Recently, I inadvertently discovered that Napoleon Hill, the founder of success philosophy, had actually written a spiritual book, which was prevented from being published by his wife until both of them passed away (after more than seventy years).
The title of this book in Simplified Chinese is “Conquer the Demon Within,” but I think the Traditional Chinese title is more precise: “Dialogues with the Devil.”
The main content of the book is the author forcing the “Devil” to confess its nature, as well as the methods it uses to manipulate human nature and how to counteract these methods.
The nature of the “Devil” and its methods are exceptionally simple:
- The “Devil” is “negativity.”
- Its method is to constantly guide people to choose negativity.
And the ultimate negativity is to give up the initiative to choose, letting others make choices for oneself, thus drifting with the currents and falling into “hell.”
Why Do People Drift with the Currents?
A long-standing confusion of mine: why are most people unwilling to spend energy thinking about the meaning and value of their own lives?
The reason given in the book is that current education and religion are teaching us to obey and give up independent thinking.
Moreover, the whole process is very smooth, and most people are hard to escape, such as:
- In childhood, parents heavily intervene in the child’s self-exploration process, forcing the child to develop a mental dependency on their parents.
- During the growth period, most of the energy is spent on the precise memorization of knowledge, which is also a kind of compliance training.
- Due to the abandonment of independent thinking in the previous two periods, career choice is actually being chosen by the career, and the ability and wisdom required for independent career choice have already been lost.
Recently, there have also been many articles and videos reflecting on the so-called “destiny of East Asians,” where everyone’s life process is exactly the same, like checking in on Xiaohongshu, crowdedly completing each “life punch card” at every “life stage.”
In fact, the popularity of Xiaohongshu in the entire East Asian cultural circle is also an interesting phenomenon. Those popular check-in spots are also repeatedly reinforcing the state of each checker-in drifting with the currents.
Why is Drifting with the Currents So Harmful?
The logic in the book is as follows:
- Every time a person chooses “not to choose,” that is, to drift with the currents, it will strengthen the inertia to continue the same choice next time.
- When the inertia reaches a certain extent, it will form a de facto “hell.”
- The 2% of people in the world who make active choices control the remaining 98% who drift with the currents.
According to my observation, the biggest harm of drifting with the currents is actually the extinction of oneself.
The sense of extinction includes the following aspects:
- For one’s own various experiences, from the initial complaints to the later numbness, and even selective neglect.
- There is no interest at all in understanding the reasons for these experiences, or listening to the reasons told by others (and this reason is usually external, so that one can continue to feel at ease).
- Falling into an increasingly powerless and increasingly unfortunate vicious cycle, and handing over all one’s responsibilities and rights to the external environment.
Nowadays, the mainstream narrative is also constantly reinforcing the idea that the fault lies with the external environment, not oneself.
After all, the fault of the external environment can easily resonate and relieve one’s own responsibility (and at the same time, give up one’s rights).
How to Avoid Drifting with the Currents?
The method is actually very simple, which is to recognize again: People are born with the right and obligation to be responsible for themselves, and only by exercising this right can they live a meaningful life.
Since this is a change in consciousness, there are usually three stages:
- Discovery stage: Observe one’s daily life and realize one’s habits and tendencies to drift with the currents.
- Change stage: Gradually increase the number of times of active thinking and choice. (Even if sometimes you choose negativity, it is more positive than not choosing at all)
- New stage: Active thinking and choice have become new daily habits.
The book has a more complete set of seven principles that can be read and learned in more detail.
My Insights
A few days ago, I also happened to find a new episode of the podcast “Zhi Xing Xiao Jiu Guan” called “I really hope! When I graduated, someone told me that I could do these things,” which also mentioned not to drift with the currents.
The more I drift with the currents, the more unfortunate I am, which is a phenomenon I have observed with my own eyes, but I did not realize how terrible this misfortune is.
I have long realized that I cannot do well in anything that I am not interested in, so I can only continuously improve the skills I am interested in, as well as discover and cultivate new interests, and refine them until I am no longer interested.
This has led me to no longer drift with the currents since I started working after graduation. (I almost decided to drop out of school that year, and if so, the time to not drift with the currents could be advanced by a few years.)
And my wisdom has gradually grown in this process.
The definition of wisdom in the book is: Wisdom is the ability to discover and use the laws of nature to serve oneself.
This also made me realize that school education did not teach me any wisdom (this is consistent with my thoughts when I was in school, but at that time, my understanding of wisdom was very superficial).
Conclusion
From the vast universe to the small birds and fish, everything is operating according to the laws of nature.
Only humans have the right to choose autonomously, which can confront and even abandon the laws of nature.
But humans themselves are a part of nature, and abandoning it will only lead to self-destruction.
It is better to re-explore the laws of nature and coexist harmoniously with them.
Think actively, discover and comply with the laws of nature, and do not drift with the currents, echoing others.