The Great Mental Models, Volume 2: Physics, Chemistry and Biology

by Shane Parrish

There are two broad types of perspectives that we learn: differing physical perspectives, such as that the view out of your neighbor’s window is different than yours; and conceptual perspectives, such as that people have different feelings or beliefs that in turn influence their perspectives.

John, when people thought the earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the earth was spherical, they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together.” » Isaac Asimov

Life is an iterative and compounding game. In the words of Peter Kaufman, it pays to “go positive and go first.” Also, remember that people make mistakes. Assuming there is no maliciousness, it pays to forgive.

The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy (a measure of disorder simply understood as energy unable to be used to do work) of an isolated system always increases.

The entropy of the universe only increases with time. One of the impacts of this law is that we need to expend energy to create order. Without the deployment of energy, all things move away from order.

These walls, however, never seem to work. From Hadrian’s* Wall to the Great Wall of China to the Berlin Wall, these complex, expensive structures stopped the movement of neither people nor ideas.

Completely uneducated statement.

Fairy tales provide a means of mastering your surroundings by presenting a way to understand your world, giving it some order and helping you make your way through it. While works that deviate from the archetypal narrative can be interesting, those that follow it most closely tend to enjoy the most commercial success. They just feel right. They are an escape from the chaotic real world. Unable to face meaninglessness, “in order to stay sane we must impose some kind of pattern.”22 This is what narratives achieve, and it’s the same reason we craft them within our own lives. They give us a sense of a coherent identity.

Entropy is a similar constant. The end state of high entropy is also incompatible with life. Sensing this, we try to understand randomness and the unexplainable through stories that seem to put order back into our lives, thereby reducing entropy. Narratives are important. We use them to reduce chaos and stop us drifting too far from social order and cultural norms, which allows us to maintain our complex societies.

Lise Meitner was nominated 29 times for the Nobel Prize, including three times by Niels Bohr, but was never awarded the honor.

The reason why so many revolutions fail is that it takes a completely different set of skills to fight than to govern. Most revolutions focus on the energy needed to break apart the existing structure.

We naturally do not know who first discovered how to make alcohol, but the earliest known evidence of its production dates back as far as 10,000 years ago.

By most estimates, Latin ceased to be anyone’s mother tongue and diverged entirely into separate languages by the 7th century CE.

Adaptation requires leaving or being forced from your comfort zone and into a place where you observe and experience new threats to your security. »

The Red Queen Effect was first used in the context of evolutionary biology by Leigh Van Valen in 1973. In his research, he noticed something interesting: that at no point was a species protected from extinction. Evolution is an ongoing process, and all species must continually respond to pressures in their environment or die off. What’s more, constant adaptation is something that everyone is doing, all the time. Hence the use of the Lewis Carroll character from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The Red Queen tells Alice, “Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.”

Success is measured by persistence. — Geerat Vermeij

Or there is the story of Botox. It’s a toxin and “is a naturally occurring by-product of the microorganism that causes botulism, a potentially lethal paralytic disease caused by eating contaminated preserved food.”31 The bacteria have likely been around a long time and have killed a lot of people. It wasn’t until the 19th century that the anaerobic bacteria that cause botulism were isolated and identified. In the 1970s, a form of the toxin was used to treat eye disorders, including uncontrollable blinking and crossed eyes. By the 1980s “the toxin was widely applied by both ophthalmologists and neurologists as a remedy for…facial, eyelid, and limb spasms.”32 In 1987, Jean Carruthers, an ophthalmologist, inadvertently discovered cosmetic uses for Botox when a patient mentioned how her eye treatments were relaxing her face. It took a few more years for Botox to hit the mainstream, but it eventually achieved widespread cosmetic application.

Male zebras will also kill the offspring of rivals.

Perhaps most importantly, regular small fires burn up accumulating plant matter. If humans intervene and put these out, larger amounts of fuel build up and pave the way for fires that are beyond the scope of what the ecosystem can handle.

Orcas and dolphins remain awake for a full month after the birth of their young to care for and protect them.

One species of ant, Colobopsis explodens, will explode when threatened by a predator, killing the individual but helping the group survive by releasing a poisonous substance.

The Habsburgs’ infant mortality rate was far higher than that of even the poorest members of society at the time. Between 1527 and 1661, the Spanish branch produced 34 children. Of these, half died in their first decade, and 10 before their first birthday.

In order to develop these skills commanders must consider four criteria: Explain the rationale (not just the what and why, but how they arrived at a decision) Establish operational limits (identify what is completely off the table) Get feedback often (a continuous loop between levels) Recognize individual differences (the unique psychological makeup of each subordinate)14

The symbiosis between cows and the bacteria that live in their digestive systems is also interesting. These bacteria digest the cellulose found in hay and grass for the cow, while the cow offers nutrient-rich environments for the bacteria. It’s a win for both organisms. Combined with their multilayered stomach and short appendix, this relationship means cows can eat tough plant foods. Humans cannot digest cellulose in part because they do not have cellulose-digesting bacteria in their digestive systems!

There is a contract implied in a hierarchy. The dominant member of a group has certain responsibilities to execute in relation to the other members. Specifically “a) direction each day for food, b) protection each day from predators and other dangers, and c) the maintenance of order every day by orienting members to their places and roles, by resolving conflicts when they break out, and by reinforcing social norms whenever transgressions occur.”

peace was found only in already established flocks where a dominance hierarchy had been set—each hen knew who it could dominate and who it was subordinate to.

In chimpanzees, “the alpha male usually wins his position not because he is physically stronger, but because he leads a large and stable coalition.

One of the drawbacks of hierarchies is the lack of perceived value of those who are at the bottom.

According to both Plato and Plotinus, another major ancient Greek philosopher, the entire universe is arranged in a hierarchical structure.

Some seventeen thousand opponents of his regime were beheaded and another thirty-five thousand jailed, but in 1794 Robespierre himself was led to the guillotine in a countercoup.

Black teeth were fashionable in the Elizabethan era to show that one could afford sugar, and very long nails demonstrated the lack of a need to work.

Fashion and accessories were a way to make it harder for those lower in the hierarchy to successfully compete, mostly through cost.

The upper class also shows status through wearing clothes that are totally impractical for doing any labor, reflecting participation in expensive activities and having more than one actually needs. “Charlemagne owned 800 pairs of fine gloves at a time when gloves were difficult to produce and clean,” notes Etcoff.

“We love our grandchildren. But our great-great-grandchildren are harder to relate to.”3 Politicians have no choice but to respond to the incentives to think short-term; otherwise, they won’t gain voter support.

The Grunenthal company then began handing out free samples to doctors. There was no clinical trial as we understand it now. Instead the initial users of the drug were the clinical trial. Thalidomide was put out into the world and “tested” on people without their knowledge or consent. The general population was the lab.

When it comes to offices, open-plan layouts don’t reduce overall energy expenditure. They may make it easier to move around, but they vastly increase the effort needed to focus and get work done—which are what matters most in an office. In an open office, workers have to ignore the constant onslaught of stimulus and disruptions—the ding of phones, the slurping of drinks, the sound of music leaking out of headphones, the clatter of feet, the sound of laughter, the annoyance of coworkers tapping on shoulders to ask questions, the slamming of doors, and so on. Not only are they expending energy on their work, they’re also expending energy on ignoring distractions, which means work is even more exhausting, without more getting done.