References
- Taking Ideas Seriously is Hard : https://neilkakkar.com/taking-ideas-seriously.html
- Fragile Purposes : https://www.lesswrong.com/s/3HyeNiEpvbQQaqeoH
- Reality has a surprising amount of detail : http://johnsalvatier.org/blog/2017/reality-has-a-surprising-amount-of-detail
Most people don't practice taking ideas seriously. I think it's because most people don't know how to ( …大多数人并不知道 "怎么做" ) . I didn't either, until I stumbled upon an implication ( …直到偶然发现 ) .
For example, what would it mean to take compounding ( 复利 ) seriously?
Ugh. I can feel your aversion ( 厌恶 ) . You've already heard so much about compounding, how it works, how it's the eight wonder of the world ( 世界第八大奇迹 ) , etc. etc.
But, familiarity ( 熟悉 ) is not the same as taking it seriously ( 认真对待这件事 ) .
Say you start with $100, and every year, make 10% more. This compounds, since the extra money is a function of how much you already have. The more you have, the more you get. It's a positive loop that keeps on increasing.
That's the familiar interpretation. The earlier you start, the more money you'll make.
To take this interpretation seriously would mean investing your earnings for a similar return. Reality has a surprising amount of detail, and sometimes assumptions break. You don't make 10% - which means you need to balance your investments somehow. That makes things complicated. However, this complication is not related to compounding.
Taking compounding seriously means taking it a step further. Your net worth ( 净值 ) is just one implication ( 含义 ) . What else compounds?
Your life experiences and knowledge. What would it mean to leverage compounding here?
If you're taking compounding seriously, you'd learn the skills with the greatest return first. That means learning the broadest applicable ( 最广泛使用的 ) skills you'd apply throughout your life first. That means learning how to think well - before learning the new fancy tech you want to learn.
icehe : 我们学习, 可能却没有去学习如何学习
Of course, sometimes you need a medium to learn the skill better. That makes sense: learn to think well via this new tech you wanted to learn. Purposes are fragile though, and it's easy to get lost in the tool, instead of the overall goal.
icehe : 刚毕业的时候经常学着折腾效率工具 ( Apps & 实物 ) , 想着提升效率节省时间, 在日常工作和生活之余去学习. 但是我迷失了方向 —— "为了斩杀去打磨刀具, 结果却成了刀剑的鉴赏者, 甚至把刀刃都快磨没了……" 最初折腾工具是为了提升效率, 后来却为了显得更 Geek 而折腾. 道 > 术 > 器, 我沉溺在折腾 "术" 和 "器" 上了, 却没走在正确的 "道" 上.
What makes this example so good is that you're probably very familiar with compounding. What else are you familiar with, but haven't realised you're not taking seriously?
A good way to practice this is to ask this question: What are the implications of (idea) in (field of interest)?
For example, asking myself What are the implications of compounding for my self-directed knowledge base led to the above insight of learning broader skills first.