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← People and their mental models

Michael Grunwald's mental models

4 claims Michael Grunwald made fit 3 mental models. Most often: Bottlenecks, Second-order thinking, Trade-offs. Everything they said here.

Models we see in what they say

Our reading: their claim applies the idea without naming it. The claim is theirs; filing it here is ours.

Bottlenecks

A system moves only as fast as its narrowest point; speed up anything else and nothing changes.

Used by 88 others

We know how to make cattle much less destructive; what nobody has solved is how to pay for it.

  1. Michael Grunwald Journalist and New York Times contributing writer Give me a degraded pasture and a bunch of money, and even I can probably increase its beef yields 400 percent. I’m just not sure how to make the bunch-of-money part happen. Beef Sucksmichaelgrunwald.substack.com · 17 Apr 2023All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsGive me a degraded pasture and a bunch of money, and even I can probably increase its beef yields 400 percent. I’m just not sure how to make the bunch-of-money part happen.

    ↗Beef Sucksmichaelgrunwald.substack.com

    17 Apr 2023

Vertical farming swaps a land problem for an energy problem, and the energy cost is what stops it feeding the world.

  1. Michael Grunwald Journalist and New York Times contributing writer I explain why in the essay; the TLDR is that they’re energy hogs. The sun is a really awesome source of calories, and it’s kind of dumb not to take advantage of it. The Food Problem Is Bigger Than Lettucemichaelgrunwald.substack.com · 3 Jul 2023All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsI explain why in the essay; the TLDR is that they’re energy hogs. The sun is a really awesome source of calories, and it’s kind of dumb not to take advantage of it.

    ↗The Food Problem Is Bigger Than Lettucemichaelgrunwald.substack.com

    3 Jul 2023

Second-order thinking

Ask "and then what?": follow a decision past its first effect to the ones that come after.

Used by 86 others

Biofuels have probably raised greenhouse gas emissions rather than lowered them, once the land they take is counted.

  1. Michael Grunwald Journalist and New York Times contributing writer But I think it’s important to tell the whole story, so I have a new piece in the New York Times pointing out that biofuels are also a catastrophe for the climate and the environment. A Climate Killer Disguised as a Climate Solutionmichaelgrunwald.substack.com · 6 Jun 2023All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsBut I think it’s important to tell the whole story, so I have a new piece in the New York Times pointing out that biofuels are also a catastrophe for the climate and the environment.

    ↗A Climate Killer Disguised as a Climate Solutionmichaelgrunwald.substack.com

    6 Jun 2023

Trade-offs

Every choice gives something up, so name the cost; and check, because some trade-offs everyone assumes are not real.

Used by 60 others

Synthetic fertiliser is a serious climate and pollution problem and also the reason half the people alive are alive.

  1. Michael Grunwald Journalist and New York Times contributing writer They suck! But they also feed the world. Half the people alive today would be very not alive if fertilizers manufactured from natural gas weren’t super-sizing our harvests. Farming Needs to Suck Lessmichaelgrunwald.substack.com · 30 Aug 2023All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsThey suck! But they also feed the world. Half the people alive today would be very not alive if fertilizers manufactured from natural gas weren’t super-sizing our harvests.

    ↗Farming Needs to Suck Lessmichaelgrunwald.substack.com

    30 Aug 2023