Ten-Year Questionnaire

We are closer to 2050 than to 1990.

I saw this ten-year questionnaire on Pepper and Salt Ostrich's blog and found it interesting, so I decided to write one too. I remember during the QQ Zone/Renren era, it was very popular to "call out" someone, and the person who was called out had to answer some simple questions. The last time I played this was in 2014 on my Moments, which was already 7 years ago... I don't know if people really don't play it anymore or if I'm just too old. So let me "chat about my youthful madness".

Can you describe your recent situation in three sentences?#

I work on product during the day, write in the evening, and go skiing on weekends.

The night Dr. Li Wenliang passed away on February 7, 2020. I was at home that night, and I think everyone was at home. The situation of the virus was still unclear at that time. But I remember that even though it was just on the screen, I could feel the hearts of countless people who were concerned, like a cry that shook the mountains and the sea. I could feel that something was resonating strongly. Two years have passed, and COVID-19 has profoundly affected the world, but people's adaptability and forgetfulness have amazed me. Actually, I can't be sure if people have really forgotten. His Weibo is still there, with new comments and messages every minute, like a contemporary crying wall. But on the other hand, there is no longer any discussion in the public sphere. The system has responded well to the crisis, and coupled with the strong contrast of the Western "beacon," the public has become more firmly supportive of this machine, injecting fuel into it, stepping on the accelerator, and accelerating again. The content of my university major was quickly forgotten after work, but I still remember the content of a philosophy course I took as a minor: knowledge is equivalent to justified true belief. Pure true belief may just be epistemic luck.

Do you feel that you have changed a lot compared to yourself ten years ago?#

I have completely changed as a person. If the me from ten years ago saw me now, I would probably feel scared. Maybe it's because my childhood was too happy. Before adolescence, I was always a very introverted, passive, and even somewhat timid person. I didn't know how to express my desires and didn't know how to make friends proactively. I am still not outgoing now, but if I put on the Sorting Hat, I would definitely be sorted into Gryffindor.

Do you still keep in touch with the people around you from ten years ago? Can you still have deep conversations with friends?#

Not to mention ten years ago, I still keep in touch with my elementary school friends. I have less contact with old friends, but the connection is very enduring.

Has your career path changed from the beginning? What made you choose your current industry and profession? What does your hobby mean to you?#

Career choice: Internet, product, entrepreneurship. During university, I interned in various industries and tried them all. The high-end financial consulting industry didn't suit me, but the grassroots internet and the down-to-earth Toutiao were very appealing to me at that time. I still remember the first time I went to Zhonghang Plaza's low-rise building. The ten-meter high ceiling and lighting made me immediately decide to accept the offer. I originally interned at China International Capital Corporation (CICC), squeezing into the subway to Guomao's office building before dawn, taking a taxi home at ten o'clock, and not seeing the sun all day. My family bought a computer in 1998, and I started using a computer very early, but I could only use it for 2 hours a week. After entering university and having my own laptop, I truly felt the superpowers that computers could give me. Enter the Internet industry? Software development? Building apps? I couldn't seem to find the right words to describe what we were doing. Everything fell into place naturally, and I naturally chose the industry I am in now.

Hobbies: skiing and science fiction novels. I was weak and not good at sports when I was young, and my cousins were all outstanding in sports. In comparison, I was always discouraged and lacked confidence in any sports. After graduating from university, I tried skiing for the first time, and I was fascinated by the feeling of skiing. So I started learning from scratch, guided by friends and self-study through videos (I recommend Huang Jialan). From falling and looking like an idiot to pushing off, skiing, and carving, I can now ski down any slope in Chongli. I can encourage myself in a pretentious way. I have many strange ideas, predictions about technology, and fantasies about the future world. (At first, I didn't realize that those ideas were strange, but I only realized that most people don't think that way when people kept telling me I was strange...). I work in the technology industry and also love literature. Maybe I can stand at the "intersection of technology and humanities" as well. In my free time, I write for fun, but my writing skills are too weak now...

How has your relationship with your parents changed compared to ten years ago?#

Like a kite flying far away.

Do you plan to have children? (What are your views on family?)#

Zero or many. When no one is having children, having more children can have a huge advantage. The family planning policy actually prevented China from forming a hereditary aristocracy, but now that it has been relaxed, does anyone want to be Sima Yi?

Do you want to go back to ten years ago?#

No.

In 2011, my ability to access information was very limited, and Nanchang was a closed and relatively backward city. But the world is so big.

Are you afraid of getting old?#

No, I'm not afraid. I used to be very anxious about my age because I have seen many young people who have achieved great success at a very young age. Zuckerberg took his company public at the age of 28, and I know I can never catch up. But then I thought, those young people around me, even if they are amazing, are still far behind Zuckerberg. We are all comparing ourselves to others, so why worry? Recently, I had dinner with a senior who is both a teacher and a friend, and we talked about age. He told me that 50 is the peak state of a person and should be the peak state of a person. What's the big deal about being 25? Besides passion and good physical strength, there's nothing else. But at the age of 50, you have experience, resources, and knowledge of what is right. Is the body getting old? Who said you have to do everything yourself? With the leverage of management, you can mobilize ten times as many young people. In early 2018, I watched an improvised big band performance at Bluenote Beijing. The musicians took turns being the protagonist, the main melody. Sometimes it was the saxophone, sometimes the drums, sometimes the piano. No one had a fixed score, and they cooperated with each other in competition to create a wonderful performance. No one is always the center, and no one is always the accompaniment. It's all about timing.

What do you think is the most core (important) thing/problem in your life?#

In human history, there have been many simple inventions that have had a huge impact, and the most impressive one to me is the stirrup. Before the invention of the stirrup, horses were just a means of transportation, and the main method of combat for cavalry was archery, which had limited killing power. So usually, nomadic tribes would come on horseback, plunder, and then run away. Want to use a sword or a spear? Sorry, the force is mutual, and the huge reaction force would knock the cavalry off the horse first. At that time, agrarian civilizations could still form large infantry corps through organization, using the total force/population advantage to compensate for the mobility and disadvantages of local battles, and forcibly push the Xiongnu to the wolf's den (btw, the logistics and combat attrition costs of this approach were huge, so Liu Che had to turbocharge the national machine through salt and iron taxes and unlimited coinage, benefiting one hole in the world, and the people of the strong Han dynasty actually lived very miserably). The invention of the stirrup completely changed the way of warfare. Cavalry could charge with spears, using their feet in the stirrups to counteract the huge reaction force from the charge, and infantry phalanxes were like candied haws in front of cavalry charges. What's even more amazing is that cavalry could carry their own supplies, and horses could eat grass by themselves, plundering while fighting, with unlimited endurance. The infantry wanted to fight but couldn't catch up, and if they wanted to run, they couldn't escape. Metal single stirrups appeared in China during the Wei and Jin dynasties, and double stirrups appeared during the Eastern Jin dynasty. Coincidentally, during the Little Ice Age, the nomadic tribes in the north moved south with their horses, and the Chinese civilization ushered in a great fusion of ethnic groups. Later on, Genghis Khan launched three Western expeditions on horseback, giving rise to the knight class in Europe, the Crusades, and bringing back the ancient Greek texts preserved by the Arabs during the Hundred Years' Translation Movement, inspiring the Renaissance movement in medieval Europe... All these changes are intricately linked to the invention of the stirrup. So, what other simple inventions can bring about huge impacts? When human civilization encounters bottlenecks, when all advanced production tools are universally adopted, and everyone's productivity is leveled, the factors that influence human development may be the most basic and overlooked—time. I want to use useful tools and good methods to allow more people to use their time more meaningfully, thereby enhancing the productivity/happiness of all humanity.

Some other things#

This newsletter was set up at the end of July, but I haven't figured out what to use it for. Initially, I wanted a place to write, update my recent situation, and easily communicate with everyone. I don't like Moments or WeChat IM, and public accounts are okay, but the censorship is too strict. (I don't like WeChat partly because my WeChat account was banned before, you can read the story A Month Half Away from WeChat). So I am very clear that this newsletter will not be used for content recommendations. Content recommendations can be sent directly through Telegram. In these few months, I have experienced some lows, and when I was in it, I didn't feel that bad, but now looking back, I realize that my state was really poor. There are many reasons, 99% of which are my own problems, and I am a very dull person... So Ventuss Communication has been delayed until now, and it has only been reluctantly updated.
Feel free to follow or unfollow, because it is a communication, I actually don't want it to be widely spread, but rather more private, like the friendship between ancient gentlemen, sending messages like carrier pigeons. At that time, mail and transportation were very slow... And I have already figured out the content of the next few communications: what we talk about when skiing; about no results; a science fiction story: the last Coca-Cola on Earth; why I do Polytime; some recent updates; the annual year-end summary...

Thank you for reading this, best wishes

btw, if you are interested, you can also write a ten-year questionnaire. The process of writing it is quite interesting.

2021/12/19 @Beijing