Cognitive Scaffold

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MENTAL MODEL · M1764

Technique of Dragon Slaying

Technique of Dragon Slaying
CultureHigh supportChinese Philosophy
Included
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-31

CORE DEFINITION

Zhu Pingman spent all his fortune to learn the ultimate skill of dragon slaying, but since there are no dragons in the world, this skill is utterly useless.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Evaluate the practicality of a skill. When learning a new skill or developing a new product, ask yourself: Are there really dragons in the world? (Does market demand exist?) If you learn it merely to satisfy technical vanity, it is a technique of dragon slaying.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Fable (Zhuangzi): Zhu Pingman exhausted his family wealth to learn the ultimate skill of dragon slaying, but since there are no dragons in the world, the skill is useless. The mechanism is that the value of a skill depends on the existence of real demand (dragons).

MINIMUM ACTION

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Practice this model in one real situation:

Check to track your progress (stored locally)
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Source support: Explicit

  • link
    baike.baidu.comhttps://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%B1%A0%E9%BE%99%E4%B9%8B%E6%8A%80ZH · Explicit
    verified

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