Stop letting these theories make you anxious! Thin-muscle theory, drinking tons of water, Sunology… Every theory has its limits.
Lately, a whole bunch of theories have suddenly popped up online, like “thin-muscle theory,” “drink-lots-of-water theory,” and “blond-guy theory,” as well as Sun Ge’s “Sunology.”
The people behind these theories all make grandiose claims, as if they’ve unlocked some ultimate secret to life. According to them, if you don’t build thin muscles, drink water like crazy, or live by their logic, you’re behind the times and out of step with the values of the new era.
Honestly, I really dislike this kind of thing.
What I object to isn't these theories themselves. It's when people take experiences that only apply to certain people in certain situations and package them as universal truths about life.
What's even more frightening is that these theories are creating endless anxiety for many people who lack the ability to think independently.
Someone says a lean physique is good, and you start worrying about your body. Someone says drinking water is good, and you feel you aren't drinking enough. Someone says wealth and success are life's goals, and you start wondering whether your own life has no value at all.
The question is: why should someone else's standards become your standards for life?
Today, I'm going to unpack the logic behind these theories.
I. The lean-physique theory: Exercise is good, but not everyone needs a lean physique
Let's start with the “lean-physique theory.”
Its original intent is actually sound. Young people should exercise in moderation, stay healthy, build muscle, and improve their posture. All of these are good things.
But exercising is one thing; treating one particular body type as the one right answer is another.
Suppose I'm a strength athlete whose goal is to improve strength and athletic performance. I may need more muscle mass, a higher body weight, or even extra fat reserves for my sport.
In that case, what's the point of telling me that a lean physique is best?
Take someone who does strenuous physical labor, for example. They need enough energy, endurance, and the ability to recover—not to deliberately restrict their body fat and chase muscle definition to meet a particular beauty standard.
Of course, that doesn't mean people who do physical labor must gain fat. It means their body's needs should be determined by their workload, health, and nutritional needs—not by some influencer.
And that's not even mentioning pregnant women. During pregnancy, proper nutrition is essential, and body weight and fat reserves serve physiological purposes. Should they deliberately control their weight just to pursue a lean physique?
Obviously not.
So the real problem with the lean-physique theory isn't that it promotes exercise. It's that it can make people think there's only one right body type, and that you can only be disciplined, healthy, and successful if your body meets that standard.
That's getting things completely backwards.
Exercise should help your body serve your life better, not make your life revolve around your physique.
II. The “drink lots of water” theory: Drinking water is good, but don't turn common sense into dogma
Now let's talk about the “drink lots of water” theory.
Its starting point is also perfectly reasonable.
These days, many people are used to drinking milk tea and carbonated drinks, or even treating soft drinks as water. By comparison, drinking a reasonable amount of water is certainly better for your health.
But that doesn't mean the more water you drink, the better, or that everyone should follow the same hydration standard.
Everyone's health, activity level, and ambient temperature are different, so their hydration needs naturally differ too.
Someone working in a hot environment and sweating heavily may need a completely different amount of fluid from someone sitting in an office all day.
For some people with heart or kidney disease who need to limit their fluid intake, blindly drinking more water could even be risky.
In extreme cases, drinking too much water in a short period of time can also cause hyponatremia.
So the question has never been whether drinking water is good. It's how much to drink, how to drink it, and under what circumstances.
I've always felt that many online theories share a common problem: they take something that's right in a certain context and turn it into an absolute answer.
Drinking plenty of water is good, so it becomes “the more you drink, the better”; exercise is good, so it becomes “only a certain body type is worth pursuing.”
When sound advice refuses to discuss the conditions under which it applies, it can turn from experience into dogma.
III. Sun's school of thought: There's nothing wrong with pursuing wealth, but wealth isn't life's only answer
Next, let's talk about Brother Sun's “school of thought.”
If we understand it as a form of success philosophy, its core is probably this: improve your understanding, strengthen your ability to execute, understand human nature and interests, and ultimately achieve wealth and success.
Are these things valuable?
Of course.
Improving your understanding and ability to execute, and learning to analyze people's interests—these skills really do matter in business competition.
But what I object to is taking a survival strategy aimed at pursuing wealth and packaging it as a life philosophy everyone should follow.
First, not everyone wants to become rich.
Some people want to start a business, some want to invest, and some hope to achieve financial freedom. But others want a steady job, good health, a harmonious family, and a relatively relaxed life.
Does that mean they're not successful?
Second, the pursuit of wealth often comes at a cost.
You see how much someone has earned, but you may not see how much time they've put in, how much risk they've taken on, or how much of their personal life they've sacrificed.
Success in business doesn't mean that every problem in life can be easily solved.
As for Brother Sun's personal relationships and social life, it's hard for us outsiders to make an accurate judgment based only on information online. But at least one thing is worth considering: if someone is used to measuring everything in terms of interests, costs, and returns, that mindset may be very useful in business, but it won't necessarily work in intimate relationships.
Business relationships revolve around exchanges of interests. Intimate relationships also require trust, understanding, respect, and emotional connection.
These two ways of thinking have some overlap, but they aren't interchangeable.
You can be very good at making money without being good at building relationships; you can have great follow-through without necessarily having a happy family.
This doesn't deny the value of wealth; it recognizes that life has many dimensions.
More importantly, you need to figure out what you truly want before deciding whether to learn from someone else's formula for success.
If you want to start a business, the business mindset in Sun's school of thought may be useful to you.
If what you need most right now is to spend time with your family, improve your health, and build a stable life, then putting all your energy into making money may not be the best choice.
Someone else's path to success can be a reference, but it shouldn't automatically become your assignment.
IV. True success shouldn't have just one definition
At this point, I'd like to share a completely different example: Zhang Guimei.
She has spent many years working on the front lines of education, helping girls in impoverished areas get an education and founding Huaping Girls' High School in Lijiang, Yunnan.
She saw that some girls were losing the opportunity to get an education at a young age because of family poverty and local attitudes, among other things.
She hoped that education could give these girls the chance to change their destinies.
According to public reports, Huaping Girls' High School has helped thousands of girls go on to university.
From the perspective of traditional success philosophy, what she has done may not meet evaluation standards centered on wealth accumulation, business empires, and personal assets.
But that doesn't stop her from being someone worthy of respect.
The value she pursues isn't just personal wealth; it's helping more people gain the opportunity to change their lives.
Doesn't that count as success?
Of course it does.
In a sense, this kind of success is even more remarkable, because it goes beyond personal interests and brings real change to the lives of many others.
What I'm trying to say is this: wealth and power shouldn't monopolize the definition of success, and there shouldn't be just one yardstick for measuring the value of a life.
Being a good father, taking responsibility for your family, and spending quality time with your children—that's a kind of success.
Working diligently, doing your job well, and not taking shortcuts—that's a kind of success too.
Being helpful in your neighborhood and lending a hand when others are in trouble is also a kind of success.
You haven't become a billionaire, an industry leader, or a prominent figure online. But you live a healthy, grounded life and have people and things you cherish. Does that necessarily make you worse off than others?
Of course not.
Wealth can measure a person's financial means, but it can't fully measure the value of their life.
A job title can reflect someone's social status, but it can't prove their character.
Online reach can reflect someone's ability to communicate, but it doesn't automatically prove that everything they say is correct.
Don't mistake excellence in one dimension for excellence in life as a whole.
V. Truly mature people don't believe in more theories; they know when a theory doesn't apply
Finally, I'd like to sum up.
Why are all kinds of theories appearing more and more often online?
Because theories spread especially easily.
One sentence can explain a complex life, a set of methods can be packaged as the secret to success, and a simple label can create a sense of group identity.
By contrast, acknowledging the complexity of reality and telling people to make decisions based on their own circumstances clearly isn't as easy to spread.
“Drink a certain amount of water every day” spreads more easily than “Drink a sensible amount based on your body's needs.”
“A lean physique is the best solution” grabs more attention than “Choose a training approach based on your health and goals.”
“You're only successful if you make money” creates more anxiety than “Everyone should build their own system of values.”
That's because the former are simple, direct, and provocative, while the latter require thought.
But the real world has never been a multiple-choice question with only one right answer.
The same investment strategy can produce vastly different results in different market conditions, with different amounts of capital, and for people with different levels of risk tolerance.
The same management approach can also work very differently in different companies, with different teams, and at different stages of development.
If investing and business both require us to consider context, why do we tend to believe in absolute answers when it comes to life?
So my attitude toward all popular theories is the same:
You can share your opinions, sum up your experiences, and tell people about your path to success.
But just because your approach works doesn't mean it works for everyone. And just because someone doesn't live by your approach doesn't mean they're backward, foolish, or not good enough.
A truly valuable theory should help people understand the world, not make them judge one another by a new set of standards.
I've always believed that a person's most important ability isn't how many theories they can remember, but whether they can think independently.
When someone says a lean physique is good, ask: Who is it suitable for?
When someone says drinking water is good, ask: Under what circumstances, and how much?
When someone says making money is the only measure of success, ask: Is that really the life I want?
You can learn from other people's theories, or, after understanding them fully, choose a completely different way of life.
Either way is fine.
I'll leave you with this thought:
Don't let someone else's life experience become the standard you use to judge your own life.
A theory is a tool, not a belief; experience is a reference, not an order.
True maturity isn't finally finding some universal theory. It's finally understanding that no universal theory applies to everyone.
That's the true value of independent thinking.$BTC
