Elon Musk, Ultraman, Steve Jobs, Zuckerberg, Jensen Huang, Jeff Bezos - The Success Secrets! Revealing 4 Major Anti-Human Traits

Elon Musk, Ultraman, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Jensen Huang, Jeff Bezos—success is not about talent, but about four anti-human traits: first principles thinking, reality distortion field, redefining failure, and extreme long-termism. While most people think in “analogous thinking”—doing what others do—these top performers dare to deconstruct common sense and hit the core. Conforming to human nature only makes you comfortable; going against it is what makes you outstanding.

First Principles: The Thinking Revolution of Deconstructing Appearances to Hit the Essence

Most people approach problems with “analogous thinking”: doing what others do, believing that if everyone says it’s impossible, then it must be. But Musk doesn’t think that way. When everyone told him building rockets was too expensive and only national teams could do it, he didn’t ask others how to build rockets. Instead, he asked physics: What are rockets made of? Aluminum alloys, titanium, copper, carbon fiber. How much do these raw materials cost in the market?

A quick calculation showed they only account for 2% of the rocket’s cost. Even after adding processing and labor costs, the total could be reduced to one-tenth of the current price. That’s how SpaceX was born, disrupting the aerospace industry. This is the power of deconstructing appearances to hit the essence.

Steve Jobs was the same. While Nokia was still figuring out how to make a more comfortable keyboard, Jobs was asking: What is the essence of a phone? Interaction. Since it’s interaction, why be limited by that fixed physical keyboard? So he eliminated the keyboard and created a multi-touch large screen. The iPhone emerged, ending the era of feature phones.

This way of thinking refuses to accept any “established facts” and only follows the most fundamental physical laws and logic. They see the world not as a “wall,” but as bricks, cement, and rebar behind the wall. They dare to tear down walls because they understand how they are built. Ordinary people are bound by appearances, but top performers can penetrate the fog and reach the core.

Jensen Huang’s judgment to shift from gaming chips to AI computing is a typical application of first principles thinking. While the industry debated whether CPUs or GPUs are better for AI, Huang returned to the essence: What does AI training need? Massive parallel computation. GPUs are inherently designed for parallel computing—this is an advantage dictated by physical architecture. Nvidia bet on AI and became a giant worth 3 trillion USD.

Reality Distortion Field: Believing to See

This term originates from the movie “Star Trek,” specifically referring to aliens building new worlds through mental power. In the book “Steve Jobs,” the author uses this phrase to describe Jobs’ powerful aura. But successful people all have this energy. They possess a strong mental force that makes those around them believe: impossible things can be achieved.

If you tell Jensen Huang, “Old Huang, this chip’s current technology can’t do it; the computing power isn’t enough,” he will stare into your eyes and say with unquestionable certainty: “We can do it, and we must do it within 6 months.” You might think he’s crazy. But the magic is, under his high pressure and conviction, the team truly performs beyond expectations, turning impossibility into possibility.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says: Confidence is a very powerful force. If you truly believe you can change the world, that belief itself increases your chances of success. Psychologically, this is called a “self-fulfilling prophecy.” Ordinary people see to believe; they believe to see. They live in a future they’ve constructed and force reality to align with that future.

Mark Zuckerberg, when investing in the metaverse at Meta, saw the market value evaporate by hundreds of billions of dollars, and Wall Street questioned him. But he still invests over 100 million USD annually in VR and AR R&D. This ability to persist in a vision despite skepticism embodies the reality distortion field. Such people often seem stubborn, domineering, and uncooperative, but when pioneering new tracks, this obsession becomes the hammer that breaks the old world.

Redefining Failure and Extreme Long-Termism

Failure as Asset, Not Shame

In our cognition, failure is a negative term, but in Bezos’ view, failure is an asset, a necessary R&D cost. Amazon once messed up with the Fire Phone, losing over 100 million USD. Bezos wrote in a shareholder letter: “If you think that’s a big failure, just wait; we have even bigger ones ahead.” He even said, “If we haven’t failed, it means we haven’t been bold enough in our innovation.”

Zuckerberg is the same. Facebook (now Meta)’s early slogan was “Move fast and break things.” If you’re not breaking something, it means you’re not moving fast enough. This kind of failure is called “smart failure,” not due to laziness or stupidity, but as active experiments for exploring new knowledge. To them, failure is not the end but part of data collection. Every setback tells them: this path doesn’t work; try another, and you’re one step closer to success.

20 Years of Losses for Long-Term Victory

Bezos’ extreme long-termism is vividly reflected in Amazon. Amazon continuously lost money for 20 years to capture market share. Wall Street analysts called him crazy, and many investors left. But Bezos remained unmoved. His first shareholder letter in 1997 was titled: “Everything for the Long Term.” He invested all profits into logistics, cloud computing, and R&D. He didn’t care about quarterly reports; he cared whether Amazon would still be around in ten years and whether it would be stronger.

This kind of resolve is terrifying. In this impatient era, everyone wants quick money and to get rich overnight. Who is willing to endure current losses, doubts, and ridicule for a vision ten years ahead? Only top performers. They are friends of time, knowing that great things take time to brew. They can endure long darkness because they believe there is light at the end of the tunnel.

These four traits—first principles, reality distortion field, redefining failure, and long-termism—sound very counter-human. Yes, because conforming to human nature only makes you comfortable; going against it is what makes you outstanding. Success is not just an outcome but a state. It belongs to those who dare to challenge common sense, those who still look up at the stars amid ruins, and those who treat life as a grand experiment.