Interestingly I was reading Charlie Munger's Biography - Poor Charlie's Almanac - over the weekend. My recollection is that it took Munger almost a couple of decades of living, reading and contemplating to start formulating his system of models and it did not gell for another 10-20 years.
He uses them not on the spur of the moment but in analyzing investments and this process can take a while (think weeks or months and not days).
These systems of mental models sound fascinating but I fear that unless the model has come from lived experience it will just be intellectual junk found - eaten, digested and out the rear rather fast with the only effect being intellectual blubber in your cerebral cortex. What one needs is a system of tutelage that might take a few years during which you can try out and codify these models one-by-one. Your list might be different than Munger or whomever but it will be tailored to your context and enable you to draw upon it with fluidity akin to a muscle reflex.
On a related note, I recall, from a Buddhist class on ethics, that Buddhist monastics have hundreds of rules that they have to observe. The story goes that when the historical Buddha formulated the order of monastics - there were no rules. Overtime in response to various incidents the rules were formulated and those incidents are recorded. The monastics are taught those stories that lie behind each rule to inculcate some notion of lived experience and a guideline for when/why that rule is to be used.
A list of rules is useless sans lived experience or a tradition that creates them is rather useless. You are better of throwing away the list and trying on your own supplemented by good reading. Charlie Munger His speeches and his reading recommendations are a good place to start.
You may also like Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger. Pretty much same ideas but aligned in more memorable way. Liked it way better than Poor Charlie's Almanac.
He uses them not on the spur of the moment but in analyzing investments and this process can take a while (think weeks or months and not days).
These systems of mental models sound fascinating but I fear that unless the model has come from lived experience it will just be intellectual junk found - eaten, digested and out the rear rather fast with the only effect being intellectual blubber in your cerebral cortex. What one needs is a system of tutelage that might take a few years during which you can try out and codify these models one-by-one. Your list might be different than Munger or whomever but it will be tailored to your context and enable you to draw upon it with fluidity akin to a muscle reflex.
On a related note, I recall, from a Buddhist class on ethics, that Buddhist monastics have hundreds of rules that they have to observe. The story goes that when the historical Buddha formulated the order of monastics - there were no rules. Overtime in response to various incidents the rules were formulated and those incidents are recorded. The monastics are taught those stories that lie behind each rule to inculcate some notion of lived experience and a guideline for when/why that rule is to be used.
A list of rules is useless sans lived experience or a tradition that creates them is rather useless. You are better of throwing away the list and trying on your own supplemented by good reading. Charlie Munger His speeches and his reading recommendations are a good place to start.