Hello, I'm Jian Yang.

In today’s world, it’s easier than ever to have an opinion.

Humans are social animals, and we feel most comfortable siding with the majority. Before we had social media or the internet, it was much more difficult to figure out if the masses agreed with you and whether the opinion you held was deemed “socially acceptable” at the time simply because we were exposed to so few around us. It was much more difficult to “borrow” an opinion from the masses as well. Today, people can wake up thinking they need to have an opinion about XYZ that’s trending, go online, read some comments, identify the dominant narrative, and side with it.

Having this newfound opinion feels good. It makes us feel as if we are siding with something greater than ourselves, that we are a part of a movement and we stand with the “cool, enlightened folks” who will shape tomorrow. Perhaps, it’s the silent hand of the media growing up that taught us in subtle ways to always side with those who seem “revolutionary” and to side with heavily emotion-driven narratives. The men in suits are always treated as evil; we learn to romanticise villains; we are taught simple implications i.e. X+Y->BAD! because that makes movies easier to understand. Nuance is far too often thrown out of the window because complicated plots don’t sell well and consumers are not satisfied with an indefinite outcome.

It’s much easier today than it was before the internet to identify with communities/groups who are riding the wave of popularity, side with them, and then feel as if we are part of a greater cause. It boosts the ego, makes us feel important, and gives us a rush of adrenaline. But it’s crucial to remember that the internet is guided by the ubiquitous hand of algorithms finely tuned to prey on your emotions and keep your attention — even if that means deviating you from a balanced view. It’s important for impressionable young folks eager to feel like they belong in a community, to learn when they are being used for their naivety and recklessness.

I think it’s fair to say that no one is truly altruistic. It just depends on whether what benefits you, benefits them as well. This could be as innocent as a mother’s love for a child, where seeing the child happy makes her happy. Or it can be as insidious as opportunists who weaponise that very hunger for belonging. When someone hands you a neatly packaged enemy and an easy banner to march behind, it could very well be that they couldn’t care less about the narrative that they are pushing. But it nonetheless serves as a very good tool to control the minds of crowds to do their bidding.

All you are rewarded with is a cheap dose of misguided moral superiority.

Emotions aren’t bad. They guide us toward what matters, but they are not the truth. Notice when you’re being fed a simplified narrative for clicks and outrage, lest you be played for a fool.

Emic is an insider’s view of a culture, while etic is an outsider’s scientific view. [1]

This is important for all market research. We need to think from the customer’s point of view.

Marketing has to address a concern or motivation that already matters to the target audience. Most don’t bother with how clever a solution is.

“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”

Many people use the fear of over-reliance as an excuse to avoid learning how to use AI properly, treating those who do with disdain and contempt. I disagree. That’s equivalent to saying we shouldn’t use cars because we will lose the skillset of taking care of horses.

I believe we should embrace and adapt to new technologies as they come, while being mindful of the downsides and using the latest technology to help us get better at achieving our goals in life. Back to the horse and car example, our goal is to get to our destinations, not to be overly competent at a sub-optimal alternative.

One way to think about why a stock will appreciate in price is that everyone has different expectations of the company’s future growth.

The variant view of a successful investor is being able to stand independent of the market, identify a company whose future growth as determined by the consensus is wrong, and arrive at a more accurate analysis of the business.

In other words, it is akin to identifying a money printer that prints $10 every time when everyone else thinks it only prints $5. You do not just need to find a good business; you need to find an expectation gap where you are both different and right.

Differentiating the why, what, and how:

• Why: We need energy to go about our lives.
• What: We need to eat food to get that energy.
• How: Find a recipe, buy the ingredients, cook the meal, chew, and swallow.