Thinking in Systems
Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadowsby Donella H. Meadows and Diana Wright
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 2 of 50 popular science books by recommenders
People recommend it for changing how they see cause and effect, with names for patterns and a clear split between stocks and flows.
People recommend it for changing how they see cause and effect, with names for patterns and a clear split between stocks and flows.
17 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 17
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 17 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Changes view of cause and effect
“It didn’t just teach me systems theory it permanently changed how I interpret cause and effect.”
Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What's a book that fundamentally altered your mental models” “Looking for (maybe hidden) stocks in systems also changes how one sees the world.”
Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What's a book that fundamentally altered your mental models” “structure is the key to understanding not just what is happening, but why”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” Names patterns people already sense
“I am not sure if you've read the book. But even though you've not used terms like feedback loops, etc. I think what you are saying is not much different from what the book says.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” “It's all very approachable, nothing very complex, but gives names and discreet patterns to things I intuitively understood”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” Clear stocks versus flows distinction
“This book made me start focusing on flows vs stocks, a distinction humans tend to get backwards and the make several related mistakes.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” “Looking for (maybe hidden) stocks in systems also changes how one sees the world.”
Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What's a book that fundamentally altered your mental models” Recommended for systems topics
“You're probably already aware of this book but just in case, have you read Thinking In Systems”
Comment from 27 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?” “I recommend "Thinking in Systems" by Donella H. Meadows (ISBN13 9781603580557) on this topic”
Comment from 5 Feb 2026 in “European Commission Trials Matrix to Replace Teams”
Other popular science books people recommend
The four most recommended other popular science books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gödel, Escher, Bachby Douglas R. Hofstadter | 47 | 10 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Thinking in Systemsby Donella H. Meadows and Diana WrightThis page | 17 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Thinking, Fast and Slowby Daniel Kahneman | 17 | 13 | 57% | 9 | — | — |
| The Selfish Geneby Richard Dawkins | 14 | 5 | 74% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Cosmosby Carl Sagan | 13 | 1 | 93% | 9 | — | Approved |
What people said
12 of the 18 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“This book made me start focusing on flows vs stocks, a distinction humans tend to get backwards and the make several related mistakes.”
“I am not sure if you've read the book. But even though you've not used terms like feedback loops, etc. I think what you are saying is not much different from what the book says.”
“structure is the key to understanding not just what is happening, but why”
“It's all very approachable, nothing very complex, but gives names and discreet patterns to things I intuitively understood”
“More things I lived and worked on would had made more sense if I had read it a decade earlier.”
“If you want to make change based in the real world, you could do worse”
“I recommend "Thinking in Systems" by Donella H. Meadows (ISBN13 9781603580557) on this topic”
“Thinking in Systems by Meadows.”
“You're probably already aware of this book but just in case, have you read Thinking In Systems”
“Looking for (maybe hidden) stocks in systems also changes how one sees the world.”
“It didn’t just teach me systems theory it permanently changed how I interpret cause and effect.”
“No reason to regret, still time to read her works.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.