Shane Parrish
Turn ordinary moments into better decisions
Creator of Farnam Street and the Knowledge Project podcast. Former intelligence analyst who turned to studying mental models, decision-making, and clear thinking. His work synthesizes ideas from Munger, Kahneman, and others into practical frameworks anyone can use.
Books
- Clear Thinking
- The Great Mental Models Vol. 1
- The Great Mental Models Vol. 2
Quotes
“The quality of your thinking determines the quality of your life.”
“Most errors come from defaults, not reasoning.”
Principles
Decision Journal
Write down your reasoning before you know the outcome.
A decision journal captures what you decided, why, what you expected to happen, and how you felt - before the outcome is known. Reviewing it over time reveals patterns in your thinking: where you're consistently right, where you fool yourself, and which emotions lead you astray.
Clear Thinking
Most errors come from defaults, not reasoning.
Parrish argues that the biggest thinking errors don't happen during deliberation - they happen when we're on autopilot. Social defaults, emotional defaults, ego defaults, and inertia defaults hijack our choices before we even realize we're making one. Clear thinking means catching yourself in the ordinary moments.
Second-Order Thinking
Ask "and then what?" to see beyond immediate consequences.
First-order thinking asks: "What happens if I do this?" Second-order thinking asks: "And then what? What are the consequences of the consequences?" Most people stop at the first order. The best decisions come from thinking at least two steps ahead.
Connections
- Charlie MungerFarnam Street is named after Berkshire Hathaway's street - Parrish is a devoted student of Munger's mental models.
- Tim FerrissBoth are systematizers of practical wisdom - Ferriss through experiments, Parrish through synthesis.
- Adam GrantBoth bridge academic research and applied decision-making for a general audience.