Suggest edit — Thinking Frameworks

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tags:
- wiki
- thinking
- mental-models
- rationality
- meta-cognition
title: Thinking Frameworks
type: wiki-compilation
visibility: public
---

# 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.

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## 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