How to live a profound intellectual life

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Editor's Note: Our brains, which are fed by AI-generated summaries and 60-second short videos, are collectively degenerating. Access to information is not equal to access to understanding. When algorithms take over the filtering process, deep thinking has become the scarcest hard currency. This text is translated and compiled.

I am not saying these words to alarmist people, but the reality is:

At the collective level, we are gradually losing the ability to broaden our minds deeply.

This absolutely deserves your vigilance and fear.

The vast majority of people no longer read books.

The vast majority of people would rather read the AI-generated summary of Wikipedia entries.

The vast majority of people would rather let their phones tear their attention in hundreds of directions within five minutes after waking up... than enjoy the calm and tranquility brought by the first golden moment after waking up.

Moreover, the vast majority of people still think they are thinking.

But remember, the very fact that I emphasize "the vast majority of people"... carries a glimmer of hope.

I never wanted to be an author in the past.

Fortunately, the situation is different now. I just turned 23 years old. It is 11:24 a.m. right now. I am sitting here drinking my first Americano of the day. On the tabs on the left display, manuscripts about profound ideas and clear, well-structured outlines are spread out densely.

Since my teenage years, I have had a strong thirst for the profound thoughts in ancient classics and in-depth video essays on YouTube. As long as I am not doing math homework or writing my undergraduate thesis, I will spend almost every spare minute that I can use for thinking building my own "Second Brain".

There has always been a strong desire in my heart, to become a person with extremely profound thinking; more importantly, to live a life just like such a person.

Spend all day long accompanied by reading.

Immerse yourself in thinking all day long.

Write, and find solutions to problems that can reduce the trivial troubles in daily life.

I used to regard writing as a form of torture, which is both boring and extremely mentally draining. Traditional school education is the main reason why most people still hold this stereotype to this day.

These people have never tried to use writing to broaden the existing boundaries of their minds, to examine and verify whether the things they originally believed in are really tenable.

The main purpose of this article is to retrieve what our generation is gradually losing.

I want to share two profound insights with you, as well as a set of action plans that you can put into practice starting today, to help you maximize your intellectual potential.

A deep intellectual lifestyle.

As the key generation that connects the past and ushers in the future, we have the responsibility to guard and maintain our own intellectual functions.

Who knows what so-called "geniuses" will be in charge of the world our descendants live in in the future?

To read this article, you need to use your brain to think seriously.

But don't worry, we will peel off the layers of confusion together.

Point 1: How Shallow Thinking Has Become the New Normal

Core Insight: Stupid ideas breed when you stop asking questions.

In this era, it is easier than ever for people whose minds are actually blank to mistakenly think that they know everything.

Several key forces are fueling this trend:

The absolute dominance of short video content, carefully designed mobile phone addiction mechanisms, and AI-generated content that can be scanned in just a few seconds.

But do you know what exactly these forces have brought?

They make "seeming to understand" easily accessible to everyone.

I am writing these words to remind you, and also to alert myself...

...The cognitive load required to truly understand a thing has not been reduced at all from the very beginning to the end.

Not at all.

Not the slightest bit.

Reduced.

In just a few seconds, you can get a summary of a Wikipedia entry; spend 60 seconds watching a short video, and you can learn the so-called top student's secret to "master everything quickly"; you can even let AI dismantle and analyze the structure and internal logic of this very article clearly. After doing these things, you will have the illusion that you have already understood everything thoroughly.

But that's not the truth.

Access to information is by no means equivalent to access to enlightenment.

Merely knowing what arguments a certain information source puts forward is by no means equivalent to truly grasping the essence of the argument, understanding the logical basis on which it is established, and comprehending the deep connections between it and other arguments.

Core Insight: Shallow, superficial thinking wanders in the gap between "knowing" and "understanding", dancing wantonly like a triumphant clown.

The following typical characteristics are worthy of our high vigilance:

• Shallow thinking is black and white — you are either pro-AI or anti-AI, either left-wing or right-wing, and you hold blind and absolute certainty about the right and wrong of everything.

• Shallow thinking emphasizes quick success, is keen on taking sides, and puts utilitarianism first — regarding education as a task that only needs to be checked off, which is the most harmful and self-enclosed idea in the world. Not to mention delusional that a person can be defined as "qualified" by just four years of study or a diploma issued by an authoritative institution.

• Shallow thinking is manifested as losing autonomous control over your own information "water source" — you cannot control the flow rate, nor where the source comes from.

These appearances precisely prove that you have skipped the crucial process of deep contemplation.

How can we tell?

Core Insight: Excessive stimulation will raise the brain's perception threshold for stimulation and fun.

Who can tolerate boredom when they can easily open short videos and swipe nonstop while waiting in line for a cup of coffee?

Go for a nice walk; chew through a thick, profound book; spend one or two evenings a week sorting out mind maps; or focus your eyes tightly on a certain point on the wall for 20 to 60 seconds to train your concentration (you might as well try it yourself).

For a brain eroded by excessive stimulation, these practices are no different from torture.

An overstimulated mind will always fall into shallow thinking, because that way of thinking is both easy and fast.

In fact, the outline of this article was handwritten by me, purely to challenge myself and see where my train of thought still needs to be polished. Only when you completely get rid of the disturbance of all digital technologies (especially AI), and let your brain think in a state of complete solitude, no interference, and relying solely on your own intelligence, can you truly realize how difficult thinking is, and how scarce the real deep thinking we usually do is.

"Alright Craig, then why should we care about all this?"

Because the information water source we consume has long been completely polluted by shallow thinking and the mediocre opinions that come with it.

Worse still, it is still spreading rampantly.

This is by no means a trivial matter that can be treated casually (please resist the urge to skim through it quickly), because fundamentally, human beings are essentially tool makers.

We build houses to protect ourselves from cold and disasters, and resist nature; we build systems to achieve results and improve daily life; we use the raw materials available at hand — that is, the information we come into contact with — to create solutions.

Clear, pure, and solid basic thinking has never been as valuable as it is today.

If you want to reverse this situation, you must treat every tiny detail in your life with prudence and determination.

You need to contemplate.

It is the thing that various forces in modern life are trying every means to take away from you.

Point 2: Three Levers of Deep Thinking

What you let into your mind, and how you process it, directly determines what you can produce.

And that determines your whole life.

All the nutrients you absorb today will flow downstream and shape your thoughts later today, tomorrow, and even in the distant future. If you absorb creative, productive and profound thoughts, your output will also be creative, productive and profound.

But what if all your inputs are garbage?

Core Insight: The essence of concentration is subtraction, to discard redundant options; and the emergence of shallow thinking starts with the extinction of curiosity.

The core purpose of practicing a deliberate intellectual life is to maximize the dominance of your own intellectual functions.

My recent writing performance has declined, rooted in insufficient learning volume. At first I thought it was because I wrote too much (excessive output). In fact, it is not. I unconsciously reduced my knowledge input. Now that I am aware of the problem, I can devote my energy to face it and solve it.

Why is this so crucial?

Thoughts need to maintain diversity and abundance.

Only in this way can unique, novel and insightful opinions be generated.

Core Insight: In my opinion, the so-called originality is essentially the evolution and deepening of existing thoughts.

Nietzsche read Plato's works; I also learned the basics of Jiu-Jitsu from a black belt coach; we absorb the meticulous interpretations of truth from our predecessors in books, lectures and courseware at school, in order to understand our predecessors first, and then form our own unique insights into the same truth.

You might as well imagine that you have to endure ten rounds of high-intensity Jiu-Jitsu sparring without physical energy replenishment, or force yourself to finish reading a chapter of a book after staying up all night for 36 hours.

You must have high-quality input sources (information) to carry out high-quality processing (thinking), and then produce high-quality results (creation).

This leads to the "Three Levers of Deep Thinking" I summarized.

A life of deep thinking consists of three links: what you input, how you process and digest it, and how you convert it into action.

Each link corresponds to a key fulcrum.

Input Lever: Filtering

"Prudent filtering" is the information filter that enters your brain.

If you don't take the initiative to filter the information flow, the algorithm will do it all for you, and then manipulate your contact surface, and finally dominate your focus and thinking path.

It really makes people feel creepy when you think about it.

Active filtering is like building a dam in front of a content pipeline full of mud.

If you give up filtering, you are equivalent to giving up the initial control of thinking to the algorithm — and the only mission of the algorithm is to induce you to swipe endlessly (attracting attention always takes precedence over seeking knowledge and understanding).

Processing Lever: Curiosity

Be curious, not judgmental.

— Ted Lasso

Yes, I know this sentence was originally said by Walt Whitman, but I won't quote his exact words, because quoting Sir Lasso's words just confirms my previous argument that "originality is the evolution of thoughts".

Curiosity is the antidote to ignorant thinking.

People who like to make arbitrary judgments usually lack the curiosity to explore. Our judgments of others often reflect our own inner deficiencies (or our subconscious projection of our own flaws).

Filtering determines what kind of information can enter the mind, while curiosity determines how you process the information after it enters. This is like the difference between passively receiving information and actively and deliberately thinking, and also the essential difference between "consumption" and "digestion" often mentioned in the online self-learning community.

Output Lever: Creativity

Go create something.

Establish a daily routine, nurture a sincere relationship, or precipitate a result that is worth people spending weeks or even months reading and exploring. If you don't take the initiative to shape your own life, you will be forced into a predetermined track by the outside world. You must step in and build it yourself.

You need to establish a daily rhythm, build an underlying system, and make an action plan — even go to a stationery store to buy a notebook and draw a set of exclusive schedule templates for yourself.

Speaking of which, it is natural to mention writing.

Core Insight: Writing is an expedition sailing to the unknown and chaotic realm of the mind. It is like a strong light that illuminates the things you truly believe in your heart.

In fact, I originally wrote a 2000-word first draft for this content, but I was not satisfied with it.

I sorted out my real thoughts by writing constantly, rewriting and overturning, which is why this article was delayed.

In any case, at a time when everyone is unilaterally pursuing posting frequency and the so-called "content strategy", depth is far more critical than quantity. The secret is: write less, but write better.

Unconsciously, we have sorted out a lot of content.

All in all:

• Filter inputs prudently;

• Reflect with curiosity;

• Create on this basis.

As long as you are still alive, keep this virtuous cycle running continuously, and you will naturally live a life of extremely profound intellectual depth.

Deep Intellectual Life: Control Input, Sharpen Processing, Improve Output Quality

Therefore, we need to focus on honing two abilities: concentration and thinking ability.

I will not overstep my bounds and think for you here. In fact, I will only keep one or two sentences for each specific action step next. Because I hope you can verify the cognitive consensus we have reached here in practice — this is exactly the mental journey we go through together when I am writing and you are reading.

You need to select information sources, do your own homework, explore perspectives from different viewpoints, and make horizontal comparison and analysis.

You must think for yourself and think through the problem thoroughly.

Filtering — Control What Enters Your Brain

Step 1: Strictly limit the number of high-quality content creators you follow to 5 to 10 people

If you don't control it strictly, the algorithm will allow spam information to occupy your field of vision; be sure to carefully select the thoughts that enter your brain (the content you consume determines the opportunities and problems you can perceive).

Step 2: Cut off all social media completely for 3 consecutive days

Don't make any excuses, make up your mind to do it. If necessary, use an app lock software.

When you have completely completed this sensory desensitization, the carefully selected follow list will be waiting for you on the other side.

Step 3: After the 3-day period, still do not install social media on your mobile phone (only use it on the computer side)

Only keep instant messaging tools. Strictly prohibit scrolling through feeds. If you must use social platforms, only operate on the computer side.

Step 4: Download a mandatory app blocking software that cannot be closed at will

I personally highly recommend Opal (although the recent update makes it a little bulky). I mainly use it to block Spotify and my email inbox.

Curiosity — Process Your Consumption

Step 5: Read physical paper books

Even if you only read 15 to 30 minutes a day, the benefits are huge. Reading itself is a form of meditation, which effectively strengthens your concentration by forcing your eyes to move word by word.

Step 6: Take the initiative to make yourself "idle" and experience boredom

If you can free up 3 to 4 hours on weekends or rest days, the effect is excellent; it is ideal to set aside 1 hour every day on weekdays, and splitting it into two 30-minute segments also works well.

Step 7: Strictly limit the time you listen to music to less than 1 hour per day

No excuses, lock it immediately when the time limit is up.

Step 8: Spend 15 to 30 minutes every day using your cognitive functions at high intensity

Read paper books; sort out mind maps on paper; handwrite di