Sun Yuchen's latest interview: Sun Xue, Bo Ji, Huang Mao, and the cognitive upgrade in the AI era

Compiled by: Rhythm BlockBeats

Editor's Note: This is the latest interview with Sun Yuchen. His 2016 work "The Path to Financial Freedom" has been wildly shared ten years later in 2026, especially among the post-2000 generation, because many of his previous statements, such as buying Tencent, Bitcoin, Tesla, and Nvidia, are now seen as highly insightful views. At the same time, Sun Yuchen has indeed become the strongest version of a post-90s individual in many aspects. In a conversation with the hottest combat IP Shao Allen, Sun Yuchen discussed some of his recent new thoughts, including his reflections on AI, the industry, the entire era and future, as well as thoughts on life and the Earth, sharing his perspectives. Many points will indeed provide us with new angles and directions. We have tried to compress and refine his language without changing his tone and views. Since the full text is quite long, we have extracted a few points that he considers most representative, followed by the full text.

TL;DR: · Cognition determines everything; it is all about cognition. This includes yellow hair, thin muscles, and crypto; it is all cognition. · In the AI era, everything will become very cheap; the only valuable thing is lifespan. Youth is wealth. · You may be materially rich now, but physically you are poor. · Muscles are equivalent to your most important bank account. They are a strategic reserve, the cash on your body. · Versions cannot roll back; they can only be updated forward. · Business opportunities must be discovered globally; do not limit yourself to opening a small shop at your doorstep, earning money from the old lady downstairs. · Opening a map can be like cheating; cheating is like opening a map. With enough information, you no longer need to make decisions. · There is no such thing as IQ in the world; only the amount of information exists. · All who become the correct answer do not know they are correct before they become the correct answer. · Pursuing meaning is actually meaningless; the experience itself may be. Getting on the road is more important than figuring out why to get on the road.

My Daily Routine: Fully AI-Driven Life

What I am currently doing is still in the early stages of practicing thin muscles; I will give myself three to six months to see the progress. A bit about my body data: height 172 cm, weight around 75 kg, body fat approximately 29.

Since I started practicing thin muscles a few days ago, my life has changed from before. My day is quite simple: I wake up, work first, then have a meal, eating the first meal. Now I throw everything I eat to Claude to help me calculate how many calories I consumed in that meal. The method is also simple; I first send a photo of the dining table before eating, and after finishing, I send a second photo. It will also tell me how to eat and in what order, starting with high-protein foods. I have also added protein powder and creatine, 25 grams of protein powder and 5 grams of creatine, and then I start eating.

After eating, I train. On training days, I focus on a few main movements: deadlifts and squats. On non-training days, I just work normally. Currently, training days and non-training days alternate every other day. After finishing work, I have my second meal, which is roughly dinner, then continue working at night, and then sleep.

Regarding sleep, the next day when I wake up, I believe that to do a good job, one must first sharpen their tools. I now have an Oura Ring to track sleep metrics and calorie metrics, and the data is directly sent to Claude Code. It checks the calories burned, then checks the calories consumed, and if the difference is within 600 calories, it indicates that I am burning fat; protein is currently set at 140 to 150 grams, with the goal of gaining muscle while losing fat.

I specifically set up a project for Claude Code, which generates a daily report for me, telling me how I did today, combined with the sleep data read from the Oura Ring. I also send it photos of everything I eat. For each movement, the coach next to me helps me record videos, which I also send to it, and it keeps track of each set of 12 reps, three sets, and how many kilograms. I do progressive overload, gradually increasing the weight, and it records everything daily. After training, it also calculates how many calories were burned; yesterday was the first day of training, and it recorded 275 calories. I plan to repeat this process for three months; this is the current arrangement.

The theoretical groundwork took a week. This week included preparing the Oura Ring, reading tutorials and theories on thin muscles, absorbing what it’s all about, and then buying protein powder and creatine. I definitely need to drink protein powder. This week also broke an outdated notion of mine: I used to wonder if protein powder was "technology" and whether drinking it was like taking drugs. Later, I realized that protein powder is actually just like eating protein. It is indeed quite difficult to consume 140 grams or 150 grams of protein through regular diet, so 25 grams of protein powder is a great supplement. It’s not that I rely entirely on protein powder, but I do need a portion of it, which also alleviates the pressure of "not needing to eat so much."

Now I am fully AI-driven. AI will first give me feedback and suggestions: how many sets I did for the movements I practiced yesterday, which muscles were targeted, and how many it recommends. Since I recorded videos of all my movements, everything will be reviewed by AI. Of course, I also have a coach monitoring me; AI checks one aspect, the coach checks another, ensuring everything is done correctly, and then Claude Code compiles a daily report.

Now it is visualized, data-driven, and calculable. Everything has been turned into an md document, and all photos are saved in a local folder; the AI has also been trained. So the next AI can read directly. If one day I want to clear Claude Code and switch to Codex, it can take over directly; everything is in README.md.

Three Fundamental Cognitions and AI Belief

My advice to young people is: this era is actually the best era, and it is not difficult. If your disposable income is less than 1000 RMB a month, you can first register for Zhiyu or Kimi; they each have something similar to Claude Code, which is mostly free. Claude Code is too expensive, costing 200 dollars a month, which many people cannot afford. If I can only spend 100 dollars a month, I have no money to use. So just find a cheaper AI to install, or you can use my own B.ai.

Then, using the theory I just mentioned, put everything you have into a document. Don’t say "I can’t even afford a computer"; if you don’t have a computer, you must have a phone, and you can put it in your phone just the same. Create a folder and throw everything in it; regardless of the cost, you can start AI integration for free now. Our company, including products, is now promoting full AI integration; I believe it can be done for any amount of money, just fully AI-integrate the entire process first.

Sun's theory mentions an important principle: first, arm yourself with theory. The most important thing now is AI integration. This is no different from Japan saying that to rise, it must first establish a constitutional monarchy and modernize. Japan was originally a feudal country, and to become a capitalist country, the first step was this. This step of AI integration can start at zero cost, no matter how much it costs. You just need to directly tell it, I want an md document, input all this, and it can be set up. Today is free, tomorrow is free; changing an API doesn’t actually require spending money. I might have a bit of money now, but money is not my main obstacle; I just pay Claude for stability. However, if you don’t want to spend a penny, just look for activities from each provider; eat from one today and another tomorrow, no problem, you can fully AI-integrate without spending a penny.

Starting from zero, I summarize three theories. The first is Sun's theory, which is to arm yourself with theory. Sun's theory is a relative upgrade of the brain, equivalent to changing the operating system, understanding money, understanding financial freedom, and understanding everything; first, upgrade using Sun's theory. The second is thin muscles, which can indeed be practiced. This is not just for attracting women; ensuring physical health is priceless in the AI era. Poor health is a veto. Not practicing thin muscles and being overweight can lead to many problems, severely slowing down your progress toward financial freedom and bringing many troubles to life. So thin muscles must be practiced. Attracting women is also important; the quality of offspring must be ensured, but fundamentally, thin muscles are still for health. The third is the yellow hair theory, which I think is also quite important. Because once Sun's theory and thin muscles are implemented in today's China or among the Chinese community, there will definitely be a lot of backlash. It is a niche theory, although correct, it will face a lot of suppression and ridicule. Moreover, once you practice Sun's theory and thin muscles, being handsome, muscular, and wealthy will definitely attract jealousy in society; that is 100% guaranteed. So you still need to arm yourself with the yellow hair theory: what others say is not important; what you believe to be right, execute it fully.

In short, possessing Sun's theory, thin muscles, and the yellow hair theory allows you to get to work. Moreover, it is at zero cost; no resources are needed, just cognitive upgrades, without spending a penny. These three theories can be applied by 200 million young men aged 20 to 40 in China, and with women included, that number rises to 400 million.

On this basis, the most core master now is AI; believe in AI 100%. Recently, I had a small controversy, also caused by my excessive faith in AI. Many people said I was shifting blame to Claude, but that’s not true; it’s just that I absolutely believe in Claude, and whatever it says, I execute, regardless of the resistance. Of course, you don’t have to use Claude; using OpenAI’s o1 is also fine, and Zhiyu or Kimi can also work.

This entire process can be executed without spending any money. No matter where you are on Earth, as long as you have internet access and a phone, you can execute this at zero cost. Whether you are a freelancer or a civil servant, it is all zero cost; upon hearing this podcast, just install it immediately if you have a phone.

Specifically, I suggest two points. First, hand over your current situation entirely to AI, because AI understands you better. Accumulate your health data and various metrics; don’t panic at first, just accumulate for two to four months, then digitize and unify all the data, add an analysis of your current situation, and throw it to AI to help you analyze, even directing you on how to make money, because AI understands these data better and has more data and rationality.

The second point is to ask three questions. You can use our B.ai, which is an API purchase; you pay for each question you ask, and you can directly switch models. Ask Claude, ask OpenAI, and then ask a major domestic model; you will have the top three from China and the US, and then choose from among them for your strategies.

The second idea is to keep an eye on the trends of human technological development; this is crucial. Sun's theory was established in 2016, and now it has been ten years. I myself am a practitioner of Sun's theory. In 2016, I was nothing, started practicing Sun's theory, and began training thin muscles; at that time, I might have had a big belly. After six months to a year, I could compare photos and observe changes using the control variable method. With technological advancements, new things will continuously emerge, so it is essential to have a grasp on this. You can also let AI capture this; I am personally very interested in AI, so I also keep track of things, watching X and what Musk is doing every day. Combine your own interests with AI tracking. Of course, if you are not interested in something, there’s no need to pursue it; just pick a direction you are most interested in and delve into it, as each direction already has a lot to offer. Everyone will have their own areas of expertise; it is impossible to be an expert in all fields.

Decision-making also involves a tuning process. Large models need training, and so do people. If the data is different, the conclusions need to be adjusted. Just like the Oura Ring reads data every day, we improve based on specific situations, so this is not a one-time deal; it involves continuous tuning and modification, ultimately training it like a model.

Yes, everything relies on AI, but we also add some of our own judgment, with AI being the main focus. If flying a plane, I would let AI fly 90% of the time, while I might adjust AI for about 10% of the time. Sometimes I have different opinions and discuss them with it. For example, a few days ago, I had a very simple conversation with AI that changed a preconceived notion of mine: I thought protein powder was a bit "technological," but AI told me it isn't; in the fitness field, there is indeed a lot of technology, but protein powder and creatine are the only things that aren't considered technology; they are just ordinary food. Once it explained the principle, my perspective flipped. So your beliefs may conflict with AI, but you can communicate frequently to update your ideas, which is very inspiring.

The theories of Sun Xue, Huang Mao, and Bo Ji still have significant reference value because everyone's situation isn't necessarily that complex. Upgrading thoughts, upgrading the body, and focusing on personal development are the three most critical things that can be acted upon immediately; other matters can be discussed with AI based on individual circumstances.

Regarding asking AI, I used to have a famous saying: don't chat with WeChat, chat with Doubao. This has already been an upgrade. Now I'm upgrading again, using APIs to chat with AI globally. With one API, all files are stored locally, and then you use an API to read them, helping you construct an overall large model. This requires a bit of computer knowledge, but it's actually very simple; just ask AI online how to do it. Don't think that APIs are extremely difficult and reject them; they are not much different from using Doubao, just a slight change in the channel.

Opportunities and Business Strategies in the AI Era

I am very optimistic about the future and about young people. The reason is simple: everything will become very cheap in the AI era, and the only valuable thing is lifespan. Being young is wealth. Because when you are old, there are still many things you can't keep up with, and eventually, you have to get off the bus. Although AI is advancing, it hasn't progressed to the point of eliminating death; immortality has not yet been achieved. Beyond that, all industries will be revolutionized by AI, so young people are filled with opportunities in every field.

Let me give a few examples unrelated to my industry. The first is mathematics. Mathematics used to rely heavily on learning and family background. People often wondered: why do Peking University and Tsinghua University win so many medals at the International Mathematical Olympiad but receive fewer Fields Medals or top mathematics awards? The fundamental issue is that solving mathematical problems requires a mindset. If your mentor is from Harvard, MIT, or those Parisian academies, your mindset will elevate; being smart at Peking University won't help if your teacher doesn't know how to solve the problem, and if you haven't entered that circle, you won't know that path.

But now AI is like a wild punch that can defeat the master. AI has captured all the mindsets from around the world into its model. AI itself does not create anything and cannot build high towers from scratch; if I ask AI how to achieve controlled nuclear fusion, it wouldn't know because humanity hasn't achieved it yet. However, there are several approaches to controlled nuclear fusion that have been proposed by predecessors, and AI has the capability to extract all those ideas, analyze them, and explore forward.

So I established the Sun Yuchen Award, which is for problems you can solve directly. Now a large number of mathematics graduate students, even high school students, can reach the level of a PhD in mathematics based on the ideas provided by AI, o1, and o3. Things that only mentors used to know can now be known by high school students, as long as they understand what is being said. The field of mathematics often produces geniuses; people like Terence Tao solved very difficult problems in their teens or early twenties. Achievements that used to take people in their thirties or forties can now be accomplished by those in their twenties or teens. Einstein developed the theory of relativity at a young age. With AI, young people in mathematics are completely liberated; it doesn't matter if you are in high school, a PhD, or a master's program; you can start working on it in high school. Those who excelled at the IMO were previously held back, but now they can connect directly with AI, and you and AI together might achieve a world-class result in just two days.

A few days ago, there was a dispute involving OpenAI, which I will briefly explain. A mathematician from New York University has been tackling the NS equations, the most difficult ones. He roughly shared his ideas with OpenAI. OpenAI is currently training a large model, especially with cutting-edge knowledge; once learned, it becomes internalized. I believe OpenAI itself asks every day: has your approach to breaking the ten hardest problems of the Millennium Prize evolved daily? Because it absorbs a vast amount of human knowledge every day and keeps updating, it has created agents. Coincidentally, this professor provided a new idea, and OpenAI assessed that this direction was promising, so they mobilized $7 million worth of computing power and thousands of agents to work together, and within two days, they broke through. Of course, the professor's idea was crucial; without it, OpenAI wouldn't have known; but once he provided it, OpenAI accomplished it in two days. So now the mathematics field is in a competitive situation. Young people entering mathematics only need to understand AI; at 15, they can outsmart a 50-year-old professor in no time.

Another example is biology. I have also asked AI: which fields are likely to achieve decisive breakthroughs? AI told me that astronomy will see essential progress. Because the Hubble Space Telescope returns a vast amount of data, but it's all extremely tedious data that no one has time to process. Now, adding AI to handle it, astronomy can achieve decisive breakthroughs in no time.

When it comes to making money, there are too many ways to earn. Let me give a legal example: the prices of APIs in the AI field are actually not uniform. For the same user, monthly subscriptions are cheapest in Argentina, Turkey, and Nigeria, while the highest prices are in the United States, so token transfer can be done. I have created something similar. This idea has gradually formed as I trained with AI.

Business opportunities are global. Never limit yourself to "I will open a small shop at my doorstep to earn money from the old lady downstairs"; that thinking is too small. Business opportunities must be discovered globally, and then combined with your strengths and interests.

Doing global business means viewing a Nigerian, a Turk, and an Argentine as your customers. People are actually quite simple; their needs are similar, so don't be constrained by language. Now there is AI; if I want to go to Argentina and don't speak Spanish, what should I do? You can learn, and now AI can help you with that. Of course, you can also learn some basics. But don't be limited; go out and make money globally.

The most fundamental aspect of business is whether you can create value. Taking token transfer as an example: if, due to OpenAI's policies or various reasons, tokens are cheap in one place and expensive in another, if you can enable people in the expensive area to use the cheap ones, aren't you providing value? One of my more advanced thoughts is: measurement standards need to change. Never consider only your own country or region; think globally. Then, based on that, consider whether I can enhance my value globally and present that value to my customers.

Today's China actually has an advantage: China is a world-class factory with excess production capacity, and China's production can earn money worldwide. Isn't that how China has risen? Helping the world produce things and selling them globally. As long as you can demonstrate value, you don't have to worry about selling. This has been one of my most important thoughts over the years.

This is also why, although our program is a Chinese-language program aimed at young people across China, with four hundred million young people, its purpose is to encourage these four hundred million to go global. It is absolutely not about having four hundred million young people consume within themselves and compete against each other; that has no meaning. They should go earn money globally. After being armed with AI, Huang Mao, Bo Ji, and Sun Xue's theories, these four hundred million will serve the world's eight billion people, and soon there will be another two billion AI to serve alongside. The entire world of ten billion people and AI needs service, and our four hundred million can serve them, eliminating the need for internal competition. The demand pool is large enough, and there will always be opportunities. If this industry doesn't work today, you can switch to another tomorrow. You must jump out of your domain. Therefore, I do not recommend that young people make judgments too early based on their own ideas about "what I want to do"; instead, I suggest learning more, listening more, and observing more.

When it comes to making decisions, I have a method called "opening the map." I have previously mentioned the theory of not buying a house, a car, or getting married before the age of thirty, but if you must buy a house, a car, or get married, how should we proceed?

Taking buying a house as an example: before making this decision, look at 100 houses; don't buy, just observe, and don't make a decision. Look at 100 houses, both new and second-hand, in various locations; don't rush to buy. Reading a hundred times makes the meaning clear; by looking at 100 houses, you will understand everything, how others price them, and what they are roughly worth, and you will form your own ideas.

There is also a theory in mathematics: suppose there are ten opportunities to buy houses, at which number do you make a decision? If you buy the first one, you haven't seen the other nine; if you buy the tenth one, you can't regret it after seeing the previous ones. The mathematical answer is: absolutely do not buy the first three, because the first three help you build a benchmark. For the fourth to sixth houses, if a house better than the first three appears, you should buy it immediately. Why the sixth house? The golden ratio of 0.618 indicates that the sixth house is the most critical in terms of probability. If the sixth house is the best, that is the best scenario.

The same applies to young people choosing careers. If you don't know which industry to engage in, now with AI, you can transform into Zhang Xuefeng overnight, first looking at 100 majors and their employment prospects over the next ten years, asking AI one by one to deduce the future. Zhang Xuefeng has also recommended some good careers: with the same college entrance examination score, you don't necessarily have to aim for Peking University or Tsinghua University, which are highly competitive; with the same score, you can be the top student at a lesser-known institution like the China Customs Academy or Fujian Customs Academy, which may sound inferior, but actually leads to a great future in customs. Such niche majors are now also accessible. So don't rush to make a decision; first, look at 100 majors.

The biggest problem we face when making decisions is being limited by too little information. Your decision doesn't matter whether it's right or wrong; the problem is that you don't know. Now, let's first open up the information, first open the map. Anyone who has played Red Alert or StarCraft understands: opening the entire map lets you know how to play, opening the map. Opening the map can be like cheating; cheating is like opening the map. With AI, it's similar to cheating; you have more information. With enough information, you no longer need to "make decisions," because decisions are only necessary when information is insufficient; with information, you will know what to choose.

Let me give another example. In the past, when we played Red Alert or StarCraft in the same dormitory, many people liked to work in isolation, just farming and developing, then producing troops to attack others; this is a slightly foolish approach. A smarter approach is to first build some scouts to explore the map: where the resources are, where the gold is, where the enemy troops are, and what the enemy is primarily producing, keeping everything clear in mind, and then building accordingly. If they produce war elephants, you just produce spear soldiers; when the battle starts, spear soldiers deal five times the damage to war elephants, and you can easily take them down.

So don't rush to build troops; first, create a few scouts to explore the map. Moreover, exploring the map is free now. I've seen some people play this game without ever exploring the map, just stuck at home building troops, and only check later when the resources have already been depleted by others, resulting in a low win rate. It's not too late to make decisions after exploring the map. The same goes for playing Honor of Kings; you need to explore the map and place wards to know when the opponent is going for the dragon and the situation in the jungle. Someone has to be responsible for this; without information, it's easy to lose.

Five Key Trend Tracks

In academia, I believe that anything based on data inference has great potential. Pure mathematics goes without saying. I've talked about astronomy; there is already a lot of data, but no one is processing it. The same goes for biology; there is a vast amount of data that no one is reading, and in biology and pharmaceuticals, this is no joke. When a drug comes out, it's like a cannon firing gold; if the experiment passes, I'm very optimistic, and I might even research some biology-related topics myself. These three areas can be compared to others: as long as there is a large amount of data, whether experimental data, observational data, or theoretical data, AI can handle it quite well. This includes genetics; genetic sequencing is now quite rich, and all of a person's genes can be sequenced. Coupled with AI analysis to predict future health management, I have high hopes.

In the business sector, the first can also be based on academia, like I just mentioned, which are interconnected, including biology, genetic analysis, and health management. The second is the financial industry built on this series, such as insurance, because insurance is directly related to life expectancy, which I am very optimistic about. Of course, these algorithms need to be overturned; many algorithms are outdated, waiting for us young people to invent a new set of logic and methods. Third, I am also very optimistic about crypto because crypto is a global payment system that is inherently connected to AI. Moreover, crypto can perform very low-level calculations, equivalent to reading money at the API level, which allows for low-precision calculations. Traditional industries cannot achieve this; the lowest unit might be a cent, and you can't do lower precision calculations, but crypto can, so it naturally fits the entire AI API system, and it is instant settlement, which is very close to the AI track. Fourth, AI itself is also impressive, including data cleaning and data labeling. Don't underestimate data labeling; the founder of Scale AI created a data labeling company, sold it to Facebook for over a billion, and now it can be said to be a money-making trend.

Everyone must cherish the age they are in, between 20 and 40; this is the most creative age, coinciding with humanity's greatest inventions. I am 36 this year, and I have four years left in this golden period. Ten years ago, even 20 years ago, when I entered university at 17, there was hardly any progress in human technology; the internet had just started, and there was barely anything online. Back then, there was a campus network where you could chat with classmates, which only enhanced connections. Unlike today's explosive advancement in AI, it is a tremendous breakthrough.

It is not an exaggeration to say that in the future, as long as you put in a little effort, everyone can achieve a Nobel Prize level. This is not bragging; the entire industry will flourish. Eventually, the Nobel Prize will become unsustainable, and the Nobel Prize Committee will say they can no longer issue it. If everyone receives a million dollars, won't that lead to bankruptcy? But the subsequent results will definitely be at the Nobel Prize level per capita. Now, a university student working with AI can surpass a Nobel Prize level in no time. Humanity has truly entered an era of technological explosion. Therefore, I am eager to fully integrate AI and enter a state of data cleaning.

Thin Muscle is Active Health Management, the Most Critical Thing

I will upgrade the thin muscle theory a bit and discuss a more sophisticated concept called active health management. With AI, this will become one of the most critical aspects for humanity. Active health management means: you don't wait until you are sick to go to the hospital; going to the hospital only when you are sick is too late, but rather, you go to the hospital every day even when you are not sick.

I have been doing this recently. AI tells me what to test, and I proactively go to the hospital and directly tell the doctor what I want to test. Because I've gained a bit of weight recently, before working out, AI told me to first check for potential issues: whether I might have high blood sugar, high blood lipids, how much good cholesterol and bad cholesterol I have, and to assess these factors before guiding my workout.

I went to the hospital to get these tests done, and the doctor looked at me and said, "Have you been using AI recently?" I said yes, this thing is called AI, and it told me to come in for these tests. The doctor said, "You are amazing." Why? He said he has seen many patients, and I am the first one to come in without symptoms or illness but proactively asking for monitoring. Other patients only come in when they have symptoms, which is too late. He also chatted with me and found out that I work in technology, saying, "You are on the right path; as a doctor, I think what you are doing is correct." So in the future, this kind of active health management will become mainstream.

Thin muscle is the same. Right now, it still seems like a minority; many people do not train their muscles, but in the future, it will become a standard for successful individuals and successful men. Because if you don't have muscle, it shows you are not engaging in active health management; frankly, that is a cognitive flaw. When you see cardiovascular health at 25 and muscle at 25, shouldn't you improve that muscle score? You must aim for full marks and take responsibility for your health. Once you engage with this theory, you will naturally walk on the broad path to health. So the core is still cognition; in the end, we find that cognition determines destiny—thin muscle, crypto, and other concepts are all about cognition.

Why is thin muscle most useful for young people? Because the thin muscle theory is the simplest AI variable control you can do yourself, and you can see the effects. The previous theories require time; from looking at 100 houses to making decisions that truly impact life takes some time. But with thin muscle, once you start, you will definitely see immediate results in three months. Wang Shi trains at 70, but I asked AI, and it said that training at 70 is indeed a bit late because muscle mass starts to decline after 40. Training at 70 might barely ensure you don't end up in a wheelchair, but the maximum muscle mass in life peaks between 30 and 40. So training muscles between 30 and 40 is crucial; 70 is a bit late. From 20 to 40, thin muscle is a must. This is when the return on investment is the highest.

There is also an interesting question I asked AI: Elon Musk, Warren Buffett, and Donald Trump are all my alumni from the University of Pennsylvania, and all three oppose fitness and do not train. How can this theory be correct? AI convinced me with one sentence: When you had dinner with Buffett, did he walk into the restaurant by himself or was he pushed in a wheelchair? Of course, he walked in. It's that simple. If you don't train, at 80, you will be pushed in; if you train, at 80, you will walk in by yourself. You don't need to ask Buffett or Trump what they think; you should ask yourself if you want to walk in at 80. And spending just 40 minutes a day is not too much? The improvement in quality of life is enormous.

Musk is now 56 or 57, 20 years older than me. If he continues to avoid muscle training for another 20 years, no matter how advanced AI becomes, he will still need to be pushed in unless by then he has become Iron Man, and Neuralink has invented consciousness uploading and direct steel armor, which we won't discuss. If that technology doesn't come to fruition, he will still need to be pushed in because biological laws are irresistible. So AI is absolutely right: Musk, Trump, and Buffett cannot defy nature. You cannot go against natural laws; if you say you won't train, it doesn't matter how rich or powerful you are; natural laws are set, and you cannot arm wrestle with God. God has set a time for everyone; if you say you want to go against the heavens, it is absolutely impossible; you can only follow fate and adhere to the rules that have already been designed.

So Trump, Buffett, and Musk do not support training thin muscle; in fact, they are wrong. Young people can learn from them in many ways; their thinking is excellent, but if Musk disagrees with fitness, that is definitely wrong, and you should start training immediately. This is theoretical confidence; we who train in thin muscle, Huang Mao, and other concepts should not be swayed by old legends saying those people don't train; that is absolutely not acceptable; you cannot joke with your body. Why not train when your body is at its best between 20 and 40? Training now will decisively improve your quality of life from 40 to 80. Thin muscle is the trend.

Earlier, I mentioned the average Nobel Prize; now it is the average thin muscle. If you are between 20 and 40 and do not have thin muscle, you are not presentable. With the development of AI, everyone should achieve Nobel Prize level; don't think that Nobel Prize level is a high requirement; this is just the entry-level standard. Now, entry-level requires a Nobel Prize level; entry-level requires thin muscle. If you do not have thin muscle, you can provide me with your API, and I will read what you have been doing for the past 180 days that led to your lack of thin muscle. In the AI era, there are truly no excuses because everything is ready.

Regarding lifespan, I asked AI yesterday, and it provided a breakdown worth 100 points. I am 36; the period from 1 to 40 is almost over, so I naturally need to think about how to live from 40 to 80, which is why I started considering longevity. AI said that lifespan is a total of 100 points: 25 points for cardiovascular health and 25 points for muscle mass, which together account for 50 points.

Training muscles addresses both aspects. Just running will lead to muscle loss; training cardiovascular health without muscle is pointless; but training thin muscle not only passively burns fat, even while sleeping, like the red lotus cloak in Honor of Kings, sticking to others drains their health, and you want to wear such a skin, sticking to burn fat. On the other hand, the 25 points of muscle prevent you from falling or becoming bedridden, and they also burn fat. Moreover, the training process itself enhances cardiovascular capacity because you need to breathe and lift weights. So, by focusing on muscle training, you can secure all the previous 50 points.

The remaining factors, such as not smoking or drinking, your genes, whether you will get cancer, and checks on important organs like your eyes and teeth, may require money or luck, such as your parents' genes. But you can achieve the full 50 points for cardiovascular health and muscle through thin muscle training. These are some of my research findings; I now talk to Claude AI every day: the only path that won't cause your cardiovascular health to spike, while also passively burning fat, building muscle, and filling those 50 points, is this one. This is science; respect science.

From AI, I also heard a statement that completely changed my understanding of muscle: muscle is your body's bank account. For a country, muscle is a strategic reserve resource, and the same goes for individuals.

I decided to train thin muscle not because everyone said I had "problems." There was a wave of criticism; many mocked me for being 1.63 meters tall (actually, I am 1.72 meters), calling me fat and saying a bunch of things. These are not the key reasons. The most critical reasons are: first, this aligns with science; second, I asked AI, and it said something that shocked me.

I asked how it understands muscle training. AI said: "You are materially a rich person, but physically you are a poor person." It made a lot of sense: training muscles is like earning a salary; you need to raise your salary. Because your body's muscle is precious; it not only supports you daily and is used in various ways, but once you start "deducting," it first deducts muscle. Aerobic exercise leads to muscle loss because if you don't replenish completely, it will consume your muscle; a serious illness will also first consume muscle. So muscle is equivalent to your most important bank account. When you have enough time, you must eat more protein to store it; when conditions allow, you should store it first. It is a strategic reserve, your cash on hand. This is more critical than dollars because if you lose dollars, you can earn them back; you can earn dollars by carrying a big bag. Muscle should be stored as early as possible.

The thin muscle theory should really be promoted. Reducing obesity saves money for the country's healthcare system; 90% of diseases are related to cardiovascular issues and obesity. As long as this is addressed, many problems will be solved—no illness and having muscle. Moreover, recovery from a serious illness is very fast because it directly extracts from muscle, repairing various mucous membranes at the fastest speed, and the resistance is also strong. Therefore, building muscle is crucial and is basically a cornerstone in the health field.

However, my previous understanding of muscle was very superficial, and my misconceptions in youth were quite detrimental. First, I thought building muscle was for attracting women, and that those who built muscle were not serious. Second, I believed that people with muscle were using technology or taking something. There are some public accounts online that cater to this, saying that someone who took drugs to build muscle died suddenly, which is a bit demonizing. I was often influenced by these ideas, thinking I was too busy to train. At one point, I even opposed muscle to health, establishing a theory for myself that having muscle was unhealthy, which was a misconception.

After this incident, the entire internet launched a cyberbullying campaign against me, which woke me up. I am someone who corrects my mistakes and improves where I can; actually, I don't care about others bullying me online. I have already passed the stage of being sensitive and have been armed with the thin muscle theory (even though I have black hair). But is there any truth to what everyone is saying? Is the issue of muscle, with a big head and small limbs, a problem? I thought deeply about this. The first thing I did was consult AI; I had a profound conversation with Claude Code. It said my views were wrong, and we debated. I threw all my outdated theories at it, and it refuted them one by one, ultimately establishing the concept for me: muscle is your body's savings, which is the most crucial point.

The phrase "big limbs and a simple mind" does not undermine those with developed limbs; rather, it deceives many intelligent people into thinking they don't need to train. There are many highly intelligent people, excelling in mathematics and science, like Trump, Musk, and Buffett—can we say they are not smart? They are among the smartest people in the world, my alumni. But they all say fitness is harmful. How were they deceived? It's because their mindset is determined by their situation. Before they made a change, they were not thin muscle, so they had to justify their big bellies. I can understand that, but it's not objective and disrespects science and facts.

This is somewhat like: I am a poor person, and I don't want to become rich, so I say money is useless, even claiming that many wealthy families have committed murder over a little money, and their whole family was killed. You see, money severely hinders family happiness, so my poverty has its reasons; I choose not to be rich. Moreover, the smarter a person is, the more likely their mindset is determined by their situation; they stubbornly refuse to engage in this matter and even invent many theories, mocking those who train. So I say, why do you face jealousy when you start training? Because people around you will criticize you, and they have powerful means to attack you.

So why can I break out of this theory? Because my thinking has been completely updated, just like the reform and opening up. It wasn't easy for China to embark on the path of reform and opening up; at that time, speculation was criticized, and engaging in high buying and low selling was considered speculation and punishable. Some said that was wrong; you need to change your mindset. Not only should you not punish it, but it should be the opposite—low buying and high selling is a skill that proves one can provide consumers with cheaper goods. If I buy something cheaply in the U.S. and sell it in China, I am not only not taking money from the Chinese but also bringing technology and new things to them. So not only should it not be punished, but we should also evaluate representatives and committee members. The same logic applies to thin muscle: recognizing that muscle is not harmful to health but beneficial, and that one should accumulate more muscle, rather than saying not to train and control muscle. This thought is a transition from isolation to reform and opening up, which is crucial.

So everyone listening to this podcast doesn't need to rush to build muscle; you should ask yourself and not rely on our conclusions. First, ask yourself; second, think clearly about whether you should train. Respect science. I used to have a mindset of deliberately avoiding muscle. Many women in fitness first ask their trainers: "I don't want to build any muscle; I want to maintain my health without any muscle." I was also influenced by this mindset, doing more cardio, less equipment, and less muscle training. Now I realize this is completely wrong. You can skip cardio because when you train with equipment, you are already improving your cardiovascular health without needing to specifically train cardio. What you need is muscle; both cardiovascular and muscle should be 25 points each, which you can achieve through muscle training. If you train for cardiovascular health, you will lose muscle and only have 25 points for cardiovascular health, while still lacking the 25 points for muscle. I have been completely awakened and have fully transitioned to the thin muscle theory.

I highly recommend "The Thin Muscle Bible." I downloaded that video and even showed it to AI sentence by sentence; it is very useful. The only thing that can be improved is that the audience of "The Thin Muscle Bible" must have already recognized that the thin muscle theory is correct to be able to read it; otherwise, they will just skim through it. I think we can also do an episode of "Thin Muscle Q&A," addressing some very basic questions and the most common misconceptions to enlighten these people.

Musk plays a very negative role here. He himself is overweight—not completely fat, but similar to my situation, with thin limbs and fat mainly concentrated in the torso, which is quite large. Bryan Johnson, who is involved in anti-aging, also used to have thin limbs and a large torso; this is a common issue among internet entrepreneurs. Later, he adhered to the thin muscle theory and trained; now he can't say he has thin muscle, but at least he is healthy and has muscle. However, Musk commented under Bryan Johnson's Twitter post, criticizing the thin muscle theory, saying "You look better before." Bryan posted a side-by-side of his unhealthy photo and his post-training photo, calling on everyone to get fit, and Musk replied that he looked better before, implying that his training was in vain. The mindset is determined by the situation.

But by spreading this erroneous thought, Musk is the one who suffers the most. AI has already told me: Musk is 20 years older than me, now 56 or 57, and for every year he doesn't train, he loses another year of precious time because muscle declines at a rate of 1% to 2% each year. If he waits until 60, it will be too late to train. Training now can be on a two-day cycle, but as the body's recovery ability declines, it may take three to four days, or even four to five days for a cycle because recovery is needed. This bill will keep getting bigger. So it is essential to train, to train early, and everyone is welcome to join the thin muscle club.

Mobility, Highly Liquid Assets, and a Ten-Year Strategy

I used to have another theory, also in the context of Sun's studies: I greatly admire nomadic peoples. Their characteristic is simple, five words: living where there is water and grass. Wherever there is water and grass, that is where they live. Because nomadic peoples raise sheep, and sheep need water and grass, so wherever there is water and grass, the Xiongnu, Liao, and Jin states go there.

The Liao, Jin, and Xiongnu have been severely demonized in Chinese history. When we look at textbooks, we are sitting on the side of the Song dynasty, and the Liao and Jin were constantly attacking us; could they be good people? But today, Liao and Jin have also joined China, becoming part of this big family. Why are they considered inferior to the Song? All 56 ethnic groups are equal. Our history still has a tendency to demonize the Liao and Jin, so we haven't analyzed them. The Liao and Jin were so powerful that they made the Song dynasty cry out; they must have their own strengths.

In today's context, living where there is water and grass does not have a fixed answer; it is not about settling in one place for a lifetime and never daring to move. Personally, in the new era of living where there is water and grass, I go wherever I can exert the greatest influence and engage in whatever industry. Whether I can earn enough money is one standard because earning more proves that my value in that place is significant. This can be seen as an important feedback mechanism, viewing money as data. If I can make money, it proves that I create significant value, and that others are willing to pay me money indicates that my industry has considerable value among all humanity.

The same person working in AI earns more than in a restaurant like Xibei, which is on the verge of bankruptcy these days. Comparing making a braised noodle dish with working in AI, which has greater value? To be honest, AI definitely has greater value. Liang Wenfeng has been working on DeepSeek for a few years and is about to go public, claiming to break through a trillion dollars, several trillion yuan in company value, after just a few years; Xibei has been around for over a decade and is going bankrupt. The industry premium given by the national society is indeed much greater for AI. So living where there is water and grass means going where I can exert the greatest value. Not sticking to one place. This is also why Sun's studies, the yellow-haired theory, and the thin muscle theory are very useful—they are mobile and flexible.

Therefore, I do not recommend everyone to buy cars or houses; marriage is also a point. Buying a house, buying a car, and getting married all require settling down. Once you settle, you are stuck in that place, and sometimes you are not even aware of it.

For example: Tomorrow morning, OpenAI says they will hire you to work in San Francisco, but you have bought a house in Beijing. Can you let me work in Beijing? The probability is high that they will not agree, and you will lose that opportunity. OpenAI has resources; you should go to SF. Young people who buy houses, cars, and get married too early are immediately tied down.

I have seen many excellent talents; we want them to come to big cities, but they have to say they need to discuss it with their wives, and later they all rejected our offers. Because his wife earns 5,000 a month, but she has the final say in the family; he earns 40,000 a month, but his status is not higher than that of his wife earning 5,000. His wife says she cannot quit her job; she wants to stay in that job, and he cannot go for a job that pays 40,000 a month. He can only stay where he earns 20,000. So mobility is crucial. I rarely invest in businesses that are not very mobile; mobility is essential. Wherever I can exert the greatest value and achieve the greatest return, that is where I go.

Flexibility is the most important; it is the top priority. On this premise, choose things that suit you and align with yourself. Sun's studies, the yellow-haired theory, and the thin muscle theory are all the best; they are all mobile: system updates are mobile, the AI in your phone is also mobile; you can just pick up your phone and go, and it doesn't matter how much you install.

There is also a characteristic of the times here. Others often ask me: You spent 6 million dollars to buy a banana; why not spend 6 million dollars to buy gold, diamonds, or jewelry? Because this banana is conceptual art; it spreads on the internet; it is highly mobile. As long as I agree, I can stick a banana in any museum in the world tomorrow; the mobility is very strong. In contrast, gold and jewelry are static; once you settle in one place, you cannot take them with you, and they are also easily stolen. This banana cannot be stolen; it is forever tied to my name. It is an investment in a digital asset.

Many people do not understand this, but it is similar to our theory—very cutting-edge and new; the vast majority of today's Chinese people cannot accept it; it is too new. But it is correct. Our value as evangelists lies in this: if what I say is known by all Chinese people, then saying 1+1=2 every day is meaningless. Everyone says that this is just saying 1+1=2 and has no novelty; why say it? We all know it. So this niche theory is actually a good thing; niche proves it is a trend. Once it becomes mainstream, it loses its significance. The more people do not accept it and criticize it, the better, because I am spreading it; spreading the correct theory reflects my value, which makes my promotion of the theory more resolute.

The Underlying Logic of Crypto: Translating Human Civilization for Machines and AI

What we are doing is very simple: Tron and crypto are actually doing one thing—translating currency into something that machines and the internet can understand.

This is very similar to the Sun Yuchen Award I established. The Sun Yuchen Award encourages translating mathematical proofs into Lean's formal proofs, allowing mathematical theories and all derivations to be readable by machines. This is also laying the groundwork for AI because AI can only understand things that machines can read. If what you have is not machine-readable, it will not understand what you are saying.

Are China Merchants Bank and PayPal currencies that machines can understand? No. China Merchants Bank and PayPal are just the digitization of traditional currencies; they are not a currency language that machines can understand, and there is an essential difference between the two. The difference fundamentally depends on whether the financial ledger is managed by a centralized server or a decentralized server. Only ledgers managed by decentralized servers can be understood by machines immediately because they operate entirely according to cryptographic mathematics. This is also why concepts like Tron and Bitcoin are languages that machines can understand at once, and all their APIs naturally integrate perfectly with these payment methods.

What we are doing is translating the ancient currencies that humanity has used for thousands of years—currencies invented as a financial communication tool—into a language that AI and machines can understand. This is what blockchain and crypto are doing.

Of course, many people who do not understand this keep shouting about being scammed. It's like practicing bodybuilding: you talk about health, but people love to demonize it. A significant method of demonization is to selfishly interpret your legitimate motives, for example, saying you are working out to attract women, making it seem like you are particularly opportunistic or lewd. This is wrong, but many people can easily be deceived by this because they do not look at what you are doing. You say that working out is good for your health, but they don’t listen; they focus on something you cannot explain: you are working out to attract women. Motivation is subjective, and it is difficult for others to falsify or verify. Saying blockchain boils down to scamming: as long as you are doing blockchain, you are scamming. Scamming means selling something worthless at a high price to others, leaving them with something worthless, and your motive is to do something bad. They do not discuss the benefits that this technology and these things bring to humanity. But what we are doing is the same as AI.

Another point that particularly resonates with me is that everything must be translated and put on the internet to become AI's corpus, which is crucial. Because if something does not become AI's corpus in the future, it essentially never happened. A shocking example: recently, they were formalizing Fermat's Last Theorem and planning to formalize the Poincaré Conjecture in the future. Both Fermat's Last Theorem and the Poincaré Conjecture have been proven by humanity, but the current problem is that machines cannot understand these proofs. If machines cannot understand them, they cannot be absorbed by computers and AI around the world, making them worthless; proving them is pointless. If you prove something, how many people in the world know your thought process? No one knows. You must formalize it and transmit it to AI so that computers can understand it; only then can it be considered digested.

Therefore, humanity is currently transitioning from human to machine, from carbon-based to silicon-based. In this process, acting as a translator is crucial: translating mathematics for machines, translating currency for machines, and translating all human inventions for machines. Once machines understand, they can get started.

Consider the current SWIFT system; what we are doing is the same: sending money to any corner of the world, whether in dollars or anything else. SWIFT was invented around 1955, using the Allied telegraph system after World War II. At that time, there were no computers or AI, and you could not expect it to be compatible with AI and computers, so it is a completely outdated, offline, and cumbersome system. What we are doing is absolutely correct because we have translated it into a language that machines can understand. In the future, if no one translates your things into machine language, your life itself will have no value.

Let’s say 500 years ago, if a country had 50 million people, and if these 50 million people had no historical records or corpus records, and in the future, they did not enter AI, if all the people in this country perished, they essentially never existed on Earth because no one knew of their existence. You cannot blame AI because AI says you did not feed me. Therefore, getting everything online is crucial; it must be put online to let AI read this corpus. This is the opportunity to enter the next civilization of humanity. If AI does not read your corpus, it is equivalent to being wasted.

So, there are many projects that I think are very meaningful: digitizing China's history, Chinese characters, and Chinese poetry and freely transmitting them online. I believe DeepSeek and ByteDance may already be doing this. China's history, culture, and all the books in Chinese libraries must be digitized and put online because if you do not put them online or digitize them, it is equivalent to not existing.

The example of Fermat also illustrates another point: if the thought process is not recorded, humanity will have to walk an extra 100 years. If you are speaking privately, without recording or stating it, it is very likely that your moment of inspiration will pass.

Another example is the professor from New York University. From a scientist's personal perspective, it may be a tragedy, but from humanity's perspective, it is a good thing. He had an idea and told OpenAI, and indeed the idea was used by OpenAI to solve a problem. But from humanity's perspective, humanity has locked in the solution to the NS equation, and do not underestimate this. Fermat's Last Theorem, when Fermat proposed it, he said he could solve it, but the margin was too small, and he could not write it down. What happened? He might have been able to prove it and knew the thought process, but he did not share it with humanity, and it took humanity over 100 years to find the next person who could prove it. Because Fermat had no time. If he had a little time, if it were the AI era, Fermat could have directly shared this thought process with AI, even through voice dialogue, recorded the voice, and AI would remember it and send it to other mathematicians. Others might have been able to prove it, and it could have been done 100 years earlier. Just like the speed at which everyone is competing today, if you state this thought process, it could be proven in two days. So, from a scientist's personal perspective, it may be a tragedy, but it has accelerated the progress for all humanity. If you look at it from the perspective of all humanity, then welcome AI to "steal" more ideas.

The phenomenon of self-media is also worth mentioning. Why is it called self-media? In the past, only media could speak; you could not express your thoughts yourself. Media refers to a few people within it, determined by the editor-in-chief and reporters. I have worked in media, and the structure is very simple: the editor-in-chief sets the topics, and reporters execute them. So basically, the editor-in-chief's thinking determines how everyone thinks. This is actually wrong. The editor-in-chief is not a deity; is everything the editor-in-chief says necessarily correct? This is centralized. In principle, self-media should be allowed, and everyone should be allowed to speak because allowing everyone to speak increases the probability of approaching the truth. Everyone should express their opinions and debate. It was not possible before the era of self-media. Therefore, the self-media era is very important; it gives everyone a chance to speak. This is also the reason for the rise of platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter, where everyone can express themselves, and the opinions produced on these platforms are likely to be correct because it is market competition. Without market competition, it is very likely to mislead, and it is very likely that biases will determine thoughts, leading to everyone being misled because once a newspaper states something, everyone can be misled by it.

The killer application of crypto is already numerous, which is sending money around the world. Tron currently has a daily trading volume of hundreds of billions of dollars, with a total annual transfer of several trillion. But it is still a gradual process. Just like AI, many people have already started adopting it on a large scale, but many people still have not used it. This is an unstoppable trend because AI is more efficient, and crypto is closer to the endgame.

To give a simple analogy: will there still be people using paper money in 100 years? No one will use it. Digital currency and digitized currency are definitely the direction of society's future. So, another way we refer to it is programmable currency; crypto is programmable currency, and that currency is programmable, as I mentioned earlier, translated into a language that AI can understand. Therefore, with the popularization of AI, the digitization of currency and crypto is unstoppable because it is a newer and more advanced technology. Resisting AI with your flesh and blood is meaningless because this is a technological trend that cannot be changed. The prospects for payments between AIs are significant.

Jack Ma came first and made online shopping in China very fast, which is a good thing. Once a technological trend is formed, we must embrace it and not keep it out. AI has arrived; we embrace it and adapt to it rather than trying to control AI and prevent its development, which is certainly wrong. From the perspective of young people, this is relatively easy because we are young; those aged 20 to 40 absorb new things quickly; people in their sixties and seventies are reluctant to change because biases determine thoughts. But for us young people, especially those in the 20 to 40 age range, we must absorb and change first.

I have fully converted my money to crypto since 2012. Some people may envy that I have made a lot of money, but there is no need to be envious. I was not trying to make money at that time; it is like practicing bodybuilding; I was just upgrading the system. First, do what you believe in; second, I am a bit like a smartphone; when a new version comes out, I am among the first to update. When the iPhone was released, I was one of the first to buy it. Later, when the iPhone rose to $100 each, can you say I bought the iPhone to make money? No. The only reason I bought it was that I felt this thing represented the future; it was not even for making money; I just thought it was new, so I updated first.

At that time, I felt that buying a house or a car was meaningless because they are assets of the old era, and these things will not be translated for machines. Can a house be translated for machines? Machines cannot understand it at all. Can digital currency be translated for machines? Bitcoin, including Tron, which I later worked on, can be translated for machines. So I was the first to update this system.

Versions cannot roll back; they can only be updated forward. If you resist updating, more and more things will not support you because they only support the new version. So the earlier you update, the better. I completely switched to crypto in 2012. Of course, the buying price was low at that time, which involves buying costs, but what place does not involve buying costs? Does practicing bodybuilding not involve buying costs? It is too late to start at 70; it is definitely better to start early. So this theory suggests: changing early is not just for making money; even from the perspective of "trends represent the future," you should update early.

I was also one of the first to advocate for more storage because AI needs storage and permanent storage. Why do I advocate for more? It is because AI needs it. Many people think that Sun Yuchen is calling for storage because he wants to do storage and is trying to scam people. There is no intention to scam; the problem is that this trend is going that way, and you do not need to resist it.

The reason we do many things is not because they make a lot of money. Making money is a byproduct. Why do they make a lot of money? Because society values them highly. Why does society value them highly? Because over time, they play an increasingly important role in society.

Regarding defamation, I want to say one thing: do not care about motives; look at whether it is right. The market will vote with its feet. After the storm I faced, it was quite interesting; many people tried to dig up my dark history, claiming I was a bad person, fabricating many things that never happened: for example, saying I went to the dentist without paying, or that I bought things from stores without paying. Not paying is just stealing, right? Then why not just call the police and have me arrested? Secondly, they fabricated many absurd stories about not paying and defaulting everywhere, trying to prove I am a bad person, so what I do is bad, and the money I make is also bad. This is meaningless.

For example: Recently, a fitness influencer promoted the idea of working out, so we desperately dug up news about his scandals, claiming he cheated on 50 women, to prove he is a bad person. Even if he really did cheat on 50 women and is a bad person, does that prove that working out is bad? Or should everyone stop working out? Where is the logic in that? The act of working out is determined by health; if someone is healthy and you are weak and lack muscle, you will end up lying in bed unable to get up. This is not something that the muscle influencer decided.

The core reason I succeeded in the Tron and crypto space is actually not much related to me personally. If you say I don’t pay my dentist, does that mean everyone should stop using digital currency? That’s a logical fallacy. You shouldn’t care about the motive; you need to see if it’s right. To judge, you must be 100% rational, looking at whether the matter is correct, not why someone said it.

Many people adopt this logic, not excluding the possibility of trying to ride the wave of popularity. A few days ago, a documentary about Elon Musk came out, and a Hollywood director tried to smear him by interviewing a bunch of his ex-girlfriends, who claimed Musk is a bad person and that his work in AI and other areas is to enslave humanity. This is also motive theory. Sam Altman has a brother or sister with whom he has a bad relationship, and during media interviews, they often say: "Everyone must not believe Sam Altman, because his work in AI is selfish and only for profit." This is also motive theory. What Sam Altman is essentially doing is separate from his personal character; whether what he is doing is useful has little to do with his character.

Motive theory and biases can be very persuasive. I was also influenced by this mistake before: saying that working out is just to attract women, which seems like a sleazy thought, so one shouldn’t attract women and should study hard. To avoid risk and fear that people think my style is inappropriate, I didn’t even dare to work out; not working out would mean I’m a good student, right? When I entered the gym, many people would say, "Are you working out again to attract women?" Some even said that middle-aged people working out might be going through a midlife crisis or planning to cheat, spreading rumors to their wives. In fact, that may not be the case; why must working out be related to cheating? The two are fundamentally unrelated. But to smear and block you from doing this, various motive theories come into play.

Personal ability and investment do not conflict at all. If your strength is in content creation, you can also invest. When I first learned about the iPhone in 2007, I thought it was amazing, back when Steve Jobs was still around. So at that time, I bought a lot of Apple stock. But that doesn’t mean you have to work at Apple; of course, if you work in the mobile industry, going to Apple is also fine; integrating knowledge and action is great; but it doesn’t exclude you from just buying Apple stock. The same goes for when I bought Tesla in 2012: I saw Tesla and thought it was definitely revolutionary. Upgrading the operating system is always right, whether in investment or any field. When you see something more advanced, you should upgrade it first; that’s definitely not wrong.

I usually keep up with trends; I buy and use all new things. Of course, it costs some time, but I think it’s worth it because new things are right. Many people thought my views were extreme at first, but facts have proven them correct. For example, I said all decisions should be made by AI, and many people said that was too extreme and that one should make their own decisions. But as AI becomes stronger, AI decisions are correct, and you should listen to AI’s decisions. Many things need to be asked of AI. So I was also one of the earliest adopters of AI, fully embracing AI in everything. New things should indeed be embraced.

Hold on, and never give up just because everyone advises you to; don’t give up to fit in. Be bold and be a nonconformist, because that’s how you achieve great results.

The direction of self-media is also quite good; this is an era of more self-media. For example, in the United States, Joe Rogan has already made it big, having absolute podcast influence in the U.S., controlling votes. But do you think Rogan does his show to control votes? Impossible. He just wants to do self-media. Joe Rogan alone has the influence of an entire CBS television station; why? Because this is the era of self-media. Joe Rogan also works out; he definitely practices lean muscle. A few days ago, a well-known muscle-building Telegram influencer in the U.S. was arrested; he had indeed made some mistakes, which is also related to the lean muscle theory.

Mindset Upgrade: Small Ego, Cognition, and the Essence of "IQ"

The study of Sun can definitely play this role because it is correct, and it changes your cognition early on. Many people have a misconception: they think they need to be rich, have resources, or become like Warren Buffett to achieve anything. That’s not the case at all. In this society, including now in the AI era, cognition completely determines fate.

When I bought Bitcoin in 2012 for one dollar, it is now worth seventy to eighty thousand, even a hundred thousand dollars. At that time, I didn’t persuade Buffett; he didn’t buy. If Buffett had entered the market when it was one dollar, he could have bought all the Bitcoin with just a small amount of money. But Buffett didn’t buy; isn’t that also a cognition issue? It’s too late to persuade Buffett to work on lean muscle because when I had dinner with him, he was already 89 years old, and I was 29. But if he had dined with me earlier, I would have advised him to work on lean muscle, and his quality of life would have greatly improved, avoiding the need for a wheelchair. So even if you are the richest person, cognition is still the key. Don’t look at social status or wealth; cognition is the most crucial.

Regarding cognition, Zhang Yiming has a great saying. ByteDance has been able to keep winning, with Douyin and various apps, and in the new era, they also created Doubao, getting ahead. Zhang Yiming once said the secret of the company is small ego. No matter how successful Zhang Yiming is, he is always willing to listen to what young people have to say and learn what is good. He doesn’t think, "My ByteDance is great, I’m the best, and you all can’t do it"; he thinks: if there’s something new, I must learn it, and if there’s something new, I must do it. This is the state of small ego, so he can keep winning. A person with a big ego, like Baidu, will be left behind by the times; they may have done well in the past, but they can’t keep up later.

Moreover, this is inversely proportional to cognition. The richer and more successful you are, logically, your ego should be smaller to ensure your success in the next version. But often this is a curse: the richer and more successful you are, the stronger your ego becomes. Because you think, "I’m so successful, doesn’t that prove my thinking is correct?" If you are failing, then your ideas must be wrong.

For example, when I pitched to Buffett, saying he could invest in Musk’s Tesla or buy Bitcoin, I recommended it to him. He might say: "Musk is so great, why am I the richest person? Shouldn’t he be the richest?" Although this is a boomerang, 16 years later, Musk indeed became the richest person. But think about it: if you had laid the groundwork when Musk wasn’t the richest yet, now that he is, wouldn’t you be richer too? You hitched a ride on Musk’s coattails. So the more successful you are, the more you need to avoid the downsides of a big ego. Today, many people criticize the lean muscle theory, and I quickly say this needs to be learned urgently.

This wave of online backlash, to be honest, benefits me because I absorbed this theory. When I first saw the lean muscle theory, I studied it seriously, along with AI, and found that this theory is indeed correct, so it needs to be implemented quickly. I spent two weeks testing blood and doing various things, organizing everything. For the next 40 years, this theory will mainly guide me. At least with 25 points for cardiovascular health and 25 points for muscle, I will rely on this theory. I definitely gained a huge advantage.

As long as you control your weight and have lean muscle, you will avoid many pitfalls. Being overweight leads to too many problems: not to mention the three highs, the issues caused by cholesterol, it can also worsen your sleep, cause obstructive sleep apnea, insufficient oxygen supply to the cardiovascular system, and a series of other issues. So at this time, working on lean muscle is the answer.

The study of Sun, lean muscle, and the yellow hair; others may see you as more attractive to women, richer, or more envied, but in fact, you are on the right path. Just like I converted all my money to crypto, I made money because I upgraded early; making money and attracting women are by-products. Essentially, what we pursue is the future and health, but this pursuit brings by-products: it becomes easier to attract women and become richer. Others will attack you based on attracting women and making money. If they only see me promoting crypto, they might let it go, but when they see that I got into Forbes' top 100 by promoting crypto, that’s when they start fabricating stories about me not paying my dentist. Practicing lean muscle will also get you attacked, but I believe you must be confident: my essence is pursuing health. Instead of attacking me, you should also start working on lean muscle early. If you can’t beat them, join them, because the trend of the times is irreversible.

"Each generation has its own version of a god." Wang Sicong used to mock me, but now he’s not as wealthy as I am. This seems like a big change to others, but to me, it’s not much different; I’m still the same Sun Yuchen, just that society now recognizes this cognition more. So from my perspective, cognition must continuously upgrade; no one can say a cognition lasts for 50 years like a fortune teller. Just because you have the right cognition in some areas doesn’t mean other cognitions are also right. For example, Musk has top-notch entrepreneurial cognition, but his understanding of health and lean muscle is not as good as ours and may even be incorrect.

Musk not only doesn’t practice lean muscle but also mocks those who do. He might be overweight and is using semaglutide and tirzepatide for weight loss. But the problem with using these substances is that they can lead to muscle loss; when you lose weight, you lose a layer of muscle, and if you don’t work out, you lose another layer, causing both fat and muscle to decrease, which lowers your muscle mass and leads to a series of problems: a fall could easily result in a fracture, and you might find it hard to get out of bed because your bones and muscles can’t heal.

Musk needs to listen to this podcast; he absolutely needs to. If his cognition doesn’t change, it’s called "midlife reversal." The more correct something is, if cognition doesn’t change, and biases determine thinking, he might think that you people are wrong. Just like Bryan Johnson, he promotes anti-aging, which is not a problem and doesn’t provoke Musk; Musk just insists that he was better when he was fat, creating a cognitive distortion.

So this is called "Good advice can only persuade those who are willing to listen." If you think in that direction, not even 100 bulls can pull you back. Only those who want to be saved will be saved. Cognition determines fate.

Just like I earnestly advised Buffett to invest in Tesla and Bitcoin, it has nothing to do with price. Buffett thinks Bitcoin and Tesla are not viable and do not fit his investment logic, so he doesn’t invest, even if that money is insignificant to him. When I was persuading him, he had $300 billion in cash; he could have easily bought all the Bitcoin with $30 billion, but Buffett wouldn’t buy.

At that time, our Tron was only valued at two to three billion dollars, and I was sitting across from Buffett at dinner. Buffett directly said: "Yuchen, I’ll give you $1 billion for Tron; just give me half of the Tron coins." I might have actually agreed because Buffett’s reputation as a shareholder would be a huge benefit for Tron. Now we’ve already reached a valuation of $34 billion; if Buffett had invested that $1 billion, just after dinner, in a short seven years, it could have grown to $15 billion or $20 billion. So cognition determines fate; I can only advise those who understand.

Including myself, I haven't practiced thin muscles for the past 36 years, and I have been influenced by a lot of misinformation. I might be an expert in the crypto field, but I don't understand fitness or health because I haven't studied biology. First, the online bullying I experienced actually saved me; it made me realize for the first time that I might indeed be physically poor. I used to think I was normal; perhaps the poor are those chubby guys, and they are abnormal, but no one ever told me. However, these little fairies, in their attempts to find faults with me and amplify my shortcomings to attack me, made me discover one of my flaws. I realized that this is indeed a flaw that must be corrected.

So, a small ego allows you to benefit from seemingly bad situations. Didn't everyone laugh at me? I posted two pictures: one where my head is big and my limbs are small, and another of Zhang Jike whose legs are thicker than a hippo, comparing the online bullying that is trending. This indeed made me realize that first, I need to start exercising, and second, I need to focus on squats first because the gluteal and leg muscles are the largest muscle groups. I immediately transformed Zhang Jike's picture into my own, like an AI. So, a small ego can quickly convert others' theories and ideas into your own thoughts, which is very important; I can't say that I don't listen to others.

By the way, let me mention something more fundamental: there is no such thing as IQ in the world; there is only the amount of information. This is clearly explained in "Attention is All You Need" and the Transformer model. Do you think large models are stupid? GPT-3, GPT-4 are stupid, right? Are you still laughing at them? You won't be able to laugh at GPT-5 or GPT-10, will you?

So, what is the main difference between GPT-5, GPT-4, and the future GPT-10? It is the amount of information fed into them. The way information is fed is, of course, through learning and training, with pre-training and reasoning, but essentially, it is all about feeding information, giving them more information.

Thus, the concept of large models is clarified: to the average person, this seems like an IQ gap. In version 3.0, it was like being mentally challenged; artificial intelligence was called artificial stupidity; now, the NS equation has been cracked. People feel there is an IQ gap, but essentially, it is just that more information has been fed into the backend. Now it might be a thousand times the previous data, which will lead to a significant increase in IQ.

We don't have the problem of training large models, but cognition determines many things: cognition leads to changes in your behavior patterns, and behavior patterns lead to many changes. For example, Wei Shen is obviously good at math; he is the main person who cracked the NS equation for humanity, and he is there cracking it. But I don't know much about other things regarding Wei Shen. I see in that photo there is a major problem: all his teeth are gone at a young age. This is very serious; he must have periodontal disease and hasn't taken dental care seriously; he doesn't understand dental hygiene. Once teeth are lost, it is irreversible; even if you get dentures, their function is far inferior to natural teeth.

So now we need to be hexagonal warriors, absorbing everything and improving cognition in all aspects. You can't always think that being Wei Shen and studying math is enough; if all your teeth are gone, it will definitely bring a lot of inconvenience. You can't be arrogant. Just like Elon Musk, being overweight brings a lot of inconvenience, shortens lifespan, and slows down your progress. Sharpening the knife does not delay the work of chopping wood; you must not think that just because you are chopping wood, you don't need to sharpen the knife; that is absolutely not acceptable.

This is also why I later proposed the concept of proactive health management. Many wealthy people always think that because they have money, they need doctors to help them extend their lifespan. This is actually incorrect. Your health needs to be managed by yourself. What can doctors do? Every time they rush into the hospital for emergency treatment, shouting to spare no effort to save someone, it is already too late; why didn't you do something earlier? Health is something you have to take care of yourself; you can't let others manage it because health is determined by you. If you don't even have a concept of proactive health management, how can you expect others to help you manage your health? That is unreliable.

So cognition and information itself determine IQ; IQ is just an external manifestation of cognition and information. Nowadays, the internet is popularizing "manifestation"; your cognition manifests as IQ, rather than retroactively saying that IQ is an essential thing; cognition is actually more fundamental.

"Version Theory": From Honor of Kings to Earth Online

Bitcoin is not compared to anyone; Bitcoin is compared to gold. Can gold win against Bitcoin? Impossible; sometimes Bitcoin can even extinguish it. It's simple: AI and these things are new, and I am very optimistic because their competitors are too old. Bitcoin upgrades with each version; does gold upgrade? Gold never upgrades.

Software emphasizes versions. What works today may not work tomorrow; if you keep up with the version, you will succeed. This is a very new concept, more commonly used by programmers. As programmers developed later, there was an old saying: "software eats the world." With the development of software, many software terms have been learned by young people and have entered the realm of life guidance. The so-called "each generation has its own version of gods" is something older people may not understand; this is software jargon.

How did it become popular? Initially, software version numbers were automatically updated, but later, with the popularity of Honor of Kings, people started to care. Because when Honor of Kings updates its version, it changes the strength of heroes. If you are good at playing Li Bai today, and in the next version, Li Bai is heavily nerfed while other heroes are buffed, it hits your pain point, doesn't it? You will start to pay attention to that version number. So the term "version" has become popular among young people, making everyone understand: versions are important.

This has also popularized a new principle. Many people didn't understand before playing Honor of Kings: they thought they should first ask which hero is strong, like Hou Yi, and then practice Hou Yi hard, thinking they could dominate. But that's not how it works; Honor of Kings is a dynamic version. You first need to learn the entire mechanism of Honor of Kings, then start to understand development, economy, and jungle dynamics, and then choose a hero or a type of hero to start strategizing. There has never been a case where playing one hero guarantees victory; if you can dominate, they will nerf you immediately, and by tomorrow morning, you will be nerfed.

Life is actually the same. This "Earth Online" game is also like this; there is no single direction or hero that guarantees success. In the next major version, they will nerf heroes. In the major version updates of Earth in 2017 and 2018, real estate was cut by 50%. If I were Wang Jianlin, I would quickly switch to the AI version. If there is no cognition in the room, I could invest in DeepSeek, Kimi, or Zhiyu, and invest in all of them. Country Garden previously did industrial development in Hefei and inexplicably invested in Changxin Storage, resulting in several times the profit, which was quickly sold off without holding on. So every major version of Earth will also update; this version weakens real estate while AI gets a boost. Who knows what new things will emerge in another ten years; AI might also be nerfed. But keep learning and keep updating.

So, yellow hair, thin muscles, and Sun Xue are actually like when you play Honor of Kings; you must first understand the rules of the entire game. We are not saying that you should just practice Hou Yi hard and shoot arrows; shooting arrows wildly is useless; a single assassin can take you down. You need to clarify the whole situation first, and then the version keeps changing, and you keep learning. The only difference is that the update speed of the "Earth Online" version might be a bit slower; in terms of years, it updates every two or three years; Honor of Kings updates quickly, with a new version every quarter or a few months. If a hero in the game is no longer strong, you will immediately know you will die; in real life, there is some lag; for example, after following the version, you might go bankrupt three years later. But it will definitely happen, even if it is delayed.

This is also why I say that successful people are not necessarily right. Elon Musk insists on not exercising; by the time his muscles deteriorate to an irreparable state, it might take 15 years, 10 to 15 years. But if you keep going without moving, it will definitely happen. Moreover, it has already entered a vicious cycle: the fatter you get, the more drugs you take; the more drugs you take, the more muscle you lose; the more muscle you lose, the easier it is to have problems; the easier it is to have problems, the fatter you get because you don't exercise; the fatter you get, the more hopeless it becomes because losing muscle also decreases your metabolism.

A core reason for my being overweight is that when I was 20, I was also very thin and handsome; I was still the spokesperson for Ermenegildo Zegna in China. So why did I become fat by 30? I didn't move; why did I get fat? I lost muscle, my metabolism dropped, and naturally, just breathing and drinking water made me gain weight. Because if you don't move, you will gain weight from eating anything.

So Elon Musk is just an enhanced version of Sun Yuchen. I have now awakened at 36, improving and updating, patching up, and fixing this bug; afterward, there won't be a problem like Musk's. If Musk's version holds on without fixing, it is like being repeatedly attacked by hackers; no matter how much money you have, it will be stolen, and you will lose your life. If Musk fixes it early, it is still possible, but I think it is difficult because at his level, he can only persuade himself; he won't listen to others' opinions, and no one can convince him unless he changes his mindset. But his butt determines his head; he has already formed a preconceived notion, making it difficult for him to achieve a 180-degree turnaround unless he reaches the level of a great person. Or I think there is a scenario: he suffers a wave of emotional pain, which should lead to awakening. This is also difficult because his ego is very large, making it hard to admit that he previously opposed something and now needs to make a 180-degree turn. Those who can do such things, combined with such strong abilities, are at the level of great people.

I can still do this at my current stage. The first reason is that I am not successful enough; if I reach Musk's level, I might be too big to turn back. The second reason is that those who have an ego large enough to make a 180-degree turn are definitely great people.

So this is actually an opportunity for young people because they can't turn around, so the waiting time becomes shorter. Why are young people naturally able to avoid this big ego? There is a very simple reason: they start from zero. So sometimes, don't think that being young, starting from zero, and having no money is a bad thing; it is a good thing because there are no burdens. When we talk about Sun Xue, Huang Mao, and thin muscles to Musk, he looks down on us; Buffett looks down on us and refuses to update. No matter how you do, you can't compare to someone who refuses to update. When young people hear about Sun Xue, Huang Mao, and thin muscles, they install them immediately; as long as you practice thin muscles, you will quickly move to the front.

Rethinking Financial Freedom and Emotional Marriage Myths

The theory of Sun Xue has indeed been around for 10 years now; the things from 2016 have actually seen quite a few updates. In September 2016, we are now also applying the thin muscle patch. Of course, at that time, it might not have been so important to patch the theory because my muscle mass was still large, and young people were normal, with high metabolism, so eating was not a problem. But now that I am 36, I quickly need to make this major version update and include the thin muscle theory in the patch. After applying this theory, it can also be managed for 44 years. Moreover, we have also promoted it theoretically: proactive health management and so on.

Our understanding of the world has also deepened, and you can see that there are new tools. In 2016, there was no AI. Now, proactive health management, along with financial freedom, is bound to AI and training, making costs unprecedentedly low, all tied together. There is also something that shocked me: when I went to the hospital to check those things, the doctor was amazed and said that looking at me, I must be using AI; otherwise, it is impossible for an average person to immediately say to check this and that. You all don't understand; only doctors know what these data represent. I told him I used AI, and the doctor said, "You are amazing." The doctor knows how many patients are like this and is very clear about what you are doing right, but he might not say it because it is useless; others don't listen to him. Doctors actually feel powerless; they want to promote proactive health management, but patients only come to them when something goes wrong.

Financial freedom, let me upgrade this a bit, it's deeper than what I talked about in 2016: first freedom, then wealth. You have to achieve freedom first; wealth is a byproduct.

Many people desire financial freedom but haven't figured it out before coming to this program. When we explain it, it's just like the example of Honor of Kings. Many might just want to play casually and even might approach learning Honor of Kings with the mindset of flirting, but later they realize that if you don't understand the entire theory of Honor of Kings that I talked about earlier, just practicing one hero won't be effective. The road to financial freedom is similar: many people think they need to have money to be free, but in fact, it's the opposite; you need to be free to gain wealth.

You should check out "Sun's Theory of Financial Freedom Revolution," which explains it in detail. Today, we also touched on a point: living flexibly according to the resources available. You need to be as adaptable as possible to step into this field and seize the opportunities that match society and this trend to gain wealth. This series is quite complex. In summary: financial freedom is "first freedom, then wealth."

Moreover, this is a good thing. Freedom is a subjective concept; if you say you want to give yourself freedom, then you have freedom, especially for young people. This is an enhancement in cognition. If you desire freedom, you can attain it; after gaining freedom, wealth is a consequence that comes with it.

These two aspects reinforce each other: the more freedom you have, the easier it is to acquire wealth; the easier it is to acquire wealth, the more freedom you have. This strengthens your freedom, and freedom further enhances wealth, leading to a spiral of growth, a flywheel effect. It's like building lean muscle: better health leads to better sleep, better sleep saves time, more time for training brings results, and your health also spirals upward. Moreover, being more disciplined and having a greater sense of control leads to more research into AI, which results in earning more money, and more money allows for better nutrition and hiring nutritionists. It's a positive cycle. So, the first step for young people to enter this positive cycle is to build lean muscle.

Conversely, looking at Elon Musk's negative cycle: using semaglutide and tirzepatide interventions leads to muscle loss; losing muscle makes it easier to harm health and gain weight. He might think he's doing well, saying that semaglutide helped him lose weight, but he doesn't realize that he's also losing muscle. With muscle loss, metabolism decreases, and a lower metabolism makes it easier to gain weight; gaining weight leads to more medication and less muscle; less muscle leads to more weight gain, and eventually, it results in muscle weakness and needing a wheelchair. All these issues arise: increased risk of fractures and illnesses that can't be recovered from.

Financial freedom is also a complete system. For example, entering a negative cycle also reinforces the cycle: you buy a house, and maintaining the house costs you time and money, which leads to losing more opportunities, and losing more opportunities results in less money, leading to even less money and worse conditions, creating an infinite downward spiral.

There is a well-known model in AI that discusses the early models and the gap in information input. Due to the reason of RSI (self-recursive updating), it later leads to a spiral of growth and a spiral of decline. The smarter AI can perform RSI, the smarter it becomes; the smarter it is, the more it updates, and the more it updates, the smarter it gets, leading to a cycle of feeding more intelligence. Conversely, the less intelligent one has the wrong direction of RSI, leading to greater absurdity, and the gap between the two widens. So, a small difference at the beginning can lead to significant changes in outcomes later.

From this perspective, the cognitive enhancement of young people is extremely crucial; it is much deeper than the tangible things people see in daily life, such as how much money, power, or IQ. The external things we used to see are actually much deeper. Understanding these things is essential to grasp the fundamental source of wealth.

Let me add my understanding of "muscle." Building lean muscle is not just about training; you must first establish a comprehensive foundational theory of overall health. Start by reading "The Lean Muscle Bible" to build some of the most basic theories; lean muscle is just a manifestation of your proactive health management. Therefore, muscle is a reflection of cognition, high intelligence, and self-control; it is not merely superficial muscle.

For example, migrant workers also have muscles, but the muscles of migrant workers are different from ours because their muscles are passive. Many migrant workers have muscles when they work as construction workers in the city, but they quickly gain weight when they return home because that muscle is just a result of their work, lifting bricks. Why doesn't this bring corresponding longevity to migrant workers? First, they might lose muscle when they go back because they haven't thought about proactive health management, calorie deficits, or nutrition; they don't understand protein. They might have passively built some muscle but lack sufficient protein intake, so while they have built some muscle, they also accumulate fat. But they lack the understanding behind nutrition.

Our theories, such as Sun's Theory, lean muscle, and the Huang Mao theory, are different; we realized early on and have a structured foundation. For example, I can now say that in six months, I will have lean muscle (of course, it depends on my execution). People who haven't watched our program might laugh at my big belly now, but I tell you, in six months, I will have lean muscle. They might say, "How is that possible?" In their eyes, having muscle and not having muscle are two different categories of people, but in my view, I might have had muscle six months ago because I realized it.

In 2016, I didn't have much money, but I had an epiphany then. I had already written my theory in 2016; I might have started realizing it in 2012. By 2016, my theory was established, and I didn't have much money back then, at least far less than now, possibly 1,000 or 10,000 times less wealth, but I had that realization. At that time, I was far behind Wang Sicong; he was ahead of me by a hundred streets. But I had that realization, and time will prove that it was correct; the timing of realization is crucial. Because realizing something or not is not just about looking at muscle or money; there is a theoretical framework behind realization. The essence is still the brain; cognitive ability determines everything; money and muscle are manifestations of cognition.

Migrant workers also have muscles, but they are different from ours. Our muscles understand nutrition, proactive health management, and progressive overload. Progressive overload is a concept: the reason muscles grow is due to muscle breakdown and pressure, followed by protein supplementation, leading to larger muscles; this is a positive cycle. The muscle you store can be quickly utilized when your body needs it in the future. There is a complete theory behind it. Migrant workers don't know this; they just build muscle passively, perhaps coincidentally having a higher metabolism and no fat due to lifting bricks. But their muscle is different from our actively managed muscle. Our muscle is just an exterior; the proactive health management concepts it brings, the cognitive enhancement it leads to, and everything else cannot be simply explained by just having muscle.

Speaking of wealth, I want to mention winning the lottery. Winning the lottery is like God snapping his fingers, and you suddenly have a body full of muscles. But if you haven't learned the theory of lean muscle or the proactive health management mindset, if you still eat McDonald's fried chicken every day and sleep without exercising, within six months, your fat will quickly return.

Winning the lottery is actually a one-time intervention: it suddenly gives someone wealth without the entire mindset of financial freedom or the theories of Sun. Suddenly gaining wealth is actually a death knell; this curse can even become a curse. Why is it a curse? Because it cannot be used for reproduction or self-discipline; it quickly transforms into drug use and other chaotic behaviors. Without this wealth, one could live to 80; with it, they might die at 60. Because money is an amplifier, it amplifies mistakes and bad habits.

It's like if you don't have the lean muscle theory; if you could only eat one bucket of fried chicken a day, now you eat ten buckets, it becomes worse. Wealth amplifies everything. So everything is indeed a manifestation of cognition: when your cognition is in place, everything rises; when your cognition is not in place, even if you gain lean muscle or wealth, these things can be detrimental to you, leading to a negative cycle that destroys you. So everything is essentially a version of cognition.

Finally, let's talk about relationships and marriage. To be honest, I am also exploring this. If I had a fixed answer, I wouldn't have been in that turmoil last month. When reporters interviewed me, I honestly said that I don't know what is right or wrong, so I even asked Claude how to handle it; I myself don't know.

After many people read that article, their first reaction was that Sun Yuchen is trying to ride the wave. But many believe that Sun Yuchen's coin rose because of his popularity, that this coin has no real use, and it only rose because many people know about it and come to buy it. This is nonsense. Did I force anyone to buy my coin? No, I have never done anything like that. On the contrary, this article, including those about Buffett, is my life's exploration path and a result of expressing something that resonates with society. Regarding relationships, marriage, and the current contract, it is indeed a state of chaos and incomprehension. If I could understand it, I wouldn't have posed this century's question.

For example, now on the internet, everyone has their own century's question: if I give him 50 million, will he still leave? I think he will. Because there are too many bloggers discussing this issue online, I believe the correct answer is yes. Some bloggers have even deduced that whether it's 500 million, 5 billion, or 50 billion, they will still leave, and I agree. Some bloggers have even calculated when Buffett would take over and how long he could last, saying that Sun Yuchen could last over 200 days, Buffett could last 300 days, Musk could last 400 days, and the Federal Reserve could last 600 days. This theory is quite interesting.

I don't fully understand this now; otherwise, I would be discussing this topic today. This is actually a very core theory that we may not fully grasp. But I can share some thoughts.

First, relationships have nothing to do with how much money you have. Don't try to solve problems in relationships, especially in love, with money; it doesn't work. This is also a cognitive understanding; money can also be an amplifier. Whether someone loves or doesn't love, there is an essential input-output before that, and your subsequent money as an amplifier can only amplify love or lack of love. But can you completely change the result before that? Probably not. So relationships indeed have little to do with money.

Second, relationships are particularly subjective, making it harder to see clearly. For example, we often joke that emotional masters can analyze others' situations eloquently, but when they are in a relationship themselves, they can be very limited; they are not viewing it from a more objective perspective. An emotional master can analyze others well, but when they enter that relationship, they can get completely confused, which is entirely possible because relationships are very subjective. This is why the Chinese saying goes, "A wise judge finds it hard to settle family matters"; no matter how smart a person is, it is difficult to resolve others' family issues because family matters are very subjective.

But subjectivity does not mean there are no patterns; these patterns still need to be learned and explored. Although I haven't fully figured it out yet, to be honest. Because I can't pretend to understand; I haven't been married, I've only explored the edges of marriage, but I haven't been married, I don't have a family, and I don't have children yet, so I dare not speak recklessly because I definitely don't understand as much as those who have been married or have families.

I also need to explore this. This is why when I later replied to Hu Xijin, I was very honest; I didn't cover it up and said I don't understand this. But my lack of understanding is not just my problem; it's a problem of this era, a problem shared by 200 million people in China, because these 200 million people are unmarried. Moreover, it is a global issue; the same applies to the United States and other countries, as well as South Korea and Japan; they all face this dilemma.

I am also exploring personally. In fact, I feel like I am in this pattern; I feel I have a set of theories and answers, including the video I made about the yellow-haired thinking. If anyone is interested, we can chat privately, and I can explain the logic and patterns behind it. This really needs exploration because it is a very important part of life, especially important. If you haven't figured this part out, it always feels like a state of deficiency. If you have sorted out the thin muscles and also kept up mentally, then you have achieved health. But in terms of marriage and family, currently, this patch has not been released yet; this version has not come out yet, and everyone is still exploring on their own, so just play according to your own things for now, give us some time, and see if maybe in a while, Brother Sun will provide the correct answer. Everyone just hang in there.

Ultimate Philosophy: The Experience Theory and Business Boundaries of "Earth Online"

The meaning of life, I actually have a player mentality. I am equivalent to being thrown into the game "Earth Online," and I find this game quite interesting; I am still in an exploratory phase of this game.

The question of the meaning of life is too big; I really dare not say I have figured it out. But I am gradually understanding some of the intricacies of this game, which means I am starting to understand what this game means and what is key.

It's like if you ask a large model today, even if you ask Sam Altman or Dario, they cannot answer this question: Why does pouring in more data and training more significantly increase the IQ of large models? The derivation mechanisms inside, including the logic chains and thought chains, how they are formed, you can ask AI, and AI can give you an answer. This is also a significant reason why humanity fears AI. Why does Dario say we need alignment and to hit the brakes? It's because they haven't figured out how it works inside. If you want AI to act like a magician, pouring data into a black box, the more data you pour in, the smarter AI will become; but if you pour in more data, will this intelligence lean towards evil? And how is good and evil defined, how is it marked in this data, and how is it understood? All these aspects of intelligence have no definitions; they really don't. Even the strongest AI researchers haven't figured it out, so many things are based on guessing and experimentation. It is a chaotic system, and AI is currently like this. So this chaos also causes a certain degree of fear because you fear what you do not understand.

As for life, I currently feel that the first 50 years, because if humanity practices thin muscles, I estimate I will reach a baseline of 90, 90 to 100 as a baseline, so my first 50 years might be just half. So according to my previous theory of Sun's studies, which has mathematical basis: for the first 50%, we just observe and do not rush to conclusions. In the latter 50%, if there are things we feel are correct compared to the first 50%, then we quickly draw conclusions. This is basically the theoretical framework.

So what we are sharing with you today based on Sun's studies is truly the latest information derived from frontline insights, and it comes from frontline personnel. Many things I really do not have the right to speak on; I will not say I have figured it out until I truly have. Therefore, this video is extremely substantive; if you haven't figured it out, you also dare not easily draw conclusions.

I feel the same way about the meaning of life. When I was younger, I thought a lot about the meaning of life, but gradually those ideas were shattered. A simple example: when I was a child, I thought the meaning of life was to contribute to humanity and the Earth. But this was later shattered because I went to space, and I found that it was all wrong. Perhaps in a few years, humanity will leave Earth, so contributing to Earth would have no meaning; I would be contributing to Mars or other planets. Later, when I said contributing to humanity, that also might not be the case; now that AI has emerged, who knows what other new life forms will appear, or what the future of humanity will be? So later I realized: the more you know, the less you dare to draw conclusions.

But I believe the patterns of this game can still be experienced. So now I feel there is a deeper statement, of course, it is similar to before, but the understanding may be deeper: enjoy your life, experience. For the first 50%, we just observe and do not express opinions because we fundamentally do not understand. After observing the first 50%, we are qualified to express opinions because we have seen it. If better opinions emerge immediately afterward, we can use them.

First, experience. Life experiences should first increase experiences; the data from the first 50% is used to enrich experiences, which is also pouring in data.

We do not dare to say much about the patterns; in fact, we have only grasped a small part, and we do not dare to say we have fully opened this map. But I feel this theory can explain many of my behaviors. Many of my own behaviors, why I do them, do I not know? Theories explain behaviors; there are many theories, but you need to extend the time to see clearly what theory applies.

For example, to explain Sun Yuchen's success, there is a theory called the hype theory. Others observe me and say that Sun Yuchen's recent controversies combined with Buffett and going to space are all for hype, crazy hype, just to gain greater heat or greater traffic; without hype, he cannot spiral up. According to this theory, when Sun Yuchen becomes the president of Earth, I might start a galactic war to hype up and enhance my alien's fame, which could lead to the deaths of millions; in the end, it would still be said that Sun Yuchen did it all for higher fame because starting a galactic war would make not just Earth people know me, but everyone in the entire galaxy. This is one theory.

The second theory is the experience theory, which is the theory I use. To explain my trip to space: this was not for any hype, nor for any honor; I approached it with an experimental attitude, purely for the experience. Because who has been to space? Before going, what comments can you make about it? Making comments is quite powerless. So it is about going first and then talking, to gain more information.

Go first and then talk. Some people say I didn't go hard enough; they look at going to the International Space Station or the Moon and think my trip to space was too soft, just a little visit is not enough. But I think that is a bit harsh because I also do not necessarily think going to space is the right thing; I might just try it first, go and then talk. After going, if I have experiences and thoughts, I will digest them, and then we will see whether to go to the Moon, whether to go further, or whether to go to Mars in the future. If the input-output ratio of the experience we calculated is OK, then we will go first. This is a real frontline experience I feel: it does not mean that everything is pre-planned, that everything has a conclusion, or that everything has a purpose before we do it.

So some people feel life is meaningless; some may even involve depression. I do not attempt to instill what is meaningful, but I can share a theory: you can take your time before making a drastic conclusion, before ending things. What is there that needs an immediate conclusion? There is nothing that needs an immediate conclusion; take a look again. Whether it is a therapy or anything else, we do not necessarily have to say this must be resolved by tomorrow morning, or that this therapy must be useful; it is not certain, but you can still give it a try.

I am increasingly feeling that I cannot say I am sliding towards agnosticism, but I increasingly think that drawing conclusions too early might be a bit premature and may not have meaning. This is a new understanding. I feel experience is greater than conclusion. We all try to find meaning and conclusions, as if through this we can skip the experience. But have we ever thought that perhaps the meaning of life itself is your experience? Experience should be greater than meaning. This is a situation I think might be the case; I do not dare to draw direct conclusions, but I do feel that experience may be greater than meaning.

The meaning itself may not be that significant. I recommend everyone watch a show called "Rick and Morty." Morty is a little boy, and Rick is his grandfather. He often asks his grandfather some life questions, and the grandfather just smiles and remains silent, while Morty immediately gives his grandfather a conclusion. This grandfather is quite mischievous; no matter what conclusion Morty presents, the grandfather can immediately take him to another part of the universe, making it impossible for him to summarize the entire universe because no matter how he speaks, the grandfather can immediately find a counterexample.

The grandfather can find counterexamples because he is actually the king of the universe; he knows everything about the universe. But it also somewhat illustrates the question we just discussed. From Rick's perspective, it is indeed a bit nihilistic, but Rick's final conclusion is actually that he no longer pursues any meaning; rather, life itself is a collection of his experiences.

Different people's experiences must overlap and yet not overlap because no one can experience everything globally. For example, Usain Bolt in sprinting, what is the experience he cares about? If I run 9.80 seconds, can I run 9.70 seconds? Can I run 9.60 seconds? 9.50 seconds? 9.40 seconds? As you continuously break through, you not only represent Jamaica in running but also represent the Americas in running. This is not something you can just say; it is about breaking through one goal after another: when you break through 9.90 seconds, you might be the fastest in Jamaica; when you break through 9.80 seconds, you are the fastest in the Americas; when you break through 9.70 seconds, you might already be the fastest in humanity. After 9.70 seconds, you are representing humanity in breaking through. When Bolt ran 9.58 seconds, he represented humanity in breaking through.

As business people and entrepreneurs, we happen to be engaged in a very good profession: this profession has a long lifespan. Buffett and many entrepreneurs can continue to do it until they die as long as they are willing.

I am also very fortunate; I started my business at 22. When I was young, at 22 when I started my business, I set a rule: I plan to continue my business until I am 122 years old. Because the human limit is 123 years; a woman can live to 123 years, and I cannot exceed 123. Just right, I started my business at 22, and I want to live to 122, so I made a plan: to run my business for 100 years. By running my business for 100 years, I will break a record, which is the longest time in business. Then, within this longest time in business, I will see how far I can explore on behalf of humanity.

At that time, I had just started my business and had no persuasive power. Now, I have been in business for 14 years since I started 12 years ago; I have already completed 14% of the 100-year progress bar. Although compared to others, especially Buffett, it may not be much, but compared to myself and many who have never started a business, my progress bar has already been quite long; I have been in business for 14 years. Moreover, I am still in a continuously growing and time-extending industry.

I am luckier than sports stars because their athletic careers are very short; sports may only last ten years, and then they can no longer continue. This is also why recently Cristiano Ronaldo came to Hong Kong for a match; he personally came to my house, and I chatted with him for a long time, had two or three meals with him, and took photos; he signed a jersey for me. But all of this is superficial. I also exchanged a lot of ideas about life with Cristiano Ronaldo; I feel he is also a practitioner of our theory.

What is Cristiano Ronaldo's concept? It is about continuously extending his athletic experience. What is his pursuit? What does it feel like to score 100 goals, to score 200 goals, and to keep pushing forward? Now he is at 900 goals, and the whole world is waiting for Cristiano Ronaldo to score his 1000th goal. This is indeed the result of the continuous expansion of human limits and football experiences. Football also gives him a mission. Now that Ronaldo is 41 or 42, of course, some critics will say, "Why don't you play until 52? Why not play until 102?" But Cristiano Ronaldo is indeed continuously expanding this boundary.

So personally, I feel that my business and my pursuits are actually about expanding this boundary. Of course, many things are not planned from the beginning. Just like I mentioned earlier, I do not rule out Tron, and we are already working on B.ai. I wouldn't say, and it's even hard for me to conclude that our company will definitely be a blockchain company in the future.

Just like Berkshire Hathaway, when you hear Berkshire Hathaway, you think it's an investment giant; now the first reaction is that it's an investment giant. But it wasn't; when it was first created, it was a textile factory, and later it evolved into a financial giant, the most famous investment company in the world. So what Tron and I will do in the future is also hard to say. It might still be in the blockchain field, it might be AI in the future, or it might even involve space colonization—who knows? But one thing remains unchanged: I will be within the scope of advancing experiences. When I first started my business, I thought about being exactly 122 years old, working for 100 years, constantly expanding this boundary—that's the theory.

Someone once asked me a question that I found quite interesting, and I also asked AI: What is money, after all? I tried to ask AI, and we both discussed it. For example, this number is not infinite; there might be a boundary. I asked AI: The world's richest person, Elon Musk, might only earn 200 billion dollars; why can't anyone earn 1 trillion dollars? Why can't anyone earn 5 trillion dollars and keep going up?

AI gave me a very interesting answer: First, how much you earn is not important; you need to see that money is actually a measure of economic activity within the entire reachable scope. For example, the GDP of the United States is only about 11 trillion, 14 trillion, 15 trillion, or 20 trillion a year, and adding China's 10 trillion dollars, the total global GDP might be around 40 to 50 trillion. The most you can earn is the Earth's GDP? You can't possibly earn all the money of the Earth's people, right? So the total economic value, say 50 trillion, determines that the most you can earn is 500 billion.

Then technology itself might raise this ceiling. For example, if there was no AI or this technology before, the most money you could earn would only be from Apple, with a limit of 4 trillion dollars for a single company in the smartphone sector, but now that limit might have been broken. In the future, with AI, because AI will increase concentration, this new industry might not rule out the possibility of reaching 10 trillion. But there are limits, and this limit is constantly being pushed forward.

In the future, for the simplest example: if humanity discovers aliens and we start interstellar trade, then the entire GDP could expand unprecedentedly, possibly jumping from 50 trillion directly to 1 quadrillion. So how much you earn is essentially just a measure of all dynamic things; it's just a value, and beyond this value, it doesn't represent anything.

Business Boundaries: From Berkshire to "Becoming a Reference Frame"

Finally, let me talk about what kind of person I hope to become. I can't say in a few hundred years because I don't have a reference frame. First, I actually want to become a person who serves as a reference frame. That is to say, future entrepreneurs, like an entrepreneur 50 years from now, will say, "I want to be someone like Sun Yuchen," because he has a certain defined value in his life proposition, and he has become a coordinate system, "I want to become him because he defined my goal."

Because before everyone is born, no one is born as a benchmark; you all use others as benchmarks. I hope to become someone else's benchmark, and in the end, others will say, "I want to become this Justin, I want to become Sun Yuchen."

Before me, I had a few benchmarks; I had a few idols. I set Elon Musk as a benchmark early on, starting to pay attention to him when I was 12. Why did I focus on him? Because I thought he was the most likely business figure to become a leader in American business after Steve Jobs died. Of course, at that time, Tesla's market value was not high, only two or three billion dollars, far behind Apple, and Musk had not yet reached the level of the richest person in America. But I felt he had great potential. I know a lot about Musk because I have been following him for a long time, so I know many details about him.

In today's discussion, I actually have three benchmarks: Elon Musk, Warren Buffett, and Donald Trump. Coincidentally, these three are my benchmarks as a businessman, and they all happen to be graduates of the University of Pennsylvania. I didn't deliberately choose graduates of the University of Pennsylvania as benchmarks; it just so happens that I am interested in these three people, which is quite strange.

These three represent different quadrants, and it’s not random selection.

Elon Musk represents my industry; he is engaged in high-tech industries, engineering, to put it plainly. Isn't our era the era of engineers? I am also one; all my employees are primarily software engineers, all doing engineering work. So in the area of Musk, I am essentially learning about engineering and how to become a good engineer and how to do engineering well. He represents this quadrant.

Warren Buffett represents the quadrant of longevity, always being alive and always doing business. Buffett's famous snowball theory: how you do in the beginning doesn't matter, but you need the snowball to roll down the slope for a long enough time for the advantage to amplify. Long-termism. So he emphasizes long-termism and ultra-long waiting; you need to ambush in advance and then wait for a long time. His quadrant represents finance.

I think Trump represents three things. The first is personal IP influence, the ultimate of personal influence in business. Trump is probably the most famous brand in the world, equivalent to a brand. Trump might be the first person in the world to operate his last name as a brand, turning it into a family brand. Many people have succeeded, like Chanel and Hermès, but they are different from Trump: they first won with a product, Hermès equals a bag, and then launched the brand. No one is like Trump, who first became known and then pursued products. You associate LV with cars, and Chanel with bags, and later you find out that the founder made bags or cars. Trump is the first person you think of not as a product but as himself. The second is cross-industry. Buffett is the most focused, only doing business; Musk has already deviated a bit, getting involved in some cross-industry ventures; Trump does cross-industry the best, with diverse cross-industry ventures. Don't think he only crosses politics and economics; Trump is also in the entertainment industry, WWE, beauty pageants, reality shows, casinos, everything, and even recorded "The Apprentice," which is countless cross-industry ventures. Trump is actually a result of countless cross-industry operations, ultimately exploding with a very strong ability like a nuclear weapon.

Everyone can only represent themselves; I can't say how I will operate. But the basic commercial thoughts I absorb come from Trump, Musk, and Warren Buffett. So you can see my overall thinking has a bit of a combination of these three.

What is the shadow? Buffett is actually closest to me because we both do finance, which is our main business. But my personality and what I do are a bit like Musk and Trump. And I am also someone who does not easily draw conclusions.

If you only learn one thing, only learn from one teacher, that teacher will often tell you what is wrong. For example, Buffett looks down on Trump; he thinks if you are a businessman, just do business, and crossing into other areas is a waste of your time, which severely weakens your business foundation, and you shouldn't do it. So Buffett absolutely does not cross industries. Moreover, to focus, Buffett doesn't even leave Omaha; he thinks if he moves Berkshire to New York, it would be a distraction because he focuses on investing, looking at financial reports, and focusing on what he does. If he were Buffett, he would definitely not be able to attend all the dinners in New York. He is the largest financial company in the world; wouldn't he go to New York? He doesn't go; he stays in Omaha. Everyone has their own choices.

But I don't dare to easily conclude who is right. It's like learning martial arts; Qingcheng School, Huashan School, Peach Blossom Island—who's right and who's wrong? They all practice martial arts, and you don't know which side's martial arts will make them the dominant force in the martial arts world. So I chose to practice from three schools: Musk's engineering, Buffett's finance, and Trump's cross-industry in personal IP.

They are also interconnected. I believe Musk has also drawn a lot from Trump because he is also a strong operator of personal IP and cross-industry. Musk now has many industries; he makes electric cars, does AI, and has bought the social platform X. This can't be said to be right or wrong: some people might think his acquisition of X is right, while others think it's wrong; some think his support for Trump's campaign is right, while others think it's wrong—it's hard to say. I have an advantage: I learn from them, so I am behind them.

There is a benchmark, just like when sailing, you have a North Star; you can sail in that direction if you see this North Star; otherwise, you wouldn't know how to sail in the ocean. At least I have a few North Stars. At the same time, I also use these learnings to establish my own methodology. So my Sun School is not random; I am absorbing from my own path, but I also establish my own methodology. Of course, this methodology will also become a reference for other entrepreneurs and business people in China and even the world; I am learning from Sun Yuchen. Of course, I also have traces of China; mainly, I learned from Jack Ma; I originally studied at Hupan University, so there are also those traces.

This thinking is very similar to my previous thinking: do not set your martial arts or your thinking too early, saying I am an idol, a school, and I only practice this martial art. To become a great martial artist, you must touch on various aspects. In Jin Yong's novels, the highest martial arts are often a combination of several martial arts; practicing just one won't work. This is my subjective thinking; it may not be accurate, but I practice multiple martial arts.

This is also very related to the ego issue: the more successful you are, the more ego you have, and the more ego you have, the harder it is to absorb others' martial arts. For example, Buffett has his own faction, so he looks down on Musk and Trump; if he respected them, he would have long acquired Musk, and I have suggested this idea to him; Trump looks down on them even more; he thinks Trump is not in the mainstream. But each of them certainly has their own strengths in their respective fields. Musk also looks down on Buffett; I think this is a reactive response because Buffett looks down on him, so he also despises him; he is an attack and counterattack type. Bill Gates and Buffett, the old money, look down on him, so he seems to be very annoyed by old money.

So the martial arts I learned from these few schools, the masters also look down on each other, are in a phase of great masters fighting. On the contrary, because I am in the game, I have seen their original developments, so I feel that each of them has their unique strengths. I should not have this ego, nor should I have this factional view; I can absorb from all three of them and make connections. Because as strong as they are, they also have fatal flaws: none of them have thin skin. Each of them has fatal flaws, and the commonality is that they all lack thin skin. So making connections and absorbing is important; do not set your shape too early, do not have preconceived notions; many things, if you have preconceived notions, once you enter, you will judge incorrectly, and it is easy to draw wrong conclusions.

Finally, let me mention a point that gives me a headache: I really want to go to work right now. Everyone else is missing what they have, and those who are working don’t want to work, while I, who am not working, really want to work.

I am currently in a period of confusion. I really hope someone can let me join OpenAI or Anthropic; I would be willing to give $50 million for that offer for free. OpenAI and Claude don’t need to pay me a penny; I will definitely meet the targets, and I will give this company $50 million. But just a couple of days ago, even if they let me work, neither of them was willing, fearing that Sun Yuchen would come in and steal their information, and tomorrow B.ai would be manipulated by me. So I’m still having a headache; I still want to go to work.

Why do I want to go to work? It’s simple: because I haven’t really worked much. I started my own business right away, which has become a flaw of mine: I don’t really understand how other companies operate, at least I don’t have firsthand information. Of course, I can get information by interviewing employees of other companies, and there’s always information available online, but I don’t have first-person perspective information because I really haven’t worked.

I have the perspective of a boss; I can look down from above, but I have never looked up from below. So I want to work at other companies because I can learn a lot from how our company is managed. Some people often work and have many perspectives from below, but they have never been a boss and lack financial freedom, missing the top-down perspective. It’s all about filling in the gaps. Everyone says they are tired of their own perspective, but I want to see others' perspectives.

So back to that experience: I feel that financial freedom and these ideas are a myth, a myth that needs to be broken, or a kind of delusion. You think you lack this thing, you think you want that thing, but when you reach that other shore, you will find that you are lacking again. It’s a cycle. What I lack most after starting my business is actually working, because working at a good company can provide me with many benchmarks, allowing me to know how to steer the ship when I’m sailing. This kind of muscle memory can only be experienced if I have worked at that company. But if I hadn’t worked at that company, I might find it boring and uninteresting, being managed by others would be quite unpleasant. So I think life is actually complementary.

Sometimes I also enjoy playing games, computer games, and I particularly like simulators now, experiencing other people's lives. You can’t truly enter that perspective without playing; just playing a bit allows you to enter that perspective, and suddenly you can understand many things. Although that simulator has already cut down the experience to only 20%, originally it was 100%, but this 20% experience is quite crucial for me because it provides me with a whole new perspective. I have even played a homeless simulator, wandering between different lives, barely surviving by scrounging a bit of money. I have also played a worker simulator. The feeling that simulators give me is that they provide different perspectives. What you don’t cherish may be very precious in the eyes of others. This is a kind of life experience.

Moreover, different people have different experiential modes. I have a friend who also goes to space, named Wang Chun, who is Chinese and also works in crypto. But he is not like me in business; he is quite low-key, simply paying to have his name removed, not taking that route. However, he happens to have a path in space exploration that coincides with mine, so we are quite familiar because we both explore space and happen to be Chinese exploring space.

His experience is literally traveling around the world, going to every country in the world, taking every train. He doesn’t have a correct answer; he sets this experience and perspective for himself. I believe his experiential perspective is also very interesting. He has been to many places I haven’t: he has been to Norway, he has been to Antarctica, doing that kind of trekking in Antarctica. It’s a perspective that I may not have experienced. He and I have some intersections in life because he also works in crypto and goes to space, which is the part where our lives intersect, but he has so many parts that do not intersect with mine.

There is no correct answer. Everyone who becomes the correct answer didn’t know they were correct before they became it.

For example, Einstein didn’t vow in advance that he would become the greatest physicist in the world. Einstein was once a patent clerk in Switzerland, whose job was to register patents. Is there any connection between registering patents and physics? There might be a bit, and he was particularly interested in physics. Later, after becoming a patent clerk, he discovered the law of the constancy of the speed of light and the theory of relativity, and then he became a professor at a university. But he started as a patent clerk. Before anyone becomes the correct answer, they have never vowed to become the correct answer.

Trump is even more so. When he first started in business, he was doing variety shows, beauty pageants, WWE, possibly out of a desire to show off, to be high-profile, to become famous, and then he got more involved in politics and ended up becoming the President of the United States. So many things are like a twist in the road. It’s not that you have to achieve something for a utilitarian purpose; many things are learned through related experiences. But you ask if Trump had to become president for all those previous things to have meaning? Actually not. In another timeline, Trump might have gone somewhere else. Everyone has their own map set up.

Take Nobel for example. Nobel was heavily criticized; after inventing dynamite, the whole world used his dynamite to kill people, and everyone scolded Nobel, saying he caused the deaths of so many people, even giving him the name "merchant of death," which sounds terrible. But Nobel couldn’t help it; you all used my dynamite to kill people, and I can’t stop that. But when Nobel was about to die, none of this mattered to him anymore; he said, “Alright then, let’s set up five prizes with my estate.” As a result, others used his money to award prizes. Now, when you mention Nobel, who remembers he invented dynamite? Explosions and killing people? No one. When everyone hears Nobel, it feels scholarly and authoritative. But in fact, Nobel didn’t engage in academia or have authority; he just invented dynamite and then said you all should set up this prize. He didn’t know that this prize would develop for over 100 years and award countless people. Life’s encounters are quite wonderful.

So many times, at first, everyone wants to pursue a meaning or give a higher meaning, but later I feel that many times, at the beginning, it’s a meaning, but the actual existence of that meaning is not significant. Pursuing meaning often has no meaning; the experience itself might be. Just get on the road. Getting on the road is more important than figuring out why to get on the road. Many things may seem meaningless when you first pursue that meaning; you might encounter it by chance when you’re on the road. It’s important not to have preconceived notions.

Let me mention another example I really like: Li Yu. Everyone’s personal life is a bit of a hit-or-miss, and what he later became famous for has nothing to do with what he initially thought.

In ancient times, there was an emperor named Li Yu from the Southern Tang. He simply lost his country, and his wife was taken away by the emperor of the Song Dynasty, which was very painful for him. Then Li Yu wrote many lyrics and poems out of pure sorrow. He had no intention of promoting anything; he was simply very sad and wrote a poem to express his sorrow. As a result, these few poems became popular, including "How much sorrow can one have? Just like a river of spring water flowing east." This is called deep sorrow, but these sorrowful words hit the pain point, and indeed we all understand sorrow. Then Li Yu suddenly became the most famous person in China, becoming a representative figure of Song poetry. The emperor of the Song Dynasty took his wife, but unexpectedly, the Song poetry he invented was instead dominated by Li Yu. You could say he received some cultural education from the Song poetry, and then his later life experiences added some charm to his words, coincidentally making him the most famous person in all of China.

So everything is a random chaos, which definitely occupies a certain proportion. Can you say Li Yu was illiterate? That certainly wouldn’t work; an illiterate person can’t write poetry. But can you say I want to become the greatest poet in the world, and just write poetry like crazy? That wouldn’t work either because literature is often the result of experience; it’s the result of experience and training combined with literary skills. So everything is a random collision, not something planned from the beginning. I might think this way because I studied history at Peking University, so from this perspective, life may largely be a chaos.

I am not yet the ultimate being. Perhaps 100 years from now, a young person will only know Sun Yuchen because of the Sun Yuchen Prize, for example, if I recognize many people, just like Nobel, in fact, no one will care about the previous things. People 100 years from now will look at me, and at this moment, you see Nobel, who is famous for inventing dynamite, and Nobel himself says no, no, I didn’t even know what I was doing; after inventing dynamite, I felt guilty for the many people it killed. So at every moment, the perspective may not be the same.

Does everyone have a North Star? Absolutely. Does this North Star bring some variables to their life? Absolutely. For example, when I set up the Sun Yuchen Prize, I mentioned Nobel. The establishment of the Nobel Prize has a lot to do with Nobel’s own tastes. Because Nobel was a dynamite expert and chemist, there is no mathematics prize because Nobel didn’t believe in purely theoretical achievements outside of inventions. He only awarded physics and chemistry because he believed that physics and chemistry involve experiments that can directly lead to changes in real life. You say mathematical research is theoretical; Nobel would say you have no impact on the world because you just solved a problem. But he invented dynamite, and if a mountain is 50 meters high, and I blow it up tomorrow to only 25 meters, that absolutely changes the world. If you haven’t reached my level, it doesn’t count as changing the world. But this might also be wrong: mathematics later proved that it can change the world just as powerfully as Nobel Prize-winning dynamite. Moreover, mathematics is not limited to your reference frame; who says my mathematics must be transformed into dynamite to count as mathematics?

So according to Nobel’s own standards, mathematics might have surpassed it because mathematics has also changed the world. For example, the cryptocurrency we often talk about is a product of mathematical encryption algorithms. Therefore, don’t try to define meaning too profoundly; many of our definitions of meaning might be wrong. As long as you are on a larger direction, it is meaningful, and you can confidently try. I believe everyone has their own direction. For example, my direction is my interest in AI and crypto, so I work on these things. Everyone may have their own different ideas. As long as there are no major issues, you can try freely. Trying to define direction may often be a futile effort or a useful effort.

Human activities can be divided into two types: one is creative activity, and the other is consumption activity. Generally speaking, creative activity is paramount; pure consumption is meaningless. For example, looking at Li Yu, he demonstrated value afterward, not because he simply lost his country, but because he created and wrote a poem, right? There have been many foolish monarchs who lost their countries, and every dynasty has them, but merely losing a country is consumption; transforming that into poetry is creation.

Take Haaland's father as another example. Old Haaland was also a player, and he played quite average. But because he played football himself, he ended up having a son, thus creating this great player. He also coached his son in football. However, he had no idea his son would become a world superstar; he just played football and loved it. The meaning of his life was playing football. Then he got married, had a son, and said, "I will coach you; you go play football," and he kept going in that direction. You could say he didn't shine too much himself, but when it came to his son, he did shine. Doesn't Haaland carry the deep imprint of old Haaland? Absolutely. If his father hadn't played football, how could he have possibly followed the path of playing football?

So, why do I believe many experiences are meaningful? You don't necessarily have to pursue meaning for yourself. Your descendants might completely change their lives because of your choices. First, he created a son; second, coaching his son in football is also creation, and education is creation too. Then his son suddenly rose to prominence. In the end, even the last name used is his. You might think Haaland is amazing now, but actually, the name Haaland belongs to his father; it's just that Haaland has now brought it to prominence, but the name is definitely his father's, and it will be remembered.

I believe creation is primary. I also made it quite clear in "The Path to Financial Freedom": after consuming for a long time, it becomes meaningless. To be honest, you need to return to some creation. But if you create for too long or work too hard, it can be overwhelming; you need some consumption to recharge. These two complement each other; it's not a relationship where one suppresses the other. It's impossible for people to pursue 100% creation; that would be too cruel and against human nature.