Peter D. Kaufman

A talented marketer destroys a brand because she doesn't understand its history or its relationship with customers.

A skilled investor blows up because he understands spreadsheets but not his own cognitive biases.

Each one is a master in one area but struggles in the complex systems of life.

They know the well, not the ocean.

So Peter advocates for learning the big ideas from all the different disciplines.

The person who understands the big ideas is more likely to see the connections that the specialists miss.

They spot risks that don't show up in any single department's models.

They notice when something that works is theory is about to fail in practice.

But Peter admits the problem is practical.

There's just too many fields.

The books are too numerous and too thick, and you don't have time to master everything the way Charlie Munger did in his 99 years.

So Peter found a shortcut.

Picture a middle-aged man walking into a coffee shop in Southern California.

It's early, before the morning rush.

He's carrying a binder full of papers, several hundred pages.

He orders his usual, finds his seat by the window, and opens the binder and begins to read.

And he does this every morning for six months.

Peter had discovered that Discover magazine had 12 years of archives posted online.

And every single month they interviewed an expert from some domain of science and published a six or seven page article for a general audience.

These weren't dumbed down summaries.