A few days ago on World Book Day, a friend planted some grass for me and told me that Fan Deng Reading VIP was doing an event, buy one year and get one year free. I opened the payment link almost without hesitation, and stopped when I entered the password, feeling a little uneasy in my heart. I spent three days trying to find the disturbing content, but as I got closer and closer to the disturbing content, I felt the need to cry out more and more. I want to stop this group of people: when did we start to become so conformist in the name of learning; when did we start to become unable to think independently in the name of charging.
What kind of people are we? We consider ourselves to be a group of people who pay attention to their own values ??and seek lifelong growth. There are no games or short videos on our mobile phones and computers. Instead, we have Get, Zhihu, Himalaya, and Fan Deng Reading... However, today, our identity may be A group of users who pay for knowledge. I believe that the original intention of many knowledge sharing platforms is lofty ideals. I also respect the speculative attainments of people such as Luo Zhenyu and Fan Deng, but we should not become leeks.
The platform is not worth paying for, only the value is worth paying for.
From getting membership to Himalaya VIP, from reading club VIP to customized services. Whenever I pay for this, I always have Derek Bok's quote in my mind: "If you think the cost of education is too high, try the price of ignorance." Take it for granted, because I hope to pass Paying buys two things: one is the sense of self-discipline after investment, and the other is the quality of content that is better than free. I always believe that time is more valuable than money; we need to save time by standing on the shoulders of giants, so that we can ignore our own limitations and look directly at the mineral deposits. For this, we give the giants a certain reward. The original intention of this matter was so reasonable.
However, slowly, we may also feel that something is not quite right. The platforms of these giants are not here for you, and we also need costs to screen them. We screen almost regardless of the cost, and in the process of screening our limitations and insignificance are once again revealed. It turns out that our only recourse is to pay the bills again and again. In this not too long process, what was supposed to be a search for mineral deposits turned into a game of searching for giants. We need to reflect on how much of our decision to chase VIPs comes from the value of the content, and how much is based on seeking temporary comfort from anxiety. We also need to be more vigilant about whether it is the knowledge itself or the payment model that brings us satisfaction after becoming a VIP again and again.
Someone once said: All fragmented learning is a farce of self-deception. There is also a saying: I have read so many principles, but I still cannot live a good life. If these two statements are connected together, there may be a reasonable logic: You have listened to many lectures and read many books, but it is not systematic and is still imported. We really shouldn’t believe that what others digest can directly benefit our own field. That would be a borrowing at best, and I think it might not even be considered a borrowing.
Recently, based on a friend’s recommendation, I watched someone else teach calligraphy on Douyin. I watched a stroke dozens of times. The more I watched, the simpler it became, but the stroke returned to its original shape. I think that's the difference. All knowledge, separated from practical exercises and without the output of one's own understanding, cannot become a part of oneself at all. Here, I am reminded of the usual plot in Jin Yong's martial arts, where some people with mediocre qualifications become unique in the world because they get one or two sword manuals. This plot is probably the prototype of fragmented learning. The novel ignores the martial arts practice, but the reality cannot be fooled. Those VIP albums may have martial arts secrets, but there is no such thing as a martial arts success.
I temporarily rejected Fan Deng’s membership after three days. The rejection is not because it is not a good platform. In fact, it still makes me quite fond of it. I will remain a loyal user and will become a paying member in due course. Because in just three days, it did provide work worth digesting, but these are Fan Deng's, but not mine yet.
Reading fifty books a year is a very good wish, but I believe there is an essential difference between reading fifty books and making fifty books your own. My wish is to read five books a year but only if I can talk about it like him can these five books be considered mine.
We still need these people and platforms to fill the gaps in our drives. But they are just guides, and you still have to walk the road yourself, there is no other way. There is no need to worry unnecessarily. No one urges us to finish this life quickly, and no one asks us to return to our hometown. We are all travelers in our own world.