The Great Mental Models Volume 2: Physics, Chemistry and Biology
Like chess masters and firefighters, premodern villagers relied on things being the same tomorrow as they were yesterday. They were extremely well prepared for what they had experienced before, and extremely poorly equipped for everything else. Their very thinking was highly specialized in a manner that the modern world has been telling us is incre... See more
David Epstein • Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World a book by David Epstein
Reproducing asexually makes perfect sense during prosperous periods: if life is good, keep doing what you’re doing. Don’t mess with success by introducing new genetic combinations. But when the world gets more challenging—scarce resources, predators, parasites—you need to innovate. And the quickest path to innovation lies in making novel connection
... See moreSteven Johnson • Where Good Ideas Come From
Consider an example used by Kaufman: in your bathtub, a vortex starts forming and will keep going after that. Such type of situation is permanently “far from equilibrium”—and it looks like organisms and dynamic systems exist in such a state.2 For them, a state of normalcy requires a certain degree of volatility, randomness, the continuous swapping ... See more
Nassim Nicholas Taleb • Incerto 4-Book Bundle
Evolution
Introduction
Most people live their lives on autopilot.
They wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and feel that something isn’t quite right.
Perhaps there is a small sense of uneasiness about their finances, work, looks or family.
Perhaps there is a general unhappiness with how life has turned out — but it can often be difficult to adm... See more
Introduction
Most people live their lives on autopilot.
They wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and feel that something isn’t quite right.
Perhaps there is a small sense of uneasiness about their finances, work, looks or family.
Perhaps there is a general unhappiness with how life has turned out — but it can often be difficult to adm... See more