One increasingly complex problem within utilitarianism is that it puts such emphasis on the individual. The idea that utility is individually felt and assessed may miss something important about utility - the fact that it is a concept that is deeply relational. Or put differently: if you were the last human on Earth you would… Continue reading Network concepts
Category: Mental Models
Dimensionality
"What is the right dimensionality of this problem?" This question - deceptively simple - is a good way to avoid defaulting into the dimensionalities that are most available to us - 2 or 3 dimensions to a problem, and, frankly, mostly two. Often when we describe a problem we somehow come back to the simple… Continue reading Dimensionality
Complementarity (Mental Models XVII)
Niels Bohr proposed that one fundamental insight of quantum physics was that some phenomena or systems could be described in two or more mutually exclusive ways and that it would be a mistake to pick one description as the "right one" - both could be accurate. This violates the logical dictum of the excluded middle,… Continue reading Complementarity (Mental Models XVII)
Thinking in indices (Mental Models XVI)
The idea of an index in economy is simple: find a way to measure a change in an ensemble of values in a single value, and then track that single value over time. The challenges are many: how do you pick the values in your basket, and do you weight them differently? Do you update… Continue reading Thinking in indices (Mental Models XVI)
Deep uncertainty(Mental models XV)
The concept of deep uncertainty is intriguing and important - as defined it is: Deep uncertainty exists when parties to a decision do not know, or cannot agree on, the system model that relates action to consequences, the probability distributions to place over the inputs to these models, which consequences to consider and their relative… Continue reading Deep uncertainty(Mental models XV)
Magic and miracles (Mental Models XIV)
One key problem for the church in medieval times was to explain why raising the dead, defying the elements and conjuring things was not magic. The challenge here was that Jesus did all of those things, and if they were interpreted as magic, then Jesus would be a wizard or sorcerer, not the son of… Continue reading Magic and miracles (Mental Models XIV)
Is it a competition or a race? Building scoring structures (Mental Models XIII)
Metrics are dangerous. You manage what you measure, as the old saw goes, and you want to make sure that you are not measuring the wrong thing - or things. We need to take great care when we set up metrics for anything we want to accomplish in order to make sure that we do… Continue reading Is it a competition or a race? Building scoring structures (Mental Models XIII)
The study of failure mode (Mental Models XII)
In John Gall's peculiar Systemantics: The Systems Bible the reader will find a wealth of often funny but always deep insights. One of these insights that has occupied me lately is this: The important point is: ANY LARGE SYSTEM IS GOING TO BE OPERATING MOST OF THE TIME IN FAILURE MODE What the System is… Continue reading The study of failure mode (Mental Models XII)
Limiting factors (Mental Models XI)
One interesting way of approaching a problem is to identify the limiting factors - what is that sets the ultimate limits for progress on a particular issue? In many cases it will be time - there are some things we could do in theory, but where the time needed exceeds the calculated time available to… Continue reading Limiting factors (Mental Models XI)
Valuing time (Mental Models X)
How do you value time? There is a series of questions related to this question, but the biggest of them all is an existential one: what should I do next, how should I spend my time? Time is all we have. When we value our time the first challenge is to choose the resolution, the… Continue reading Valuing time (Mental Models X)