Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Students

He moved in time from the abstract to the practical; he developed epistemological theories of how and why people think a certain way; and, from these theories he concocted a new theory of how holistic markets work. The first chapter book mountain pathfinding In 1949, George Soros enrolled as a student at the London School of Economics.The London School of Economics, as it is commonly known, is one of the largest educational institutions in the UK, and it is an ideal study environment whether you want to pursue a career in society or just want to be an academic.The college attracted a large number of foreign students; it is generally considered to be socialist-leaning because socialist theorist Harold Laski taught here.For students like George Soros, who want to receive practical training in economics and at the same time, eager to learn about current international political trends, this is a dream paradise.

He attended some of Lasky's lectures and also took courses taught by John Mead, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1997. "However," Soros later confessed, "I didn't learn much from Mead's course." The college was also home to some popular political conservatives, one of whom was the free-market economist Frederick Wynn · Heike, a famous philosopher Karl Popper.These two men set George Soros on the path of reason, and in the 1980s and 1990s he sought with great fervour to open up societies that had been closed to themselves. In the book "The Road to Serfdom" published in 1944, Hunk attacked fascism because it destroyed the free and prosperous system.

Karl Pope's influence, however, was greater.Although Popper is best known for his theories about the scientific method, his 1951 book, The Open Society and Its Enemies, became the basis for George Soros' rational life. The young Soros had come of age, and he had written a book exploring the nature of human society.He had a profound experience of dictatorship, first with the contacts of the Nazis and then with the Communists.Now, in Britain, he is getting his first taste of democracy.He was eager to put his personal experience into a rational situation.Pope's book provided him with this framework.In The Open Society and Its Enemies, Popper argues that there are only two possible destinies for human society.One is to become a "closed" society, where all people can only have the same belief; the other is to become an "open" society, where there is no nationalism and national war that Pope hated.In an "open" society, conflicting beliefs can be accommodated regardless of pressure.In any case, Popper argues, the open society is "uncertain and unstable" and is more advanced than a "closed" society.

Although it took Soros just two years to complete his bachelor's degree, he decided to stay at the LSE for another year until he could receive his degree in the spring of 1953.After familiarizing himself with the book "The Open Society and Its Enemies", Soros sought out Pope, wanting to learn more from this expert.He submitted several papers to Pope.Teachers and students have the same temperament, and Pope became Soros' tutor. In the spring of 1994, Karl Pope was nearly 92 years old. In an interview with the author, he talked about the situation when the young Soros first appeared at his door many years ago. "He came into my office and said, I'm a student at the London School of Economics. Can I talk to you? He's a bright and astute student. The book I wrote on the open society obviously influenced him. Big. He used to come and talk to me about his ideas. I wasn't his official tutor. It would be nice if he called me his tutor now."

Although Soros got on well with Pope for a time, the young man did not make a lasting impression on the professor."I listened to his thoughts, but I didn't ask him any questions. I didn't hear much about him," Pope recalled. Pope's greatest influence on Soros is to encourage this young student to think about the way the world works, and to put forward as much as possible a philosophical schema that can help explain the way the world works. Popper, the famous philosopher, tried to pass on his wisdom to the budding intellectual.He had no intention of helping Soros deal with the real world.Philosophy, whether Popper or anyone else, should not be a map for finding your way to riches in the real world.

However, according to Soros, this is the function of philosophy.He moved in time from the abstract to the practical; he developed epistemological theories of how and why people think a certain way; and, from these theories he concocted new theories about the workings of financial markets. In later life, Soros continued to cite Professor Popper's ideas as a theoretical source for his philanthropic activities in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union to accelerate the opening of society.He ignores the contributions made by Popper, no matter how carelessly he may be, refurbishing these theories or using them to build fortunes in the Wall Street area.

Chapter Two However, at that time, he had no property.Because of poverty, he was embarrassed and embarrassed.However, George Soros felt he had no choice.Because he needed financial support for his studies, he made a trip to the Jewish Relief Committee.However, the Relief Board turned him away, saying that relief payments were only available to paid wage earners and not to students.In Soros's view, this distinction is meaningless. Later, during a Christmas holiday, he went to work as a kind of night shift railway porter and accidentally broke his leg.He still needs money.But this time, he was working on the railroad.Now, he is eligible. "I think, in this case, it's time to get some money from those bastards."

Returning to the Jewish Relief Committee, he decided to provide some purely fictitious circumstances.He said he was cornered and had a broken leg, but, because it was an illegal job, he still didn't get state funding.In fact, he is still a student.Reluctantly, the Relief Committee agreed to give him a little help.In order to raise some money, he had to climb up and down the stairwell of the three floors with a cane. However, the Relief Committee suspended Soros' relief payments on time.He therefore wrote a "very sad" letter to the Relief Committee.He said that although he would not go hungry, it hurt him too much that they treated a Jew who was in desperate need of help.

He had a letter back from the Relief Committee. His letter had the effect he had hoped for, and his weekly allowance was restored.And, most pleasingly, now that the relief money came through the post office, he didn't need to go to the office to collect it.He happily received a sum of money.But, shortly after his leg splint was removed, to vent his humiliation, he hitchhiked to the south of France—without informing the Relief Committee that his dole payments could be stopped.The attitude of the Relief Committee to him made all subsequent charities inflict pain on Soros.He had to overcome this "non-negligible taboo" before setting up his own charity in the late 1970s.

LSE wisdom helped Soroso overcome loneliness.He's still poor, but he seems more drawn to his life.One summer, when he interrupted his studies, he found work as an indoor swimming pool waiter in a poorer part of London.There were few swimmers there, which gave Soros plenty of time to visit the large public library nearby.He spent part of the good summer reading, thinking, and wandering in the world of thought.He later called that period the best of his life.His career goals have yet to be determined.But he is happy to indulge in the kingdom of thinking, and likes to write.Maybe he'll be a social philosopher or a journalist, he just can't be sure of that.

He could easily have imagined himself staying at the LSE as a scholar, maybe a philosopher like Karl Popper.How wonderful it would be if he could expand his mind like Popper did, or surpass others with some profound insights, like Freud or Patriotic Stan!On other occasions he dreamed of becoming a new John Monard Knys, reaching the ideological level of Britain's world-renowned economist. This was the beginning of Soros' attack on wisdom, and it was one of the themes of his life and career. Unfortunately, Soros' grades were not good enough and his academic ambitions seemed to have failed. In late 1952 and early 1953, he pondered many philosophical questions.He pays special attention to the breakthrough between knowledge and reality.On some points, he made what he considers to be his famous philosophical discovery: "I thought that, fundamentally, all our worldviews are somewhat flawed or distorted, and I have since devoted myself to studying the significance of this distortion." He began writing a pamphlet called The Burden of Consciousness.In it, he expounds on the concepts of open and closed societies.Due to lack of confidence, the manuscript was shelved.In the next 10 years, he hoped to focus on doing that work, but gradually abandoned it when he "couldn't get the head and tail of what he wrote yesterday". Soros knew that this was not a good sign.It seems unlikely that he will become a professor.Soros linked his unfinished writing to giving up studying philosophy in favor of the pursuit of money. Section 3 Getting Started with the Stock Market However much Soros wanted to teach, he had to make a living, and do it as quickly as possible.He is 22 years old, and despite his desire to make a great contribution to human knowledge, he must eat.A degree in economics didn't help him.He took any job he could find, starting with selling handbags in Blackpool, a seaside resort in northern England. Trading is very difficult.In order to attract customers, he had to make people think he was different at first-it was very difficult for a foreigner to introduce products with a strong local accent.It's also a hassle to wholesale merchandise to stores, which they may not need.Once he made a deal with a small shop owner.There are still many unsold items in this store.This man buys these tote bags like he wants to shoot himself in the head, Soros thought, telling himself not to put that emotion on his face.In the end, he sold the goods to the boss, but the guilt in his heart lingered for a long time. One might say that the London School of Economics is the perfect training ground for a man like Soros who can later become an investor.However, Soros learned nothing in school except that financial markets existed.As for graduating and obtaining a degree, he thinks it is capital for investment.In order to enter the threshold of investment banks in London, he wrote a letter to all investment banks in the city, looking forward to opportunities.When Singer and Friedlander offered him a job as a trainee, he gladly accepted. This is a company with a very busy stock market. He became fascinated by the job and became a trader with expertise in gold and stock arbitrage, especially in making money by taking advantage of price differences between different markets.Even before his great success he felt at ease in the world and experienced the ecstasy of buying and selling in the marketplace.He might become a social philosopher or a journalist, and life would be more interesting.But he has to make a living.Here, the prospects seem to be good.Soros found the world more and more alluring. Soros's transition in London is generally considered to be a great failure.Even Soros himself does not deny this.In Edgar Estaire had one of his defenders, a stockbroker who knew Soros at the time, and they became partners in the future."Soros never settled down. He was only 25 or 26. People thought you couldn't do anything (in that kind of business). Young people weren't allowed to do anything," he said. In any case, by 1956, Soros, a young bank investor, decided it was time to move on. He went to New York!