版权声明

本文首发于微信公共帐号：
学习学习再学习（xiaolai-xuexi）
请注意：
无需授权即可转载；
甚至无需保留以上版权声明……

《韭菜的自我修养》英文版
翻译：John Gordan （王渊源，微信公共账号：清晨朗读会）

Preface

This pamphlet  was finally titled The Self-Cultivation of Leeks, and there was really nothing I could do about it. “Leeks” was never a word that I used to use, but it’s in the title of the book. Why?

A private conversation that I had was recorded, which was later leaked. In the recording, the person who I was talking with mentioned “leeks” several times, but I never even used the word at all, let alone mention “cutting leeks”.

But quite a few of the articles that spread like crazy online used sensational headlines, and it turned into Li Xiaolai who was “cutting leeks”. This was probably because the people who wrote those articles didn’t even listen to the full recording at all. Maybe they used the so-called transcript that was spread online and completely misinterpreted what I said, or maybe they put on me what the other person said. In these written descriptions, Li Xiaolai became a “public enemy”, and “Li Xiaolai’s behavior”, according to some of the articles, became “confirmation of long-term suspicions held by outsiders about the dark side of blockchain”. But, this wasn’t the truth. What was the truth?

The truth is, Li Xiaolai never used the word “leeks”. Over the past ten-plus years, those who have read my writings, listened to my lectures, or read my books all know that I have a habit:

I’m always constantly refining my concepts.

Li Xiaolai never uses concepts that he believes  “have no reason to exist”. Before this, “leeks” was one of these concepts. What is a leek? So if you make money you’re a “market manipulator”, and you lose money you’re a “leek”? If this is our understanding, then our concepts are too confusing. Does this mean that a novice is always a “leek”? Novices have a small probability of making money, and since we’re referring to the same group, what is the reason for using two concepts other than it being fun? Then what is really the definition of “leek”?

Before being clear about what a concept really means, I will not put it in my mind, much less use it. So, in that leaked recording of more than fifty minutes, I didn’t even use the work “leek” once, much less the phrase “cutting leeks”.

After thinking it through, the Internet has nothing against Li Xiaolai as a person. It doesn’t intentionally “record everything without regard to truth or falsity or good or evil and in a way that is difficult to truly alter”, that’s just what it is. It’s even-handed, just like the concept of “blockchain” that we are so enchanted with, or the concept of “time” that I have been enchanted with all of my life.

So what can I do? After thinking it through, I can write a pamphlet like this, writing down what I know, and what I know to be true. Also, I can purposely use this malicious title, and let more valuable thinking and truth spread more widely.

For readers that like this content, I have one request:

If you feel like Li Xiaolai’s thinking in this book is helpful to you, then please post and share it everywhere.

Please note: don’t just read it and share it yourself; also repost and reprint it “everywhere”. Also, use the title, The Self-Cultivation of Leeks! Thank you!

I thought of these originally more appropriate names:

• A Guide for Leeks to Avoid Getting Cut
• The Leek and the Sickle
• How Baby Leeks Can Grow
• Guide to Essential Knowledge for New Leeks
• Leeks Can Also Be Like Buddha (Stoic*)
• …

But, in the end, I thought that a self-mocking title with “leeks” in it would bring more traffic…

Also, in the content that follows, I won’t avoid using the word dumbass. Please forgive me!

Warning

If you don’t have “the ability to read a full document without skipping a word”, I recommend you stop reading… Because while the content that follows looks simple and clear, for those who have acquired the reading disabilities of “habitually ignoring large swaths of text” and “habitually combining partial bits of content”, it will be too easy to produce strange alternate meanings.

版权声明

本文首发于微信公共帐号：
学习学习再学习（xiaolai-xuexi）
请注意：
无需授权即可转载；
甚至无需保留以上版权声明……

《韭菜的自我修养》英文版
翻译：John Gordan （王渊源，微信公共账号：清晨朗读会）

Preface

This pamphlet  was finally titled The Self-Cultivation of Leeks, and there was really nothing I could do about it. “Leeks” was never a word that I used to use, but it’s in the title of the book. Why?

A private conversation that I had was recorded, which was later leaked. In the recording, the person who I was talking with mentioned “leeks” several times, but I never even used the word at all, let alone mention “cutting leeks”.

But quite a few of the articles that spread like crazy online used sensational headlines, and it turned into Li Xiaolai who was “cutting leeks”. This was probably because the people who wrote those articles didn’t even listen to the full recording at all. Maybe they used the so-called transcript that was spread online and completely misinterpreted what I said, or maybe they put on me what the other person said. In these written descriptions, Li Xiaolai became a “public enemy”, and “Li Xiaolai’s behavior”, according to some of the articles, became “confirmation of long-term suspicions held by outsiders about the dark side of blockchain”. But, this wasn’t the truth. What was the truth?

The truth is, Li Xiaolai never used the word “leeks”. Over the past ten-plus years, those who have read my writings, listened to my lectures, or read my books all know that I have a habit:

I’m always constantly refining my concepts.

Li Xiaolai never uses concepts that he believes  “have no reason to exist”. Before this, “leeks” was one of these concepts. What is a leek? So if you make money you’re a “market manipulator”, and you lose money you’re a “leek”? If this is our understanding, then our concepts are too confusing. Does this mean that a novice is always a “leek”? Novices have a small probability of making money, and since we’re referring to the same group, what is the reason for using two concepts other than it being fun? Then what is really the definition of “leek”?

Before being clear about what a concept really means, I will not put it in my mind, much less use it. So, in that leaked recording of more than fifty minutes, I didn’t even use the work “leek” once, much less the phrase “cutting leeks”.

After thinking it through, the Internet has nothing against Li Xiaolai as a person. It doesn’t intentionally “record everything without regard to truth or falsity or good or evil and in a way that is difficult to truly alter”, that’s just what it is. It’s even-handed, just like the concept of “blockchain” that we are so enchanted with, or the concept of “time” that I have been enchanted with all of my life.

So what can I do? After thinking it through, I can write a pamphlet like this, writing down what I know, and what I know to be true. Also, I can purposely use this malicious title, and let more valuable thinking and truth spread more widely.

For readers that like this content, I have one request:

If you feel like Li Xiaolai’s thinking in this book is helpful to you, then please post and share it everywhere.

Please note: don’t just read it and share it yourself; also repost and reprint it “everywhere”. Also, use the title, The Self-Cultivation of Leeks! Thank you!

I thought of these originally more appropriate names:

• A Guide for Leeks to Avoid Getting Cut
• The Leek and the Sickle
• How Baby Leeks Can Grow
• Guide to Essential Knowledge for New Leeks
• Leeks Can Also Be Like Buddha (Stoic*)
• …

But, in the end, I thought that a self-mocking title with “leeks” in it would bring more traffic…

Also, in the content that follows, I won’t avoid using the word dumbass. Please forgive me!

Warning

If you don’t have “the ability to read a full document without skipping a word”, I recommend you stop reading… Because while the content that follows looks simple and clear, for those who have acquired the reading disabilities of “habitually ignoring large swaths of text” and “habitually combining partial bits of content”, it will be too easy to produce strange alternate meanings.