How to Think? Part-II

Table of contents

• The Farnam Street - How to Think: The Skill You’ve Never Been Taught
• Zat Rana - Marcus Aurelius: Thinking Clearly
• Mayo Oshin - Elon Musks' “3-Step” First Principles Thinking"
• Ed Boyden - Rules for How to Think

“If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.” — Albert Einstein

We are very good at solving problems. This is been taught in school. This is also important to know – how to think. This will help to find a better solution to a given problem. Sometimes a badly thought decision can cost you. So, good to have a better model in place. Last few weeks, I was trying to find the better method – how to think. Here are few of references, which might be helpful.

The Farnam Street - How to Think: The Skill You’ve Never Been Taught

1. Thinking means concentrating on one thing long enough to develop an idea about it.
2. Good thinkers understand a simple truth: you can’t make good decisions without good thinking and good thinking requires time. If you want to think better, schedule time to think and hone your understanding of the problem.

Zat Rana - Marcus Aurelius: Thinking Clearly

1. Actively training ourselves to fight the autonomous loop The human brain is immensely efficient, and it’s very good at filtering out noise we don’t need in our lives. Sometimes, it’s too good, and it diverts our attention away from important information, too. It’s on you to fight autonomy and look for those details. Set a few times in your day to really look and to listen. Be deliberate in seeking to bypass the compromise made by the autonomous brain.

2. Harnessing objectivity through a different host of eyes We mostly live our lives like we’re at the center of reality. It influences how we see, feel, and act. It shifts our perception of the world away from what it truly is. It’s important to use tactics that help us see through the clouds.

3. Build a habit of routinely decluttering your mind. The human mind is extremely noisy, but by creating a routine that allows us to clear it up, we can make it less so. By building a habit that focuses on ordering our thoughts, we can declutter the complexity that comes with living in an increasingly busy and crowded world. For example, journaling has been shown to improve health across many different areas of life.

Mayo Oshin - Elon Musks' “3-Step” First Principles Thinking

How to Think and Solve Difficult Problems Like a Genius

1. Identify and define your current assumptions

2. Breakdown the problem into its fundamental principles. These fundamental principles are basically the most basic truths or elements of anything. The best way to uncover these truths is to ask powerful questions that uncover these ingenious gems.

3. Create new solutions from scratch Once you’ve identified and broken down your problems or assumptions into their most basic truths, you can begin to create new insightful solutions from scratch.

Ed Boyden - Rules for How to Think

Managing brain resources in an age of complexity.

1. Synthesize new ideas constantly.
2. Learn how to learn (rapidly).
3. Work backward from your goal.
4. Always have a long-term plan.
5. Make contingency maps.
6. Collaborate.
7. Make your mistakes quickly.
8. Write up best-practices protocols.
9. Document everything obsessively.
10. Keep it simple.

There are few mental models, which also help to think systematically especially decision making, problem solving etc. In the next article, I’ll write a brief on this.