"A person's cognition depends on the information he obtains......" Yuan Xi put down the bowl and said, "that is, what you see is what you get." When you see the farmer plowing the field with a hoe, it comes to you that the hoe can also be used to plough the field. In this way, you will practice until you learn a new skill. ”

Tian Chou said: "Do you still need to say such a simple truth? ”

Yuan Xi said: "However, practice will also produce new cognition, that is, what you do is what you get. Who came up with the idea of turning the earth with a hoe in the first place? At first, everyone must have used their hands, but then I slowly thought of using tools. ”

Tian Chou said: "If you have anything to say, just say it, you don't need to be so verbose." ”

Yuan Xi smiled: "People and people have differences in intelligence, but what really determines their adaptability is cognition. Different people have different cognitions of a thing, which leads to different results. The same fire, some people think it is a disaster to avoid it, and some people realize that fire can cook food, and this fire is not the same thing. People with different cognitions have different faces. Looking north, the Huns, Xianbei people are different from us, they have a different view of things than we do. Our Han people have a history of origin, Confucius and Mencius, Laozhuang, and the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and there are many cognitions that are ready-made and can be used for reference. Suppose a Hu man grew up in a Han family, do you guess he will be the same as us? Also knowledgeable? ”

Tian Chou said: "Hmph, Hu Chong is Hu Chong, how can it be the same as the Han people?" ”

Yuan Xi said: "Further north of the grassland desert, there used to be babies living in wolves, called wolf children, although he was a human body, but his habits and even his cry were no different from wolves. ”

Tian Chou said: "Ridiculous, strange talk is not believable. ”

Yuan Xi said: "There are different people in different places in this world, and their cognition is different. Did you know that there is a place in Australia called Tasmania, and the people there, until the 20th century, still lived a life of slash-and-burn. Never mind...... Don't worry about the details. Cognition is constantly developing, and the method of pioneering is practice, for thousands of years, people have learned to use hoes and tinder, the larger the population, the larger the sample range, the faster the flow of information, the faster their cognition will grow. And your valley, because there are few people, there are few samples, maybe thousands of years later, you will still live like now, without an inch of progress, without new ideas, it will only be a pool of stagnant water. ”

Tian Chou said: "Isn't it good? For thousands of years, everyone lived and worked in peace and contentment, without being disturbed by the outside world, even if there was nothing new, they would be self-sufficient. ”

Yuan Xi sighed: "So I said, whether this is good or bad depends on your own definition." If you think that's good, that's fine. But if you think that every family can save an extra pound of grain and eat an extra egg every day, this kind of abundance is good, then there is still a lot of room for improvement. ”

Tian Chou said: "Now everyone in our valley divides the fields equally, everyone is diligent in farming, and mulberry trees are planted in the north of the valley, so you can raise silkworms and weave this year, which is better than working outside for a lifetime but only enough food and clothing." As long as people see hope, they will be excited, and this is the best way. Compared to working all day long outside but not having enough food and clothing, here is more energetic than you say. ”

Yuan Xi said: "Although self-sufficiency is fair, it is not the most efficient way. Maybe each person could eat one catty of wheat and two eggs, but because you were fairly divided, you could only eat half a catty of wheat and one egg. ”

Tian Chou said: "Nonsense, only by distributing equally, self-sufficient, and everyone has land and seeds, can we make life rich, and every household has food in stock, so that they will not go hungry." ”

Yuan Xi said: "Then let's do an experiment, you and I are two people in the village, suppose there are only two of us in the village." I can grow four pounds of wheat a day, and I can get two eggs from chickens, and you can grow two pounds of wheat a day, and I can get four eggs from chickens......"

Tian Chou said: "Wait, why do I plant less wheat than you?" ”

Yuan Xi said: "Everyone always has strengths and weaknesses, now suppose my strength is farming, and your strength is raising chickens." Of course, practice makes perfect, and if you spend all your time farming, you might be able to catch up with me. But either way, that's the premise for now. So you say, under such conditions, do I spend all my time farming, or do I spend all my time raising chickens? ”

Tian Chou thought about it for a moment and said, "Is there any difference?" ”

Yuan Xi said: "If I spend all my time farming, then I can get four catties of wheat, but because I am self-sufficient, I still want to eat eggs, so I can only spend half a day on farming, half a day on raising chickens, so I have two catties of wheat and an egg." In the same way, you can have a pound of wheat and two eggs. We had three pounds of wheat and three eggs. But if I spend all my time farming, and you spend all my time raising chickens, we have a total of four pounds of wheat and four eggs. If I exchange one pound of wheat for one egg with you, won't each person have two pounds of wheat and two eggs? And I'll have to make sure I'm going to get more wheat so I can get more eggs, and you're going to have more chickens to lay more eggs, and as we get more experience, we'll get more eggs from growing wheat and raising chickens. ”

Tian Chou raised his hand and counted it, and asked: "How can it be so simple, wheat is a thing to satisfy hunger, and eggs can be eaten, when I am hungry, I must change wheat, you take a pound of wheat and exchange it for two eggs with me, won't I lose?" ”

Yuan Xi smiled: "Is it a loss?" You exchange two eggs for a pound of wheat, and there is always a pound of wheat, and you spend half a day planting the land yourself, and it is only a pound of wheat. Moreover, I don't spend too much effort on one acre of land, it's just an extra piece of land. And if you want to grow an acre of land, you have to buy farm tools, which is another cost. And I'm the same, if I want to raise chickens, I have to build a chicken coop, which is also a trouble. ”

Tian Chou frowned and thought for a while, then stretched out, clapped his hands and said, "You said well, but it was under the previous assumptions. If you grow four catties of wheat a day, you can raise chickens and get two eggs, while I can only grow two catties of wheat a day and get two eggs. In this case, I can only be self-sufficient, you can farm, you can raise chickens, you have more everything, there is no need to exchange with me. ”

Yuan Xi said: "Really? Human energy is always limited, suppose I spend half a day farming and half a day raising chickens, then I have two catties of wheat and an egg. You are a pound of wheat and an egg. A total of three pounds of wheat and two eggs. But if I still only farm, then I have four pounds of wheat, and you only raise chickens, and you have two eggs. In total, it's four catties of wheat and two eggs, you see, it's still an extra pound of wheat in this way. If I exchange a pound of wheat for an egg with you, won't you have another pound of wheat and an egg? And I'm going to have a pound of wheat and an egg more than I used to be. ”

Tian Chou said: "Then what about me also farming?" ”

Yuan Xi said: "Then everyone has no eggs to eat." But I still have more food to spare, and if there are other people who have chickens, I can trade the extra wheat for eggs, and you can only eat wheat. ”

Tian Chou scratched his head, thought hard, and said, "How can this be?" ”

Yuan Xi laughed and said: "Whoever makes you farm is worse than me, raising chickens is worse than me, and doing anything worse than me, you can only live a little worse." You have to find out what you can do better, if you are good at reading, you can go to study, and after you have read well, naturally someone will grow wheat and raise chickens for you. ”

Tian Chou said: "How can this be reasonable? Isn't that fair? ”

Yuan Xi said: "Fairness is necessary, but it will hurt efficiency. In your valley, the land is already limited, and the fair distribution is carried out, and when the time comes, there will be only a few acres of people who farm well, and still a few acres of people who have poor land, and the efficiency of grain production will be different, and the overall grain will be reduced. If those who are poor farmers are allowed to give up their land to those who are good at farming, and then these people go to raise silkworms, will the total output be more? ”

Tian Chou closed his eyes and thought for a while, and said loudly: "Absolutely not, so I will go back to the old road." ”