February 2026
- Feb 17, 2026ConceptsWhat Are Mental Models and Why They MatterA mental model is a simplified representation of how something works, and it decides what you notice before reasoning begins. The clearest evidence that model quality beats raw memory comes from Chase and Simon's chess research: shown real positions for five seconds, masters reproduced about 16 pieces to a novice's four, but on randomly arranged boards managed only about 3-4. Also traces model failures at NASA, in 2008 risk models, and at Toyota.
- Feb 15, 2026ConceptsFrameworks and Complexity: Simplifying Decision-MakingHerbert Simon won the 1978 Nobel Prize in Economics for showing that real decision-makers cannot optimize and must satisfice, and his point was not that this is a flaw to overcome. Because working memory holds roughly four items, complex problems exceed capacity unless structured. Frameworks chunk information so a physician reads fever, white cell count and localized pain as one concept. The six mechanisms that do the simplifying, each paired with how it fails.
September 2025
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