The Foolish Old Man Moves Mountains
Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30
CORE DEFINITION
Even at the age of ninety, the Foolish Old Man resolved to move the mountains, placing his hope in his descendants who would continue the task endlessly. When Wise Old Man mocked him, he argued that as long as they persisted, the mountains would eventually be leveled.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
Brute-force computation / compound interest of time. Some barriers (mountains) cannot be overcome by cleverness (Wise Old Man) alone; they require the brute-force accumulation of computation and time (Foolish Old Man). Examples include chip development and infrastructure construction.
Anchor fast decisions
Fable: The Foolish Old Man led his descendants in digging the mountains day after day, eventually moving the gods to remove them. It illustrates using persistent accumulation to counter huge resistance. The mechanism is that time and persistence transform the 'impossible' into something 'accumulable'.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- zh.wikipedia.orghttps://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%84%9A%E5%85%AC%E7%A7%BB%E5%B1%B1verified
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