Preface：
A young girl suddenly came into the public eye.
She gained attention for interviewing the director of the film "Odyssey", Christopher Nolan.
This girl is called Zhong Shu.
Because of her, I also saw a conversation she had with Chen Danqing, which made me realize:
A person's life is actually a process of constantly understanding and shaping oneself.
The truly important abilities - judgment, wisdom, composure - are not suddenly acquired through a single learning experience. They come from time, experiences, and long-term investment in oneself.
True and false statements, why do experts instantly recognize them?
【Chen Danqing （Right）is an artist and cultural observer with rich experience. His value lies not only in his artistic creations, but also in the independent thinking and sharp judgment that have been formed through his decades of life experiences.】
Zhong Shu asked Chen Danqing:
“In this current era, pandering to the masses has become increasingly difficult to identify, including false information and false experiences. How do you determine whether someone is telling the truth or a lie”?
Chen Danqing replied:
It's very simple. False statements are easier to recognize than true ones.
Zhong Shu continued to ask:
What is your basis for judgment? Is there a rational standard?
Chen Danqing said:
Maybe it's because of my intuition? But when I was young, I couldn't do it. When I was middle-aged, I couldn't do it either. But now, I can.
This sentence made me think for a long time.
When we were young, we always hoped to find a clear method:
- Is there a judgment standard?
- Is there a quick way to identify?
- Is there a book that can tell us the answer?
But later we discovered:
The truly advanced judgment ability is difficult to be simply summarized into a few steps.
Because what lies behind it is decades of observation, practice, failure and correction.
It is an ability trained over time.
Having viewed 3,000 paintings, why can one instantly distinguish the genuine from the fake?
Zhong Shu shared a story about her father.
Her father had long been researching how to identify fake paintings.
When she was a child, she once asked her father:
"How do you know if a painting is genuine or fake?"
Her father told her:
"After you have seen 3,000 Pu Hua's paintings, you will naturally be able to distinguish the authenticity."
(Pu Hua was a famous painter in the late Qing Dynasty. What Zhong Shu's father meant was that one can truly understand an artist's style only after observing a large number of his works over a long period of time, thereby being able to judge the authenticity.)
Chen Danqing agreed with this and added:
Quantity is important, the database is important. You need 3,000, or even 30,000.
This sentence suddenly made me understand:
The so-called "intuition" of an expert is not a mysterious ability.
It is a quick judgment based on the accumulation of a lot of experience.
An ordinary person sees a painting and sees only the surface.
A person who has long studied art sees:
- Whether the style of the work conforms to the characteristics of the author;
- Whether the brushstrokes conform to the creative habits;
- Whether the details conform to the background of the era.
His judgment comes from the database formed by countless observations in the past.
Life is the same: experiences build your "life database".
In fact, everyone's life is creating their own database.
- Why can an investor remain calm in the face of market fluctuations?
Because he has experienced the frenzy of a bull market and the fear of a bear market.
- Why can an entrepreneur identify business opportunities?
Because he has experienced success as well as failure.
- Why can a mature person understand complex interpersonal relationships?
Because he has experienced trust, disappointment, choices and growth.
These experiences do not immediately generate value.
But over time, they will gradually accumulate.
Ultimately, they form a person's:
• Judgement;
• Perspective;
• Emotional stability;
• Wisdom for dealing with the world.
This is the greatest intangible asset in life.
Knowledge gives you the starting point, and experience shapes your height.
Many people believe that a person's cognition comes from education and knowledge.
Of course, learning is very important.
Knowledge helps us build a basic framework and enables us to see a broader world.
However, knowledge does not automatically turn into wisdom.
True wisdom requires practical verification.
The same book:
When read by a young person, it might just be remembering the viewpoints;
After several years of life experience, when read again, one might suddenly understand the true meaning within. Why?
Because your experiences have changed you.You have gained a new perspective.
You begin to understand those things that were previously incomprehensible.
So:
Knowledge is the input, experience is the verification, and reflection is the elevation.
Only when these three elements are combined can a true cognition be formed.
Life assets require long-term accumulation.
I am increasingly convinced that:
Life itself is a process of continuously accumulating assets.
- Health is the asset formed through long-term management of the body.
- Wealth is the asset formed through long-term investment and choices.
- Knowledge is the asset formed through continuous learning.
- And judgment is the asset formed through the accumulation of time and experience.
All these assets have one common feature:
They cannot be obtained quickly.
- No one can have health in one day.
- No one can accumulate wealth in one day.
- Nor can anyone acquire wisdom in one day.
All truly important things require the power of compound interest over time.
Why do you feel that your previous self was foolish?
Often, when we look back at our past selves, we find:
"Back then, I understood so many things so simply."
But this is not a regret.
On the contrary, it shows that we are growing.
Because today's judgment comes from those immature experiences in the past.
I myself have had a similar feeling.
A while ago, a friend introduced to me a Hongmeng APP investment project. He told me that one could earn nearly 60% of the profit in two months.
If it were in the past, I might have been attracted by such a high return.
But now, when I heard this information, my first reaction was to think about the risks. Why?
It's not because I'm smarter than others, but rather the years of investment and life experiences have led me to develop a different way of making judgments.
- Is the high return sustainable?
- What is the source of profit?
- Where are the risks hidden?
These questions naturally come to mind.
This is exactly the kind of ability that Chen Danqing mentioned:
When a person has gone through enough experiences and seen enough cases, his brain will form its own database.
The so-called "intuition" is not something innate.
It is the judgment ability formed through time, experience, learning and reflection.
Therefore, the real difference between people is often not age, but whether they have thought and grown after going through experiences.
Don't become someone else; instead, build your own path.
We can learn from outstanding people.
Study the investment philosophy of Buffett and Munger.
Study Naval Ravikant's understanding of wealth and life.
Study how Dan Koe and Justin Welsh build their personal brands.
However, the purpose of learning is not to become them.
Because everyone has their own path.
What others provide is experience.
What one actually experiences will become assets.
What we really need to do is:
Keep learning;
Keep practicing;
Keep correcting;
Keep accumulating one's own life database.
Just like Zhong Shu, who is currently in the spotlight, what we see is just a moment. But her previous reading, learning, thinking and accumulation are the true power that supports this moment.
My Reflection: Time is the greatest compound interest in life.
Zhong Shu was born in 1997, while Chen Danqing was born in 1953.
The two individuals, who are 40 years apart in age, sitting together seem to be a meeting of two different stages of life.
One has the boundless possibilities of youth.
The other has the judgment ability bestowed by time.
You cannot skip the process of growth because wisdom itself is the trace left by growth.
Those seemingly ordinary experiences today:
a failure;
a choice;
a learning;
a fresh start;
all will become the power that helps you judge the world one day in the future.
The truly precious assets in life are not just how much wealth one possesses.
But rather, in the long years, what kind of person you eventually become.
Time does not suddenly change a person.
However, through long-term learning and continuous accumulation, a person will gradually possess:
- a clearer judgment,
- a more stable heart,
- and the wisdom to face the world calmly.
