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Superdecipher

Mental models

Mental models are thinking tools: simple patterns that help you see a problem from a better angle. Reading about them is easy. Using them is the hard part.

So here you don’t read about them. You play with them, level by level, until they become habits.

Start with First Principles
0XP earnedFirst Principles: What do I know for certain?FPFirst PrinciplesProbabilistic Thinking: What are the odds?PRProbabilistic ThinkingSecond-Order Thinking: And then what?SOSecond-Order ThinkingInversion: What would guarantee failure?INInversionThought Experiment: What if…?TEThought Experiment
Each ring fills as you finish its three levels and earn its badge.

The five models

  1. What do I know for certain?First PrinciplesStrip a problem down to what is undeniably true, then rebuild it from there.Start
  2. What are the odds?Probabilistic ThinkingReplace “will it happen?” with “how likely is it, and how sure am I?”Start
  3. And then what?Second-Order ThinkingLook past the first result of a decision to the results of that result.Start
  4. What would guarantee failure?InversionWork out how to fail, then avoid doing exactly that.Start
  5. What if…?Thought ExperimentRun an experiment in your head when you can’t run it in the world.Start

How each model works

  1. Meet the modelA short idea and a hands-on demo you can poke at.
  2. Get the feelGames and quizzes that train your eye to spot the model in action.
  3. Apply itA guided, step-by-step workshop on a real problem, or one of your own.
  4. Field cardWhen to use it, when not to, the framework and the traps. Printable.

Every task earns XP. Finish a level to unlock the next. Earn all five badges to reach the top rank.