The Great Mental Models, Volume 3: Systems and Mathematics

Enjoying the series. Lots of applicable mental models that helps us think through life. Looking forward to reading the next one in the series

My review is not about physical quality. There may be two physical implementations of the book. Mine was red & big.

My low rating of 3 stars is due to an irritation. There are plenty of interesting ideas , stories , notions. However, it irritated me to no end how the author usurps legitimate concepts from mathematics, etc. to use as fancy labels. The notions in the book are often NOT those labels, NOT the fully genuine notion in the respective field.

An excellent example -- and one that makes my [perhaps] vague statement of the previous paragraph more concrete -- is this one. Algorithm is absolute NOT a procedure. That's why we have the word 'procedure'. The author talks about screening many animals for ____ and thereby finding ____. Yes, I forget the exact details. But what was done was a procedure, NOT an ALGORITHM. An algorithm means that there is a logical entailment or set of logical entailments that thereby drives a search for a procedure that will satisfy those logical criteria / those logical implications / those logical restrictions. A procedure that does accomplish the goal of obeying those LOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS then is an algorithm.

Highfalutin terms are usurped throughout the book. (I read every word.) The legitimate applicability of the usurped terms varies from 0% applicable, to perhaps 80% or more, depending. But most concepts spoken of are NOT those of the fancy label.

Perhaps business people do that to sound fancy or pompous. They ought to invent their own words instead of erroneously usurping legitimate notions from other fields. "Churn" is an example where the business notion is done correctly. It is given a business word, rather than usurping a term from another field that has myriad implications for the field it was stolen from, but not for the business example or notion. "Churn" was OK, but many others were not.

In truth, as a scientist, metrologist (astute at measurement influences), statistician, philosopher -- but only the 1st (scientist) officially -- I just found the usurping ot terms insulting. Perhaps you wouldn't care at all. Then, if that be so, the rating would be 4-stars for the book. Still not 5 stars though.

I bought this gift for a Christmas gift, and I am embarrassed to give it now since it came with grease marks all over the cover. Too late to order another, so I will leave it up to the recipient as to whether or not he returns it.

came damaged

This is in my top 10 books of all time. Am looking forward to reading the Mental Models of Economics and Art. I have studied economics, but the mathematics of art would be a lovely companion in my life.

Shane and his blog, Farnam Street, have always been a favorite of mine. I purchased this edition print because I’m a huge fan of the first edition. However, I’m disappointed with the quality of the print and paper. I understand that keeping costs low is important, but the pages were printed crookedly, and most of the illustrations from the first edition are missing. (I assume they’re sticking to black and white printing to keep costs down.) Despite these issues, I still love the content, but the crooked pages were a major distraction.

Book was smaller than previous in the series. This one felt like it was printed off from the website. So disappointed.

A quality read by Shane.

Cubierta maltratada y deteriorada con roces y golpes.

Pero el libro es un magnífico ensayo. Estoy muy satisfecho por su enriquecedor enfoque. Un gran libro que recomiendo.