Scott E. Page Jr.'s "Model Thinker: A Guide to Making Better Decisions"

ROBIN: Very well written. The length of the chapters is just perfect, and the content is just enough detail but no more than required. However, as it is like a readable textbook, it can be hard going as you are learning in every section and I had to take a break half-way through. It needs to be trimmed down further to make this read like a novel. Overall a great guide to models and their uses.

United Kingdom on May 14, 2021

Dr. Bernd M.: Ich sag mal so: es ist nicht das, was ich beim Kauf erwartet hatte (und das ist wohl auch der Grund für die unterschiedlichen Leserbewertungen). Ich dachte aufgrund der Beschreibungen, dass es sich hierbei um eine Art mathematisches Nachschlagewerk über verschiedene Modelle handelt. Stattdessen haben die Beschreibungen in dem Buch eher philosophisch-narrativen Charakter. Diese Art das Thema zu behandeln, ist sicher auch interessant, sollte allerdings bei der Buchbeschreibung auch deutlicher herausgestellt werden.

Germany on Feb 25, 2021

Alexander Ahmann: I'm just an undergraduate computer science student (so take this review with a healthy dose of scepticism), but this is an excellent book on modelling both natural and social phenomena. Its philosophy is to use multiple models to describe a phenomena that the reader is interested in. The author discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each model, and the strengths and weaknesses of modelling in general.

The author discusses rational and psychological models, the bell curve and power law distributions, linear regression, concave and convex functions, network models, entropy, epidemiological models, Markov chains, path dependence, and many other useful mathematical tools. The author acknowledges the weaknesses of models and does a great job giving a nuanced discussion of employing models with a healthy dose of scepticism and with value judgement. The book ends with an investigation into income inequality and opioids with a "many-model" approach and the author shows how the use of multiple models can be helpful when trying to understand something.

I suppose that my only criticisms is that the author quotes authorities to bolster the usefulness of the model that they...

United States on Dec 10, 2020

CodexerOne: I am giving this book five stars for the effort involved in wrtiing the book, .subtracting two stars for the double marketing hype in the titile and on the back; for a net rating of three stars. The hype is explained below.

1. The book started as an introduction to modeling for social scientists. It achieves that goal. But an appropriate title would "An Introductory Handbook on Modeling for Social Scientists". That could be a five star book. Instead the marketing hypes at Basic Books introduced the buzz words "Model Thinker" and "data". Both topics are lightly treated in the book. Model thinking is all the rage because of the Charles Munger quotation of chapter one. But Munger's mental models are subtle and are rarely discussed well. An excellent treatment though is Peter Bevelin's "Seeking Wisdom from Darwin to Munger". Using models to make data analysis possible is professionally described in Philipp Janert's "Data Analysis with Open Source Tools".

2. Turning now to the issues with the content of the book. The book contains some twenty-five models in brief chapters averaging roughly 12 pages each. A wine tasting for models. What do you when you need a full case of...

United States on Nov 01, 2020

Ajinkya Bawase: This book is very good. This book has 29 chapters and it is fairly easy to read if you have any prior data science knowledge. Even if you don't know about data science don't worry, you will understand all the models. Author has divided all the chapters into 10~12 pages, with both theory and practical examples with lots of graphs. I find this book is useful for people from various background e.g. policymakers, business and social scientist et al. Author has covered 25 broad classes of models including markov chains, entropy etc. It will help you to develop many-model thinking which is the need of the hour.

India on Jun 04, 2020

Arthur R. Silen: I regard Scott E. Page's The Model Thinker to be the singular 'must read' reference work and learning aid for anyone looking to master conceptual models of the world we live in. For the most part, these are dynamic models, most frequently mathematically described, which are essential to thinking about data; interactions, including conflict, strategies for resolving conflicts between individuals and their respective social groups, institutions, and generally speaking, civilized society itself. A single work of this type cannot include every single permutation of conceptual model; but Professor Page accomplishes a great deal in the 420-odd pages comprising this masterful work.

As Professor Page observes, early on, "we live in a time awash in information and data". At the same time, our innate abilities to comprehend and deal with the mental load that those data represent, and how to respond appropriately, requires us to acquire new cognitive skills in order to make any headway in dealing with the implications that those data represent.

Professor Page identifies seven uses of models: (1) to reason, meaning to identify conditions and deduce logical implications; (2) to...

United States on Mar 04, 2020

R. A. Angel: I found this an interesting and useful source of ideas as someone who has an interest in this area but lacks expertise or training and doesn't understand the field.
What it allowed me to do was apply a different set of thinking tools, which I previously was not aware of, to the kinds of problems I work with every day. Not to create solutions but to change perspective.
The examples mainly worked though in some chapters I felt they slightly meandered off.

Why not 5 stars? Could have been a lot shorter as an intro to these ideas.

United Kingdom on Feb 18, 2020

GS: Scott E. Page is a genius. I've listened to his Great Courses book on Complexity, as well as his other book on diversity and I can honestly say that his writings have changed my life. He stitched together seemingly disparate pieces of life that I was already thinking about, trying to make sense of, and then I discovered his books, including 'The Model Thinker' --- and everything became clear.

Read everything he's written, listen to his audible books on complexity and diversity and it will move your consciousness forward exponentially. Absolutely stunning works of genius for those who are intelligent enough to receive it and then apply it to their life.

I have no affiliation with the writer. If you want to live a rational life and have a desire to fulfill your potential, this is the book (and author) for you.

Thank-you so much for putting your ideas down on paper. I'm so glad I found your work.

Canada on Jan 01, 2020