#29: How Do We Model the World?

☀️ The shortcut of the model

Faced with overwhelming complexity, we, as humans, instinctively create models and frameworks. These are our essential shortcuts.

They take the form of cultural dimensions that predict behavior, algorithms that guide decision-making, and physical metrics that measure risk and value. These structures provide the necessary illusion of order and control.

But what happens when messy, disruptive reality, full of sudden system failures, extreme new technologies, and AI challenging the very definition of human thought, pushes past the edges of our neat charts?

This edition explores that tension. We’re looking at the external systems we trust, and the essential internal resilience required when those structures are called into question.

📖 3 Articles to Spark Your Curiosity

1. The 6-D Model of National Culture
   Explore the ultimate attempt to model the world: Hofstede’s framework uses six dimensions (like Individualism and Power Distance) to quantify and map the messy reality of national cultures, providing a standardized shortcut for understanding global behavior.
   → Read on Geert Hofstede's website
   

2. The Power of Being an Amateur
   Amateurism holds radical power. This piece argues that those who operate outside established professional frameworks and hierarchies are often the ones best positioned to discover new insights and challenge old models.
   → Read on Harvard Business Review
   

3. The End of Thinking
   A provocative look at the potential cognitive cost of relying on powerful AI. When technology makes low-level thinking effortless, it may lead to a fundamental disruption of our internal models, raising the question: Will AI lead to more innovation, or simply less human thought?
   → Read on Derek Thompson's Substack

🗞️ 3 Headlines Worth Exploring

1. Asahi Beer Production Halted by Major Cyberattack
   A major cyberattack brought production to a complete halt, exposing the fragility of digital systems. This shows how critically even long-established, physical businesses now rely on abstract, vulnerable models for their operations.
   → Read on The Verge
   

2. Meet the ARC Spacecraft: Delivering Cargo Anywhere in the World in an Hour
   This groundbreaking technological system is designed for extreme disruption, aiming to deliver cargo anywhere in the world in just one hour and challenging all existing logistical models with its speed and reach.
   → Read on Ars Technica
   

3. Historian Uses AI to Help Identify Nazi in Notorious Holocaust Image 
   A historian used AI to analyze minute details in a famous Holocaust photograph, demonstrating technology's role in helping solve decades-old, sensitive historical mysteries.
   → Read on The Guardian

☀️ 3 Actions to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

1. Adopt a "Mental Toughness Minute"

   Instead of checking your phone during a moment of waiting (e.g., waiting for coffee, standing in a slow line, or between meetings), use that time for a simple, 60-second mindfulness or breathing exercise.
   

2. Audit a "Cultural Dimension"

   Pick one of Hofstede's six dimensions (e.g., Power Distance or Uncertainty Avoidance) and consciously observe how it plays out in your team or family for one day. By temporarily applying an outside framework to your familiar world, you challenge your default way of seeing behavior and communication.
   

3. Execute a "Zero-Search Decision"

   Choose one low-stakes decision this week (e.g., where to eat, how to fix a small household item, or a short email response) and forbid yourself from using Google or AI for guidance. Force your existing knowledge base to solve the problem, exercising the "thinking muscle" we are increasingly outsourcing.

⚡ 6 Quick Resources

🧘‍♀️ To add to your routine: Workplace Meditation is Your New Stress Relief 
This article explores how simple meditation and mindfulness are becoming vital tools for maintaining internal resilience, acting as a simple counter-system to workplace anxiety and stress.
→ Read on AP News

💡 To read: Even AI Can’t Deny the Brand-Building Power of TV 
Mark Ritson (branding & marketing expert) argues that even with all the new digital systems and data, traditional, broad-reach media like TV remains a non-negotiable part of building a successful brand model.
→ Read on The Drum

🧠 To watch: The Secrets and Science of Mental Toughness 
Dr. Joe Risser shares the science behind "grit" and the protein BDNF, showing how anyone can strengthen their internal systems to embody extreme mental and physical resilience.
→ Watch on YouTube

🥂 To save for future night-outs: 61 Bars Added to a Prestigious 'Michelin-Style' List 
A look at a major new ranking for bars that attempts to apply a rigorous ranking system (similar to Michelin) to the world of cocktails and nightlife.
→ Read on Time Out

🪙 To count your cold bars: How Many Gold Bars Does It Take to Buy a Home? (US)
This visualization uses a very old, tangible system of value (gold) to model the price of a modern asset (a home), showing the massive physical scale of global housing costs.
→ See the visualization on Visual Capitalist

🖼️ To admire: The Winning Birds from the Bird Photographer of the Year 2025 
Take a moment to step away from data and systems and admire the winners of this photography contest, which celebrates nature's systems and beauty.
→ See the winners on Bird POTY

🎲 This week’s wonderfully random corner of the internet 

⏰ The Doomsday Scoreboard

This website offers a hilarious look at all the times the world was predicted to end, and failed to do so. It tracks hundreds of failed apocalypse predictions from history, religion, and pop culture, including how many are still pending.

→ Explore the scoreboard here.

📝 Word of the Week

Heuristic (Greek) - A mental shortcut or rule of thumb used to solve a problem, make a decision, or form a judgment quickly and efficiently.

This word perfectly sums up the core theme of this edition. We don't have time to logically process every piece of information, so our brains develop heuristics (these internal models) to manage complexity. The challenge explored this week is knowing when to rely on a good heuristic (like the confidence built by mental toughness) and when a situation demands that we step back and actually think, instead of relying solely on the shortcut.

🧘‍♀️ Question of the Week for Introspection

Think about a recent time when a plan, system, or expectation in your professional or personal life failed completely. What was the first internal rule or mental shortcut (your heuristic) you fell back on? Did that shortcut help you rebuild, or did it just add to the problem?

See you next Sunday! Until then, keep your eyes open, your questions big, and your sense of wonder alive.

Your curious internet friend,

Ruxandra