Ness Labs: Vectors of Action ↗️

Edition #176 – Feb 2nd, 2023

Vectors of Action

We all love a good mental model – a simple explanation of how things work that we can use to think better. For example: "The Map is Not the Territory" is a mental model to explain that the information we have at hand is always incomplete and imperfect.

There have been countless lists published and books written about mental models, but the truth is... We don't really use many of them on a daily basis, do we?

Most people I know have two or three mental models they keep on going back to. These are like their pillars of thought: heuristics that shape every big decision from career choices to their wider worldview.

This week, I wanted to tell you about one mental model that has been foundational to many decisions I made, personally and professionally. I call it the Vectors of Action mental model.

Just like a vector that has magnitude and direction, it basically encourages you to think about your actions both in terms of magnitude – how much, how big, how fast – and direction: where am I going, am I happy with my current trajectory?

For example, you could work a lot (magnitude) but are you learning and growing (direction)? Your team is shipping fast (magnitude) but is customer feedback improving (direction)?

It's the mental model I use the most, and I hope you'll find it worthy of adding to your thinking toolbox.

In this edition, you'll also learn about a fascinating theory which posits that intelligence can be learned by "downloading" useful "mindware" onto your brain. I also talked to the founder of one of the most innovative note-taking apps of 2023.

As always, there's a lot of food for thought in there, so choose your own adventure :)

Enjoy your weekly dose of mindful productivity!
Anne-Laure.

P.S. Some of you may have read about my experience with Ayahuasca. We're hosting a virtual meetup in the community to discuss all things psychedelics in a safe space. Whether you're adept, curious, or scared, I'd love to see you there.

🧠 Brain Food

Vectors of Action: The Power of Velocity over Speed (4 min)
Written by Anne-Laure Le Cunff
Scientists call a “scalar” a quantity that can be fully described by its magnitude alone. Speed is a scalar, and so are volume, mass, and time. When you’re talking about how fast or how big something is, you’re describing it as a scalar. In contrast, a vector is described by both its magnitude and its direction. Velocity is an example of vector: it not only tells you how fast you’re going, but also where you’re going. Once you understand this mental model, you can consider your vectors of action so it becomes easier to objectively assess your progress, your impact, and your well-being.

Mindware: A Theory of Learnable Intelligence (5 min)
Written by Dr Hannah Rose
For decades, the metaphor that the brain is a machine has caused some confusion. However, even if the metaphor is incorrect from a biological standpoint, viewing the mind as a machine can be useful as a heuristic for everyday decision-making. Created by a cognitive scientist at Harvard University, the concept of “mindware” builds upon the computer analogy to encapsulate the mental knowledge and procedures we use to solve problems and make decisions. It’s a practical metaphor to help you decide what to “download” into your mind.

Unleashing the power of networked notes with Reflect (8 min)
Interview with Alex MacCaw
Reflect is a networked note-taking app designed so you never miss a note, idea or connection. In this interview, we talked about the most important principles for a sustainable note-taking app, the limitations of collaboration for note-taking, how to build a CRM with backlinks notes, and much more.

🍬 Brain Candy

Little nuggets from my Twitter bookmarks this week. Click on the card to read the full tweet.

"What's the “hardest” sci fi book you can think of that's set in the very far future? Ie. The most technologically, socially and economically plausible description of society in humanities far future."

@EigenGender

"There's two different ways you can be lonely. Lonely for your self or lonely for others."

@AskYatharth

✨ Brain Pick

Four million. The number of subscribers to Morning Brew, a free daily newsletter that covers the latest news in business, finance, and tech. Morning Brew is 100% free, takes just 5 minutes to read, and thanks to its witty, fun tone, you’ll want to open it every morning. Check it out.

(huge thanks to Morning Brew for making this edition possible!)