Thought Stack: Design Principles, Mental Models, Cognitive Biases

The next time someone says "you can't compare apples and oranges"...tell them you CAN.

Design Principle: Comparison.

A comparison is a method for understanding information in a controlled manner within a system.

It's important to understand the variables you are comparing, how you are measuring the data, and how you're conveying the information to others.

For more resources on Comparison, visit http://thoughtstack.co/comparison

If you'd rather listen to the audio, check out the podcast: → http://www.thoughtstack.co

Reach me on Social Media: → Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jonstenstrom

---- Credits: → Book: Universal Principles of Design → Music: Apples and Oranges - Pink Floyd, Dreams - Joakim Karud → Links and Videos: 1. More information about NASA scientist Scott Sandford: https://www.improbable.com/airchives/paperair/volume1/v1i3/air-1-3-apples.html 2. Funny bad visualizations of data: http://viz.wtf/ 3. Mass spec: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-wao0O0_qM

Stay Thought-Full, Jon

5 Ways to Increase Empathy:

1. Travel more
2. Listen more
3. Volunteer doing something you enjoy
4. Stay curious (learn something new)
5. Realize everyone is unique. Find those differences.

For more resources on Accessibility, visit http://thoughtstack.co/accessiblity

If you'd rather listen to the audio, check out the podcast:

→ http://www.thoughtstack.co

Reach me on Social Media:

→ Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jonstenstrom

Stay Thought-Full, Jon

Credits:

→ Book: Universal Principles of Design

→ Music: Dreams - Joakim Karud

Watch the Podcast on YouTube

• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyo71bciLTsdRZsGNZhtkQQ

 Thought Stack's Mission

While studying to be an engineer, we never seemed to learn about how humans think or interact with each other.

After I realized my limited perspective, I started diving into the cognitive sciences, focusing on cognitive biases and mental models.

It's a lifelong pursuit I want to share with you so we can learn them together and build upon each other's perspectives.

Join me in exploring cognitive biases, mental models, and design principles.

Together we can design an ethical and more robust world.

Stay Thought-Full, Jon

This podcast is about a genius reflecting on what it means to be a genius...that's pretty FREAKIN' cool!

Hey Thought Stackers, you're in for a treat. Today we have Jimmy Soni, author of A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age, joining us on the cast.

Today You'll Learn Five Things: 

1. Claude Shannon's unique approach to networking - More like Anti-Networking.
2. Why you should start visualizing the end state of problems you're trying to solve BEFORE diving into the details.
3. Claude's six step process to creative thinking.
4. Our biggest take away: Avoiding over specialization.
5. Why the connection between our hands and our minds is not valued enough in today's culture - we get into how Claude, who was a mathematical genius was also a tinkerer who enjoyed building and juggling.

Be sure to follow Jimmy on Twitter: @jimmyasoni and pick up his book on Amazon.

Stay Thought-Full.

Hey Thought Stackers!

We have a special episode, today we have one of the most inspiring people I've met, Mark Lakeman.

I met Mark a few years ago at the Lightning in a Bottle festival where he covered many of the topics you're about to hear on this cast.

Portland has been in the midst of a total renaissance and that can be attributed to Mark and his team over at City Repair. 

If you make it to the end of this cast, you might just become an activist for a better community.

In this episode you'll learn three things:

1. The big realization Mark discovered while traveling the world for 7 years.
2. How colonialism has damaged our villager instincts and what we can do to fix it
3. How you need to be slightly anarchist if you want to live in a better world.

A full list of resources can be found at http://thoughtstack.co/mark-lakeman-interview

When you hear the term Artificial Intelligence, what's image pops in your mind? Is it a Terminator-style doomsday scenario or maybe a bit more optimistic?

For this Book Short, we are covering The Essential Turing by Alan Turing.

To help us make sense of the book, we've brought in AI expert, Dr. Shalini Ananda, who teaches us three things:

1. Who is Alan Turing and why is he important for AI?
2. What are some of the limitation in developing an AI platform?
3. Where do you see AI benefiting our lives in the near future?

Hopefully, this gives you a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes at companies such as Google, Facebook, and all of the startups pushing the boundaries of machine intelligence.

Be sure to reach out to Dr. Ananda on twitter: @ShaliniAnanda1.

Learn the secrets of personal growth hacking:

1. Part One: The Experiment List - What do you want to achieve in the next five years?
2. Part Two: The Pipeline - You list of experiments you're actively testing.
3. Part Three: The Experiment Journal - Track what works and what doesn't.

For a detailed breakdown of this episode visit: https://www.kevinespiritu.com/personal-growth-hacking/

Stay Thought-Full!

In today's episode, you're going to meet Kane Sumabat. I found out about Kane when I realized I wanted to enter my thirties in my best physical shape, so I filled up my Instagram with tons of inspiring individuals.

Kane is my favorite. At 49 years old his physique is impeccable. With someone with over 30 years of commitment and experience, Kevin and I had to see how his brain ticks…

Kane took us on quite the journey and you have to give it up to him for being so open with his trials and tribulations.

We learn about his battle over the years with depression, how the Great Gatsby showed him how to almost never miss a gym session in 30 years, and even what landed him in jail for a month and what he'd rather do than go back...

Send him some love on Instagram: @timbahwolf

The concept of information asymmetry seems fairly obvious from its name. However, as a mental model, it deserves deeper study to fully understand all of its nuances.

At its most basic, information asymmetry describes a situation where two parties have different quantities or qualities of information. When one person has either more or better information than another, they have a massive advantage.

This mental model shows up a lot in investing, but can be applied in many areas of life.

For example, I remember being intuitively aware of information asymmetry during my poker days, despite not knowing the concept by name.

Be sure to check out the in-depth article on ThoughtStack.co.

We need to stop using statistics to communicate with the public.

Don't get me wrong, statistics is a valuable tool for certain applications. Informing the public is not one of those applications.

You might be thinking, "That's a little extreme...why?"

Simple:

The average (mode) of society is not statistically literate enough to avoid being manipulated.

To combat this, I recommend you read How To Lie With Statistics to get a basic understanding of how people, organizations, and even governments use statistics to further their own agendas.

Make sure you check out the full article at ThoughtStack.co