MARKET WATCH
As far as global markets are concerned, it has been a relatively uneventful few weeks. At this point, we'll continue to stay the course and see what the markets bring in May.
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IN THE REVIEW QUEUE
The quality of our thoughts influences the quality of our actions. In turn, the quality of our actions influences the quality of our lives. It stands to reason that if one wants the best life possible, effective thinking is an essential part. So lately, I've been spending some time thinking (and reading) about thinking.
Keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming blog on this topic as well.
The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts, Vol. I
by Shane Parrish:
A detailed dive into nine of the most important mental models. The first of a five-book series, this volume focuses on a few of the most important concepts around thinking and processes. Although all nine mental models are covered in existing blog posts, Parrish uses the book format to further expand and unpack them. Perhaps this
short summary
of the book will whet your appetite.
Thinking in Systems: A Primer
by Donella H. Meadows and Diana Wright:
Virtually everything in life is part of, or affected by, a system. Our bodies are a system, so are our families, towns and countries. In this book, the authors explain the intricacies of systems, including their structures, feedback mechanisms and behaviours. One of the book's many insights is that systems with similar feedback structures produce similar behaviours - even if their outward appearances are completely different. Understanding these feedback structures makes it easier to improve or fix systems when they are running sub-optimally.
Although not a technical book, it is dense. A careful read provides one a framework of how systems operate. A second (I'm hoping) will provide the understanding.
Canso's April Newsletter
:
The latest edition of the Canso newsletter actually comes with a disclaimer. Although slightly hyperbolic, the edition expresses concerns about the bond market. Many investors are 'reaching' for higher risk investments in an environment that isn't adequately compensating them. As a result, expensive bonds are becoming more so. History points to this not ending well.
Contrary to consensus, the team also believes interest rates will rise in the near(ish) future. As a reminder, rising interest rates are generally bad for bond investors. We share many of Canso's sentiments and have also positioned our fixed income portfolios conservatively from a credit and interest rate perspective.
The Feynman Technique by Farnam Street
:
I've previously included articles on the brilliant physicist Richard Feynman. This blog post explains the technique Feynman used to ensure he understood a concept. It's a high standard, but it's easy to see how helpful it can be.
If You Want to be a Writer, Neil Gaiman Says You Should "Get Bored"
:
"I think it's about where ideas come from, they come from day dreaming, from drifting, that moment when you're just sitting there....The trouble with these days is that it's really hard to get bored. I have 2.4 million people on Twitter who will entertain me at any moment...it's really hard to get bored. I'm much better at putting my phone away, going for boring walks, actually trying to find the space to get bored in. That's what I've started saying to people who say, 'I want to be a writer.' I say, 'Great, get bored.'"
The Work Required to Have an Opinion
by Farnam Street:
Everywhere you turn, people have an opinion on something they know little about. Charlie Munger recommends a different approach. He won't allow himself to have an opinion on a topic unless he knows the other side's argument better than they do. Imagine how much wiser we'd be if we took a similar approach!
Becoming a Model Thinker
by the Knowledge Project:
A wide-ranging conversation with Professor Scott Page and Farnam Street's Shane Parish. I was first introduced with Page's work a few years ago when I took his popular online course,
Model Thinking
. In this conversation, he and Parish get into the weeds on mental models.
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THOUGHT-PROVOKING QUOTES
"The best thing a human being can do is to help another human being know more."
- Charlie Munger
"Most geniuses-especially those who lead others-prosper not by deconstructing intricate complexities but by exploiting unrecognized simplicities."
- Andy Benoit
"I had, also, during many years, followed a golden rule, namely, that whenever a published fact, a new observation or thought came across me, which was opposed to my general results, to make a memorandum of it without fail and at once; for I had found by experience that such facts and thoughts were far more apt to escape from memory than favorable ones."
- Charles Darwin
"Any fool can know. The point is to understand."
- Albert Einstein
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