1
The essence of cognition is building abstract models of the real world.
认知的本质，是对现实世界进行抽象建模。
We can never reach the truth. We can only approach it infinitely. The key to optimizing your abstract model is to clamp down hard on reality, iterating on your mental model based on feedback. Reality is never wrong. Only the mental model can be wrong.
我们永远无法抵达真相，只能无限接近。优化抽象建模的关键路径是死死咬住现实，从反馈中迭代颅内建模。现实从来没有错，错的只会是颅内建模。
2
A good theory is an extremely efficient "compression" of reality—using the fewest parameters to explain the most observations. (Terence Tao)
一个好的理论，是对现实世界的极致高效“压缩”——用最少的参数，解释最多的观测。（陶哲轩）
3
What education does to shape a person's rationality is to help build a cognitive system. It teaches how to break down problems, how to hypothesize, how to find solutions, how to practice, how to observe feedback from reality, how to adjust. Its foundation is logic.
教育对人的理性塑造，是辅助建立认知系统。教人如何拆解问题，如何假设，如何寻找解决方案，如何实践，如何观测现实反馈，如何调整。它的基石是逻辑。
4
Within an individual's spirit, a person should be their own sovereign. Law, morality, others cannot judge you. Nor can God. The dignity and will of being human lie precisely in this.
在个体精神里，人应是自己的王，法律、道德、他人不能审判你，神也不能，生而为人的尊严和意志就在于此。
5
Rather than searching for the meaning of life, turn instead to search for your longing. Longing teaches you how to live, how to learn, how to reshape yourself, how to fight against meaninglessness.
与其寻找生命的意义，不如转而寻找渴望。渴望教人如何生活，如何学习，如何重塑自我，如何对抗毫无意义。
Longing is always mixed in with desire. The latter springs from emotion and the body, violent and brief. The former originates from reason and spirit, patient and enduring. Desire should be met with delayed gratification. Longing should be pursued with relentless persistence.
渴望，总是混在欲望当中。后者发自感性和身体，剧烈而短促；前者源自理性和精神，隐忍且恒长。欲望当以延迟满足，渴望应予锲而不舍。