Thinking Frameworks

Jeremy Nixon's compiled knowledge on how to think better -- mental models, rationality, meta-cognition, and the systematic decomposition of thought itself. Synthesized from 50+ raw entries.

The Core Project: Systematizing Thought

Jeremy's central intellectual ambition is treating thinking itself as a system to be engineered. Not just "think better" but "build a complete map of what thinking is and optimize each component."

Core frameworks:

• how-to-think -- The master document on thinking methodology
• meta-modeling -- How to build and use mental models of models
• 17-07-21-meta-modeling -- Earlier exploration of meta-modeling
• algorithmic-thinking -- Treating thought processes as algorithms
• cognitive-categorization -- How the mind naturally categorizes

Mental Models and Modeling

• models-worth-creating -- Which models have the highest return on investment to build?
• high-level-models -- The most powerful abstract models
• distinctions-in-conceptual-style -- Different approaches to conceptual thinking
• munger -- Charlie Munger's latticework of mental models approach
• 18-12-22-modes-of-thought -- Cataloging the different modes the mind can operate in
• 19-01-27-modes-of-thinking-worth-internalizing -- Which thinking modes to make habitual

Contrarian Thinking

A distinctive thread: systematically seeking truths that most people get wrong.

• 17-02-01-ways-to-discover-contrarian-truths -- Methods for finding non-consensus truths
• 17-07-26-contrarian-ideas-i-have -- Jeremy's own contrarian positions
• 18-09-05-sources-of-contrarian-truth -- Where contrarian truths come from
• 18-08-21-independent-first-principles-thinking -- Thinking from scratch vs. from authority
• 19-04-08-ideas-which-dramatically-shift-your-decision-making-extends-worldview-b -- Ideas that actually change behavior
• 19-04-21-technical-worldview-breaking -- Encountering ideas that break your framework
• 17-12-27-map-territory-confusions -- Where our models diverge from reality

Rationality

• what-is-rationality -- Defining and decomposing rationality
• naive-rationality -- The failure modes of surface-level rational thinking
• 19-01-30-different-definitions-of-rationality-in-use -- How different communities define rationality
• teaching-learning-superforecasting -- Calibrating predictions (Tetlock's framework)
• 19-02-24-calibration-conceptual-decomposition -- Breaking down what calibration actually requires

Meta-Cognition

• 18-08-29-meta-concepts -- Concepts about concepts
• 19-12-31-meta-x -- The meta-pattern: applying X to itself
• 20-01-01-trans-x -- Going beyond X
• 18-09-18-rare-concepts-i-think-with-daily -- Uncommon but powerful concepts
• 18-09-10-words-to-create-creating-concepts -- Inventing new concepts as a thinking tool
• 19-02-02-quality-examples-of-newly-created-concepts -- Examples of successful concept creation
• 18-11-28-most-general-concepts -- The broadest, most transferable concepts

Decomposition as Method

A signature Jeremy move: take any complex phenomenon and decompose it into components.

• 19-02-01-conceptual-decomposition -- The method itself
• 18-11-06-decomposing-intelligence -- What are the components of intelligence?
• 18-11-27-consciousness-decomposition -- What are the components of consciousness?
• 19-01-31-humor-decomposition -- What makes things funny?
• 19-01-29-games-decomposition -- What makes games compelling?
• 18-08-26-deconstruction -- General deconstruction techniques

Worldview Building

• 17-01-27-synthesizing-information-from-worldview-building -- How to integrate information into a coherent worldview
• 17-08-18-continuing-worldview-building -- Ongoing worldview construction
• 18-08-22-types-of-truth-you-cant-handle -- Truths people resist
• 18-11-20-how-to-handle-the-truth -- Dealing with difficult truths
• 20-02-29-deep-truths -- The deepest truths Jeremy has encountered
• 18-01-08-glimpses-of-reality -- Moments of clarity about what is real
• 18-09-19-what-is-real -- Questioning the nature of reality

Questions

• good-questions -- Jeremy's collection of powerful questions
• 18-08-03-generators-of-great-questions -- How to generate questions worth asking
• 17-12-24-questions-whose-answers-would-tweak-my-goals -- Questions that would change direction
• 18-11-28-the-big-questions -- The most important questions
• 19-01-20-generating-generators -- Meta: generating the generators of good questions

Structure of Information

• metalearning-the-structure-of-information -- How information is structured and how to learn from that structure
• 17-08-14-new-types-of-structure-in-information -- Novel structural patterns
• 17-09-14-principles-of-structure -- Core principles governing structure
• 17-09-06-types-of-relational-structure -- How things relate to each other
• 17-09-21-types-of-temporal-structure -- How things relate over time
• 17-08-01-examples-of-structure -- Concrete examples
• 18-02-28-implementing-the-structure-of-information -- Putting structural theory into practice

Introspection

• introspection -- On the practice of examining one's own mind
• introspection-on-hyperanalytic -- Reflecting on the hyperanalytic approach itself
• changing-my-mind-about-my-mind -- How Jeremy's self-understanding evolved
• thought-loops-emotion-loops -- Recognizing and breaking circular patterns
• 17-07-31-system-1-breakdown -- Understanding automatic thinking
• 17-11-23-how-to-control-system-1 -- Techniques for influencing automatic thought
• 18-01-08-how-to-clarify-thoughts -- Methods for achieving clarity