How should operators establish a complete knowledge system?

Recently, many readers have sent me private messages asking this question. Just as I am about to push something out, I decided to share some of my thoughts. To be honest, this is a huge question, and it would probably take a whole book to fully explore it. Therefore, I try to explain this issue as concisely as possible. I hope this can give you some inspiration.

This is the " knowledge system matrix" I summarized. It has 9 elements, representing the 9 most important factors in the process of "establishing a knowledge system". Let’s discuss them one by one.

1. What we learn: three kinds of knowledge

What is a knowledge system?

In my definition, knowledge system is a concept that corresponds to fragmented knowledge and refers to a highly ordered collection of knowledge. That is to say, it consists of two parts: one is a large number of knowledge points, and the other is an orderly structure.

What is "order"? You must have met such a person: he is very proficient in a certain field. No matter what question you ask him, he can start from your topic, cite extensively, and explain a large number of principles, mechanisms, knowledge points... one by one, clearly and rigorously.

This is "order" - in his mind, all the knowledge points are linked together. He knows where a certain knowledge point should be placed and where it will lead to.

If fragmented knowledge is a sketch of a street scene, then the knowledge system is a complete map.

So, how to systematize knowledge?

We need to approach it from three levels: general knowledge, application and information.

1. General Knowledge

The foundation of the knowledge system is "a large number of knowledge points". Without this, it cannot be a system. Without quantitative support, no matter how delicate or complex the structure is, it is meaningless.

Therefore, the first step in building a knowledge system is sufficient basic knowledge - I call it "general knowledge".

This is crucial, but it’s where many people go the wrong way.

For example:

Study philosophy, read inspirational quotes and life philosophies;

Study psychology, read micro-expressions, character analysis, and "The Interpretation of Dreams";

If you want to study sociology, go watch The Crowd;

To learn economics, read The Wealth of Nations and Das Kapital...

These are all inappropriate examples.

As well as the three famous schools of thought on Zhihu: Legal High, Three-Body Politics, and Currency War Economics.

Why? It's very simple. Good general knowledge must have the following three characteristics:

1) Paradigm

What does this subject study? What method is used for research? What are the generally accepted principles at present? —— This is the paradigm, or the "discourse system" of a field.

It can adjust your way of thinking to the "accepted patterns" in this field.

Good general education textbooks must have professional paradigms. It doesn't necessarily have to be "serious", but it must be "professional" enough.

For example, some art histories interpret famous paintings from the perspectives of eroticism, imperial court romance, etc. This is not a good paradigm - it will lead you astray.

2) Broad

Any field in its development will inevitably go through the process of "positive-negative-synthesis" .

In the early stages of learning, it is not a good idea to be exposed to too much of the views of a certain person or school of thought, or even to have a stance on something. This will limit your vision, make you prejudiced, and make it difficult for you to see the overall picture of the entire field.

Therefore, a better approach is to constantly pursue "synergy" and seek the newest and most extensive results.

For example, reading a modern economics textbook is a better choice than reading "The Wealth of Nations" or "Das Kapital". Because the latter will have a more accurate and in-depth understanding of the former based on the context of the times. You will know what to absorb and what to discard.

3) Objective

No further explanation needed. Content with stances and tendencies can lead to many bad consequences - such as deliberately selecting favorable arguments, vilifying and criticizing opposing schools of thought, generalizing, and so on.

Russell's "History of Western Philosophy" is a magnificent work, but it has been widely criticized for this point. Even some textbooks are suspected of being less objective. I won’t go into details.

At this point, you may find a problem:

General knowledge is a necessary condition for entry, but how can those who have not yet entered have enough ability to distinguish?

This is indeed a paradox.

Don't worry, we'll talk later.

Next, let’s move on to the second level: application.

2. Application

If general knowledge is the raw material that constitutes the knowledge system, then application is the way to make these raw materials shine and establish an orderly structure.

Humans are a meaning-driven species. You will find that all our knowledge, essentially, exists for some purpose: art is for expression, philosophy is for exploring nature, history is for understanding ourselves, and so on. There is no "knowledge" without source and meaning.

The same is true in research and learning. We say, what is the best way to learn? It is problem-driven.

You must first have a question and become interested in something, and then you explore it, improve and enrich your knowledge system, and try to solve the problem.

This is the most effective learning process.

Therefore, from the application level, there are also three levels:

1) Mission: What is the purpose of this field?

2) Big Questions: What are the “big questions” that are driving the field forward? How did our ancestors think and answer this question?

3) Small question: In the specific learning process, what aspects am I interested in? What questions can I ask? How do I organize and think about these questions?

The big question is in terms of the development and evolution of a field. For example: In psychology, what are emotions? What is consciousness? What is the mechanism of the brain? These are the “big questions” that psychologists face and need to continue to explore and answer.

For introductory books on philosophy, I have always recommended "The Big Questions" and "The Threshold of Philosophy" because they adopt this kind of structure - instead of copying schools of thought and history, they tell you: What questions is the development of philosophy trying to answer? What efforts have philosophers throughout history made regarding these issues? What progress has been made respectively?

This is a very good way to get started, and it is also a way to turn general knowledge into gold.

Small questions are for personal learning. What questions do you want to answer by studying this field? What practical problems are answered?

Only by taking a problem-oriented approach and thinking in this way can you better stimulate and activate the knowledge you have learned.

For example: Time management has a lot of basic knowledge, tools and methodologies. What happens after learning these? It is not about copying, but about looking at your background and needs, and what problems need to be solved. Then, from these numerous methodologies, extract their essence and skeleton, reorganize and combine them, and evolve a set of management methods that best suits you.

This is an "ordered structure".

In this way, you can give meaning and value to the knowledge you have learned and systematize it.

A map is drawn not to be left there to gather dust, but to be used to guide the way.

The same is true with knowledge.

3. Information

The first two points, general knowledge and application, together constitute the vast majority of the knowledge system.

The rest is information.

What is information? Simply put, it is an update to the first two - that is, small update packages.

Any field is always developing, constantly correcting previous minor mistakes and exploring in certain directions. They may be in the form of papers, magazines, online articles, books, etc.

What is the point? A knowledge system is not a static thing, but needs to be constantly iterated and improved. New water must flow in to wash away the sediment in order to maintain its vitality.

To give a simple example: in the last century, the research results of psychology were that "short-term memory can hold about 7 units", which is the classic "magic number 7". It is a "general knowledge".

But the latest research in the early 21st century found that the capacity of short-term memory is actually only 4, not 7 - this is an "update package". Then you will know: Oh, my knowledge needs to be updated.

Now, if you look at the popular science books on psychology published in recent years, basically all of them have been revised - this is "information" that has passed the test of time and become the new "common knowledge."

If you don't pay attention to these cutting-edge achievements and don't update your knowledge reserves, you will find that, unknowingly, your knowledge has become outdated, you can no longer keep up with the times, and you can no longer understand what others are saying.

Therefore, seeking knowledge is more important than knowledge itself.

Knowledge is not the destination, but the journey.

2. Where do we learn from: three ways

1. Mentor

I have said in "General Knowledge" that this is actually a paradox: in order to get started in a field, you need good general education materials; but for those who have not yet gotten started, how can they distinguish what are good general education materials?

Here’s the answer: You need a mentor.

A mentor does not necessarily have to be a teacher. He can be your friend, colleague, celebrity, or anyone else. It doesn’t even have to be a single person – it can be a website, a service, or an online education platform.

Its role is to provide you with an effective "learning path" .

What is a learning path? Where should you start, then what to learn, then what to learn, then what to learn next, and so on. The simplest form is a book list .

Everyone can make a book list, but it is very difficult to make a good book list because many factors must be considered.

The most important point is the gradient: a good learning path must go from easy to difficult , from shallow to deep, and from broad to specialized.

When getting started, which general education books should you choose to maximize the balance between fun and professionalism? After getting started, how should you choose content from different schools, positions, and viewpoints? How to guide a person to gradually move towards a more professional and in-depth part?

All of these are a great test of the instructor's skills and accumulation.

Another point is difficulty.

We know that there is a "comfort zone" theory in learning. If you stay in a place that you are familiar with (comfort zone), you can’t learn anything, you are just repeating yourself; if you are too far away from your comfort zone (danger zone), it is also difficult to learn anything because you don’t understand anything at all.

The best state is to find the edge of your comfort zone and take a step forward, which we call the "growth zone" - giving yourself a challenge without being too difficult.

These are things to consider.

If you lack sufficiently professional candidates around you, you might consider professional online education platforms such as Coursera and EDX. They often have more mature learning path designs and extended readings, which are helpful in building their own knowledge system.

2. Output

I have always emphasized one point:

Output is the best way to internalize.

People often ask me: How to better remember a knowledge point? The answer is simple: put it into your own words and teach it to others.

Similarly, how to ensure 100% mastery of a knowledge point? Write it into an article, publish it, and let others pick on it.

However, in our daily lives, we focus too much on input and neglect output.

Every day we browse our Moments , read the news, watch videos, read books, read public accounts , and chat. We are all inputting, but what happens after the input? How many of them can actually be remembered and incorporated into the knowledge system?

Maybe less than 10%.

The reason behind this is, to a large extent, due to the lack of output - we constantly stimulate our brains with the novelty of "input", but we are always afraid to think and give.

This makes no sense.

3. Channels

Channel here refers specifically to information channel, which is the source from which we obtain all "fragmented information".

Many people ask me: What do you think of fragmented learning? Does it contradict the knowledge system?

Actually not. Fragmented learning has its role, but its significance lies in "updating" and "supplementing" rather than "constructing".

What does it mean? If you know nothing about a field, then fragmented information will do more harm than good. Because they are often simple, one-sided, and intuitive, it is difficult to construct effective logic and structure. All you get is a pile of gravel, not a house.

But if you already have an established system, then fragmented information can be quite useful - it can be a useful supplement.

When you see any piece of information, you will know where to put it, how to criticize and absorb it, and how to trace its source.

At this point, you are "systematizing fragmented information."

But the prerequisite is that you must have sufficient understanding and accumulation in this field.

In this regard, the channels I often use are:

1) Google : Regardless of any field and at any time, Google is the best and most comprehensive source of information;

2) Papers: China uses CNKI, and foreign countries use Google Scholar + Sci-hub, which can obtain cutting-edge information in a certain field;

3) Database: including Useit knowledge base, official websites of major consulting companies, official statistical departments, etc., which can help you obtain sufficient empirical data.

4) Media: various well-known blogs (such as medium.com), online media (such as NYT), magazines (HBR, Fast Company), aggregation platforms (Solidot, Techcrunch), etc.

5) Community : WeChat groups of various industries, etc.

The above 6 points (three kinds of knowledge + three methods) basically analyze the knowledge system from two dimensions.

Next, let’s look at the third part.

3. How do we learn: three mindsets

1. Contact

When I learn any knowledge point, I will inevitably ask three questions:

1) What is it?

2) Where does it come from?

3) Where is it going?

Don't laugh, this is serious.

For the first question, I would look for “similar terms”. That is to say, find similar concepts from memory and figure out what the similarities and differences are between them; what this new knowledge point belongs to and what it does not belong to; what it is and what it is not.

For the second question, I would trace back to find the source of this knowledge point: Who proposed it? how come? What was it originally intended to solve/explain? What causes it? etc.

I will keep asking "why" to get closer to the origin of the entire logical chain.

For the third question, I will expand on it and look for application scenarios for this knowledge point. I will think about what will happen if I put it in this occasion; what will happen if I put it in that context.

This is my "encircled learning".

You will see that the core of encircling learning is "connection": try to find and establish the connection between this new knowledge point and the old knowledge point.

The reasons have been discussed in many previous articles. You can refer to: What is the biggest misunderstanding in reading?

It is meaningless to understand a knowledge point in isolation. You cannot remember it or incorporate it into the system. Only by constantly seeking connections and establishing points and lines can you incorporate this knowledge point into your own knowledge network.

This is the essence of learning.

2. System

Systems and connections are very similar, yet they are different.

The connection is centered on the new knowledge point and radiates its associations; while the system thinking method is to "raise a level" and look at the "entire network" in front of you from a higher dimension, paying attention to its own structure, location and contact points.

This is a bit mysterious, so let me give you an example:

Open a book at hand and turn to page 42, you will see densely packed words on the book, which constitute a certain expression.

Now turn to the table of contents, and you will find that the entire 42 pages of content are condensed into one sentence in the table of contents. When you see this sentence, you will "expand" it in your mind and restore it to its original content. You will know what it is about and what information it provides.

Now, put this book on your bookshelf, take two steps back, and look at your entire bookshelf. Then, this catalogue, together with other catalogues, was hidden in the entire bookshelf, like a drop of water merging into the sea.

But you will know that when you want to find something, you can open which book, find which directory, turn to which page, and find the information you want.

This is the simplest "system".

What has been mentioned above are the different levels in this system. The specific content is one level, the directory is one level, and the book is one level.

Extending further upwards, bookshelves, various knowledge carriers, etc., are another level of the larger system.

Each level is a subsystem and an organic part of the system.

When your vision is elevated, you will find that what you see will be completely different, and your way of thinking will also be completely different.

A local battle may be lost, but from the overall strategic perspective, it is won - that's the truth.

The same principle applies when playing Go. If you make three or four irrational moves in a row, they will eventually become a whole big trend.

Always pay attention to the "system" and constantly improve your thinking and perspective, which will help you better master your own knowledge system.

3. Openness

The last crucial mindset is openness.

As mentioned before, the development of any field is bound to repeat the process of "positive-negative-synthesis" - the old "synthesis" will become the new "positive", and the cycle will continue, spiraling upward.

This is an "iteration".

This is where many people's weaknesses lie:

They firmly believe in their own "righteousness", but dare not look directly at the "opposite", let alone overthrow themselves.

This is tantamount to cutting off the source of knowledge, and will only lead to continued imperfections.

So, what do we mean by "scientific spirit"? It is not about chasing after a certain theory or thinking that it is "always correct", but about seeking verification, exploration and questioning.

When a person firmly believes that he represents the truth, the truth has already left him.

Finally, let’s look at this “knowledge system matrix”.

You will find that they also correspond one to one when viewed vertically:

What to learn? General knowledge. How to learn? Through a mentor. What kind of mentality? connect.

What to learn? application. How to learn? Output. What kind of mentality? Systems thinking.

What to learn? information. How to learn? Information channels. What kind of mentality? open.

The essence of the knowledge system lies here.

Of course, there is still a long way to go from here to truly mastering and understanding a field.

Let’s work together to pursue deep thinking and lifelong learning.

Knowledge is never somewhere, knowledge is on the way.

The author of this article @Lachel compiled and published by (Qinggua Media), please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!

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