"The Prisoner of Thought"

This article is Lu Canwei's 147th original piece.

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Life Subtraction

In the world of the internet, there has always been a prevailing view that adding features is easy, but removing them is difficult.

A product often becomes increasingly bloated after years of iteration, eventually leading to a "lite" version or a product transformation. Of course, some products are unique, such as WeChat, which maintains a restrained overall tone.

When you see an old house, do you tend to tear it down completely and rebuild, or do you prefer to gradually transform the dilapidated house into what you want?

In most cases, we tend to favor tearing it down and starting anew, as there is no historical burden. In software engineering, we often like to say we serve millions of people nationwide, and our systems run 24/7, with our systems being like changing engines on a plane mid-flight. In reality, it often means abandoning version 1.0 and creating a new version 2.0 to replace it.

In relationships, we experience several rounds of social circle changes from childhood to adulthood, such as elementary school, middle school, high school, university, and the workplace. The relationships inherited from earlier stages are few and far between. As we grow older, more and more people say they have fewer friends. We do not consider influencing or changing others to maintain existing relationships; instead, we seek new connections based on differing worldviews.

Our imaginations about new things, new relationships, and new choices are particularly beautiful because it allows us to move forward without the burden of history.

The greatest lesson humanity has learned from history is that humanity never learns lessons from history.

For things outside of ourselves, we can choose to tear down and start over or switch to a new version. But what about ourselves? Once we tear ourselves down, we cannot start over.

In an environment of increasing entropy, as time passes, the number of uncertainties will grow.

When we were young, we had only one wish: to grow up quickly. But if you ask most people now if they would still want to grow up if their childhood wish were to come true, I believe a portion would say they do not want to.

Of course, there are those who say that only children make choices, while adults want everything. But is life really as perfect as we see it?

It seems not. A man with the surname Wang shares the same troubles as us, feeling powerless in front of a goddess. A man with the surname Wu can only silently surrender to time, confirming his prowess through words.

So, if our lives cannot be torn down or orderly, what should we do?

In 1986, a man named Craig Reynolds conducted an experiment to study why flocks of birds can form complex shapes without colliding. He discovered that as long as birds follow three principles, they can achieve what seems like chaotic flight. This is the famous bird flocking experiment.

All seemingly chaotic, disordered, and bloated systems can be analyzed and deconstructed to find fixed patterns that drive and maintain the overall system's operation.

Our lives are such a complex system. From a young age, we hear our parents talk about the children of other families, then it becomes classmates, then colleagues, and finally someone else's husband. The parameters of these external people are constantly inputted into us.

Moreover, there are social status, money, education, and various inputs of information and social circles. Every day we exist is filled with a large amount of uncontrollable information, while we overlook the only and most important variable in the system: me.

When we face setbacks, our first instinct is often to protect our external self-esteem. When we see a rich second-generation, we might say that money isn’t earned by them. When we see someone succeed, we might say that if we had that much money, we could do it too. When we see others excelling in certain fields, we might say they have talent. In the face of failure, we often blame it on not resting well the night before or feeling unwell. Of course, some people feel anxious when they see others and think they are worthless, unable to do anything right. After setting a goal, they might break it within a few days and then feel deep guilt, only to start a new cycle a few days later.

We fall into a misconception that we are actually quite capable and always hope others can endure a bit more. Most people are unwilling to admit their shortcomings, especially men. Just look at the recent news; it has exploded.

But if we can admit that we are small and ignorant, then when facing failure, we will think about what aspects we need to improve before the next challenge. If I cannot control my appetite and end up eating instant noodles, then I shouldn’t keep instant noodles at home. If I don’t want to go to the gym after returning home, then I should go to the gym first before going home. If you define yourself as a loser, you will find over a hundred ways to help that loser achieve their goals.

When we think from outside ourselves, we will find that many of the uncertain noises in the system can actually be removed.

For example, if your current goal is growth rather than making money, then seeing various displays of wealth on social media will make you anxious. If you still want to maintain your self-esteem, you will likely hope to get rich overnight to prove yourself, which will misalign your goal from self-growth to self-proving.

However, if you admit your incompetence and that you cannot avoid anxiety and do not have such strong willpower, then the advice you give to that loser is relatively simple: just turn off social media.

This is just a point issue. When viewed from a framework perspective, these marginal functions unrelated to your goals can actually be cut off, even though they hold value.

Recently, I saw many people engaging in group buying, but if you are only interested, the outcome is actually irrelevant. However, if your goal is not in this area but you still hope to achieve good results to prove yourself, you will ultimately only reap setbacks and wasted opportunity costs.

If we cannot approach subtraction from a framework perspective, we can start with point issues first. The core thinking is to transform a seemingly chaotic and uncontrollable system into a system that is uncontrollable within a certain range.

Growth Flywheel

When we view problems from a framework level, we acquire the concept of a framework. A framework is when we abstract many individual points into something within a framework or a system.

Everyone has heard of selling time, right? One way is to sell a portion of your time for profit, such as working, where you sell a certain amount of time each month for a salary. Is an actor also selling time? Yes, but their unit price is just higher than yours. If they don’t act in movies, dramas, or participate in variety shows, they have no income. Simply put, it’s a job where you don’t earn income unless you’re active.

Another way is to sell one portion of time to multiple people, which is typical of writing articles that many people read, recording courses sold to many, or live streaming. You can sell multiple portions with just one portion of time.

Finally, there’s buying others' time, such as when you are a boss hiring a bunch of people to help you, or when you invest in stocks or funds, where others use their time to create value for you.

So, the concept of selling time is a framework concept that encompasses many point issues. Under different combinations of frameworks, our system is formed. For example, you might think the other person is just a trainee, but they can sing, dance, rap, and play basketball. Each individual skill is a framework, and together they form their system.

How different frameworks collaborate requires our architectural ability.

We first need to understand what these frameworks in ourselves are for and which frameworks our system lacks. For example, the human brain is divided into the reptilian brain, mammalian brain, and human brain, which appeared at different points in time.

The reptilian brain appeared first; it ensures our basic survival reflexes. For instance, one reason some men seek relationships with different women is that reproduction is ingrained in our DNA, and this area is also known as autopilot.

However, having autopilot without adequate supporting devices can easily lead to destruction.

The mammalian brain makes quick decisions, which is why we often say some things are done without thinking; everyone has had moments of foolishness.

The human brain is where analysis and reasoning occur, allowing for slow decision-making. Why do many people fail to learn? Because they refuse to use their human brain, they don’t admit their mistakes, and they don’t analyze and reason to learn from them. Instead, they use their mammalian brain to make quick decisions and refuse to acknowledge their failures.

When we analyze the frameworks within our system, we can identify the system's flaws, thus having the opportunity to repair them.

However, most of the time, we cannot identify these existing flaws, which is what we often refer to as cognitive insufficiency. When we realize we are at the peak of ignorance, we cannot grasp the truth. Many people often give up here or are completely unaware that they are at the peak of ignorance.

When you are exploring the truth, you may not find it immediately; you might very well enter a second peak of ignorance.

For example, when you see something impressive, at the first peak of ignorance, you might just say, "Wow, that's amazing." When you reach the second peak of ignorance, you might say, "I know this, it's just about identifying user pain points, breaking down information barriers, cutting out intermediaries, improving efficiency, empowering the entire lifecycle of the chain, and using big data to accurately ignite user demand, maximizing user value."

So how can we grow effectively?

During this time, I have summarized three aspects: input, organization, and output. This is also our growth flywheel. If we go one level deeper, it can be broken down into reading, thinking, and writing, and at a more specific level, it can be understood as reading, reflecting, and writing.

It's like our human body; you eat something, it goes through the digestive system, and then it comes out as waste (this metaphor might not be quite right; does that mean what I write is waste?). Of course, what you excrete could be solid (quality output), or you might have diarrhea (low-quality output). When outputting, you might observe why everything is red, and after thinking, you realize you ate dragon fruit in the morning, leading you to decide to eat different fruit tomorrow.

We can continuously read content from different input sources, then think and organize, followed by expressing our output. Then we reflect and seek new input sources again.

Given time, you will no longer be that young person who only says "Wow."

Thinking Patterns

When we acquire input, we often fall into a situation where "each side has its own reasoning." Friend A recommends some books, Friend B recommends others, and Friend C suggests what to read, claiming that practice is the only standard for testing truth. So should I have a split personality or multiple personalities?

If we follow what was mentioned earlier, these are all point issues. We should think about these problems using a framework thinking model. What is the framework of these books?

For example, some books I have recently listened to, such as "The Fifth Discipline," "Deliberate Practice," "Critical Thinking and Stance," and "Lifelong Growth," seem to discuss different topics, but at the framework level, they are more about thinking and the operation of thought. Recently, focusing on the framework of thinking for input will deepen your understanding of the field and help establish a framework.

This method of input aligns with the deliberate practice mentioned, which emphasizes having goals and plans for practice. Deliberate practice provides numerous examples showing that most people are quite similar, and even those you consider geniuses may not have a higher IQ than you. Why did they succeed? Because they engaged in extensive practice.

However, there are also examples where, despite similar amounts of practice, some people perform better while others do not. It's like in school; some students who like to sleep often have excellent grades. We might think these students study hard at night while pretending to be slackers during the day.

But have you considered that their study time might be similar to yours? After all, we are often reluctant to admit that classmates might be smarter than us or that they are geniuses. But it could simply be that their thinking patterns differ from yours; you have a fixed mindset, while they have a growth mindset.

We often find two types of people: one type focuses on results, while the other focuses on the process. There isn't an absolute conclusion about which is better or worse, but you will notice that those who overly focus on results often fall into significant frustration when outcomes don't meet their expectations, and some may even become despondent. In contrast, those who focus on the process, even if the results are poor, do not fall into despair like the former.

So should we only focus on the process? That also seems incorrect. For example, have you heard a boss say, "Just do your best, and you can launch whenever"? (If your boss said this, you would probably think they are crazy.) So why do most companies operate on a 996 schedule?

Fixed mindset individuals treat results as endpoints, so their strategies often rely on future expectations. For instance, if a relationship is not going well, they might just switch partners; if they fail an exam, they might say they will do better next time, attributing it to bad luck.

Growth mindset individuals do not think this way. If a relationship is struggling, they recognize that both parties have issues and will try to identify and resolve those problems. If they fail an exam, they believe they need to improve and will strengthen their weak areas to perform better next time.

When you experience a breakup, a fixed mindset person might comfort you by saying, "It's okay, the next one will be better." In contrast, a growth mindset person will understand your relationship process, identify the issues, and help you strengthen your abilities in that area.

When we identify problems, what we need is not to dwell on or regret the past. The mistake has already happened; what can I do to avoid making the same mistake next time?

In conclusion,

Humans are diverse; we cannot simply label someone as uncooperative, a jerk, or whatever. It may seem that some people are growth mindset individuals while others are fixed mindset individuals, but often we possess both types of thinking simultaneously. For example, a certain person may appear aloof and high-class in front of some people, while instantly becoming a pitiful sycophant in front of others.

Why is it difficult to change a person? Because a person's worldview is a coherent system formed over many years. If a certain framework changes, their system cannot function normally. So if you suddenly disrupt their system, they will naturally fight back vigorously.

For instance, not long ago, when I returned to my hometown, I had a meal with my grandmother. One time, she dropped a piece of meat on the floor but picked it up to continue eating. My dad saw this and got very angry, saying that if it fell, it shouldn't be eaten; what if it harmed her health? Of course, it's hard for us to understand why she would pick it up to eat, thinking it would be unlucky to eat something that fell, but some people might feel that food should not be wasted.

The worldview formed by people of that era was shaped by a time of resource scarcity. All daily conclusions and truths were formed around the current social environment, education, and experiences. If resources could be wasted, their worldview would collapse and become incoherent. This is also why we see many seemingly virtuous individuals collapse into criminals once a certain point of their system is broken.

Is a growth mindset always the best choice? Just like there are many philosophical schools, Wang Yangming achieved enlightenment after studying Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, and military science, establishing his theory of the mind.

What suits you best is what is best for you. Our lives do not need to be consistently correct; we just need to swing the bat at the right moments, seizing significant opportunities and giving our all, while quietly waiting and growing during other times.

The greatest constant in life is change. Different thinking patterns cannot be defined as superior or inferior; do not become a prisoner of your own thoughts.

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