For ordinary families, adopting a purely utilitarian strategy when filling out applications is completely correct. Although traditional views hold that the dead are paramount, I must still speak frankly: on this issue, Zhang Xuefeng's guidance is indeed commendable. Everyone must not be misled by the unrealistic statements of the media teachers in the cryptocurrency circle. For students from average backgrounds, the choice of major directly relates to their future livelihood, and the ability to earn income is far more important than simply satisfying personal interests.

Survival always comes first; personal hobbies can only take a back seat. In the face of things we dislike, we must also learn to adapt. This is like my personal extreme aversion to the illogical opinion leaders in the cryptocurrency circle, but I cannot just press a button to make them disappear from this world.

Several specific viewpoints of Zhang Xuefeng are very well-founded. For example, he highly praises mathematics; if one studies mathematics at an excellent institution, the upper limit of their future development is undoubtedly much stronger than facing the survival challenges on the streets with a degree in archaeology. For instance, he is extremely pessimistic about journalism; in fact, the journalism field is currently in the most difficult situation, without a doubt, because even the positions responsible for writing news briefs are on the verge of being completely eliminated.

Regarding the employment phenomenon in the finance major mentioned by Zhang Xuefeng, I have deep experience. Personally, I have interacted with at least a dozen client managers from China Merchants Bank, all of whom graduated from prestigious universities with degrees in finance. However, simply because they did not have a strong family background to support them, they ultimately could only work as client managers.

Of course, Zhang Xuefeng is not without moments of misjudgment; his real mistake was encouraging students to apply for civil engineering. Due to a lack of foresight regarding future macro trends, he failed to realize that the civil engineering industry was about to enter a downturn, which is indeed a responsibility he must bear. To use a phrase often cited by the media teachers in the cryptocurrency circle, this belongs to a failure to update one’s understanding in a timely manner, and this is also the only correct viewpoint those teachers have on this matter.

As for those who have a genuine passion for a particular field, they do not need others to help them choose a major. For example, we once created a QQ group that brought together various technical experts who were extremely passionate about programming. Except for me, almost all members of the group later pursued careers in coding. Regardless of what their original university majors were, they all eventually became developers. This shows that those who truly love their major can always find their own direction for the future.