Language Is Poison, Part 2: The Bitter Lesson, Revisited

The essay that became Silicon Valley’s gospel may not say what the industry thinks it says. And the technology it supposedly validates may be a counterexample.

This deep-dive series explores a seven-hour interview with Saining Xie, hosted by Xiaojun Zhang in February 2026. To better convey the depth and ideas of the conversation, I have reorganized the narrative, added background context, and clarified some of the more technical points.