Thought Stack: Design Principles, Mental Models, & Cognitive Biases

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**Thought Stack: Design Principles, Mental Models, & Cognitive Biases**

We’re on the quest to uncover the world’s greatest thoughts. By collecting ideas from a wide range of disciplines, we’re piecing together the framework each person should develop to live a curious and exciting life. We don’t stop there. Without doing, thoughts are worthless. We share with you exciting new hobbies and adventures to inspire you to challenge yourself to tackle new things. Over time these thoughts and activities stack on top of each other, creating a stronger you and a better community. Join us in becoming a Thought Stacker.

Latest Episodes:

TS 34: An Underutilized Super Power May 09, 2018

Show notes

Design Principle: Consistency.

The usability of a system is improved when similar parts are expressed in similar ways.

Thinking is energy. Good design reduces the amount of energy a person has to input to use the entity.

That’s why consistency is so powerful. Little actions over time tend to amount to huge outcomes.

For more resources on Consistency, visit http://thoughtstack.co/consistency

If you'd rather listen to the audio, check out the podcast: → http://www.thoughtstack.co

Reach me on Social Media: → Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jonstenstrom

Have a Project You Need Help With? I Recommend Toptal: → https://www.toptal.com/#get-only-elit...

Credits:

→ Book: Universal Principles of Design

Stay Thought-Full,

Jon

TS 33: Why You CAN Compare Apples and Oranges Apr 29, 2018

Show notes

The next time someone says "you can't compare apples and oranges"...tell them you CAN.

Design Principle: Comparison.

A comparison is a method for understanding information in a controlled manner within a system.

It's important to understand the variables you are comparing, how you are measuring the data, and how you're conveying the information to others.

For more resources on Comparison, visit http://thoughtstack.co/comparison

If you'd rather listen to the audio, check out the podcast: → http://www.thoughtstack.co

Reach me on Social Media: → Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jonstenstrom

---- Credits: → Book: Universal Principles of Design → Music: Apples and Oranges - Pink Floyd, Dreams - Joakim Karud → Links and Videos: 1. More information about NASA scientist Scott Sandford: https://www.improbable.com/airchives/paperair/volume1/v1i3/air-1-3-apples.html 2. Funny bad visualizations of data: http://viz.wtf/ 3. Mass spec: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-wao0O0_qM

Stay Thought-Full, Jon

TS 32: 5 Ways to Increase Empathy for Better Accessible Design Apr 23, 2018

Show notes

5 Ways to Increase Empathy:

Travel more
Listen more
Volunteer doing something you enjoy
Stay curious (learn something new)
Realize everyone is unique. Find those differences.

For more resources on Accessibility, visit http://thoughtstack.co/accessiblity

If you'd rather listen to the audio, check out the podcast:

→ http://www.thoughtstack.co

Reach me on Social Media:

→ Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jonstenstrom

Stay Thought-Full, Jon

Credits:

→ Book: Universal Principles of Design

→ Music: Dreams - Joakim Karud

TS 31: Thought Stack Is Now on YouTube Apr 18, 2018

Show notes

Watch the Podcast on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyo71bciLTsdRZsGNZhtkQQ

Thought Stack's Mission

While studying to be an engineer, we never seemed to learn about how humans think or interact with each other.

After I realized my limited perspective, I started diving into the cognitive sciences, focusing on cognitive biases and mental models.

It's a lifelong pursuit I want to share with you so we can learn them together and build upon each other's perspectives.

Join me in exploring cognitive biases, mental models, and design principles.

Together we can design an ethical and more robust world.

Stay Thought-Full, Jon

TS 30: The 80/20 to Not Killing Yourself Too Early Apr 05, 2018

Show notes

Podcast video can be found here: https://www .youtube.com/watch?v=GQRMLrHT8eU

TL;DL: The 80/20 Principle means focusing on the small number of things that have the greatest impact on your life. Join me on a typical day in LA where I grab some coffee, hit the gym, play some volleyball and mess around with Crixus.

80/20 a Better Life: 1. Lift weights 3X/wk so you don't break a hip when old. 2. Sprint often 3. Sleep greater than 7.5 hours/night to have more productive awake time. 4. Meditate - Our ancestors were present.

Driving: 1. Look L at intersections so you don't get T-boned. 2. Imagine 1 person trying to kill you on the freeway to stay aware.

Products: 1. GUIs - Menus are set up in categories to make it easier for you to find what you're looking for, rather than display everything at once making things confusing.

Design Principle 001: 80/20 Principle (Pareto Principle)

Today's video kicks off my new design principles project. The goal is to share a principle with you each week to help us see the world from a new perspective.

I want this to be more of a discussion. If you've seen this principle in your life, please share it in the comments. The more we're aware of these principles the better we'll able to navigate this complex system we call life.

Patrick and Peter's podcast episode I referenced: → http://investorfieldguide.com/attialive/

If you'd rather listen to the audio, check out the podcast: → http://www.thoughtstack.co

Reach me on Social Media: → Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jonstenstrom

---- Credits: → Book: Universal Principles of Design → Music: Rock Angel - Joakim Karud

TS 28: Lessons in Creativity From an Underappreciated Genius Sep 12, 2017

Show notes

This podcast is about a genius reflecting on what it means to be a genius...that's pretty FREAKIN' cool!

Hey Thought Stackers, you're in for a treat. Today we have Jimmy Soni, author of A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age, joining us on the cast.

Today You'll Learn Five Things:

Claude Shannon's unique approach to networking - More like Anti-Networking.
Why you should start visualizing the end state of problems you're trying to solve BEFORE diving into the details.
Claude's six step process to creative thinking.
Our biggest take away: Avoiding over specialization.
Why the connection between our hands and our minds is not valued enough in today's culture - we get into how Claude, who was a mathematical genius was also a tinkerer who enjoyed building and juggling.

Be sure to follow Jimmy on Twitter: @jimmyasoni and pick up his book on Amazon.

Stay Thought-Full.

TS 27: How a Little Anarchy Can Revitalize Our Society Aug 25, 2017

Show notes

Hey Thought Stackers!

We have a special episode, today we have one of the most inspiring people I’ve met, Mark Lakeman.

I met Mark a few years ago at the Lightning in a Bottle festival where he covered many of the topics you’re about to hear on this cast.

Portland has been in the midst of a total renaissance and that can be attributed to Mark and his team over at City Repair.

If you make it to the end of this cast, you might just become an activist for a better community.

In this episode you’ll learn three things:

The big realization Mark discovered while traveling the world for 7 years.
How colonialism has damaged our villager instincts and what we can do to fix it
How you need to be slightly anarchist if you want to live in a better world.

A full list of resources can be found at http://thoughtstack.co/mark-lakeman-interview

TS 26: The Bible for Creating Intelligent Machines Aug 03, 2017

Show notes

When you hear the term Artificial Intelligence, what’s image pops in your mind? Is it a Terminator-style doomsday scenario or maybe a bit more optimistic?

For this Book Short, we are covering The Essential Turing by Alan Turing.

To help us make sense of the book, we've brought in AI expert, Dr. Shalini Ananda, who teaches us three things:

Who is Alan Turing and why is he important for AI?
What are some of the limitation in developing an AI platform?
Where do you see AI benefiting our lives in the near future?

Hopefully, this gives you a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes at companies such as Google, Facebook, and all of the startups pushing the boundaries of machine intelligence.

Be sure to reach out to Dr. Ananda on twitter: @ShaliniAnanda1.

TS 25: Level 9000 Personal Growth Hacking Aug 01, 2017

Show notes

Learn the secrets of personal growth hacking:

Part One: The Experiment List - What do you want to achieve in the next five years?
Part Two: The Pipeline - You list of experiments you're actively testing.
Part Three: The Experiment Journal - Track what works and what doesn't.

For a detailed breakdown of this episode visit: https://www.kevinespiritu.com/personal-growth-hacking/

Stay Thought-Full!

TS 24: Why Being #2 Might Be Better Than Being #1 Jul 28, 2017

Show notes

Scott Hartley [Author, VC, past Facebook & Google] shares why the liberal arts will rule the digital world.

In this episode, you'll learn three things: