Principals and Mental Models for Critical Thinking from Ibn Khaldun
I never mentioned why I named this blog The Unity of Complexity. The name of this blog came after I read Edward O. Wilson’s book Consilience. Consilience refers to the unification of knowledge, a process of integrating multiple disciplines to answer and understand a phenomenon or problem.
Wilson wrote this book after many years of studying the kingdom of ants, which, as he said a complex adaptive system. A complex adaptive system is a group of things (ants, people, etc.) that interact with each other, learn, change, and adapt over time.
It’s Complex: Many parts are connected and affect each other in a surprising way. It’s Adaptive: The parts can learn or adjust based on what’s happening. It doesn’t have a single leader controlling everything - the system self-organizes. Lastly, small changes can lead to big results - this is why it is hard to predict.
My aim in this blog is to combine multiple disciplines (history, economics, finance, political science, technology, etc.) and put them together to understand the origins of a phenomenon, idea, or problem.
Above, I gave you an overview of why I created this blog. And in this post, I will tell you some of the tools and principles that I learned that help me to analyze and interpret complex phenomena.
Know that the science of history is a noble discipline, rich in benefit and lofty in purpose. It acquaints us with the conditions of past nations, their morals, the lives of prophets, the politics of kings in their reigns, such that it allows one to draw lessons and examples—whether in religious or worldly matters. But it requires multiple foundations, diverse knowledge, sound judgment, and careful scrutiny, which together can lead the scholar to truth and keep him away from missteps and errors.
This is because if reports are accepted merely based on transmission without being weighed by the principles of custom, the rules of governance, the nature of civilization, and the conditions of human society—nor compared with what is observed or known from current realities—then they are susceptible to misjudgment, missteps, and deviation from truth. Many historians, interpreters, and transmitters have fallen into such errors in recounting events, relying solely on transmission, whether sound or weak, without subjecting the reports to foundational critique, comparison with similar events, or examination through the lens of wisdom and understanding of natural patterns.
- Ibn Khaldun 1406
This quote is from Ibn Khaldun’s book The Muqaddimah, and as you see, he is a multidisciplinary thinker. It is crucial to be careful when you judge things without knowing the underpinnings that created them.
When he said, “it requires multiple foundations, diverse knowledge, sound judgment, and careful scrutiny, which together can lead the scholar to truth and keep him away from missteps and errors.” He was talking to historians, but I believe these words apply to many disciplines in life.
This takes us to our first principle, which is:
Interdisciplinary Reading:
Wilson’s emphasis on the importance of synthesising the knowledge to look at the phenomenon from different angles, and this will not happen without interdisciplinary reading.
Interdisciplinary reading is the practice of consuming knowledge from multiple fields rather than staying confined to a single discipline. It emphasizes the integration of ideas across different domains to develop a more holistic understanding of complex issues, enhance creativity, and improve problem-solving skills.
Nothing is Sacrosanct:
One of the best and hardest ways to understand a phenomenon is to question it. And to do that, you need to be humble and observant.
This is a powerful mental model that asserts that no idea, institution, or belief should be immune to questioning, scrutiny, or criticism. It is often used in philosophy, critical thinking, scientific inquiry, and innovation as a tool for challenging assumptions and fostering progress.
Our lazy brains made us think of life as it is, not as a process of evolving, changing, and adapting. And to understand the origin of anything - an Idea, a belief, or an institution - you need to ask and investigate.
De-Naturalization Principle:
This is my favorite one. The De-Naturalization principle is a mental model and analytical tool used to challenge assumptions and reveal hidden biases by questioning what is often taken for granted as "natural" or "inevitable." It involves recognizing that many social, economic, or cultural norms are not fixed truths but rather historical constructions shaped by specific contexts.
We need to distinguish between norms and attitudes. Attitude is what you think and feel about something (good or bad); norm is what you think the group you are in thinks and feels about something (good or bad). Norms play an important role in how societies move, operate, and see each other.
If we take economics and political economy as an example, economics is about how we meet our needs. Political economy is about the institutions, rules, norms, and codes we create to structure the economy to meet our needs. And those institutions, rules, norms, and codes are always situated in a particular historical, social, and cultural context, and they are not fixed truths.
This is why the de-naturalization mental model is a very important analytical tool.
Models as Simplification:
Models are simplified representations of reality designed to help us understand, predict, and make decisions about complex systems. However, they are not reality itself—they are approximations that highlight key factors while ignoring less relevant details.
Let’s take the Riyadh Metro plan as an example. This plan is not the reality of Riyadh; it is just a simple model to understand important information for the purpose of moving from point to point. The model is not telling us the tall of the buildings, the shape of the city, and the traffic.
Evidence Basis for Claims:
Asserts that any claim, argument, or belief should be supported by empirical evidence, logical reasoning, or credible sources rather than speculation, intuition, or personal bias. This principle is fundamental to critical thinking, scientific inquiry, and rational decision-making.
If we go back to Ibn Khaldun's quote, we will see his emphasis on the importance of searching for evidence to support your judgment, as he said, “if reports are accepted merely based on transmission without being weighed by the principles of custom, the rules of governance, the nature of civilization, and the conditions of human society—nor compared with what is observed or known from current realities—then they are susceptible to misjudgment, missteps, and deviation from truth.”
Before any claim we make about something, we need to support it with evidences that lead us to the truth.
If you take these five principles and connect them to Ibn Khaldun’s quote, you will see his brilliant mind, scientific methodology, and interdisciplinary approach to studying human nature.
These principles and mental models are not a luxury; instead, they are a must for seeking the truths that lay behind the underbelly of complex systems in this life.