Adam Smith’s Impartial Spectator: The Forgotten Key to Emotional Discipline in Investing The Impartial Spectator is Adam Smith’s concept of an imagined neutral observer — a fair-minded judge with no stake in the outcome — that we construct internally to evaluate our own conduct. Applied to investing, it is a practical cognitive technique for interrupting … Read more
Sustine et Abstine (Endure and Abstain): An investment philosophy rooted in Kant’s dual reverence for the external vastness of markets and the internal moral law, teaching endurance of uncomfortable truths and abstinence from self-deception to preserve judgment. Source: Wikimedia Commons Zwei Dinge erfüllen das Gemüt mit immer neuer und zunehmender Bewunderung und Ehrfurcht, je öfter … Read more
Character edge is the sustainable investing advantage derived from personal virtues like patience, discipline, self-mastery, and integrity, which compound over time unlike information or intellectual edges that decay. Every investor wants an edge. Most look for it in information — faster data feeds, better models, insider networks. Some look for it in intellect — higher … Read more
Benjamin Franklin’s character journaling system is a daily practice of marking transgressions against thirteen personal virtues with a weekly focus rotation, turning self-improvement into a measurable, persistent habit. Source: Wikimedia Commons There is a small notebook in American history that deserves more attention than it receives. Benjamin Franklin — printer, scientist, diplomat, polymath — kept … Read more
Financial independence as an epistemic prerequisite is the condition where one’s livelihood does not depend on reaching predetermined conclusions, allowing thought to remain uncorrupted by patronage, career risk, or social pressure. Source: Wikimedia Commons Baruch Spinoza was offered a university professorship in Heidelberg in 1673. The offer came with a remarkable guarantee: he would be … Read more
Independent Spirit: A principle of intellectual and investment autonomy that rejects conformity to political, social, or market pressures, relying solely on evidence and rational analysis. 一九二七年，王国维自沉于昆明湖。陈寅恪为撰碑铭，留下了中国近代学术史上最著名的十字： 独立之精神，自由之思想。 此十字，既为王国维之墓志，亦为陈寅恪一生之写照。 一、何谓独立 陈寅恪所言之独立，非孤芳自赏之谓，乃一种学术上的根本态度：不依附于任何政治势力，不屈从于任何权威意见，唯以证据与理性为准绳。 其于碑铭中进一步阐释： 惟此独立之精神，自由之思想，历千万祀，与天壤而同久，共三光而永光。 此语深意在于：政治势力、学术潮流、社会风尚，皆有其兴衰更替。唯学者之独立精神与自由思想，方能超越时代之桎梏，与日月同光。 二、失明之后 一九四四年，陈寅恪右眼失明。翌年，左眼亦失明。时年五十五岁，学术生涯正值鼎盛。 若在常人，恐就此搁笔。然陈寅恪失明后之三十年，恰为其学术生命最为丰沛之时期。其以口述、他人代笔之法，完成《论再生缘》《柳如是别传》等巨著。 《柳如是别传》凡八十余万言，考证明末名妓柳如是与钱谦益之关系，实则借古人之酒杯，浇胸中之块垒——其所书写者，乃知识分子于历史巨变中之处世抉择。 以失明之身，仅凭口授，成就八十万字之考证巨著。此非单纯意志力之展示，乃“独立之精神”于逆境中之至高体现。 三、拒绝与坚守 一九五三年，中国科学院拟聘陈寅恪为中古史研究所所长。陈寅恪提出二项条件： 不宗奉马列主义，不学习政治。 此举于当时政治环境中，几近以卵击石。然陈寅恪之所以如此，非为逞一时意气，乃谨守学术之底线——若学术研究须以预设结论为前提，则研究本身已失其意义。 此与芒格所言“理性是一种道德义务”（rationality is a moral duty）异曲同工。学者之独立，投资者之理性，本质上皆为拒绝令外部压力扭曲自身之判断。 四、对投资的启示 陈寅恪之行谊，与投资看似无关，实则深刻相通。 巴菲特区分 inner scorecard 与 outer scorecard——前者以己之标准衡量己身，后者以他人之标准衡量己身。陈寅恪终其一生，未尝倚仗 … Read more
Condorcet’s Jury Theorem is a mathematical framework demonstrating that, under conditions of independence and reasonable competence, larger groups of individuals tend to make correct collective decisions with increasing probability. Source: Wikimedia Commons In March 1794, the Marquis de Condorcet was hiding in a boarding house in Paris. The Revolution he had championed had turned on … Read more
Bear and forbear is a Stoic discipline of enduring necessary hardships and abstaining from harmful actions, central to patient investing and clear thinking. Sustine et abstine — bear and forbear. The phrase is Stoic, attributed to Epictetus, and later adopted by Spinoza. It captures something I believe deeply: that the most important skill in investing, … Read more