I’ve never opposed Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM); in fact, I am most annoyed by Western doctors who prescribe Chinese medicine. They haven’t studied the Five Elements, Bagua, or Qimen Dunjia. What right do they have to prescribe TCM? They might as well just be robbing people.
Work is the essence of human life, but it is not the purpose of human life. The author argues that since humans appeared on Earth, they must engage in labor to acquire resources and energy, thereby sustaining survival and reproduction. However, work is not the sole meaning of human existence; humans also have other needs and pursuits, such as leisure, entertainment, social interaction, and creativity. The author urges us not to treat work as a faith, but rather as a means to better enjoy life. ...
Waterdrop Goes Public in the US. Prospectus Prospectus Link: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1823986/000119312521154899/d95574d424b4.htm#rom95574_23 Core Highlights Profitability Status: This company, which occupies the highest moral ground, earned 14.4 billion RMB in 2020 alone, averaging 7,300 RMB per patient. Donation Status: As of December 31, 2020, over 340 million people have donated to Waterdrop Medical Crowdfunding for more than 1.7 million patients, accumulating over 37 billion RMB. The average donation amount per person is 100 RMB, and the average amount received per patient is 21,000 RMB. However, the actual amount received by patients may be less because the company needs to generate profits. Tencent’s Stake: Tencent currently beneficially owns 22.1% of Waterdrop. Tencent’s Earnings: In 2020, Tencent earned a total of 210 million RMB from Waterdrop through payment processing fees, advertising and marketing fees, and other sources. Personal Reflection Every company is ultimately driven by profit, regardless of how noble its banner may be. The world itself is extremely cruel.
1、Many people’s correct decisions end abruptly: Asking someone who has only ridden a bicycle, “Is Li Auto worth buying?” Asking someone who has never profited from equity investment, “Should you become a Mei Hua LP?”… Often, the wrong decisions and the missed opportunities stem from consulting the wrong people. One way of giving bad advice is by saying, “It’s for your own good.” When encountering people inferior to you, you must firmly hold your beliefs. When encountering people similar to you, you must doubt your beliefs. When encountering people superior to you, you must negate your beliefs. ...
Making Decisions in a World of Endless Options Common Life Questions Should I marry this person? Should I take this job? Should I buy this house? Should I move to this city? Should I go into business with this person? The Answer When You Can’t Decide If you cannot decide, the answer is no. The reason is that modern society is full of options. There are countless choices available. We live on a planet of seven billion people, and we are connected to everyone via the internet. There are hundreds of thousands of careers available to you. With so many choices, it’s essential to be clear and decisive.
You almost have to read the stuff you’re reading, because you’re into it. You don’t need any other reason. There’s no mission here to accomplish. Just read because you enjoy it.
The Power of Compound Interest in the Intellectual Domain In the intellectual domain, compound interest rules. When you look at a business with one hundred users growing at a compound rate of 20 percent per month, it can very quickly scale up to having millions of users. Sometimes, even the founders of these companies are surprised by how large their businesses grow.
Only by ensuring the alignment of interests can we fundamentally reduce the principal-agent problem and maximize the protection of our own interests. To me, the principal-agent problem is the single most fundamental problem in microeconomics. If you do not understand the principal-agent problem, you will not know how to navigate your way through the world. It is important if you want to build a successful company or be successful in your dealings.
Victory achieved through military means cannot be lasting; the defeated will eventually retaliate. This kind of victory has occurred many times in human history, but sooner or later, it will turn into a grave disaster—because the victory obtained through force itself plants a seed of failure in the future, and the arrival of this failure is merely a matter of time.
In times of disagreement and conflict, the one who maintains composure is the strongest. Only this person can master the situation, and calmness is the only way to prevent the tension from escalating.
“Being contrarian and making judgments will never be effective,” the sage commented, “on the contrary, it will only exacerbate conflict. Yet, this is something that every person trying to soothe others does subconsciously.”
Asking someone a question is giving them a chance to speak The Cycle of Refusal and Explanation When someone refuses our request, our immediate reaction is usually to explain why they should accept our proposal. If the other party doesn’t choose to concede, we often continue to explain or present more arguments. We try to force acceptance through our own explanation, and the other party is doing the exact same thing. This is like a conversation between two deaf people: “No, because…”, “Yes, because…”, “No, because…”, “Yes, because…”, endlessly. ...
We are always eager to explain to others why they are wrong, but what we should actually do is show interest in other people’s viewpoints, and this also serves our own interests. When others reject one of your proposals, you first need to show interest in the reasons behind it, and your attitude must be as sincere as possible. You can ask, “Why do you disagree?” and then listen attentively to their answer. Their answer is like a gold mine, containing many pieces of information worth considering and leveraging. That is the secret.
Avoid getting caught in the cycle of explaining, threatening, and personal attacks. Step One Calming Your Own Emotions. When we feel an urge to attack the other person internally, we need to try our best to suppress it. For example, we can achieve this through several methods mentioned in the story: Correcting misjudgments of the facts; Distracting yourself through deep breathing; Or simply restraining the fist you want to throw; Or any other method that might be effective. During communication with others, every time you feel this urge reignite internally, you must review this step in your mind. Completing this step only takes a few seconds, making it perhaps the most difficult and most important step. If you don’t have the urge to attack the other person, that is naturally better. You can then proceed directly to the next step. ...
People face trade-offs. The cost of something is what you give up to get it. Rational people consider marginal quantities. People react to incentives as they trade with each other. Trade can make everyone better off. The market is usually a good way to organize economic activity. Government can sometimes improve market outcomes and how the entire economy runs. A country’s standard of living depends on its ability to produce goods and services. When the government issues too much currency, prices rise. Society faces the short-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment.
I never ask if “I like it” or “I don’t like it.” I think “this is what it is” or “this is what it isn’t.”
A lousy way to do memory prediction is “X happened in the past, therefore X will happen in the future.” It’s too based on specific circumstances. What you want is principles. You want mental models.
Part of making effective decisions boils down to dealing with reality. How do you make sure you’re dealing with reality when you’re making decisions?
By not having a strong sense of self or judgments or mind presence. The “monkey mind” will always respond with this regurgitated emotional response to what it thinks the world should be. Those desires will cloud your reality. This happens a lot of times when people are mixing politics and business. The number one thing clouding us from being able to see reality is we have preconceived notions of the way it should be.
To see the truth, you have to get your ego out of the way because your ego doesn’t want to face the truth. The smaller you can make your ego, the less conditioned you can make your reactions, the less desires you can have about the outcome you want, the easier it will be to see the reality.