I’ve long believed that a certain system—which almost any intelligent person can learn—works way better than the systems most people use [to understand the world]. What you need is a latticework of mental models in your head. And, with that system, things gradually fit together in a way that enhances cognition.
Just as multiple factors shape every system, multiple mental models from a variety of disciplines are necessary to understand that system . . . You have to realize the truth of biologist Julian Huxley’s idea that, “Life is just one damn relatedness after another. ” So you must have all the models, and you must see the relatedness and the effects from the relatedness . . .
You must know the big ideas in the big disciplines and use them routinely all of them, not just a few. Most people are trained in one model–economics, for example–and try to solve all problems in one way. You know the old saying: ‘To the man with a hammer, the world looks like a nail.’ This is a dumb way of handling problems.
It’s kind of fun to sit here and outthink people who are way smarter than you are because you’ve trained yourself to be more objective and more multidisciplinary. Furthermore, there is a lot of money in it, as I can testify from my own personal experience.
However, my particular approach seldom seems to get through, even to people of immense ability. Things usually die after going to the “Too-Hard” pile.
- Charles Munger
