Why 'Beyond the Image'?
At the end of 2024, Elon Musk predicted that AGI would arrive by 2026, and by 2030, AI would surpass all human intelligence combined. That same year, I turned 48 and got laid off. This isn’t a story about predictions—it’s a story about reordering. AI is reshuffling the deck of our entire world: What jobs hold value? Which skills matter? What does a “normal” life path even look like? The answers we once took for granted—those comfortable “it has always been this way” answers—are failing, one by one.
In this era of The Great Reordering, how should we position ourselves? This is the question I wrestle with daily. The core thinking framework I explore here is what I call “Beyond the Image” (in Chinese: 象外 - Xiang Wai). This Chinese concept, rooted in Laozi’s philosophy, inspired the English name of this space: “Human Beyond the Loop”—a phrase borrowed from machine learning terminology. Though they come from different traditions—ancient Eastern philosophy and modern AI—both point to the same insight: the need to step outside established processes, structures, and frameworks to see what lies beyond.
What is “The Image”?
The ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi wrote, “The Great Image has no form” (大象無形). At first glance, this seems paradoxical—how can an image have no form? But Laozi is pointing to something profound: the “Image” (象 - Xiang) isn’t just what we see with our eyes. It’s the mental models, the frameworks, the stories we’ve collectively constructed to make sense of reality.
If this sounds abstract, consider Plato’s Cave—that famous allegory where prisoners mistake shadows on a wall for reality itself. Or think of The Matrix, where humanity lives in a simulated world, mistaking the simulation for truth. These are Western expressions of the same insight: we don’t see reality directly; we see through layers of constructed meaning.
From a cognitive perspective, the “Images” we perceive are often collective fictions—what Yuval Noah Harari calls “fictional realities” in Sapiens: money, corporations, nations, social hierarchies. These aren’t natural phenomena; they’re stories we’ve agreed to believe. And here’s what makes them powerful: they do shape our lives. Money has no intrinsic value, yet it governs our choices. Job titles are invented categories, yet they define our identities.
“The Great Image has no form” means this: reality doesn’t conform to our constructed “Images.” The real world is far larger, far more complex, far more fluid than our mental models can capture. We must understand the “Images” people construct—because they have real consequences—but we must also learn to see beyond them, to glimpse what lies outside the frame.
The Image in Our Era
So what does this ancient wisdom have to do with AI and The Great Reordering? Everything.
In our era, “The Image” represents society’s established order—our collective consensus about what is “good,” what is “valuable,” what is “normal.” These consensuses aren’t natural laws, despite how permanent they feel. They’re stories we’ve constructed under specific historical conditions. And when those conditions change radically—as they are now—the stories start to crack.
Consider The Image of Education: “Going to university is the best path forward.” This made perfect sense when we built it. The industrial age needed workers who could follow procedures, operate machinery, fit into organizational hierarchies—think of the assembly line. Universities became factories for producing standardized talent, and for decades, this worked beautifully. But here’s what’s changed: in the AI era, standardized skills are precisely what’s easiest to automate. GPT-4 can write code, analyze data, and generate reports—those “standard skills” we spent four years acquiring, AI completes in seconds.
Or take The Image of Career: “A stable job is what matters most.” This wisdom emerged when the world moved slowly. Our parents could work at the same company for thirty years, and their experience would compound like interest in a savings account—more valuable every year. That was rational when change was glacial. But we’re no longer in that world. Skills that were hot in 2020 are obsolete by 2024. The half-life of experience has collapsed from twenty years to two. In this environment, “stability” itself becomes a trap—like holding onto a currency after the gold standard collapsed. You feel secure until you realize the value has evaporated.
Then there’s The Image of Skills: “Learning the latest skills gives you a competitive edge.” The logic seems bulletproof, doesn’t it? Stay current, stay relevant. But here’s the catch: skills now update faster than humans can possibly learn them. It’s like trying to run up a down escalator that’s accelerating. By the time you’ve invested three months mastering a tool, it may already be replaced by something newer, creating a race you can never win.
Where Does the Problem Lie?
Here’s what’s crucial to understand: the problem isn’t with the “Image” itself. “Going to university” was indeed a good path in the industrial age. “Stable jobs” were important when change moved slowly. These orders had their rationality in their time—they were accurate maps of the territory.
The real problem is this: when the territory changes, we keep using the old map. We still habitually reason with “it has always been this way,” without examining whether the underlying conditions that created these orders have fundamentally shifted. It’s like navigating with a map from 1950 in a city that’s been completely rebuilt—the street names might be the same, but you’ll get hopelessly lost.
Data shows that people over 45 face heightened career anxiety in the AI era. The root of this anxiety isn’t AI itself—it’s that the existing order is collapsing while a new order hasn’t yet emerged. We’re caught in an uncertain transition.
What is “The Loop”?
In machine learning, “Human in the Loop” refers to humans providing feedback within the cycle to help AI improve—a productive loop. But in life, “The Loop” often means something darker: we attach ourselves to established frameworks and cycle endlessly within them, like a hamster on a wheel. We’re moving, we’re exhausted, but we’re not actually getting anywhere. We optimize locally—run faster, try harder—without stepping back to question whether we’re on the right wheel at all.
Take The Learning Loop: After AI appeared, we learned AI skills. When those skills became obsolete, we learned new ones. When the new skills became obsolete, we learned even newer ones. Round and round we go, growing more anxious. The problem with this loop is that we keep spinning within the framework of “learning skills,” never stepping back to ask a more fundamental question: Why learn skills? Is the skill itself the goal, or is there something deeper?
Or consider The Career Loop: Laid off, we find a new job. When that job proves unstable, we find another. Anxious, we keep searching. Round and round, growing more exhausted. We’re trapped in the “job hunting” framework, never pausing to ask: What is the meaning of work? What value do I truly want to create?
Why Go Beyond the Loop?
In the era of The Great Reordering, many old frameworks may have already failed. When we continuously optimize within a failed framework, we’re simply running faster in the wrong direction. This is why we need to step outside the loop and re-examine the framework itself.
”Beyond the Image” Thinking
“Beyond the Image” (象外) isn’t about opposing existing order or rejecting all rules. The core of “Beyond the Image” is this: ask “why” before accepting any “Image”; examine the “framework” before entering any “Loop”; and in this era of reordering, re-examine those underlying conditions we’ve taken for granted.
Specifically, when facing any existing order, we can ask three questions:
- What is the underlying condition that created this “Image” (this order)?
- Does this condition still hold in the era of The Great Reordering?
- If the condition has changed, what is the truly essential thing beneath it?
| ”The Image” (Existing Order) | Underlying Condition | Has It Changed? | ”Beyond the Image” (The Essence) |
|---|---|---|---|
| University is the best path | Need for standardized talent | ✅ Changed | Capacity to learn |
| Stability is most important | Slow change, experience accumulates | ✅ Changed | Capacity to create value |
| Learn the latest skills | Long skill half-life | ✅ Changed | Capacity to understand patterns |
| Listen to experts | Experts have information advantage | ✅ Changed | Capacity for independent thought |
This thinking framework helps us see clearly: When underlying conditions change, we must return to essence. The map is not the territory. What truly matters isn’t the form of “going to university,” but the underlying capacity to learn; not the state of “stable job,” but the capacity to create value; not the behavior of “chasing skills,” but the capacity to understand patterns.
When the territory changes, we need new maps. But even more importantly, we need the ability to read the territory itself.
My Choice
Honestly, I don’t know how to position myself in the era of The Great Reordering. The new order hasn’t been established yet, and no one truly knows the answer. But I know what the answer isn’t: following the inertia of “it has always been this way” isn’t the answer. Cycling endlessly in old frameworks isn’t the answer. Passively waiting for a new order to emerge isn’t the answer.
So I’ve chosen a different path: experimenting with “Beyond the Image” thinking, attempting to break frameworks rather than follow them, and honestly documenting this real process.
I chose to pivot into the life sciences field—not because I believe “life science is the trend,” but based on an observation: AI is transforming all fields, but the transformation in life sciences is most fundamental because it touches our understanding of life itself. I’m building a one-person company—not because I believe “entrepreneurship is the way out,” but to test how far one person’s capability boundary can extend in this era of reordering. I built this website not to build a “personal brand,” but to document the process of “Beyond the Image” thinking, and to invite others wrestling with the same questions to explore together.
These experiments may succeed or fail. But I believe the process itself is worth documenting, and these reflections are worth sharing.
An Invitation
I don’t know if “Beyond the Image” thinking is correct. But I’m certain of this: the inertial thinking of “it has always been this way” is no longer sufficient to navigate the changes of this era. Cycling endlessly in old frameworks only deepens our anxiety. Examining the underlying conditions behind existing orders, and courageously thinking outside the framework—these are capacities we must develop.
If you’re wrestling with the same questions, if you’re unsatisfied with the answers provided by “The Image,” if you’re willing to try stepping outside “The Loop,” welcome to “Beyond the Image.” I’m not asking you to follow my path. I’m inviting you to examine together: In this era of The Great Reordering, have the underlying conditions behind those orders we took for granted—those “it has always been this way” orders—quietly, fundamentally changed?
Jacky Ma
Berlin, January 2026