
A newsletter about mental models and rational thinking - remotists
https://models.substack.com/
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simonhughes22
This is really good. It states a lot of things that it has taken me time and
experience to learn, which I would have benefited from knowing early in my
career. Authority is not always right, people in power have ulterior motives
other than doing the right thing, when investigating a problem remove all
assumptions and determine the root cause (this is both the hardest to do and
also the best advice I've come across for any IT technical worker IMO). So
many times I've seen people claim to have solved a problem by throwing a
solution at it that appears to have worked, without determining the root
cause, only for the problem re-manifest itself weeks or months later in a
different manner.

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kjeetgill
My challenge with lists like these: When I first read these they feel like
shallow platitudes, but after I learn these lessons through my own experiences
they feel like succinct explanations of a deeper truth.

I never seem to really get a lot out of reading about them.

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weisbaum
During COVID I have thrown myself head first into reading and learning about
cognitive biases, heuristics and all different types of human behavioral
economics topics.

Thanks for creating this - if you need an additional writer, shoot me a PM. I
have been posting similar stuff on my personal blog recently.

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tomcatfish
I have as well, have you seen LessWrong.com (birthplace of Roko's Basilisk,
btw)?

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weisbaum
I havent! but thanks - ill toss you one as well:
[https://thedecisionlab.com/](https://thedecisionlab.com/)

~~~
tomcatfish
(I) Appreciate it!

Edit: Added the word "I" to clarify my meaning.

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seanwilson
Great idea, looks really good. On the rational thinking topic: is there a name
for the fallacy where you say something along the lines of "someone in group X
would probably say Y and that's wrong because..."? X could be something like
vegans, democrats or climate change deniers.

It's probably just a special case of a straw man argument but I see this often
online and in the news to lure in replies and create outrage. It's hard to
diffuse as nobody in the discussion will actually hold the set of views being
presented. I usually want to reply "wait, who is actually making this
statement that you're attacking?".

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exo-pla-net
When both a viewpoint and an opponent are fabricated, you have a Hollow Man
argument.

[https://fs.blog/2020/05/bad-arguments/](https://fs.blog/2020/05/bad-
arguments/)

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seanwilson
Thanks, that sounds like it!

> A hollow man argument is similar to a straw man one. The difference is that
> it is a weak case attributed to a non-existent group. Someone will fabricate
> a viewpoint that is easy to refute, then claim it was made by a group they
> disagree with. Arguing against an opponent which doesn’t exist is a pretty
> easy way to win any debate. People who use hollow man arguments will often
> favor vague, non-specific language without explicitly giving any sources or
> stating who their opponent is.

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text_exch
This looks intriguing. Welcome to the newsletter space! I run Thinking About
Things [0], a newsletter with a similar premise - that of critical thinking
and seeing things in a new light.

The demand for content about critical thinking is rising exponentially. I'm
happy to collaborate and show you the ropes - you can find our contact info on
the site.

[0] thinking-about-things.com

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xemoka
One thing I've noticed about a lot of newsletter's landing pages is that they
let you see past articles without signing up. I have no idea based on your
intro if your content aligns with what I'm interested in, nor do I want to
fill my email inbox with more content to just skim. Have you considered making
your past newsletters available for prospective subscribers?

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asjldkfin
Perhaps its worth defining what you mean by "mental model"?

"Mental model" is one of those amorphous words that seems to mean very
different things to different people.

Based on your content, it seems to mostly deal with critical thinking rather
than what I consider as mental models. Though once again, it's an amorphous
word thats unique to the person.

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jvanderbot
Absolutely, none of these are mental models by any definition that I can
accept. These are advice or aphorisms, based on I suppose experience.

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Abishek_Muthian
Congratulations on the launch of the newsletter OP.

Another news letter on rational thinking I would recommend is
ClearThinking[1]. They also have several tools, tests for rationality/biases,
specifically useful if we want to test ourself or someone else for a job for
which these would be a problem.

[1][https://www.clearerthinking.org/](https://www.clearerthinking.org/)

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commonturtle
Any suggestions for how to actually apply (or remember to apply) this stuff?
I've read tons of lists of mental models (and have even written my own), but I
just never remember to use them for any decisions, and when I do remember I
can't really find one appropriate to the situation at hand.

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AnimalMuppet
Maybe one way is to go back through some _past_ situations and review what
mental models would have been interesting and/or useful to apply. That might
help train yourself to apply them in the future.

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voisin
Anyone else completely exhausted by the amount of discussion of mental models?
It seems like the virtue signalling cliché of 2020.

