A letter to my new friend 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙗

"If the world were only what we see, how boring it would be."

Hello friend.

I am Mingkong, one of the founders of the " 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙗 Reading Room" . When you read this letter, I guess you have just met ThinkingLab or are preparing to subscribe.

First of all, thank you very much for your interest in learning about a non-personal IP information service. We feel your trust and we will redouble our efforts to live up to your trust.

To give you a more comprehensive understanding ThinkingLab , we have prepared a letter of introduction about “ 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙗 Reading Room” .

The letter includes five modules: the establishment background of " 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙗 Reading Room" , curatorial principles, delivery strategies, frequently asked questions, and usage help.

You can take this opportunity to read it briefly and I think you will understand us better.

1. Why do it?

Many people are curious about our background. What kind of team can produce such a product?

I thought we'd give you a detailed introduction to our team.

First of all, we are not media professionals and our team is very small. We are just a few ordinary people who love reading.

The reason we created the "𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙗 Reading Room" is actually very simple: we believe that algorithms are not omnipotent. Most content platforms will only push the "hottest" and "newest" content to you.

But what about the “best” and “most valuable” content?

In the current era of machine push and algorithm recommendation, ThinkingLab wants to try a different direction.

We do not rely on algorithms, but through manual reading and evaluation, we manually read about 200 articles from a wide range of information sources every week and select 7-10 articles that we think are high-quality.

Focus on the "inspiration" and "long-term value" of the article, that is, those "ideas" and "knowledge" that can increase in value over time.

We also meticulously categorize and organize selected articles into eight interconnected knowledge bases for easy retrieval and reading. We continuously optimize our services through updates and reader feedback. Our goal is to provide readers with a high-quality, in-depth, and thought-provoking reading experience.

We hope to dig out that same high-quality non-book content from the ruins of internet time.

Provide an information recipe for those friends who still love reading, love diversity, and love thinking (such as you in front of the screen).

2. What is it?

To avoid misunderstanding, we have a few premises:

1. We do not create content:

Our role is to select and organize content, like a librarian, to help you find good content.

2. There is too much information, we can help you filter it:

There's too much information these days, with both good and bad mixed in. Our mission is to help you filter out the valuable information and reduce the noise.

3. Reading should be easy:

We don't force you to read. If you're busy today and don't have time to read, that's fine. The content we recommend isn't some quickie that becomes useless after today.

4. We are not professional translators, but we will continue to optimize:

We will translate some good foreign content, but the translation may not be perfect, I hope you understand.

5. Recommended content may not suit your taste:

We screen a variety of content, and sometimes we might recommend content you don't normally come across. This isn't a bad thing, as new things can sometimes bring new inspiration.

Here are a few of our promises to you:

1. We will continue to do:

As long as we can think, we will continue to provide services. We love reading and we want to pass this love on to you: for us, it's more than just work.

2. We pursue the experience of beauty:

No matter how "ThinkingLab" changes, we want to give you the most "beautiful" experience.

3. We strive to provide content from multiple perspectives:

Just like our name "ThinkingLab", we want to take you to see a different world.

How to do it

So how do we ensure the quality of our content is as high as I described? We have established three principles and a complete delivery process for ThinkingLab.

Three curatorial principles

1. Original rather than paraphrased;

We believe that information will be attenuated and distorted during the process of dissemination.

You've probably seen the game of word of mouth. The first message might be "The cat is chasing the mouse," but by the time the last person gets to know you, it becomes "The hat is dancing."

If you want to fully understand Adam Smith's economic thoughts, it would be more efficient to read "The Wealth of Nations" directly than to watch those short videos that say "Ten sentences to help you understand "The Wealth of Nations"".

Let's use another example to help you understand. Today, you have a 60-minute chat time. Option A is to chat directly with Adam Smith in person, and Option B is to chat with his students.

You will definitely choose A without hesitation, because no matter how outstanding a student is, he is still a student after all.

2. Classic rather than trendy;

The Lindy Effect states that for things that don't die out naturally, such as a technology or an idea, their lifespan is proportional to how long they have existed.

In other words, the more classic the content, the longer its half-life will be .

However, we are now surrounded by countless disposable information, which you probably don’t want to see a second time.

Our precious time and attention are gradually lost in such a flow of information, and these impetuous information are

What is left in my mind is a tiny mark.

Therefore, we hope to unearth those forgotten contents on the Internet, remove the dust from them, and let these contents with deeper value shine again.

This is not only a respect for our own time and energy, but also a respect for time and wisdom.

3. Benefiting rather than attracting attention;

This principle is easy to understand. We tend to choose content that is truly beneficial rather than information that pursues click-through rates.

Although the data of clickbait content may look good, this content is not our goal.

A delivery process

ThinkingLab will update its curated content on the notion knowledge base daily, weekly, and monthly. We will also keep all previous curated content in the notion knowledge base for you to browse.

1. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙗Reading Room·Knowledge Base

It includes nine modules: Selected Articles, Weekly Thinking, Monthly Thinking, Field Topics, Pioneers, Multiple Thinking Models, Reference Books, Information Sources, and Extended Reading. You can read and explore in the knowledge base at any time.

2. Weekly Selected Articles

Every Sunday evening (Monday at the latest) Updates are made in the knowledge base. Every week we will select 5-7 selected articles from home and abroad, continue to track 23 field topics, and update the content on the notion knowledge base.

3. Weekly Extensive Reading Curation

Updates are posted to the Knowledge Base every Sunday evening (or Monday at the latest) . This is a weekly curation of extensive reading, designed to ensure a broad range of information. Additionally, we'll curate and push high-quality content from China and abroad, "beyond just articles," every week. This section is for extended reading; we only provide links to the original content. Feel free to jump to any section you find interesting.

4. Monthly Special Exhibition

We publish this monthly newsletter on the last working day of each month, focusing on a specific theme. Like the weekly curation, most of the information is sourced from overseas sources that we have personally selected and translated.

4. Use Help

I know some details aren't perfect yet. To help alleviate any confusion, I've answered some frequently asked questions in this section, including permission activation and notation usage. We've also included some reading suggestions to help you get started.

FAQ

1. How to enable permissions

After subscribing , you will receive an email in which we will activate your membership benefits. If you do not receive the email, please contact us immediately.

Contact email: thinkinglab@joylusthub.com

2. Slow authorization process

The manager may occasionally eat, rest, go to the bathroom, or slack off. Therefore, he may be slow to respond to messages between 10:00 PM and 9:00 AM Beijing time and 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM Beijing time. Please be patient.

3. Notion registration is more troublesome

Our knowledge base is built on notion, so you may encounter some language barriers. But don't worry, our knowledge base is built in Chinese , which will not affect your reading. The on-duty staff will guide you through the registration and use process.

4. ThinkingLab content update time

We will generally update as usual. If you find that you don’t receive a message occasionally, it means that we have encountered some problems, but don’t worry, we will make up for it as soon as possible.

Reading suggestions

1. Treat reading like a river, not a bucket

The longer ThinkingLab operates, the more and more extensive the articles you'll receive when you first subscribe. We don't want this to become overwhelming for you. You might be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of content and feel overwhelmed.

Our suggestion is: try to think of the content of ThinkingLab as a continuously flowing stream rather than a bucket full of content. You don’t have to worry too much about the stream drying up one day.

Because the world is never short of excellent minds and ideas. What is truly lacking is the patience to discover and communicate with them.

2. Start with the part you’re interested in

For some friends, some content may be difficult to read for the first time. We suggest that you start with what you are interested in, such as the people you are interested in (you can filter from the pioneer section), the fields you are interested in (you can filter from the special fields),

Titles (can be filtered from the featured content section).

Interest is the best way to start everything. Once you really take the time to read the first article in depth, I believe you will gradually get better.

3. Be good at seeking help from the manager

The manager is your dedicated guide to the ThinkingLab. He or she will be there to share everything he or she knows. Feel free to ask him or her any questions you may have.

Contact email: thinkinglab@joylusthub.com

If he can solve it, he will solve it immediately. If he can't solve it, we will discuss it internally and come up with short-term and long-term solutions.

The manager will record some of your questions one by one, and we will regularly improve our services based on your feedback.

ThinkingLab official IG account (click to go)

Or search on IG: thinkinglabreading

5. Wish you gain a lot from ThinkingLab

That's all we want to say to you. I've written so much, and I'm not sure if you'll read it all. Regardless, the heartfelt message is there. I hope you'll gain something from and improve yourself through ThinkingLab's services.

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