Clay

Random Walk Newsletter, Issue 3#

One Sentence#

The wrong choices often involve: rational consideration of future aspirations and emotional consideration of current dissatisfaction.
The right choices should be: emotional consideration of future aspirations and rational consideration of current dissatisfaction.

Audiobooks & Books#

Letter from Yu
One of the books I'm currently reading is a collection of letters written by Li Ge to the author. There is a passage describing babies that is truly amazing to read, at least for me. I want to share it with everyone:

She looks at you with unwavering eyes, without any guard, with neither good nor evil in her gaze, only trust and dependence. In this world, adults wear thick armor, only babies are not afraid to expose their weaknesses. This purity comes not only from beautiful imagery, but also from clean trust and the vitality of the newborn world. Babies, daffodils, when they are put together... I suddenly turned my head, feeling unable to catch up with these words.

"After becoming a parent, I have a deeper understanding of the phrase 'adults wear thick armor, only babies are not afraid to expose their weaknesses.' Upon reflection, we realize that we think too much, and most of it is meaningless daydreaming. Meanwhile, children can fully live in the present moment. For example, just now, she cried because she didn't want to go to kindergarten tomorrow, but after less than 5 minutes, she immersed herself in a toy and laughed heartily."

Extraordinary Me
I finished reading this book after about a month. The author is Dr. Chen Haixian, a Ph.D. in psychology from Zhejiang University. When I first saw the title of the book, to be honest, I wasn't interested in opening it. However, after reading some books on psychology, this book made it onto my reading list. In recent years, books on psychology have become increasingly popular, such as "The Courage to Be Disliked," "Mr. Toad Goes to See a Psychologist," "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone," and so on. Perhaps it's because most of us have some psychological confusion to some extent, so we want to find answers through books. After finishing this book, I found many meaningful passages, such as the benefits of experience and the benefits of expectations. So what are the benefits of expectations? For example, when we think of getting up early to go for a run, we imagine self-discipline, a better body, more energy, and so on. But these are all imagined, and we may not have the opportunity to truly experience them. On the other hand, the benefits of experience are concrete, such as the warmth and comfort of sleeping a little longer in bed, the joy of playing games, the sensory stimulation of indulging in food and drink, and so on. These are things we can truly experience. Therefore, the benefits of experience are specific, while the benefits of expectations are abstract. It is not a simple matter for imagination to overcome concrete experience, which explains why we encounter such great resistance when we want to do certain things.

Noise
The author of this book is the famous Daniel Kahneman, the author of "Thinking, Fast and Slow." This book mainly discusses the decision-making system of human beings. The main point of the book is: "Where there is judgment, there is noise." People often make bad decisions or wrong judgments because they ignore the influence of "noise" on decision-making. So what is noise? Before talking about noise, let's talk about bias. Bias is "predictable irrationality," a kind of thinking pattern of the brain. For example, being influenced by first impressions, focusing on short-term benefits and ignoring long-term goals, only remembering theories that align with our own views, and so on. Noise, on the other hand, is unpredictable and irregular variation in judgment. For example, if the interviewer is in a bad mood today, the person who comes for an interview may not pass, or different doctors give different diagnoses to the same patient. How can we improve the accuracy of decision-making? The author's conclusion is actually something we are all familiar with, but not necessarily able to do, which is to maintain a positive and open-minded mindset. In other words, although I think this way, I am willing to listen to opposing opinions. In this process, I can continuously revise my thinking and beliefs based on new information.

How to Improve Writing Skills
I forgot where I saw this, but here are some tips on how to improve your writing skills:

1. Write the first draft as quickly as possible.
2. Don't publish the first draft.
3. Write from the perspective of the audience, not yourself, and provide good background information.
4. Write in a conversational tone, as if you are telling a story to someone.
5. Enjoy the pleasure of writing.
6. Read the content out loud and correct spelling and grammar mistakes.
7. Write every day.
8. Occasionally try writing with pen and paper.
9. Start now.
10. Keep writing for a year.

Observations & Insights#

Ukraine
I believe everyone has been paying attention to this. In terms of legitimacy, I don't have a deep understanding, so I can't make a judgment. But in the end, it is the civilians who suffer the most in war. I read a news article yesterday that said 96 out of 100 of Ukraine's richest people have left the country, and the remaining 4 are being held back due to corruption issues and their passports being confiscated. So, let's choose peace.

Death of a 28-Year-Old ByteDance Employee
Another tragedy has occurred. He was only 28 years old, and his wife was just over two months pregnant. As an internet professional, he must have experienced the hardships of working 996 (9 a.m. to 9 p.m., 6 days a week) and the "big/small week" schedule. I believe his fate is likely related to overtime work. However, ByteDance is also known for its long working hours. Before joining the company, he should have been mentally prepared. It is said that he had a monthly mortgage of 20,000 yuan (about $3,140), which explains why he chose to work at ByteDance, as they do pay well. Personally, I couldn't accept it. I quit my previous job because of nearly two months of 996. I was completely determined to leave. Physical health is one aspect, but the psychological resistance is even stronger. I hope all young people can think carefully and not just focus on money. Health should always come first.

That's all for now. Have a great weekend, everyone!