Who is he?

• Born January 1, 1924 in Omaha Nebraska.

  Munger grew up during the Great Depression which helped forged his mentality of valuing the dollar.

• 

• Valuing the dollar is a common trend among billionaires like Warren Buffett and Sam Walton.

• Graduated Harvard Law School magna cum laude.

• Beyond his formal education, Munger is a voracious reader. 

  

• “The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest minds of past centuries” – Rene Descartes, French Philosopher, Mathematician, and Scientist.
• 

• Self Made Billionaire Value Investor, lawyer, and philanthropist.

• Vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet’s age-old partner.

“Avoid extremely intense ideology because it ruins your mind” – Charlie Munger

 

“Charlie is truly the broadest thinker I have ever encountered” – Bill Gates

Munger is fond of The Lollapalooza Effect. “The critical mass obtained via a combination of concentration, curiosity, perseverance, and self-criticism, applied through a prism of multidisciplinary mental models”. (Excerpt from Poor Charlie’s Almanack)

The Lollapalooza effect is echoed (referred to in terms of the edge effect) in the book Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson. 

.

Munger’s idea of multiple mental models is an example of lateral thinking (the solving of problems by an indirect and creative approach, typically through viewing the problem in a new and unusual light.)

Munger also likes to think backwards or practice inversion while solving a problem. He picked this up from the mathematician Carl Jacobi.

A basic example of inversion is say “I want a six pack. Okay cool, using inversion, what do I not do in order to get a six pack”: eat unhealthy food, stay in bed all day, etc. 

In the quote below you can see Munger touching to this mungerism, “invert, always invert”.

“Acquire worldly wisdom and adjust your behavior accordingly. If your new behavior gives you a little temporary unpopularity with your peer group…then to hell with them.” – Charlie Munger