Mundians & Modians, Tough Conversations, & More

What will sharpen your thinking today:

• Makes-You-Think Tweet: Ideas as cattle, not pets

• Mind-Expanding Concept: Mundians and Modians

• Cool Quote or Question: Happiness’ main ingredient

• High-Signal Content: “Your move, chief” monologue

Makes-You-Think Tweet

Mind-Expanding Concept

Mundians and Modians

Why do farmers tend to lean right and artists tend to lean left? Is there something deeper that might've influenced how they've chosen these professions in the first place?

Here’s a useful model that helps understand how humans think. We live in two worlds:

• Mundia: the world of immutable laws - gravity, entropy. It's what we see when we look at natural landscapes.

• Modia: the world of social relationships - loyalty, prestige. It's what we see when we look at social landscapes.

Let's unpack them. In Mundia, we manipulate the world by learning its laws. Laws don't change. We get things wrong but we refine our knowledge over time. And the best way for someone to become knowledgeable is to learn from the collective wisdom. What if something is unknown or there's disagreement about it? The solution is to understand things better, by experimentation or by reason. The world is positive-sum: the more we know, the larger the pie we share. Facts speak for themselves.

In Modia, we can manipulate the world by figuring out who is powerful or by becoming powerful. By interacting with people in the right way, we elicit the response we want. How we look, express ourselves, and the opinions we hold impact our relationships. We must know who/what is in vogue since a faux pas can lead to a loss of status. The world is always shifting because the social graph changes, so knowledge gets outdated. The world is zero-sum: one person’s gain is another’s loss. Status relationships can never be win-win.

A farmer's success depends on how she interacts with nature. Has it rained enough to start planting? Have I chosen the right seed variety for this soil? What is the right temperature and moisture to store my grain? Farmers tend to be Mundians.

An artist's success depends on how he interacts with other people. Do I have enough exposure to studios' gatekeepers? Do I have the connections that we'll get me this audition? Am I growing my fanbase to increase my movies' box office? Artists tend to be Modians.

We're all part Mundian and part Modian, although one side normally dominates. Therefore that's the heuristic we default to, to understand situations and tackle problems. And that’s fine. Issues arise though when trying to solve a Mundian problem with a Modian approach and vice-versa. Flying an airplane or building a bridge is more Mundian. Descaling a conflict between brothers or having a difficult conversation with a spouse is more Modian. This difference can avoid so much pain in how we interact with others.

Two things I’ve been trying after learning about this concept. I'm a Mundian, so I'm actively trying to compensate when the situation requires a Modian approach. I'm also trying to identify other peoples' defaults, so I can better communicate with them. It’s been surprisingly helpful.

Learned from David Boxehorn 

ianoflondon/mundia-and-modia-the-two-worlds-in-which-we-live

Cool Quote or Question

A thought experiment:

You can move to a country on the other side of the world and have all the riches you can think of. ALL of them. You'd have as many houses as you want - in the city, beach, mountain, and lake. And all the cars, yachts, planes. You'd have all the watches, clothes, and shoes that money can buy. You can eat food from any geography and any era, as fresh as possible, all ready for you. You'd also have any medicine or health treatment you require. Plus you'd have the fastest internet and access to all movies and video games ever created. Finally, you'll have your dream job (if you want it of course).

BUT (you know it was coming):

• You'll move there alone and you won’t have any contact with or news from the people from your previous life, ever.

• You can't and will never be able to learn this country's incomprehensible language

Would you want that?

High-Signal Content

One of the best monologues in cinema history:

See you next week,

Filipe