Li Shanyou: The World Is Getting More Competitive, But We Can Choose to Be Slower, Go Deeper, and Turn Inward
**Title:** Li Shanyou: The World Is Moving Faster and More Chaotically; We Can Choose to Be Slower, Deeper, and More Inward
**Summary:**
In an era where AI evolves weekly and past experiences often fail, the article argues for returning to First Principles. It shifts focus from "cognition" (knowledge/content), which AI has disrupted, to "consciousness" or "the capacity to know"—the foundational ability that enables cognition and determines its scope and depth.
The piece uses Zhang Yiming (founder of ByteDance) as a case study for the "second-order consciousness" of the mobile internet era: success through rational logic, modeling, and deduction, which allowed him to surpass earlier "first-order" entrepreneurs reliant on copying experiences. However, the author suggests that the AI era demands a further leap to "third-order consciousness"—operating from a place of inner inspiration, vision, or "ideas," beyond pure rationality. Figures like Elon Musk and Steve Jobs are cited as examples, with DeepSeek's Liang Wenfeng presented as a potential representative of this new, AI-native wave of entrepreneurs driven by curiosity and innovation rather than just commercial logic.
For the majority who may not become such visionary leaders, the author proposes an alternative path: the "Path of Quality" or "Work as Art." This involves turning inward, focusing on the immediate task at hand, and imbuing one's work with care and dedication—creating a "quality" product not as a means to an end, but as an end in itself. This process refines both the work and the individual's own consciousness. In a hyper-competitive, fast-paced world, this path offers a counterpoint: to be slower, go deeper, and focus inward, finding meaning by creating quality in everyday endeavors, regardless of scale.
marsbit07/17 04:13
