Second-Order Thinking: How To Make Better Decisions In Life

Second-order thinking is a useful mental model to make better decisions in life.

First, a story from China will show you why it’s crucial to use second-order thinking for major decisions.

Then you’ll find practical tips on how to apply second-order thinking.

Let’s go.

Every decision has consequences

When Mao Zedong declared war on sparrows with Four Pest Campaign in China, the plan was simple.

Since sparrows eat lots of grain seeds and fruits, getting rid of them would increase rice yields. The nutrition of the big population was a serious problem for the new regime, so their aim was to solve it once and for all.

Second-Order Thinking: One of the Four Pest Campaign posters (Image Credit:
BG E12/901 Chineseposters.net)

Mao’s government organized people to destroy sparrow nests, break their eggs and kill them with slingshots and stones.

They even went as far as hitting noisy pots and pans to prevent sparrows from resting in their nests, causing them to die from exhaustion.

With all these measures, the government achieved the target; sparrows became almost…