The value of a good answer lies in "answering something other than what was asked".

The most difficult problems in a person's mind are usually not caused by a lack of knowledge, but by a restricted way of thinking. These imprisonments are silent and cannot be noticed by oneself, but they can always confine people in a narrow cognitive cage, entangled in problems that should not be entangled, troubled by complicated appearances, and unable to see a broader world. .

The questions born in the cage also framed the thinking of the respondents. Giving answers to questions can certainly resolve the superficial confusion of the questioner, but the knot in his heart remains untied after all. The best thing to do is to step out of the problem box and aim at the mental prison to break it.

Because I firmly believe that behind every problem there is always a bigger problem hidden; just as every ordinary thing may also contain profound revelations.

Google and Baidu are experts at answering questions. They will always be loyal to your keywords, but this is also their biggest weakness. They cannot see the lack, dilemma, hesitation and helplessness deep in your heart. They can only give you the answers in the cage. It is precisely because of this that the existence of Zhihu is meaningful.

Many good answers on Zhihu do not answer the question itself, but they can suddenly push your thinking to a level that was previously unattainable: change the perspective of looking at the problem, subvert the original concept, and discover a The wider world - like a bolt of lightning, striking through the belly of the soul.

Only when you stand higher can you see deeper.

Looking at it from a higher level, everyone spends his whole life busy and searching, just to find the answers to the questions in his heart. The answers to these life questions can only be answered by yourself, and no one else can do it for you. Wittgenstein said, "The job of a philosopher is to collect hints for a specific purpose." Just like the good answers on Zhihu, they are just hints that do not answer the question. After all, you have to rely on yourself to understand it. Compared to your life, Zhihu is just an exercise.

As for how to write good answers, in my cognitive cage, this is all. As for the small effort of writing a draft for at least a day before writing a long answer, reading it at least three or five times and revising it over and over again after writing, the first sentence is unexpected to attract attention, and the end of the article is to end with a refined aphorism to attract people's attention. In retrospect, this little trick is really insignificant.

So in the final analysis, this answer is just "answering the wrong question".