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The Singularity Is Nearer Part 1 of 3 Executive summary at a glance Thesis: The exponential advance of information technologies is intact and accelerating; by the 2030s, human-level AI will be widely realized, and by the mid-2040s, we cross into the “Singularity”—a phase where intelligence, biology, and technology rapidly merge and self-amplify beyond contemporary comprehension. Method: Empirical curves, especially price-performance of computation, algorithmic efficiency, neural model scali...

HOW TO CREATE A MIND: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed By Ray Kurzweil PART 1: THE THEORY OF MIND AND BRAIN Tap. Tap. Tap. That's the sound of your neurons firing as you read these words—an intricate dance of electrochemical signals coursing through the labyrinthine passages of your neocortex. What if we could replicate this magnificent orchestra of cognition? What if we could, indeed, create a mind? Ray Kurzweil, the prolific inventor and futurist, embarks on this audacious intellectua...

PART ONE: The Foundations of Buffett's Philosophy Warren Buffett, often referred to as the "Oracle of Omaha," has cultivated an investment philosophy that has withstood the vicissitudes of market fluctuations for over seven decades. His approach—deceptively simple yet profoundly sophisticated—has generated returns that have made him one of the wealthiest individuals on the planet. The Warren Buffett Way isn't merely a collection of investment strategies; it's a comprehensive framework for think...

TITAN: THE LIFE OF JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, SR. By Ron Chernow Summary Part 1 of 3: Origins, Family, and the Birth of Ambition I. A Boy from Richford John Davison Rockefeller, Sr., was born on July 8, 1839, in a modest, clapboard farmhouse in Richford, New York. The landscape: rolling hills, a patchwork of farms, cows mooing in the early morning mist, and the ever-present aroma of tilled earth. His parents, William Avery (“Big Bill”) Rockefeller and Eliza Davison Rockefeller, could not have be...

《不執著的練習》——第一部分：執著的根源與自我觀察 CG4.1: May 2025 「我們不是被經驗本身困住，而是被對經驗的執著所束縛。」 — 小池龍之介 一、引言：現代人的執著困境 在大都市的清晨，鬧鐘鈴聲「叮叮叮」地劃破寧靜。你睜開惺忪睡眼，腦海裡立刻浮現未完成的工作、親密關係的糾結、自己的焦慮與不安。這一切，都是現代人內心執著的縮影。 小池龍之介以他獨到的敏銳觀察，描寫了現代人如何在「得失」、「比較」、「期待」、「懊悔」之間徘徊。他認為，正是這種種執著令我們身心疲憊，讓快樂與平靜遙不可及。 二、執著的定義與本質 1. 什麼是執著？ 在書中，作者不厭其煩地闡述：「執著，是對人、事、物、想法，產生不必要的依戀與不安。」 我們之所以痛苦，不是因為現實本身，而是因為我們緊緊抓住了心中的某種「應該」： 我應該獲得更多的認同。 我應該永遠保持年輕。 我應該不被拒絕。 我應該掌控一切。 這種「應該」如一條條無形的繩索，將我們與現實拉扯得支離破碎。 2. 執著的來源 執著的根本在於「自我」的強化。 小池龍之介用一個生動的比喻：「自我是水中的泡沫，脆弱卻又不斷膨...

THE SNOWBALL: WARREN BUFFETT AND THE BUSINESS OF LIFE Part 1: Origins and Early Years INTRODUCTION: THE MAKING OF AN ORACLE In the frost-laden winter of 1930, as the Great Depression cast its long shadow across America, a child was born in Omaha, Nebraska—a child whose name would one day become synonymous with wealth, wisdom, and a peculiar form of capitalistic virtue. Warren Edward Buffett entered the world on August 30th of that year, arriving with neither silver spoon nor fanfare, yet dest...

CHARLIE MUNGER: THE COMPLETE INVESTOR A Comprehensive Summary - Part 1 of 3 "The game of investing is one of making better predictions about the future than other people. How are you going to do that? One way is to limit your tries to areas of competence. If you try to predict the future of everything, you attempt too much." — Charlie Munger In the pantheon of investment luminaries, few figures command as much respect and admiration as Charles T. Munger. Not merely Warren Buffett's right-hand...

MASTERING THE MARKET CYCLE: GETTING THE ODDS ON YOUR SIDE Howard Marks (2018) PART ONE OF THREE: Understanding Cycles and Their Significance In the vast landscape of financial literature, few works capture the essence of cyclical market behavior with the precision and clarity that Howard Marks achieves in "Mastering the Market Cycle." As the co-founder and co-chairman of Oaktree Capital Management—a firm managing over $120 billion in assets—Marks brings decades of investment wisdom to this ma...

GRAVITAS: Communicate with Confidence, Influence and Authority A Comprehensive Analysis - Part 1 of 3 INTRODUCTION: THE POWER OF PRESENCE In a world saturated with noise and constant communication, the ability to command attention—to possess that elusive quality called "gravitas"—has become increasingly valuable. Caroline Goyder's seminal work "Gravitas" explores this concept not as an innate trait bestowed upon the lucky few, but as a learnable skill accessible to anyone willing to develop i...

📚 THE SLIGHT EDGE: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success & Happiness 📚 PART 1: The Philosophy of the Slight Edge and Its Fundamental Principles Have you ever wondered why some people achieve remarkable success while others—despite similar talents, opportunities, and resources—struggle perpetually? The answer, according to Jeff Olson, isn't found in quantum leaps or dramatic transformations but in something far more subtle yet immensely powerful: the slight edge. 🔑 The Core Conce...

SAPIENS: A Brief History of Humankind A Comprehensive Summary - Part 1 of 3 By Yuval Noah Harari INTRODUCTION: The Animal That Became a God In the vast tapestry of Earth's history, spanning approximately 13.5 billion years, humans—specifically Homo sapiens—represent but a fleeting moment. Yet in this infinitesimal slice of cosmic time, we have transformed from unremarkable apes roaming the African savannah into the undisputed sovereigns of the entire planet. How did this extraordinary meta...

DOLLARS AND SENSE: HOW WE MISTHINK MONEY AND HOW TO SPEND SMARTER A Comprehensive Analysis - Part 1 of 3 ![Money psychology concept image] Inside This Section: The Psychology Behind Financial Irrationality Pain of Paying & The Relativity Trap Mental Accounting & Cognitive Biases Actionable Strategies for Financial Decision-Making THE LABYRINTH OF FINANCIAL FOLLY Clink. Swipe. Tap. The sound of money changing hands has evolved dramatically over centuries, yet our psychological r...

Charlie Munger emphasized that reading is fundamental to wisdom and lifelong learning. He famously said, "In my whole life, I have known no wise people (over a broad subject matter area) who didn't read all the time-none, zero" and noted how much he and Warren Buffett read daily, with his children joking that he was "a book with a couple of legs sticking out"[1][6][8]. He viewed reading not just as a hobby but as a vital tool for self-education and sharpening thinking, calling it "God's gift ...

GENIUS MAKERS: The Revolution That Changed Our World PART 1: THE BIRTH OF A NEW INTELLIGENCE The cavernous hallways of the University of Toronto were unnaturally quiet that winter morning in 2012. Geoffrey Hinton, a British-born computer scientist with thinning grey hair and perpetually hunched shoulders—the result of a decades-old back injury—shuffled through the corridors, his mind preoccupied with artificial neural networks, mathematical systems loosely inspired by the human brain. Little d...

ATOMIC HABITS: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones PART 1: The Fundamentals of Habit Formation "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle Have you ever wondered why some people seem to effortlessly achieve their goals while others struggle perpetually? Why certain individuals can maintain a rigorous exercise regimen while you can't seem to get off the couch? The answer lies not in moments of herculean willpower or m...

CHIP WAR: THE FIGHT FOR THE WORLD'S MOST CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY Part 1: The Silicon Foundation and the Birth of Semiconductor Geopolitics The gentle hum of billions of transistors—microscopic switches etched into crystalline silicon—powers our modern existence, yet remains largely invisible to the average person. This invisibility belies the brutal geopolitical struggle that has shaped, and continues to shape, the global order. The story of the semiconductor—that magnificent marriage of physics,...

ONE MAN'S VIEW OF THE WORLD Lee Kuan Yew's Geopolitical Testament PART 1: The Statesman's Perspective and Asia's Rising Powers INTRODUCTION: THE MIND OF A NATION-BUILDER In the pantheon of 20th-century statesmen, few figures loom as pragmatically prescient as Lee Kuan Yew. Published in 2013, just two years before his passing, "One Man's View of the World" serves as the capstone intellectual testament of Singapore's founding father—a distillation of geopolitical wisdom accumulated across six ...

MAN OF CONTRADICTIONS: JOKO WIDODO AND THE STRUGGLE TO REFORM INDONESIA Part 1: The Rise of Jokowi - From Furniture Seller to President INTRODUCTION: INDONESIA'S ENIGMATIC LEADER In the sprawling archipelago of Indonesia—a nation of 17,000 islands stretched across the equator like emerald jewels on a cerulean tapestry—emerged a most unlikely political phenomenon. Joko Widodo, affectionately known as "Jokowi," defied Indonesia's traditional power structures and rose from humble origins to beco...

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF STUPIDITY Part 1: Understanding Stupidity - Definitions, Manifestations, and Why We're All Susceptible In Jean-François Marmion's compelling anthology "The Psychology of Stupidity," distinguished psychologists, philosophers, and social scientists converge to dissect a phenomenon we all recognize yet struggle to define. The collection's brilliance lies not in mocking human folly from a distance, but in bringing us uncomfortably close to our own cognitive limitations. As Carlo ...

BREATHE IN, BREATHE OUT A Comprehensive Analysis of Stuart Sandeman's Revolutionary Approach to Transformative Breathing Part 1 of 3 INTRODUCTION: THE BREATH OF LIFE When was the last time you paid attention to your breath? That simple, automatic process that occurs approximately 20,000 times per day likely escapes your conscious awareness most of the time. Yet within this rhythmic dance of inhalation and exhalation lies a profound gateway to transformation—one that Stuart Sandeman masterf...

"Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality" by Venki Ramakrishnan PART 1: The Biological Foundations of Mortality The question of why we die has haunted humanity since the dawn of consciousness. In this groundbreaking work, Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Venki Ramakrishnan delves deep into the molecular machinery of life to unravel one of existence's greatest mysteries. Unlike philosophical treatises that have preceded it, Ramakrishnan's approach is firmly rooted in cu...

THE SINGULARITY IS NEARER A Profound Exploration of Ray Kurzweil's Vision for Humanity's Future Part 1 of 3: The Foundations of Exponential Progress Zing! Zoom! Zap! The electrifying pace of technological innovation reverberates through the pages of Ray Kurzweil's "The Singularity Is Nearer," published in 2023 as a compelling sequel to his groundbreaking 2005 work, "The Singularity Is Near." This visionary tome catapults readers into a realm where the demarcation between human and machine blu...

BRAINJACKING: THE SCIENCE AND REALITY OF MIND CONTROL Part 1: The Science Behind Neural Interfaces and Mind Manipulation Brain-computer interface concept INSIDE THIS SECTION: The evolution of neural interface technology How the brain works: a primer on neural pathways Current capabilities and limitations The early pioneers of brain-machine interfaces Have you ever wondered what it would be like if someone could actually hack into your thoughts? To peer into the recesses of your mind, or...

FACTFULNESS: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World—and Why Things Are Better Than You Think By Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund, and Ola Rosling PART 1: THE GAP INSTINCT AND OUR DRAMATIC WORLDVIEW Crack! The sound of misconceptions shattering echoes throughout Hans Rosling's masterpiece "Factfulness." Like a surgeon wielding a scalpel of data, Rosling dissects our preconceived notions about the state of our world, revealing a reality vastly different from what most educated people believ...