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Shane Parrish is a partner at Syrus Partners and the mind behind one of my favorite blogs, Farnam Street. The blog is devoted to helping you develop an understanding of how the world really works, make better decisions, and live a better life. Shane writes about mental models, decision making, learning, reading, and the art of living. He draws from both the sciences and the humanities, expanding the intellectual horizons of his readers, helping them connect ideas, think in multidisciplinary ways, and cultivate meaning in their lives.

I first discovered the blog in college and credit Shane for so much of my intellectual curiosity. He writes a weekly newsletter called Brain Food that covers all that he’s learned in the week beforehand. To help you cut through the noise, he includes his favorite books and articles with a high signal-to-noise ratio. He also hosts a podcast called The Knowledge Project. I recommend this episode with Rory Sutherland.

In this episode, Shane reveals counterintuitive secrets to learning history through the lens of his recent trip to France. We also dissected one of my favorite mental models — why the map is not the territory. It’s a fascinating one that changed the way I see the world. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.

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