Delete Your Indicators
Cultural Note: The original Chinese title is 删指标 (Shān zhǐbiāo). The radical prescription: if you use more than 3 indicators, you’re likely self-deceiving through confirmation bias.
Open your trading software. Count your indicators.
If you use more than 3, you’re probably self-deceiving.
More Indicators = Worse Confirmation Bias
You want to go long? RSI oversold supports you. Golden cross supports you. Bollinger lower band supports you.
You want to go short? RSI overbought supports you. Death cross supports you. Bollinger upper band supports you.
Any indicator can be interpreted to support any direction. You just “selectively see.” This isn’t analysis — it’s confirmation bias.
指标越多，确认偏误越严重。 “More indicators = worse confirmation bias.”
The Nature of Indicators
All technical indicators are derivatives of price. They contain no information that price itself doesn’t have. They just express price “in a different way.”
But more expressions = more confusion.
指标就是那三个人。他们看的是同一幅画（价格），但给你不同的解读。你听多了，反而不知道该信谁。 “Indicators are like three critics. They look at the same painting (price) but give different interpretations. Hearing more makes you more confused.”
Three Indicators Maximum — From Three Dimensions
Dimension 1: Trend → EMA 20 + EMA 60 Dimension 2: Momentum → RSI (14) Dimension 3: Volatility → Bollinger Bands (20, 2)
Three indicators, three dimensions, no overlap. If you need more to make decisions, your system isn’t clear enough.
The Psychological Barriers to Deleting Indicators
- Fear of missing signals — you’ll miss some, but you don’t need ALL signals
- Fear of “naked charts” — 2-3 indicators provide a minimum viable framework
- Sunk cost — “I spent 2 weeks learning Ichimoku” — not using it is the rational choice
- Complexity = professionalism illusion — pros use fewest tools for clearest decisions
The Deletion Experiment
Save your current chart template (backup). Create a new template with only EMA + RSI + Bollinger. Trade with it for one week. Ask: did decision quality improve?
Probably yes. Because attention不再分散 across 5-6 indicators — you can focus on price behavior and key structure.
专注力是你最稀缺的资源。把它用在最重要的事情上：价格、位置、关键结构。 “Attention is your scarcest resource. Use it on the most important things: price, position, key structure.”
Texture Check:
- How many indicators do you use? Which dimension does each belong to?
- Are any two indicators saying the same thing? If yes, delete one.
- Do you “first decide direction, then find indicators to confirm”?
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