Mo Yan: Suffering Brings Understanding

"Possibly because I've lived so much of my life in difficult circumstances, I think I have a more profound understanding of life." - Mo Yan (born on this date in 1955)

by

February 13, 2014

Get the Big Think newsletter on Substack

“Possibly because I’ve lived so much of my life in difficult circumstances, I think I have a more profound understanding of life.” – Mo Yan (born on this date in 1955)

bigthinkeditor Full Profile

The Game Issue October 2025

Test Special Issue

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.

3 videos 8 articles

A large square window frames a view of rows of houses and tall apartment buildings under a partly cloudy sky.

A middle-aged man with short gray hair and a receding hairline is smiling, wearing a dark t-shirt against a light blue background.

Productivity for Mortals

Oliver Burkeman

Author, “Meditations for Mortals”

A person with glasses and a bald head is looking slightly to the side, centered in a green-tinted square frame.

AI and the Future of Civilization

Yuval Noah Harari

Historian and Philosopher, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Best-Selling Author

Abstract geometric design featuring concentric circles, quartered background, and scattered solid and outlined dots in blue, green, and white hues.

The 6 Disciplines of Strategic Thinking

Michael Watkins

Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change, IMD Business School, and Author, “The Six Disciplines of Strategic Thinking”

A woman with long hair and glasses wearing a blazer, posed with her hand under her chin, looks at the camera. The photo is overlaid with a semi-transparent colored square.

Radical Respect at Work

Co-Founder, Radical Candor, and Author, Radical Respect: How to Work Together Better

A middle-aged bald man with light skin and blue eyes, wearing a dark crewneck shirt, looks directly at the camera against a plain background.

No-Nonsense Leadership

Founding Partner, Andreessen Horowitz and Author, The Hard Thing About Hard Things

An older man with short gray hair and glasses, wearing a blue striped shirt and a red sweater, is framed by an orange translucent square overlay.

A Primatologist’s Guide to Human Behavior

C.H. Candler Professor Emeritus at EMORY University, Atlanta, GA

A wall clock is combined with the silhouette of a snail against a textured blue and light blue background.

Slow Productivity

Computer Scientist and Author, Slow Productivity

Related Content

Starts With A Bang

Why aliens might not “speak physics” the same way we do

Physicist Daniel Whiteson challenges the notion that all intelligent species would eventually uncover the same laws of nature. Do you agree?

by Ethan Siegel

ufo lights liverpool

Starts With A Bang

Ask Ethan: How many generations of stars came before the Sun?

Our Sun only arose after 9.2 billion years of cosmic history: with many stars living and dying first. How many prior generations were there?

by Ethan Siegel

A colorful, irregular galaxy with bright clusters of stars, some possibly from a generation stars before sun, and nebulae against a dark background scattered with distant stars.

5 great thinkers who rejected their own ideas

Philosophers rarely change their minds. These thinkers did — often at social and professional cost.

by Shai Tubali

An orange arrow looping to the right is overlaid on a collage of black-and-white portraits of philosophers.

Starts With A Bang

Science’s answer to the ultimate question: Where do we come from?

Questions about our origins, biologically, chemically, and cosmically, are the most profound ones we can ask. Here are today's best answers.

by Ethan Siegel

ESO milky way

Learn from the world's biggest thinkers.

© Copyright 2007-2026 & BIG THINK, BIG THINK PLUS, SMARTER FASTER trademarks owned by Freethink Media, Inc. All rights reserved.