Translated by Claude from the Chinese original.

  • An example of “simple” is a manual juicer—its principle is straightforward and easy to understand. An example of “easy” is an electric juicer—it’s very easy to use, but its internal mechanism is complex.

  • “Simple” in this context means something you can depend on because it’s straightforward. “Easy” means something that appears effortless from the outside, but is actually full of complex structures and uncertainty inside.

  • Another example of “simple”: Duan Yongping figured out that Apple was a good stock, then held it for over a decade without selling. During this time, he didn’t need to do anything else—he could play golf every day and still get 20x returns. Because Apple has high profits, a moat, and a user base that keeps expanding, the stock price will definitely rise in the long run. “Simple” means once you think it through, you don’t need to worry about anything else. When he explained his holding rationale to Warren Buffett, it took just one or two sentences. After that, there was nothing more to discuss about Apple.

  • A corresponding example of “easy”: Yesterday, a certain cryptocurrency skyrocketed. If someone had gone all-in or even leveraged before the surge, they could have made thousands or even tens of thousands times their investment overnight. Sounds easy, but the complexity in execution is enormous—you could easily get liquidated. And the uncertainty of chasing trends is huge. Even if someone came to you right now and told you exactly what to do to make money, how many people would believe them?

  • As for myself: I prefer “simple” things. Simple things are simple because they follow principles and don’t change based on the number of participants or their attitudes. I don’t like “easy” things—they’re hard to replicate, and even if you can, they’re far less reliable than “simple” things. Complex systems change based on the number and attitudes of participants, consuming time and energy with no guaranteed returns.