Peaks Are Rare

These two days I heard a view: peaks are rare. I strongly agree with it. This sentence works when talking about an era, and it also works when talking about a life. In both contexts, the flavor is right.

I believe many people already know what I want to talk about: AI, the thing now burning red-hot. I believe a lot of people feel this is an unprecedented technological transformation, perhaps even far beyond the PC, the internet, and mobile internet. I also firmly believe this may be a technological transformation I will not encounter again in my lifetime.

That is the first narrative background. Looking across human history, there are not many moments that can truly be called peaks, and not many that a single person can catch. The information and development of human history grow exponentially; I think we can all feel that from the last 20 years. 2025 has just passed, and it is already obvious that change came far denser than in 2024. Think about SOTA large models measured in hundreds of millions of dollars iterating every few weeks. That speed is astonishing. The rapidly growing Capex brought by massive AI Infra is also unprecedented in human history. A thick FOMO atmosphere fills social media and people’s conversations.

Dickens’ over-quoted line: it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It represents two sides, and also people with different perspectives and attitudes. I am also someone who believes peaks are rare. To encounter an opportunity to climb a peak gives me a strange excitement and comfort. Very strange feeling, but it really is comfort: I get to meet it. I do not know how high I can climb in the end, what achievements I can make, who I will meet, or what friends I will make. But just thinking about it already feels exciting.

Looking from the perspective of an individual life, we are also constrained by the larger background and era cycles. But a person’s age and what can be done at different stages are also limited to some degree, and that degree depends on the person, family, and other factors.

From a worldly angle, walking through the education path consumes most of the first 30 years of life. The further back you go, the narrower the remaining window becomes. Ideals are good; reality is cruel. Ordinary people are often constrained by education credentials and age. This is also a contradictory point. It often makes me think: how great would it be if a person knew what kind of person they wanted to become when they were young? Then they could start preparing very early. It seems many “big people” have talked about this when looking back, and I also find this phenomenon appearing among younger groups now. Perhaps information spreads faster and is easier to obtain.

In any case, after entering society, the trial-and-error window left for each person is too small, let alone the need to accumulate experience, connections, and original capital. So the peaks in a life are even more unpredictable. Everyone can encounter peaks at different stages. This is positively correlated with the larger environment, but not absolutely correlated.

This is also one of my value orientations: when I encounter a peak, I hope I have the ability to climb it. In the past, I would make things that were sometimes useful and sometimes useless. That was also the foundation that kept me prepared. Now the rules of the game seem to have changed. It is no longer enough to simply do some preparation. What we need is the ability to adapt quickly, learn quickly, and try quickly.

I really like the phrase Always Day 1. It can carry many meanings. For example, if you and The One can always keep Always Day 1, that would be very happy. Coming back to the previous context, if we can continuously hold an Always Day 1 mindset, then we can keep the mindset and ability to keep trying. Think about when you knew nothing and dared to try everything. In entrepreneurship, many young people enter with an empty-cup mindset. They do not overthink or worry too much. Or the OGs, serial entrepreneurs, or the people who have already passed the stage of primitive capital accumulation: they too can, to some extent, keep an empty-cup mindset.

How high is this mountain? Right now I still cannot see the summit hidden behind clouds and mist. I choose to keep climbing.

Morro Rock, Morro Bay, CALI. Jan 2025