“Being able to compress well is closely related to intelligence" — Marcus Hutter (Artificial Intelligence Researcher)
From a conventional perspective, the world is is getting more complicated. The amount of data, books, articles, studies, etc. is growing exponentially.
It is harder and harder to keep up with. No one person can know everything.
But, here's a counter-perspective that will make you feel better...
What's often not discussed is that we are also collectively building deeper and deeper explanations and mental models of reality. These models help explain more and more about the universe we live in. This means that just a few models can compress a lot of the complexity we see.
For example, throw a theoretical physicist in a galaxy they have never been in and they can understand it using their existing theories. They would be able to say...
"Yes, I see nothing in the motion of that planet, other than mere facts, which is not explained by the general theory of relativity." (via physicist David Deutsch's book Fabric Of Reality)
Similarly, throw an entrepreneur who understands mental models into a completely new industry and they can not only quickly orient themselves, they can come up with unique insights that people in that field aren't even aware of. Self-made billionaire Charlie Munger, one of the pioneers of applying mental models to our everyday lives and careers, shares how he did this in his book Poor Charlie’s Almanack.
Here's another example on how mental models compress reality. Let's say you saw the following data set...
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
If you didn't understand math, these numbers might look like noise. But, if you notice the pattern that the numbers are increasing by one, you not only can replicate this dataset with a simple formula, you can predict all of the infinite numbers that come after and before it.
The following quote from Theoretical Physicist David Deutsch perfectly explains the power of deep mental models...
No one could possibly memorize all known observational data on even so narrow a subject as the motions of the planets, but many astronomers understand those motions to the full extent that they are understood. This is possible because understanding does not depend on knowing a lot of facts as such, but on having the right concepts, explanations and theories. One comparatively simple and comprehensible theory can cover an infinity of indigestible facts.
So from the perspective of mental models, the world is actually getting more and more simple.
This almost magical power of mental models is just one of the many reasons that I started studying mental models and then co-created the Mental Model Club.
