What it is
Charlie Munger warned against “physics envy”: the temptation to squeeze complex systems, like economies, companies or people, into simple, precise formulas the way physics does. Einstein’s line applies: as simple as possible, but no simpler.
Munger’s balance is to borrow the hard sciences’ rigor, especially about cause and effect, while respecting how tangled these systems really are. False precision leads to false confidence, and false confidence leads to expensive mistakes.
How it shows up for me
I love a good spreadsheet, so I’m vulnerable to this. When a model of my budget or my week looks too clean, I assume something important got left out.
Go next
- Keep it simple, and its limit.
- Measurement shapes what you see
- Accepting uncertainty