jakiro
This weekend, I tested claude code and chatgpt codex for two days. The AI’s ability once again shocked me and once again ignited a long-standing idea: I should (All in) the AI field.
This determination has actually been around for a long time, and it has emerged since I first came into contact with GPT4.But he has been slow and has not done it seriously.Even stuck with the problem that troubled me:Where should we start?
A question that has been repeatedly asked
In my experience of engaging in the “currency circle” in the past n years, I have answered similar questions at least a hundred times: “I want to enter this industry, but I don’t know where to start, what should I do?”
I once had a set of “standard answers” for this question:Go to read the Bitcoin white paper.Be the first person in your circle of friends to fully understand the Bitcoin white paper”
I feel that most people in the currency circle, including many senior participants, have never read this groundbreaking document in a complete and in-depth manner.
From a utilitarian perspective, it is no problem not to read the white paper.In the currency circle, there is no direct causal relationship between whether you can make money and whether you understand the Bitcoin white paper.Friends who have made a lot of money in this industry have little understanding of the underlying technical principles such as “Proof of Work (PoW)” and even have no idea.
Therefore, there is another completely opposite and more rude answer to the question of “how to start”: “Don’t think so much, open an account, recharge money, buy coins first, and do it directly!”
The true value of “understanding the white paper”
However, although I agree that it cannot be directly monetized, I always believe in my heart that the “understanding the Bitcoin White Paper” has an indescribable huge value.
At first, I didn’t know what this value was.Until today, when I hesitate in front of the AI field, just like the “mechanical design engineer” who first entered the currency circle and was confused about everything, I suddenly realized that I happened to find that method, but now I almost forgot about it.
The real benefit of understanding the Bitcoin white paper that year was not the knowledge itself, but the process of “completed an extremely difficult thing.”For someone like me who has no technical background, it is an absolute tough battle to truly understand that paper.
When you enter a completely new field, if you can start with a tough battle and successfully win it, the value generated by the process itself is immeasurable.
I feel that this value is reflected in three aspects:
Build confidence.I used an objective and difficult thing to prove that I could win a battle in an unfamiliar field.If you encounter any difficult things in the future, you will have a sample of success:“I’ve read the white paper from scratch, what’s this?”This kind of mentality is hard to buy.
In my past history of corruption circles, I really often feel this blind self-confidence.Once, my experience has laid the foundation for my work. I once saw someone write an article saying that the code of uniswap v2 is the most beautiful code he has ever seen, so I forced to read this code.Now my most important job in the currency circle is to do it around Uniswap.
Send a scarce signal and get cooperation tickets.In any circle, “being able to fight tough battles” is a scarce quality.My experience of reading Bitcoin white paper is indeed some friends who look up to me because of this.This has always made me flattered as a “outsider who comes to speculate”.
This world seems to be true. If a potential partner knows that you have independently chewed a recognized “hard bone”, you will look at you differently.Being the first person in the circle of friends to truly understand the white paper is not only vanity, but also a real endorsement of trust.
Complete the most thorough “self-swearing”.Choosing to start with the most difficult thing is a ritual in itself, and it is your greatest determination to make yourself.
I don’t know how many times I have made in my life that I decided to do this and that, but almost 99% of the vows have left no trace.
I often feel that I have a bad habit. Whatever I want to do, go to TikTok, youtube, etc. first, and see how others do it.On the plus side, we should investigate first and then make decisions.But TMD’s has been watching Douyin for fun.
What is really effective is to fight one fight first.If you want to retreat after doing it, you will ask yourself, “I have even won this tough battle. Do you want to give up halfway?”The process of fighting a tough battle itself is a process of making up your mind.
Back to the present:AIWhat is the “hard battle” in the field?
After understanding this, I suddenly realized.The dilemma I faced in front of the AI gate today is exactly the same as the confusion I had at the entrance of the currency circle back then.I forgot the best way to get started that I happened to have been practicing.
This method is actually very simple, that is:Find an absolute tough battle for yourself.
For me, this tough battle to enter the field of AI is to chew the paper that created a new era – “Attention Is All You Need”.To thoroughly understand every detail and every thought of this paper is the “Bitcoin White Paper” that I entered this field.Once I chewed this hard bone, I believe that I will truly find the key to “entering” in the AI field.
Perhaps this is a universal starting style for any new field
I’m increasingly convinced:Entering any new field and fighting a tough battle at the beginning is a starting point with a high winning rate.It is not necessarily the most “easy” road, but it is the most hesitant, stable mind, and the most compound interest.
So, what exactly is a qualified “hard battle”?
It is not a simple “difficult task”, but a challenging model that can be clearly defined and ensures that you achieve maximum growth.I think the following five standards can be abstracted.We can use this to design the first tough battle in the field you want to enter.
1. Relatively difficult.This challenge must put real pressure on your current level of ability, requiring you to break out of your comfort zone and truly overcome a threshold of qualitative change from “not” to “will”.It is not a simple repetition of known skills, but a substantial leap in cognition and ability.
Don’t be too difficult, it’s so difficult that it’s all over to scare yourself.
2. Clear and recognized naming.This tough battle must be publicized in naming.This itself has a strong “brand effect”, which is conducive to you to quickly establish a personal label.Just like becoming the first man in your circle of friends to understand the Bitcoin white paper.If you are not the first one, then you will become the first woman in your circle of friends to hand-written Bitcoin white paper 10 times.
3. Acceptable.Challenges require clear success criteria or “pass line”.The results should be objectively measured.This eliminates the vague state of “feeling good in self” and provides a real basis for judgment.Because our brains are too easy to deceive themselves.
4. It can be witnessed.The results of the challenge should be publicly displayed and verified to others.For example, you can really recite the Bitcoin white paper directly, at least when someone asks you, you will know which paragraph it is in.These verifiable results are all “trophys” that you can show off after winning this tough battle.
5. Timeline (dead line).A clear and strict deadline must be set for this tough battle.This is always the case in war, and time is extremely important.A 2 to 6-week sprint cycle is ideal.Time limits will force you to focus on core issues, learn to make choices, and avoid infinite delays caused by the pursuit of perfection.Most of the great ideals are dragged away.
In contrast, those behaviors that seem busy but actually have little effect cannot be considered “hard battles”.For example, endlessly brushing information, crazy collection of network links, and burying the preparations that “easy but can be delayed indefinitely”.The real tough battle is to actively choose and devote yourself to a tough battle with clear goals, complete closed loop, delivered results, and time constraints.
Just like, learning English is the dream of most of us, but it is actually a dream I have never realized.I’m talking about adults learning English, not children.The starting battle to learn English should be to memorize a book or article with a particularly wide reputation worldwide, such as Steve Jobs’s speech at Stanford University in 2005.
When you can recite the speech of Gang Qiao in front of anyone, I don’t believe that anyone is not convinced that you are a person who has learned English.
Just like, learning programming is another dream I have pursued for decades of unrealization (TMD’s unexpectedly, I can become a very good programmer by spending $200 a month to buy claude Max).I have made up my mind to start a programming battle many times. I have carefully read the thin book “C Programming Language Design” and wrote the exercises with paper, pen and computer.
In fact, if it really doesn’t work, I will just copy the book by hand, and there are not many words.This is the fastest way.
The real door to a field is never opened when you “learn something”, but when you make up your mind to “conquer something”.
