Random Walk Newsletter, Issue 19#
Observations & Insights#
Effort on Uphill, Joy on Downhill#
Bored on the weekend, I was browsing YouTube and came across a video called "Overcoming Obstacles." There was an interview with Zhang Zhenyue, and he shared a little story. One year, Zhang Zhenyue went on a cycling trip around the island, and along the way, he passed by his hometown. His mother cheered for them and said, "You've been cycling for a long time, but remember, put in effort on the uphill, and enjoy the downhill."
It's a very simple and sincere sentence, unintentional for the speaker but meaningful for the listener. These ten words summarize well the situations one may encounter in life. No one has a smooth journey all the way. Ups and downs are normal. The moment of happiness is not only when you reach the top. Even on the downhill, you can still enjoy and be happy.
This reminds me of a metaphor from Teacher Xiang Biao. Many people live like hummingbirds, constantly flapping their wings to prevent themselves from falling. However, it's necessary to relax occasionally.
We often talk about the importance of work-life balance. If you have already worked hard before, then afterwards, please be sure to enjoy your leisure time wholeheartedly. There's no need to feel anxious and restless when you relax a bit. Being tense for too long will cause problems.
Audiobooks & Reading#
Essentialism#
Once again, I realized that we shouldn't judge a book by its cover. It's similar to not judging a person solely based on appearance. I listened to this book while running because I thought I wouldn't gain much from it and just wanted to pass the time.
However, during the listening process, some ideas resonated with me. So, I reviewed the transcript and took some notes. For example, the book mentioned, "Having knowledge without understanding the methods makes it difficult to accomplish things; having methods without understanding the knowledge makes things unsustainable."
The book also mentioned the importance of choices. The more choices we have, the harder it is to filter out the important ones. This is what psychologists call "decision fatigue": the more decisions we have to make, the lower the quality of our decisions.
Therefore, the first step in making choices is "discernment." Many options are just noise, and we need to learn to identify the truly valuable ones.
To successfully discern, we need to understand "trade-offs," just as the economist Thomas Sowell said, "There are no solutions, only trade-offs."
So, essentialism is about mastering the power of choice, discerning the most valuable ones, making trade-offs, and persisting.
Finally, I'd like to share the method provided in the book for making trade-offs. It may be extreme, but it's worth considering: "If the answer is not a definite 'yes,' then it should be a definite 'no'."
Hype Machine#
Another book about the impact of the internet on people's lives. It includes some interesting data and metaphors. For example, the author compares the network effect to gravity. The more people gather in a network, the greater the quality, and the greater the quality, the stronger the gravity. And what happens when gravity increases? It attracts more people.
People who shop online often refer to reviews, and the rate of positive reviews is a very important indicator. The book mentions a statistic: 92% of consumers read various reviews, but only about 6% actually write reviews. What does this mean? It means that 6% of people influence the thoughts and actions of 92% of people. I have doubts about this 6% data, but I believe in the conclusion that a few people's decisions ultimately influence the thoughts and actions of more people.
Regarding the issue of mutual influence, the book also mentions an experiment. If a group of people is asked to guess the weight of a cow, the first time they do it independently without any communication, the average value they get is very close to the actual weight of the cow. The second time, they are allowed to communicate with each other and discuss. The result is that the average value deviates significantly from the actual weight. Reading this reminded me of the book "The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind." The premise for the power of a group lies in the independence of each individual, which is the foundation.
In conclusion, the author's viewpoint is: "The biggest attribute of social media is amplifying the influence between people."
That's all for this issue of the Newsletter. If you have any questions, feel free to email me. Thank you for reading.