos: Making a New Science", James Gleick

"Filters Against Folly", Garrett James Hardin

"Judgment in Managerial Decision Making", Max Bazerman

"Deep Simplicity: Bringing Order to Chaos and Complexity", John Gribben

------
jamesbkel
Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions - Gary Klein
[http://www.amazon.com/Sources-Power-People-Make-
Decisions/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/Sources-Power-People-Make-
Decisions/dp/0262611465/)

Also, Gerd Gigerenzer is a good name to look into. My degree is in Decision
Science, so I'm slightly biased against some of the pop-sci authors. However
Gigerenzer has a number of books that range from highly accessible to the
academic. Also, he has served as an editor on volumes that relate the study of
mental models/cognition to other fields.

One example is: Heuristics and the Law [http://www.amazon.com/Heuristics-Law-
Dahlem-Workshop-Reports...](http://www.amazon.com/Heuristics-Law-Dahlem-
Workshop-Reports/dp/0262072750/)

------
steveeq1
Personally, I'm a big fan of Edward DeBono. Two of my favorite books are: 1)
Lateral Thinking: <http://tinyurl.com/88ugdjz> 2) Six Thinking Hats:
<http://tinyurl.com/7t2w27y> . There is a video course available on youtube as
well: <http://tinyurl.com/6q4rz2t>

I learned about them through Alan Kaye's reading list:
<http://tinyurl.com/83bqlbx> He has a section on learning and creativity that
has some other good alternatives.

------
hugoahlberg
I'm currently enjoying the recently released 'You Are Not So Smart' by David
McRaney:
[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0052RE5MU?ie=UTF8&tag=...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0052RE5MU?ie=UTF8&tag=paraplusmytwi-20&linkCode=shr&camp=213733&creative=393177&creativeASIN=B0052RE5MU&m=A1NBCVVM1MRWGW&ref_=tmm_kin_title_0&qid=1322318853&sr=8-1)

I will never trust my brain again.

------
8plot
It's posts like these that make me realize how much I miss the exposed
upvote/downvote comment counters that hacker news used to display.

------
aik
There are a lot of really good ones here. Three more:

On overcoming cognitive bias (and understanding how mindsets influence
motivation, personality, and behavior): Self-Theories by Carol S. Dweck

Mental peformance: The Inner Game of Tennis - The Classic Guide to the Mental
Side of Peak Performance

Mental Models on influence: Influencer: The Power to Change Anything

------
corprew
Not a business book, but "Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things" by George Lakoff
is a great guide to how humans think about categories and other related topics
rather than how as computer professionals we're trained to represent those
relationships.

------
jaetldev
Not a book exactly but I've been reading this blog -->

<http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/>

He/She has an interesting take on psychiatry, might be worth checking out
sometimes.

~~~
nomdeplume
lol thank you. I'm luvin it. "For no reason I know, works of philosophy are
compromised by even a typo in the introduction, but in science you can open
with a golden shower anecdote and no one notices. Oh well. To the
experiments."

------
itmag
EXCELLENT thread.

Here's my addition: <http://tempobook.com/>

It's by the most excellent Venkatesh Rao: <http://www.ribbonfarm.com>

------
sayemm
\- "Models of My Life" by Herbert A. Simon

\- "Poor Charlie's Almanack" by Charlie Munger

~~~
AJ007
"Poor Charlie's Almanack" was one of two books which had a profound impact on
my way of thinking ( "Charlie Munger - The Psychology of Human Misjudgment",
listed in the parent post is probably the best piece in this book.)

The other book, which I read when I was 15 or 16, "The Age of Spiritual
Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence" by Ray Kurzweil was the
other. Instead of looking at the universe through the question of why won't
this work, I began thinking about problems as under what circumstances would
this occur. Today, the book may be dated, but its effect for me remains.

~~~
notaddicted
The Psychology of Human Misjudgment is available online (or an iteration of it
is at least): <http://www.rbcpa.com/Mungerspeech_june_95.pdf>

Also avaiable: A Lesson on Elementary, Worldly Wisdom As It Relates To
Investment Management & Business Charles Munger, USC Business School, 1994

<http://ycombinator.com/munger.html>

------
nomdeplume
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_model#References>

------
zb
Dietrich Dörner, _The Logic of Failure_.

------
locopati
In the vein of shaking up your ways of approaching things

The Zen of Creativity ([http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Creativity-Cultivating-Your-
Artist...](http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Creativity-Cultivating-Your-
Artistic/dp/0345466330))

The Zen of Seeing ([http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Seeing-Drawing-
Meditation/dp/03947...](http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Seeing-Drawing-
Meditation/dp/0394719689))

Learning by Heart ([http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Heart-Teachings-Creative-
Spir...](http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Heart-Teachings-Creative-
Spirit/dp/B0058M6HD4))

------
marshallp
Not what you asked for but i believe the act of programming increases your
cognitive ability. Like writing down your thoughts can clear things up but
even more so because of it's preciseness.

