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#WritingOutput/Newsletter

Random Walk Newsletter, Issue 34#

Hello everyone, it's been almost two months since the last update. From one email per week to one per month, it's really difficult to consistently do something, especially at a high frequency. I hope I don't make the update intervals longer.

Observations & Insights#

Dealing with Emotional Issues

I'm not sure if I've shared this before, but last month I encountered some problems with my investments and lost some money. For a few days, it even affected my sleep and my overall mood was not good, easily getting angry and annoyed.

Later on, I started to adjust and realized that no matter what, I shouldn't let money control my emotions. Then I came across a method for regulating emotions, which listed several tips. I'll only share the one I found most useful, which is "do something".

When you immerse yourself in something, negative emotions naturally disappear. Most of the time, we tend to overthink when we're idle. If you have something to do, your brain won't have the space to think about unnecessary things.

I once watched an interview with Da Zhang Wei, where he said that his current problem is not knowing how to make himself happy. He read many books and found only one method that worked, which is "pretend to smile". Keep smiling for 30 seconds, and you will actually start to smile.

Here's another article that can sometimes provide healing in those small moments: http://wufazhuce.com/question/3761

Enlightening Quotes

1. To become wealthy, you need to seek risks. To stay wealthy, you need to avoid risks. In the workplace, hard skills get you in the door, but soft skills help you go further.
2. "You are the average of the 5 habits you repeat most."
3. Forgetting is wiser than remembering. You can use methods to remember, but it's not so easy to forget.
4. The easiest way to generate traffic is to provoke your anger, and the easiest way to sell courses is to trigger your anxiety.
5. Everything in the world is just a play, and people in the world, why take it seriously?

Audiobooks & Books#

The Optimal Solution for Life

This book talks about how to maximize happiness and minimize waste throughout your life. It summarizes it into two principles: focusing on "experiential investment," which corresponds to "maximizing happiness" in optimization problems, and pursuing "zeroing out before death," which corresponds to "minimizing waste" in optimization problems.

Focusing on "experiential investment" is simple: find things that make you happy and spend money to experience them. The author mentioned a quote: "Life is a process of collecting memories, and in the end, only memories will accompany us."

Your life is the sum of your experiences. Many times, people only focus on the increase in wealth and overlook the increase in experiences.

The author gives examples of experiential growth in the book: we invest time or money to gain experiences, and the rewards are not just the feelings at that moment but also continuous dividends. For example, on an ordinary day, you suddenly hear a song you loved years ago from a speaker on the roadside; or you eat a dish that reminds you of your childhood memories in an inconspicuous restaurant; or you find an old videotape or a photo in a corner of your home; or your phone's album reminds you of what happened "three years ago today" and what scenes you captured. At that moment, those past experiences come rushing back, making you feel nostalgic, blush, joyful, or tearful. So, each experience brings not only temporary feelings but also additional experiences when you revisit or discuss them with others. This is the value-added effect of experiences.

The author believes that the returns from this kind of investment are more precious than monetary returns. Because money is renewable and possessions are replaceable, but the feelings brought by experiences are often unique.

The World 5000 Days Later

This is a book by Kevin Kelly. According to him, it took about 5000 days for the internet to appear and become popular, marking the first revolution of the information society. Social media took about 5000 days from its appearance to its popularity, marking the second revolution of the information society. Kevin Kelly predicts that in the next 5000 days, new technologies will appear and become popular, once again changing various aspects of the world, including our way of life. This will be the third revolution of the information society.

One can measure whether a technology can trigger the next information revolution. What are the criteria? Remember these two keywords: "massive" and "real-time". Each information technology revolution gives humans a new ability on a massive and real-time scale.

The book also makes some predictions about the future:

1. Popularization of intelligent technology: Kelly believes that in the future, intelligent technology will become popular and ubiquitous. He predicts that smart devices will become smaller, more user-friendly, and interact with humans in a more natural way.
2. Development of virtual reality: Kelly predicts that virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies will have great potential for development and will be widely used in education, entertainment, tourism, and other fields.
3. Widespread use of 3D printing: Kelly believes that 3D printing technology will become a widely used production method, changing traditional manufacturing models. People will be able to manufacture their desired items at home or in the workplace using 3D printing technology.
4. Popularization of autonomous vehicles: Kelly predicts that autonomous vehicles will gradually become popular and replace traditional manual driving. This will change transportation methods, urban planning, and personal travel habits.
5. Development of human augmentation and gene editing: Kelly believes that the development of biotechnology will bring about changes and enhancements to the human body. For example, gene editing technology may be used to treat genetic diseases and also to change human physical characteristics or abilities.
6. Popularization of artificial intelligence: Kelly predicts that artificial intelligence (AI) will be widely used in various fields, including healthcare, education, finance, etc. AI will become a partner to humans, helping them improve work efficiency and creativity.

That's all for this issue of the Newsletter. If you have any questions, feel free to email me. Thank you for reading.