Model Thinking

I really recommend Model Thinking by Scott Page on Coursera. It is not exactly philosophy, but it will teach you to think about the structure of the world around you, and you will learn how to process complexity in simple but powerful ways. https://www.coursera.org/learn/model-thinking

I'm enjoyed the University of Michigan's free Model Thinking course so much. The idea of modelling things is so important that I wish everyone could be exposed to it.

I guess I'm also pretty stoked because it made a lot of things that I taught myself finally click, and I ended the course feeling like I gained a minor superpower when it comes to problem solving.

Start with model thinking? You can learn it here: https://www.coursera.org/learn/model-thinking

> The researcher is creating the model, all the conditions are defined by the model...what have you "proved" by building this model?

I think models only attempt to prove outcomes. So here they are trying to prove that an outcome of polarization will arise given certain conditions. Creators of models try to specify the conditions under which these outcomes arise — ie, conditions under which their model is applicable — very precisely. Part of some scholars and analysts’ repertoires is to be familiar with numerous models so as to recognize which one is applicable for a specific problem.

If you’re curious about the topic, Model Thinking on Coursera is free, accessible, & enjoyable.

I was saving this post to check for answers. I didn't know about Page's book. He also has an online course on model thinking.

All links go to Goodreads. While I'm here, I want to suggest three additional resources. The first two are books about UI and UX that are not fluffy like some of the other books above.

• Laws of UX
• Refactoring UI

The last resource is just my favorite behavioral economics course from Michigan. It does a great job of explaining models and how they work across a range of topics.

• Model Thinking course by Scott Page

I would add :

The Model Thinker: What You Need to Know to Make Data Work for You by Scott E. Page

also available as a Coursera course

aap logo ko shayad model thinking wala scott page ka course pasand aye

https://www.coursera.org/learn/model-thinking

I just came across the Savant Existence Theorem in Scott Page's Model Thinking course and I think it relates.

The first link above is to a definition in one of his books. He boils it down to a matter of perspective. It's not necessarily a "weird trick", but from a certain point of view it should be easy to see what the optimal solution is. Finding the right POV (or stumbling into the right problem for your POV) is the hard part.

It seems there would also be a meta layer where you need the right perspective to tell which "one weird trick" is really from the savant and not someone trying to sell you on their sub-optimal solution.

I'd give a try to the Model Thinking course dictated by prof. Scott E. Page at Coursera.

Also, there's a similar (and a bit more serious) blog to the Michael Simmons one, and is even quoted by him in his Mental Model' Spreadsheet: Farnam Street. It has a pretty neat podcast (he interviews Page in one of his episodes).

Coursera has a course about model thinking.

https://www.coursera.org/learn/model-thinking

This what you mean?

The above - use an engine - don't reinvent the wheel if you want to make a game that can be built with off the shelf solutions. Your time is finite and you can never have every skill needed.

You don't have to be great at math, but you should be able to model the problems / mechanics you need in you game, which often ends up having some basic math in it.

It's a little tangential, but this (free) online course can help your thinking in that space. https://www.coursera.org/learn/model-thinking

Yes. Learn to think with mental models.

Basically your brain already constructs models of reality and uses those to reason about what you experience. Consciously leverage that capability and think about what model you are currently applying and how that model both gives you an advantage and simultaneously limits you in certain ways, because it necessarily discards information.

For example, what you think you see is not what you actually see. The light entering your eyes is filtered and downsampled through hundreds of pre-processor nodes in your eyeball before it even hits the optic nerve, then it goes into your brain which attempts to make sense of the shapes and colors and motions and applies prior learning to it to create a model. That model is what you perceive.

Here's a really good list of articles on thinking with mental models, along with an evolving list of useful mental models: https://fs.blog/mental-models/

Also there is (or was) a free course on Coursera called Model Thinking or similar that is outstanding and doesn't require anything more than the most basic 9th grade algebra concepts in a few places. https://www.coursera.org/learn/model-thinking

You may also be interested in "Model Thinking" on Coursera, which was recently recommended to me as an introduction to learning about complex systems... idk if you're interested in complex systems specifically but the course seems pretty general and the lecturer makes a good case for learning how to use formal models for a variety of purposes (including data analysis).

I hadn't been planning on jumping into it yet, but I finished the first part of that Python course and realized the second part would probably go together with it well.

https://www.coursera.org/learn/model-thinking

There are two courses on Coursera that I have taken, related to governance, which I found incredibly interesting:

Model Thinking, from University of Michigan and Moral Foundations of Politics, from Yale University. There is also a course on Modern History which sounds interesting (I haven't taken it).

Completing a bunch of courses in your domain of interest definitely helps in applications, supporting your interest in the field. I had done 5-10 courses related to a field that I wanted to get in, but had no prior experience, and it definitely helped boost my application letter. You won't get credit however for these courses.

What kinda MOOC are you looking for? Last year I did Learning how to learn, and Model Thinking. The first was short and sweet, but had some worthwhile thoughts, the second was longer and also pretty interesting.

There's a decent list here.

If you find something good, do tell - I really should do another one, they're great for something to do when you've got an empty evening after work, and the deadlines make you keep up with it.

I think it's important to raise children in such mindset to be curious, don't take things as dogma and try to verify, cross-check with other sources and facts and point out conflicts.

For adults I would recommend to consider resources similar to or from the categories as:

• online courses such as Critical Thinking in Global Challenges or Model Thinking
• books such as Thinking Fast and Slow

I found Model Thinking and Thinking Fast and Slow particularly useful because we often think using an incorrect mental model of things which leads us to wrong interpretations of data.

Hard skills:

Human computer interacion

Martin Fowler videos on YT

Soft skills:

Software Processes and Agile Practices

Innovation Management

Peopleware

General:

The End of Procrastination

Model thinking

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Good sources are Coursera, Khan academy, edX and short TED videos

Enroll yourself on free coursera courses-

My fav. courses i recommend are -

1. model thinking -https://www.coursera.org/learn/model-thinking
2. Problem solving -https://www.coursera.org/learn/computational-thinking-problem-solving/
3. how to get skilled -https://www.coursera.org/learn/skills-management/h
4. negotiation skills strategies -https://www.coursera.org/learn/negotiation-skills/
5. data science math skills -https://www.coursera.org/learn/datasciencemathskills

You can easily learn if u can devote 5 hours per week. There are many courses online. I recently learnt how to make AI chatbots using Microsoft Botframework it was useful skill it was not very hard. But it needs focused mind .

you can learn many things online - But learning is not just enrolling a course but rather doing on your own. IF you have learnt xyz skill then find a idea and try to make it happen using your skill, you can make website or teach someone whatever u learnt.

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Also you can try to learn higher paying skills - especially when Cloud computing is rising fast- one should learn it asap. Otherwise lots of jobs will cutoff due to automation