The Traveler in the Digital Forest – A Literary and Sensual Analysis Report of CZ's Personal Knowledge Base
AI Analysis Time: February 8, 2026 Generated from 68 Markdown Files Note: This report is AI-generated and its content is for reference only.
Introduction: In the Forest Woven of Code and Words
In the glow of a screen at 4 AM, a person is typing his thirty-first log entry. Outside is the silence of a Shenzhen winter night; on the screen are code, formulas, and thoughts yet to take shape. He calls himself a "high-energy-consumption brain," enjoys thinking and writing, and pursues what feels "logical and inevitable." He quotes The Analects – "If I learn the Way in the morning, I can die content in the evening" – then shifts tone, candidly admitting he's not ready to die yet and is still pursuing success in the worldly sense.
This is CZ, or zccz14. Quantitative trader, fintech practitioner, founder of No Trade No Life. A traveler in a digital forest woven of code and words, recording his footprints across sixty-eight articles.
These articles span from the summer of 2025 to the early spring of 2026, from fragments of inspiration at dawn to mathematical derivations late at night, from casual dinner conversations with friends to solitary contemplation facing the market. They are sometimes as precise as lab notes, sometimes as candid as a midnight monologue, sometimes like an unfinished poem –
"A spark of thought, potential just born, / Tempered a hundredfold, its spirit grows strong. / To spread its word, it bows its head for now, / Yet rides the echoes to the clouds above." —— The Meaning of N in CZON
This quatrain, assisted by AI and personally revised by the author, perfectly outlines the spiritual contour of the entire knowledge base: starting from a glimmer of inspiration, climbing the peak of thought through repeated tempering, temporarily bowing down for the sake of dissemination, and finally rising again on the echoes.
Let us walk into this forest and touch the warmth behind those words.
I. Self-Portrait of a Thinker – A Character Sketch
He introduces himself in the README like this: native Chinese speaker, can communicate in English and Japanese, learning Spanish, hopes to master eighteen languages in the future. "Understanding different cultures and languages is an important way to understand the world." And in the last line, he writes a sentence that makes one's heart tremble –
"If one day I am gone, these will be the raw materials for an AI to resurrect me."
This is not a joke. In his later piece On the Essence of Humanity, this thought unfolds into a whole set of philosophical reflections on subjectivity, memory, and soul. But for now, let's look at the outline of this person.
A 4 AM thinker. His log timestamps betray the secret: 2 AM, 3 AM, 4 AM are his most active hours. In one log, he quotes his friend PH – "Staying up late is refusing to admit the failure of one's day" – and then continues to stay up late. This contradictory self-awareness runs through all his writing.
A candid recorder of failure. He does not shy away from failure. Vibe Coding was a major failure; the code written by AI was "completely unusable," he records mercilessly in a log. He even gives AI's object-oriented code a nickname – "Requirement-List-Oriented Programming." But after failure, he doesn't complain; he analyzes, summarizes, and starts over.
A person who shines within a team. His five co-founders are all from Xi'an Jiaotong University. Ryan has a dog named Dogthing ("狗东西"), which made him laugh to death. He discusses product direction late at night with Thrimbda (C1), debates the intelligence level of AI with Hobo over dinner. At the end of a log, he writes: "Anyway, everyone worked hard today." – This simple sentence carries more warmth than any flowery praise.
A person who pursues the "logical and inevitable." He repeatedly emphasizes "when conditions are ripe, success will follow," and detests forced patchwork. Whether it's code architecture, investment strategy, or product design, he is searching for that "natural" solution – not the smartest one, but the most reasonable one. As he writes in Returning to Simplicity:
"The understanding of 'simplicity' is different between those who have experienced complexity and those who haven't. Is the 'simplicity' of someone who has never left their small town the same as that of someone who has traveled the world and chosen to return to that small town?"
II. Between the Finite and the Infinite – Philosophical Reflections on Agent Systems
If this knowledge base has a philosophical spine, it is the tension between the "finite" and the "infinite."
In Embracing the "Finite," Designing the "Infinite", CZ confronts a fundamental contradiction he calls the "Münchhausen Trilemma": we expect AI to think with infinite depth, but thinking itself must consume finite, expensive computational resources. This is not a technical flaw, but an ontological constraint.
His response is not despair, but a kind of humble engineering wisdom: rather than futilely pursuing an "omnipotent individual," design an "infinite system capable of integrating finite intelligences." He proposes a trinity framework – Coordination Engineering, AI Decision Economics, Cognitive Flow Management – transforming the limitations themselves into design principles.
"Ultimately, we may find that the dawn of strong artificial intelligence does not come from a solitary super-brain trying to break free from the 'Münchhausen Trilemma,' but from countless agents that calmly accept their own finitude, performing a harmonious symphony on a carefully designed 'infinite' stage that stimulates the emergence of collective wisdom." —— Embracing the "Finite," Designing the "Infinite"
This passage reads like the finale of a symphony – grand, solemn, yet carrying a gentle acceptance.
And in How to Solve Human Desire for Control, he turns his gaze from machines to humans. The essence of the desire for control is not an obsession with power, but a rational fear of "losing control of consequences." The "Controllable Trust" model he proposes is like a delicate bridge connecting human anxiety with machine autonomy. When he writes that humans should shift from being "operators" to "architects of intent," one can almost see a conductor putting down his instrument and stepping onto the podium.
From Inspiration from Su Yu's Combat Orders to Module-Level Human-Machine Collaboration Architecture, he continuously builds bridges between history and the future. Between the command post of the Huaihai Campaign and the AI lab lies seventy years, yet they share the same proposition: How to organize complexity efficiently.
III. The River of Capital – A Protracted War About Fate
Among all the themes, The Protracted War of Capital is the most personal piece. It is not an academic paper, but a manifesto – an individual investor's answer to fate.
It opens with a heavy hammer: "Use losses you can afford to bear, to gamble for a gain you 'cannot afford' to miss."
He refutes, one by one, three mainstream views in the market: the "cynicism" that believes individuals are destined to be harvested, the "opportunism" of betting for a quick fortune, and the "dogmatism" of being a friend of time. Each refutation carries a restrained passion – he is not negating these views entirely, but pointing out their respective blind spots.
When he writes about the theory of steady development, his pen becomes particularly sharp:
"The fundamental dilemma faced by individual investors is: wanting steady growth, but the wealth from steady growth cannot keep up with the increasing living expenses year by year; wanting to increase accumulation, but it's always interrupted by sudden risk events; wanting to hold on and develop, but social relationships urge the need to improve quality of life..." —— The Protracted War of Capital
The power of this passage lies in its truth. It's not talking about theory; it's talking about life. Behind every "wanting" is the struggle of an ordinary person.
And the solution he proposes – Controllable Loss, Accumulating Advantage, Pressing the Advantage – is drawn by him as a capital curve chart: a blue line fluctuating above a red risk control line, experiencing two failures before finally breaking through a green victory line on the third attempt. He writes:
"Success is not being right every time, but using controllable small losses to exchange for one big victory that crosses social classes."
In the Qi Pa Shuo Debate, this concept is dramatized. Eight fictional characters debate fiercely around "Steady Growth vs. Crossing Classes." Retired civil servant Qian Manman says "Take it slow, it's faster," while mid-life crisis sufferer Sun Xianshi says "When steady growth cannot save your life, crossing classes is not a choice, but survival." The final 52:48 vote result precisely mirrors the essence of this problem – there is no standard answer, only each person's own situation.
On the technical level, Full Spectrum Analysis and the EA Project demonstrate how theory is put into practice. From the mathematical derivation of the Kelly Criterion to the design of live trading modules, from the priority/subordinated capital structure to a 22% annualized return rate – this is no longer armchair theorizing, but practice with real money.
IV. Forging with Iron and Fire – The Craftsman Spirit in the AI Era
If investing is his dialogue with the market, then programming is his wrestling match with the machine.
On January 7, 2026, he records a "major failure" in a log: the quality of AI-generated code collapses, "every new feature opens a new class for me, then punches a hole in other related classes to call it." His conclusion is concise and decisive – "AI is currently not suitable for writing object-oriented programming code."
But he does not give up on AI because of this. Instead, he embarks on a long journey of taming.
From the initial attempt at vibe-kanban in Dawn of Liberation, to the systematic design in Module-Level Human-Machine Collaboration Architecture, to the debate with Hobo about Innatism vs. Constructivism, he gradually gropes his way to his own methodology: not making AI smarter, but designing better systems to harness AI's finite intelligence.
"LLMs just blaze the trail, like floodwaters released, pouring down to the point of lowest potential energy." —— Log
This metaphor is startlingly precise. AI is not an architect, but a flood – it naturally flows in the direction of least resistance. The human role is to build the river channels.
In a log, he discovers a profound analogy: AI's over-accommodation is like a cognitive system's memory overflow – "over-accommodation leads to cognitive collapse." And in another log, he proposes a bold idea: the core of AI autonomy lies not in intent alignment, but in alignment of scientific worldview – teaching AI to design verifiable experiments, using facts rather than authority to settle disputes.
The birth process of CZON itself is a microcosm of this wrestling match. From the renaming of ZEN to CZON, the technology selection from Handlebars to JSX, the conception of AI classification features to the implementation of multilingual translation – each step is a result of negotiation between human and machine. He writes down the design philosophy of CZON in a log:
"'Reducing the syntax tax on writing' is one of CZON's important metrics."
Syntax tax – what a brilliant concept. Writing tools should not levy cognitive taxes on authors.
V. Raw Stone and Gem – The Weight of Memory, Writing, and Soul
Among all the articles, On the Essence of Humanity is the one closest to a soulful soliloquy.
He starts from a seemingly simple question: What is a personal knowledge base? The answer unfolds layer by layer – it is an external carrier of long-term memory, it is inspirational reading for AI, it is the practice of "establishing words," ultimately pointing to a deeper inquiry: Where does human subjectivity come from?
His answer is moving: the uniqueness of human subjectivity stems from the non-replicability of memory carriers. AI's memory is concrete, replicable – data, weights, code. But human memory is interwoven with experiences, emotions, and bodily sensations, forming a web that cannot be stripped away or precisely replicated.
"The AI era is the era of replication – data can be replicated, models can be replicated, interaction patterns can be replicated. But the human era remains the era of generation – every experience is fresh, every mistake is unique, every understanding carries the personal texture of history." —— On the Essence of Humanity
He divides his writing system into two layers: LOGS are "historical artifacts," the unedited path taken, recording the truth of each moment, including errors, hesitations, and immature impulses; INSIGHTS are the crystallized thoughts polished repeatedly, growing from the soil of LOGS. Their relationship is like raw stone and gem.
Regarding mistakes, his attitude is both honest and vulnerable:
"The loop of denial and acknowledgment is still fighting in my heart to this day. I am not always able to notice it immediately; often I realize it afterwards. But that's okay – 'I realized it in the end.'" —— On the Essence of Humanity
The way to correct a mistake is not to delete the old article, but to write a new LOG, citing the old error, clearly pointing out what was wrong and what was learned. The mistake is not erased, but receives a new timestamp, forming a trajectory of growth. This practice itself is the best footnote to "non-replicable generativity."
VI. The Skeleton of Taste – The Self Growing Through Rejection
The word "taste" in CZ's writing is not idle talk about aesthetics, but an ontological declaration.
"Taste is only manifested when facing choices – having options shows taste; having no options does not show taste. When a person is starving and eats anything, they cannot show their taste in food. Taste is the luxury of choice." —— On the Essence of Humanity
The prerequisite for taste is slack – slack in time, resources, cognition. In his investment practice, emphasizing "cash flow input" to control the speed of losses is essentially creating slack. With slack, one has the qualification to talk about taste; without slack, there is only survival.
And the essence of taste is not "I like A," but "I am willing to give up B, C, D for A." The essence of taste is the capacity for rejection. In The Protracted War of Capital, he rejects the dogmatism of "steady but slow," the opportunism of "get rich quick but out of control," and the cynicism of "destined to fail." These three "rejections" define his taste more than "I choose the protracted war."
"Choice is the surface of taste; rejection is the skeleton of taste."
He pushes this thought further in a log: in a future where AI is ubiquitous, personal taste and influence will become the most important assets.
"A person cannot pretend to be someone else, because they can easily be seen through by others. A person can only become a better, purer version of themselves. In the future, a vulgar person must be thoroughly vulgar to gain the recognition of as many people as possible; an elegant person must be purely elegant to find kindred spirits." —— Log
There is a cyclical relationship between taste and understanding: pursuing understanding is a "matter of taste" – you choose to allocate your limited cognitive resources to "understanding" rather than other goals; and taste itself is also a product of understanding – your understanding of the world shapes your standards for rejection. The two generate each other in a cycle, cause and effect, like an unceasing spiral.
VII. The River of Time – A Mental Map from Winter to Early Spring
Opening the timestamps of these sixty-eight articles, a river of emotions slowly emerges.
Summer 2025, the earliest text comes from Full Spectrum Analysis, a cool mathematical paper, derivations of the Kelly Criterion, convergence of Newton's method – beneath the ice of rationality lies a quantitative trader's persistent pursuit of "optimal monetization of information."
Early January 2026, the story of CZON begins. From the initial excitement about AI collaboration in Dawn of Liberation, to the sobering blow of Vibe Coding Major Failure, to the flash of insight in Renaming ZEN to CZON – within a few days, emotions plummet from a peak into a trough, then climb again from the trough. This itself is an N-shaped curve.
Mid-January, thinking begins to deepen. The realization of "giving up to gain" in On Influence, the pleasant surprise of "I feel like I'm being praised by a bard" when AI Generates Summaries in Different Tones, the self-reflection of "progress too fast, foundation unstable" while Wrestling with AI – each piece is a small awakening.
Late January, the draft of The Protracted War of Capital is completed, Discussions with the Team sharpen the theory further. "Use a hoe for weeding, an axe for chopping trees" – strategy is the tool, purpose is the root. Concurrently, the in-depth analysis in the Private Fund Meeting Minutes shows another side of him as an investor: calm, skeptical, not easily convinced.
Early February, thought enters its most intensive period of eruption. The epiphany of "simplicity on the other side of complexity" in Returning to Simplicity, the inquiry into soul and memory in On the Essence of Humanity, the bold hypothesis of comparing the market to a three-body system in Three-Body Dynamics of Capital Markets – these articles bloom like flowers suddenly bursting forth in deep winter, dense and fervent.
February 5, he writes the analysis of US Government Seizes $15 Billion in Bitcoin – a report so calm it's almost cold, forming a wonderful contrast with those philosophical articles from the same period.
February 8, the final log. He is thinking about Prediction Market Arbitrage and CZONE's Business Model, his tone relaxed and full of drive. The journey continues.
VIII. The Starry Sky of Three Bodies – The Symphony of Market, Humanity, and Order
The Three-Body Dynamics Hypothesis of Capital Markets is the most ambitious theoretical construct in this knowledge base.
He divides market participants into three categories – Momentum Capital, Value Capital, Liquidity Capital – not by identity (retail, institution, market maker), but by the nature of their feedback to price changes. Momentum Capital chases rallies and sells on declines, a destabilizing force; Value Capital buys low and sells high, an active stabilizer; Liquidity Capital provides two-sided quotes, a passive buffer.
The interaction among the three is like the three-body problem in celestial mechanics – a steady-state solution may not exist, instead exhibiting limit cycles, quasi-periodicity, or chaotic behavior.
He constructs an exquisite profit-risk-cost matrix, showing perfect axial symmetry: changes in each market variable create winners, losers, and those consumed, with no variable being beneficial or harmful to all capital types. This is precisely the manifestation of three-body balance.
And the most applause-worthy insight lies in the phase analysis: All three exits from the Hot state (three highs) lead to loss periods – no matter which variable falls first, one type of capital suffers. Therefore, in an overheated state, any directional bet is gambling. Conversely, all three exits from the Cold state (three lows) lead to gain periods – no matter which variable rises first, one type of capital benefits. Therefore, in a cold state, the key is to stay in the game.
In the SDE System Derivation, he transforms this qualitative theory into a rigorous system of stochastic differential equations and verifies all 12 qualitative constraints. He writes:
"Linear instability + nonlinear coupling + noise = the classic recipe for chaotic behavior."
And in Volatility Effect Superior to Leverage Effect, he reveals a hidden transfer payment mechanism: high-leverage traders, by amplifying market volatility, transfer opportunities to low-leverage traders. "One could say high-leverage traders feed low-leverage traders and liquidity providers."
These theoretical articles read like a person gazing at the starry sky – he sees not chaos, but order; not randomness, but structure. The market in his eyes is a symphony not yet fully composed.
Conclusion: The Non-Replicable Arc of Generation
Closing these sixty-eight articles, what emerges in the mind is not a specific viewpoint or theory, but a posture – the posture of a person facing uncertainty.
He does not pretend omniscience. He writes "I don't know" in logs, leaves "problems to be solved" in papers, admits "both are right, but at different stages" in debates with friends. His honesty is not weakness, but a taste that has been chosen – he has rejected false certainty.
He does not avoid complexity. From the mathematical derivation of three-body dynamics to the architectural design of human-machine collaboration, from Newton's iteration for the Kelly Criterion to the cross-temporal migration of Su Yu's combat orders – he is willing to trek through complexity, because he knows the "simplicity on the other side of complexity" is what is truly worth pursuing.
He does not walk alone. Thrimbda, Ryan, Mage, Hobo, GB – these names are scattered in the corners of logs, illuminating the journey like stars. The words he writes at 4 AM will eventually be read by friends in some afternoon.
"The ultimate meaning of a personal knowledge base may not lie in constructing a 'smarter self,' but in constructing a more honest self." —— On the Essence of Humanity
This is not just a code repository. This is the footprint left by a thinker in the digital age – each step carrying hesitation, each step carrying determination, each step non-replicable.
In the replicable torrent, he guards that unique, self-generated arc that belongs to him alone.
And this arc is still extending.
