On Content Production, Imitation Desires, and the Latin Code of Life

Original link: https://www.camelliayang.com/blog/content-creation-mimetic-theory-and-latin-mottos

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Photo credit: Rob Bates
Two days ago, on a whim, I updated the “Ideal Tun” Chinese podcast (exclusively broadcast by Xiao Universe), and reviewed how I grew from a person with a lot of mood swings, easily anxious and worried about the future, to now I can maintain a peaceful mind and follow the trend mental journey. In addition to the assistance of “meditation” , the method of continuously producing content is also indispensable.

“Content is king” used to be my number one rule when it came to marketing. From a long-term point of view, impressing customers and consumers with high-quality content is far better than running brainless advertisements. Creating content not only builds a brand, but extends to my personal life and is the answer to basically all my problems.

– When I was in elementary school, I created fantasy novels with my classmates, and saw our words being printed in type. I discovered my love for writing, and since then I have kept a diary to record my life trivia and thoughts thought.

– When I was in high school, I started blogging on MySpace, made friends through literature, and met friends from all over the world who love football and literature.

– After going abroad, he started writing Weibo and blogging, expressing his views and opinions on LinkedIn and Twitter, broadening his network and gaining countless career opportunities.

– During the quarantine period, an English novel was published, and in the process of writing it, I cured my knot and confusion for many years.

– Completed the online writing psychological counseling project “Self-authoring” of “Professor Lobster” . The 30,000+ word review summary, analysis of advantages and disadvantages, and future planning have enabled me to realize a clear self-awareness.

– Translate the articles of Silicon Valley bigwigs, and organize the study notes over the years into a collection. The 120,000-word content is open to CY CIRCLE subscribers, filtering and sharing valuable information with everyone in the world of information explosion.

You see, I have been dealing with content almost all the time in my life, and writing has also made it possible for you, who are now reading this article, to resonate in your brainwaves because of the views I share, even though we are thousands of miles apart. Creating content not only helps me solve problems personally, but also invites readers and friends to embark on a journey of growth, through the colorful world on the outside, to realize the wonderful self within.

I believe that everyone is born to create, build and grow, and that life is a process of discovering and realizing one’s potential. However, I have seen so many people give up their lives, passively sit on a train driven by others to the end of death, fear failure, make mistakes, fear the unknown, and choose to suppress their talents so that they can reach the hotbed of death safely .

Those creators realize the value of life in the process of continuous input and output, because with the blessing of time, quantitative changes will always achieve qualitative changes, as long as you simply record what you are doing, what you have learned, and commit yourself to continuous Answer your own motifs and contribute content that interests you. The world is so big that you will one day find a solution to your problem and find your audience.

Action plan:
30-day writing habit development plan
David Perell, “Writing Course on 50 Antennas”

​Reading Recommendations

This week, I listened to the podcast “Talking about “Naval Collection” with Shaonan and Vivi. Shaonan mentioned the French social theorist René Gui, who had a great influence on Silicon Valley mogul Peter Thiel. René Girard’s ” Mimetic Desire” theory, here is a brief share of some study notes about this theory.

– René Girard’s theory of “imitation desire” is to psychology what gravity is to physics. Girard believes that human beings do not have an instinctive desire mechanism, but often rely on external references to show us what we should or want. This is the imitative desire in human nature.

– The ultimate goal of our desire to satisfy our desires is to show others what kind of person we are, the champion of the game of status in society. Many times we don’t want something directly, but we want it when we see that the people around us have it.

– Thinking back to your dream college and dream job, where did you get the idea? Adolescent students are very susceptible to the influence of their surroundings, and they often imitate the desires of others and embark on a life path that is not their own. Social media has doubled the influence of the desire to imitate. Ask today’s kids what they want to be when they grow up, and nine out of ten the answer is to become a YouTuber or an internet celebrity.

– Competition is at the heart of human behavior, as humans tend to want what other people want, which naturally drives us into competition. When differences are eliminated, conflict arises and everyone starts fighting for the same things. Many times when people win the competition, they do not get the expected happiness and satisfaction, because this zero-sum game is not what you want from the bottom of your heart, but the desire they instill in you.

– Peter Thiel wrote in “Zero to One” that everyone should avoid competition, perfect competition can only lead to no profits at all, innovation monopoly can create profits. Develop the ability to think independently and keep a distance from the public.

– What should we do once we realize that we are in a mimetic environment or imitating behavior? Please do a thorough and honest self-reflection, think about people you have dealt with recently, review what you have recently listened to and read, and while we cannot completely get rid of the influence of the desire to imitate, we can reduce its influence in the process of introspection to lowest. Free yourself from the herd mentality by building your life on something deeper.

Further reading:
– David Perell and Jonathan Bi ‘s online course on the desire to imitate
– Luke Burgis’s book: Desire : The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life

​11 Latin “laws of life”

Recently, I had a lot of fun at StepN , and I also met a group of cute and interesting runners. Sister Rong from a certain StepN running group saw my tattoo and asked me if I still knew Latin? The only Latin I know is from my online tutor Ryan Holiday , who shared his 11 “rules of life” written in Latin on his blog.

1. Festina Lente (Make Haste Slowly)

Festina Lente was the motto of Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. He believes that a well-trained leader must not act hastily. The pursuit of speed is not always a good thing.

Lincoln once described that the best way to chop down a tree is to spend hours sharpening an axe first. If you don’t know why you are doing it and how you are doing it, but you are immersed in it, it usually doesn’t go well.

Haste is not enough, and people will always pay the price for their impatience. Each of us needs to think twice and use thought, wisdom and patience to get to the root of the problem. Take it slow first, then things will pick up quickly.

2. Carpe Diem (Seize The Day)

The poet Horace wrote in the first volume of The Odyssey: “Seize the present, tomorrow is not sure.”

Many of us think that time is free and can be wasted at will. We even talk about how to “pass the time” and “kill the time”. But every passing minute reminds us that we are getting closer to death.

Seneca writes that when we think life is short, we are wasting it. Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius always warned himself that what he can do today should not be postponed to tomorrow, because today is the only thing he can control. The teachings of the Stoics also pointed out that fate is unpredictable and death comes at any time. So taking time for granted is a stupid sin.

3. Fac, si facis (Do It If You’re Going to Do It)
A lot of people think: I should start a company, I have a great idea for a movie, I want to write a book, if I try hard enough, I can be a ____… And how many of these people actually go and build a company, What about releasing a movie, publishing a book, or being whatever character they claim they can be? Sadly, almost none.

Artist Austin Klein once said that people want to be nouns, not verbs. We do not rely on words to make things happen, but to prove ourselves with actions.

4. Quidvis recte factum quamvis humile praeclarum (What Is Rightly Done, However Humble, Is Noble, whatever you do well, no matter how humble, is noble work)

Sir Henry Rice, whose father died when he was 9 years old, went to work to relieve the family’s financial burden, selling newspapers, delivering telegrams, making tools, and repairing street lamps. At 21, he set up his own company to make electrical accessories; at 26, his interests turned to the burgeoning auto industry. Soon after, the Rolls-Royce Motor Company was founded.

These seemingly unremarkable jobs Sir Rice did in the first 20 years of his life, but in fact, it was the manual work he did, the seemingly unremarkable jobs, that cultivated Sir Rose’s understanding of excellence. He later inscribed this famous Latin phrase on the wall above his fireplace: Quidvis recte factum quamvis humble praeclarum.

No job or task is humble. How we do something is also how we do everything.

5. Semper Fidelis (Always Faithful)

Otto Frank did not return home as expected after the end of World War I. No, it wasn’t because he was wounded or dead; it wasn’t because he was delayed by a girl, but because during the war his troops requisitioned some horses from a small farm in Pomerania, after the war , he felt obliged to return the property to its original owner. So, when the war was over, and almost every soldier was rushing home to be reunited with his family, Frank was determined to do his duty to bring the horses back to the local farmers.

The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius has always advocated insisting on doing what is moral, even if that means carrying additional burdens despite the heavy responsibility, or not being understood and noticed by others. “Always Loyal” is the motto of the U.S. Marine Corps. Members will sacrifice and dedicate in order to fulfill their mission with steadfastness, but that is the right thing and a reward for their character.

6. Per Angusta Ad Augusta (Through Difficulties To Honors)

People want life to go according to plan and that things don’t go wrong so that we can enjoy life without worrying about trials that come from hardship. Unfortunately, a smooth life is unlikely to happen. This leaves us with the question: what good does going through hardship really do for us?

This passage in the biography of Winston Churchill’s wife Clementine Churchill deserves our consideration. “Adversity and stubborn willpower have honed Clementine, a timid, self-doubting and neurotic girl, into a prime minister’s wife of unrivaled poise, wit and courage. Much of the hardships of her early life were like fires. , forged the steel core for her to face the rest of her life. By the time of World War II, that young child who was afraid of her father had grown into a woman who was not afraid of anything.”

The Stoics believed that adversity was inevitable. When adversity strikes, we are often caught off guard. But adversity isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because it makes us stronger and it gives us a chance to prove ourselves.

7. Amor fati (Love Of Fate)

Writer Borges once said that everything that happens to a person is a resource. Everything you experience has a purpose. Especially as writers and artists, this must be recognized more strongly. Everything that happens to us, including our humiliation, misfortune, embarrassment, can be the raw material for artistic creation.

We have to learn to find joy in everything that happens to us. We must understand that many things happen out of our control, but we can take advantage of them. Unfortunately, being sick for a long time can give us enough time to reflect on life; encountering difficult problems at work can inspire us to invent new products and new solutions.

Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius said that a raging fire can produce flame and light in everything that is put into it. This is what we want to be. We want to be artists who can turn pain, frustration and even humiliation into beauty. We need to be the ones who turn our sufferings into life philosophies for others to learn from.

Love everything that happens in your destiny because you can enjoy everything it has to offer.

8. Fatum Ingenium Est (Character Is Fate)

Walker Percy wrote to his uncle and adoptive father Will Percy when he was in college, expressing his troubles at school. He had expected to receive a letter from his uncle criticizing his grades or reprimanding him for disappointing his family. As a result, instead of criticizing him, his uncle persuaded him that the meaning of life lies not in the pursuit of honor and achievement, but in the shaping of personality.

The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus pointed out that character is destiny. Character determines who we are and what we do. Cultivating good character is our way of life. Marcus Aurelius also wrote: Life is short, and the fruit of this life is good character. And vice versa, a good life is also based on the fruit of a good character.

9. Semper Anticus (Always Forward)

People love to be nostalgic, or complaining, or self-pity, but these actions are pointless, the past is gone, there is only the present before us, and if we are lucky, we also have a future.

Cyclist Lance Armstrong’s podcast is called “The Forward” because he can’t go back and change what’s happened, like in a race, you can’t go backwards, you can’t stop, the only thing you can All it does is move on.

We must do our best while we can still seize the moment, no matter what happened in the past, what we did wrong, how much pain, regret, or even laughter and victory it brought us in the past, we should throw it all away. down, and then move forward with the virtues of courage, temperance, wisdom, and justice.

10. Vivere Militare Est (To Live Is To Fight)

Odysseus left Troy to go home after a long ten-year war, but he did not expect that the journey home would take another ten years. He faces storms, temptations, cyclops, deadly vortexes, and six-headed monsters, as well as the punishment of Poseidon’s wrath, and the foes that await him in his homeland.

Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius described life as a journey full of wars and a journey away from home. The Stoics also speak of one having to live through life like a boxer or wrestler, always ready for a sudden attack.

This is life. It kicks us around like a ball. Life is full of backfires and hardships. Seneca wrote that it is only after a bruised practice and fight that a fighter will walk into the ring with confidence in the next fight. We need to be prepared for battle in life, we can be knocked down, but we must have the courage and ability to get up at any time after falling.

11. Memento Mori (Remember Death)

Seneca believes that if a person considers each day as the end of their life and meditates on their own death at night, then when they wake up, they have a superpower.

This is the way a person should live. Grateful for life to live another day, maybe you may not see the sun tomorrow, but if you do wake up the next day, you should watch every second of the next twenty-four hours Doing is a reward.

“You may die now,” wrote Marcus Aurelius. “Let it dictate what you do and say and think.”

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