Recently, I've noticed that I've reduced both the frequency and the desire to blog. But this is a good thing—it means I'm not forced to do something just for the sake of doing it, and what I produce therefore carries more value. Even so, in today's post I still want to share some of my recent reflections. In this age of information overload, what we need is not the ability to obtain the most up-to-date information, but rather the common sense that people often overlook. Why is common sense so important? Because common sense represents cross-disciplinary, universally applicable principles that have been distilled from thousands of years of human development. The vast majority of developments in anything will invariably conform to common sense. Even if there’s a minuscule chance of breaking with it, that deviation won’t have a significant impact on our lives. Below, I would like to discuss several areas and share my understanding—what I consider to be common sense.
Life
If you are a swan born into a flock of chickens, then please, do not complain. From any perspective, it’s not worthwhile. According to common sense, you generally have two choices: leave or take revenge. Leaving is the best decision. Common sense tells us, “Birds of a feather flock together.” If you truly are a swan, then even if you endure for decades, you can eventually do what swans are meant to do. Otherwise, you’re just a chicken that happens to look like a swan. As for revenge, I believe many people have thought about it—including myself at one time. But why not do it? Because common sense tells us, “When you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.” Hatred is indeed a double-edged sword—it hurts you as much as it harms your target. If you are a swan, do not cry for the chickens. Leaving the flock and becoming a true swan is the best revenge. The chickens, in their entire lives, will never understand what a swan is meant to do. When the rancher takes the eggs every day and finally boils the chickens in a pot, perhaps at that final moment the chickens might begin to understand why they are chickens.
Friends
As mentioned earlier, “Birds of a feather flock together.” Common sense tells us that this applies to choosing friends as well. Why has the concept of “cutting, discarding, and detaching” become a norm in modern life? With the continuous development of technology, a select few who master it use it to accumulate unimaginable wealth—wealth becomes heavily concentrated at the top, and the Matthew effect grows ever stronger. In the past, ordinary people could form relationships without any profit motive. However, when the Matthew effect of wealth becomes more pronounced, survival becomes an increasingly challenging proposition for ordinary people, and the best way to acquire wealth is to connect with those at the top—whether by learning their skills, adopting their ways of conduct, or binding interests with them. I believe there is nothing objectionable about this. Common sense tells us that survival of the fittest is a principle that thousands of years of human history have clearly laid before us. Therefore, interpersonal interactions will increasingly be about exchanging value. If one party cannot provide value to the other, even relationships among family members become hard to sustain.
Politics
I have touched on politics before in my article “Talking Politics”, but I don’t mind emphasizing it again. Common sense tells us that with our current level of technology, one acre of land cannot produce 10,000 jin of grain. Common sense tells us that the cheapest way to keep a flock of sheep is not to build an impenetrable pen, but to let them know that there are wolves outside. Common sense tells us that human nature is selfish, and all declarations under the banner of altruism are merely another set of excuses for refined egoism. Common sense tells us that only a system that strives for equal opportunities can lead to a society with relatively fair outcomes.
Let’s also consider the importance of common sense in today’s political hotspots. I see many people adopting binary, either-or thinking on political issues. The combination of Trump and Musk leads their supporters to believe that America is undergoing a revolutionary purge, while their detractors see them as merely colluding to drag the country toward ruin. Let’s set these aside for now. Even if Trump and Musk use government power for personal gain, I think it is entirely acceptable. This is simply a by-product of the democratic system. Democracy is a system of checks and balances. If the Biden administration can abuse power, then four years later, Trump could as well, because they represent the interests of different groups. The benefit of such a system is that it enables social mobility and the circulation of wealth. In contrast, a dictatorship essentially allows only one group to engage in corruption generation after generation, leaving ordinary people powerless to enact change. The length of time such an absurd system—against common sense—can exist depends on how well the Chinese people understand and embrace common sense, and this is precisely what they are most lacking.
Wealth
I have previously explained my thoughts on the nature of wealth in “Talking About My Understanding of the Financial Market”. Here, I am happy to once again share and emphasize some common sense. Wealth originates from the indiscriminate labor of humankind. Common sense tells us that any labor requires a span of time. Thus, in theory, massive wealth cannot be created in the short term. For an individual, the only way to acquire large amounts of wealth quickly is through the transfer of existing wealth. When others are unaware, the primary method of transferring wealth is by stealing. When it is known, using violence is robbery, and using non-violent means is fraud. These are the best common-sense truths about wealth.
Bitcoin
Why single out Bitcoin? Because this creation is very special—many aspects of it defy common sense, yet more aspects conform to it.
Firstly, Bitcoin is a decentralized product. As a currency, this fundamentally contradicts the traditional notion that currency is issued by a state—a notion based on ideology. However, this aligns perfectly with the essence of gold. Gold’s creation is not determined by any country or individual. In earlier human societies, even shells could serve as scarce items used as a medium of exchange. So, in today's digital era, why should decentralized digital currency be unacceptable? If you cannot control your own wealth, then what is the value of a state-based ideology? Shouldn’t we ponder such common-sense questions deeply?
Secondly, the high energy consumption of Bitcoin mining appears to conflict with the common-sense notions of energy conservation and resource efficiency. Yet, it is precisely this consumption that proves Bitcoin’s value. If a currency were merely backed by the credit of an organization and issued arbitrarily without any energy cost, it would lack any intrinsic value. Just as the path to discovering truth is inevitably riddled with obstacles and uncertainty, it is these trials that validate the value of truth. Only through such rigorous tests can you gain a deeper understanding of and truly appreciate truth’s worth.
Finally, Bitcoin’s price volatility seems at odds with the stable value that currency is supposed to embody. This counterintuitive aspect actually underscores the importance of common sense. Everything has two sides—we cannot have it both ways. The freedom to control your wealth that Bitcoin offers comes hand in hand with this volatility. Bitcoin’s value arises from consensus, and different people have different perceptions of that value—even the same person, in different contexts and times, may perceive it differently. This leads to dramatic fluctuations in Bitcoin’s price. Yet in the future, when one Bitcoin is worth ten million dollars, its price will undoubtedly be very stable. This point hardly needs further explanation.
After humanity abandoned the gold standard, what we call modern monetary theory was merely a bump along a twisted road. The widespread adoption of Bitcoin is nothing short of a return to common sense.
Conclusion
Stay true to your original aspirations, and you will see things through. Returning to common sense allows us to think more rationally. By observing the world from a broader and longer-term perspective, we can more deeply appreciate the power of common sense.