Random Walk Newsletter, Issue 10#
Observations & Insights#
About the Pandemic
- Previously, most of the focus nationwide was on Shanghai, and I have seen a lot of good and bad things. In fact, the pandemic has entered its third year, and I consider myself lucky as it has not had a significant impact on my life. However, this week the situation in Beijing has become serious, especially near my home. A few days ago, the lockdown area was extended to the neighboring community, and this morning at around six o'clock, the community group notification came in. There was a preliminary positive case, and now we can't go out.
- Let's make the best of it. Interestingly, I was just contacting the leader of my company to explain the situation in the community, and it turned out that the company was also designated as a lockdown area. Everyone is working from home. It's quite a coincidence, almost synchronized, not even a day apart, not even an hour.
- Because there is news about the pandemic every morning, I have been waking up early these past two days. Working from home has its advantages, saving commuting time. Since I have some free time, I decided to go downstairs for a run (actually, I'm worried that the positive case might be in our unit, otherwise I wouldn't even be able to leave the building). After relaxing my mood, I felt good and ran 5 kilometers. It's been a long time since I ran 5 kilometers. Usually, it's around 3 kilometers. Because I don't have as much time in the morning, if the lockdown lasts for 14 days, the distance I run recently will likely increase significantly, especially with the warmer weather. Running feels more comfortable.
- There's also a somewhat awkward situation. I had some plans in another direction recently, and I had already taken the first step. But now, due to the pandemic, it's probably going to fall through. What can I say? This is fate. If I miss this opportunity, I might just settle down. At least this year, I won't think about changing the status quo anymore.
Audiobooks & Books#
Super Thinking
This book discusses different ways of thinking. It lists many seemingly strange questions, and some of them are indeed strange. However, the focus of the discussion is not on the questions themselves, but on how to approach and solve similar problems. Let's take a relatively normal question as an example, a Google interview question: "How many piano tuners are there in Chicago?" Many people might panic or not understand the significance of this question when faced with it. Normally, who would know the answer to such a question? But in fact, the interviewer is not looking for the answer, but for your problem-solving approach. This is called scientific thinking. People with scientific thinking will try to solve it. For example, you should first know how many people live in Chicago, and then how many people own their own houses, because people who rent are unlikely to have a piano. Then, how many of those who own houses have pianos, and how many times does a piano need to be tuned in a year? You also need to know the number of pianos in schools, bars, and training institutions. With the information above, you can estimate a rough value. If you can explain a similar approach and reasoning, regardless of the final answer, you have demonstrated your scientific thinking.
In addition, the author also mentions humanities thinking. He says that people in the humanities generally approach things with expressions of admiration, disdain, and so on, while scientists care about seeking the truth and discussing the pros and cons rather than discussing good and bad or beauty and ugliness. They prefer to make the most advantageous choices based on weighing the pros and cons.
The best approach is to think with a scientific mindset and express it with a humanities language. This may be the most comprehensive demonstration of ability.
That's all for this issue of the newsletter. If you have any questions, feel free to email me. Thank you for reading.