Investing: The Last Liberal Art

I have recently read Investing: The Last Liberal Art. In it, Robert Hagstrom argues that students, investors and investment professionals need a range or latticework of mental models to help them understand the complex world of investment. The mental models come from a wide range of disciplines - mathematics, psychology, philosophy, sociology, biology, decision making, literature and physics. Hagstrom clearly demonstrates how each of these disciplines can help investors think about investing.

I found this book very helpful in thinking about the education of students in my school. The world is a very complex place and we need to have a diversified portfolio of ways of thinking about the world, which only a broad-based education gives us. The university curriculum can become too specialised and narrow, resulting in graduates with an undiversified portfolio of mental models.