The Human Brain’s Signature Trait Is Also Humanity’s Weakness: Conformity
The human brain and a fish's brain are the same. A fish doesn't decide how to swim by thinking; it's the school around it that determines its movement. When all the fish nearby are swimming left, asking one fish to swim right is impossible.
In the United States, two neighboring communities can have vastly different house prices—the difference lies in their social circles. America doesn't offer much public infrastructure or amenities; a so-called neighborhood is essentially a group of people living together. If those people are respectable and upwardly motivated, you're more likely to rise too. Conversely, if everyone is into drugs and alcohol, it's hard not to get dragged down as well.
When everyone around you is easily exploited, it's nearly impossible to change your fate. The moment you open your eyes, the people around you are all talking about emotions and drama. You're just a fish in a school—your behavior is shaped by the environment around you. Whatever that environment looks like, that's what you become.
In the 1970s, many future prominent figures were sent down to do manual labor. After a day's work, while others drank and played cards, they read books. This scene appears countless times in celebrity memoirs and is often interpreted as "knowledge changes destiny." But what's the real truth?
The truth is they removed themselves from a toxic environment. As long as you ignore everyone around you, it doesn't matter what you do—you'll still come out ahead. The reason is that when people are drinking and playing cards, they're chatting. They're not silently playing solitaire against a computer. During those conversations, they unload their entire worldview, values, decision-making frameworks, and methodologies onto you.
You end up living in their low-level school of fish, where the crab effect kicks in—they pull you down, and you never escape the basket. Your thinking gets trapped, your cognition gets stuck.
There's a famous Chinese story called "Mencius' Mother Moves Three Times."
The only difficult thing you need to work hard at in life is this: strive to join a better school of fish.
Whether you stay in a镰刀 (predatory) environment or a韭菜 (exploited) environment, the average of the people you see and talk about every day is the mirror of your own destiny.