# 第二章 我最重要的生活原則
## Part 2: My Most Fundamental Life Principles
第二章 我最重要的生活原則
Time is like a river that will take you forward into encounters with reality that will require you to make decisions. You can’t stop the movement down this river, and you can’t avoid the encounters. You can only approach these encounters in the best way possible.
時間宛如一條長河，你在順流而下的過程中邂逅各種現實的經歷，并需要你做出各種選擇。你無法阻止河水的流動，就像你無法避免各種現實情況不期而遇一樣，只能以力所能及的辦法化解。
That is what this part is all about.
這就是本章想談的內容。
###
Where I’m Coming From
我來自何處
Since we are all products of our genes and our environments and approach the world with biases, I think it is relevant for me to tell you a bit of my background so that you can know where I’m coming from.
我們都是基因和環境的產物，身處的世界充滿歧視，我覺得有必要跟你們談一點我的個人背景，便于各位了解我來自何處。
I grew up in a middle-class neighborhood on Long Island, the only son of a jazz musician and a stay-at-home mom. I was a very ordinary kid, and a less-than-ordinary student. I liked playing with my friends— for example, touch football in the street—and I didn't like the school part of school, partly because I had, and still have, a bad rote memory and partly because I couldn’t get excited about forcing myself to remember what others wanted me to remember without understanding what all this work was going to get me. In order to be motivated, I needed to work for what I wanted, not for what other people wanted me to do. And in order to be successful, I needed to figure out for myself how to get what I wanted, not remember the facts I was being told to remember.
我在長島的一個中產階級社區長大，父親是位爵士音樂家，母親足不出戶，是位家庭主婦。我呢，曾是個很普通的小孩，但在學校里又是個不那么聽話的學生。那時我老和一幫朋友們廝混，在街上踢踢足球什么的。并不是很喜歡學校上課的方式，可能是因為我一直不擅長死記硬背教科書上的內容，當然我現在依舊如此，還可能是因為如果別人要我在完全沒搞清楚是怎么一回事的情況下就囫圇吞棗，死記硬背，我可真是一點都提不起興趣。做事要想有干勁，得干些我自己想做的事情，而非他人逼迫我為之。想要做成一件事，我得弄清楚獲得成功的過程，而非強記那些沒用的知識點。
> Rote memory is memory for things that don’t have an intrinsic logic for being what they are, like a random series of numbers, words in a foreign language and people’s names (all of which I have trouble with). On the other hand, I have a great memory for things that make sense in a context. For example, I can tell you what happened in every year in the economy and markets since the mid-1960s and how many things work.
>
> 死記硬背式的記憶是機械記憶，沒有實質內容之間的內在邏輯，比如一串隨機數字，外語單詞，人名（這個我感到最頭疼了）。可另一方面，我對語境中有意義的內容記得很清楚，例如我能告訴你自60年代中期以來每年在經濟和市場方面發生過什么大事，哪些事起到了作用。
One thing I wanted was spending money. So I had a newspaper route, I mowed lawns, I shoveled the snow off driveways, I washed dishes in a restaurant, and, starting when I was 12 years old, I caddied.
我想花錢，那就得賺錢，所以那時我送過報紙、除過草坪、鏟過公路上的積雪、在餐館刷過盤子。12歲那年，我開始做高爾夫球童。
It was the 1960s. At the time the stock market was booming and everyone was talking about it, especially the people I caddied for. So I started to invest. The first stock I bought was a company called Northeast Airlines, and the only reason I bought it was that it was the only company I had heard of that was trading for less than $5 per share, so I could buy more shares, which I figured was a good thing. It went up a lot. It was about to go broke but another company acquired it, so it tripled. I made money because I was lucky, though I didn’t see it that way then. I figured that this game was easy. After all, with thousands of companies listed in the newspaper, how difficult could it be to find at least one that would go up? By comparison to my other jobs, this way of making money seemed much more fun, a lot easier, and much more lucrative. Of course, it didn’t take me long to lose money in the markets and learn about how difficult it is to be right and the costs of being wrong.
大概是在60年代吧，股市行情欣欣向榮，家家戶戶都在聊炒股，而我做球童時的那些雇主們更是熱衷炒股，耳濡目染，我開始了第一筆投資。當時我買的第一支股票叫東北航空公司，選擇的原因也只是因為在每股5塊錢以內的公司里，我就只聽說過這家公司。不過也好，至少我能多買幾股，行情還是很棒的，因為這家公司剛要破產就被另一家公司收購了，市值瞬間漲到了從前的三倍，我靠這點運氣也算小賺一筆，當然那時我還不清楚這些事情背后的具體原因。看起來這游戲不難玩，報紙上登的每天那么多公司都在上市，找家會漲的公司有什么難的？再說了，和我做過的那些工作比起來，這種賺錢方式既有趣又容易，還能賺更多錢，何樂不為？不過沒多久我就開始虧錢了，原來選對股票并非易事，選錯了代價也挺不菲的。
So what I really wanted to do now was beat the market. I just had to figure out how to do it.
好了，我現在覺得我真正想做的是擊敗市場，那就得搞清楚怎么來做了。
The pursuit of this goal taught me:
在實現這個目標的過程中，我學到幾件事情：
**1) It isn't easy for me to be confident that my opinions are right.** In the markets, you can do ahuge amount of work and still be wrong.
**1）堅信自己的觀點都是對的可不是件容易的事情。**股市里，做再多都可能是于事無補。
**2) Bad opinions can be very costly.** Most people come up with opinions and there’s no cost tothem. Not so in the market. This is why I have learned to be cautious. No matter how hard I work, I really can’t be sure.
**2）糟糕的意見代價昂貴。**很多人給出的觀點和看法都是零成本，但在股市里可就不一樣了，這就是為什么我已經學會了謹慎。因為再我怎么努力，我都無法100%肯定市場走向。
**3) The consensus is often wrong, so I have to be an independent thinker.** To make any money,you have to be right when they’re wrong.
**3）大家的共識經常都是錯的，要做獨立的思考者。**要想賺錢，那就得在別人都選錯時，你選對才行。
So …
因此……
**3.1) I worked for what I wanted, not for what others wanted me to do.** For that reason, I never feltthat I had to do anything. All the work I ever did was just what I needed to do to get what I wanted. Since I always had the prerogative to strive for what I wanted, I never felt forced to do anything.
**3.1）我干我自己想做的事情，而非他人逼迫我為之。**這樣我就不會感到被動，因為我所做的每件事都是為了達成自己想要實現的目標。對于我想要的東西我也一直擁有不去爭取的自由，所以才不會感到被脅迫。
**3.2) I came up with the best independent opinions I could muster to get what I wanted.** Forexample, when I wanted to make money in the markets, I knew that I had to learn about companies to assess the attractiveness of their stocks. At the time, Fortune magazine had a little tear- out coupon that you could mail in to get the annual reports of any companies on the Fortune 500, for free. So I ordered all the annual reports and worked my way through the most interesting ones and formed opinions about which companies were exciting.
**3.2）我把我能想到的最好的、獨立的觀點匯聚到一起，用以實現我的目標。**例如，我想在股市里賺錢，我就得了解公司，從而評估該公司股票的吸引力。那時，《財富》雜志每期都附贈優惠券，可以撕下來郵寄給雜志，免費獲取世界500強各企業的年度報告。我訂了所有企業的年度報告，找出我認為最有趣的公司，形成自己的觀點，選出自認為最有吸引力的公司。
> The way I learn is to immerse myself in something, which prompts questions, which I answer, prompting more questions, until I reach a conclusion.
我采取浸泡式學習方法，提出問題，給出解答，提出更多問題，直到得到結論。
**3.3) I stress-tested my opinions by having the smartest people I could find challenge them so I could find out where I was wrong.** I never cared much about others’ conclusions—only forthe reasoning that led to these conclusions. That reasoning had to make sense to me. Through this process, I improved my chances of being right, and I learned a lot from a lot of great people.
**3.3）我對自己的觀點進行壓力測試，把我認識的最聰明的人都找來挑毛病，這樣才能找出我觀點中錯誤的地方。**我不理會他們的結論，我只在意他們得出這些結論的推理過程，這才是對我有意義的地方。通過學習他們的思維過程，我提升了成功的幾率，從成功人士身上受益匪淺。
> This included my retail stockbroker, the people I was caddying for, even my local barber, who was equally engrossed in the stock market. (It wasn’t as precocious as it sounds. At the time, instead of talking about the Yankees, everyone was talking about stocks. That was the world I grew up in.)
>
> 這群人包括我的股票經紀人，做球童時的雇主，甚至當地的理發師，他那時跟我一樣專注于股票市場。這不是因為我早熟，因為那個年代大家除了談論揚基棒球隊外，就都是談論股票了，我就是在這樣的環境下長大的。
**3.4) I remained wary about being overconfident, and I figured out how to effectively deal with my not knowing.** I dealt with my not knowing by either continuing to gather information until Ireached the point that I could be confident or by eliminating my exposure to the risks of not knowing.
**3.4）我不敢太過自信，而是想辦法有效處理我所不知道的事情。**處理未知的事物我會不斷搜集信息直到我對之胸有成竹，或降低遭遇“不知”情況的風險。
> Sometimes when I know that I don’t know which way the coin is going to flip, I try to position myself so that it won’t have an impact on me either way. In other words, I don’t make an inadvertent bet. I try to limit my bets to the limited number of things I am confident in.
>
> 有時當我不知道硬幣會投向哪面，我會選擇重新給自己定位，這樣正反都不會有影響。換句話說，我不打不加思考的賭，只對某些十分有信心的事情下賭注。
**3.5) I wrestled with my realities, reflected on the consequences of my decisions, and learned and improved from this process.**
**3.5）我同現實展開斗爭，反思所做決定帶來的后果，從中學習與提高。**
By doing these things, I learned how important and how liberating it is to think for myself.
就這樣，我明白了獨立思考有多么重要，多么自由。
In a nutshell, this is the whole approach that I believe will work best for you—the best summary of what I want the people who are working with me to do in order to accomplish great things. **I want you to workfor yourself, to come up with independent opinions, to stress-test them, to be wary about being overconfident, and to reflect on the consequences of your decisions and constantly improve.**
簡而言之，這是我認為最適合你的方法，這也是我希望工作伙伴想要成功所需做到的：**為自己工作，形成獨立的觀點，對之進行壓力測試，不要過度自信，反思所做決定帶來的后果，不斷提升。**
After I graduated from high school, I went to a local college that I barely got in to. I loved it, unlike high school, because I could learn about things that interested me; I studied because I enjoyed it, not because I had to.
高中畢業后我在本地上的大學，差點沒考上。我不喜歡我的高中學校，可我很愛大學的生活，因為我能學習我真正感興趣的東西，我學習，因為我享受學習的過程，而非被迫學之。
At that time the Beatles had made a trip to India to learn how to meditate, which triggered my interest, so I learned how to meditate. It helped me think more clearly and creatively, so I’m sure that enhanced my enjoyment of, and success at, learning.Unlike in high school, in college I did very well.
那時，披頭士樂隊在印度旅行，為的是學習如何冥想，我很感興趣，于是也學了怎么冥想。得益于此，我思考問題時更清晰更富有創造力，也提升了我對于學習的興趣和成就感。和在高中時截然不同，我在大學表現極佳。
> By the way, I still meditate and I still find it helpful.
>
> 我仍在堅持冥想練習，也依舊覺得很有用。
And of course I continued to trade markets. Around this time I became interested in trading commodities futures, though virtually nobody traded them back then. I was attracted to trading them just because they had low margin requirements so I figured I could make more money by being right (which I planned to be).
當然啦，我上大學后依舊在市場中做交易。不過我開始對商品期貨交易感興趣，盡管當時還沒有人做這方面的交易。商品期貨交易的魅力在于保證金要求不高，所以只要我選對了，就能賺錢，這也是我當時的計劃。
By the time I graduated college, in 1971, I had been admitted to Harvard Business School, where I would go in the fall. That summer between college and HBS I clerked on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. This was the summer of the breakdown of the global monetary system (i.e., the Bretton Woods system). It was one of the most dramatic economic events ever and I was at the epicenter of it, so it thrilled me. It was a currency crisis that drove all market behaviors, so I delved into understanding the currency markets. The currency markets would be important to me for the rest of my life.
1971年我大學畢業，考入了哈佛商學院，入學是在秋季。大學畢業后的夏天，我在紐約證券交易所里打工做職員。那年夏天，全球貨幣體系（布雷頓森林體系）崩潰瓦解。這應該是當時最舉世關注的經濟事件，我作為親歷者，感到興奮不已。那場貨幣危機震動了整個市場，我也深入鉆研學習了貨幣市場。貨幣市場對我此后人生可謂至關重要。
That fall I went to Harvard Business School, which I was excited about because I felt that I had climbed to the top and would be with the best of the best. Despite these high expectations, the place was even better than I expected because the case study method allowed open-ended figuring things out and debating with others to get at the best answers, rather than memorizing facts. I loved the work-hard, play-hard environment.
秋天我去哈佛商學院上學，我非常興奮，因為我覺得那里都是精英，算是爬到了人才聚集的頂峰。我當時的期待已經很高了，但實際情況比我想得還要好。那里上課引用的案例研究方法是開放式的，也允許大家相互辯論獲得最佳答案，從不讓大家死記硬背。這里大家拼命學習，又懂得盡情放松，這種環境深得我心。
In the summer between my two years at HBS, I pursued my interest in trading commodities futures by convincing the Director of Commodities for Merrill Lynch to give me a job as his assistant. At the time, commodities trading was still an obscure thing to do.
哈佛商學院的第一年暑假，我繼續鼓搗商品期貨交易，并成功說服美林證券的商品主管讓我做他的助理。在那時，商品交易依舊是一個很模糊的行業領域。
In the fall I went back to HBS, and in that academic year, 1972-73, trading commodities futures became a hot thing to do. That is because the monetary system’s breakdown that occurred in 1971 led to an inflationary surge that sent commodity prices higher. As a result of this, the first oil shock occurred in 1973\. As inflation started to surge, the Federal Reserve tightened monetary policy to fight it, so stocks went down in the worst bear market since the Great Depression. So, commodities futures trading was hot and stock market investing was not. Naturally, brokerage houses that didn’t have commodities trading departments wanted them, and there was a shortage of people who knew anything about it. Virtually nobody in the commodities futures business had the type of Harvard Business School background that I had. So I was hired as Director of Commodities at a moderate-size brokerage and given an old salt who had lots of commodities brokerage experience to help me set up a commodities division. The bad stock market environment ended up taking this brokerage house down before we could get the commodities futures trading going. I went to a bigger, more successful brokerage, where I was in charge of its institutional/hedging business. But I didn’t fit into the organization well, so I was fired essentially for insubordination.
秋天我回哈佛商學院上學，就在1972年到1973年的這個學年里，商品期貨市場火了起來。因為1971年貨幣體系的瓦解導致了通貨膨脹狂潮，物價飛漲。1973年，第一次石油危機爆發了。通貨膨脹加劇，美聯儲收緊了貨幣政策，股票市場面臨大蕭條時期以來最糟糕的熊市。在此背景之下，商品期貨交易變得炙手可熱，股票市場投資無人問津。證券經濟公司也想搞商品期貨交易，但公司沒人懂這些。事實上，從事商品期貨交易的，很少有我這種具備哈佛商學院背景的。我很輕松地應聘上了一家中型經紀公司，擔任商品主管，公司里一位在商品經紀領域經驗豐富的老手也幫助我成立了商品分部。但我們還沒來得及維持商品期貨交易，股票市場環境就拖垮了這家經紀公司。后來我去了家規模和影響力大點的經紀行，負責機構事務與對沖基金業務，我沒能很好地融入到這個公司里，最終因不服從領導被開除了。
So in 1975, after a quick two-year stint on Wall Street after school, I started Bridgewater. Soon after, I got married and began my family.
1975年，畢業后在華爾街混跡了兩年后，我成立了橋水基金公司，結了婚有了孩子。
Through this time and till now I followed the same basic approach I used as a 12-year-old caddie trying to beat the market, i.e., by **1) working for what I wanted, not for what others wanted me to do; 2)coming up with the best independent opinions I could muster to move toward my goals; 3) stress - testing my opinions by having the smartest people I could find challenge them so I could find out where I was wrong; 4) being wary about overconfidence, and good at not knowing; and 5) wrestling with reality, experiencing the results of my decisions, and reflecting on what I did to produce them so that I could improve.**
就在上述的這段時期里，從我是個12歲的球童開始到現在，我擊敗市場一直都使用的是同一套方法：**1）我干我自己想做的事情，而非他人逼迫我為之；2）我把我能想到的最好的、獨立的觀點匯聚到一起，用以實現我的目標；3）對觀點進行壓力測試，把我認識最聰明的人找來幫我挑毛病，找出我觀點中錯誤的地方。4）我不敢太過自信，但很善于面對“不知”。5）我同現實展開斗爭，反思為什么會產生這種結果，從中學習與提高。**
Since I started Bridgewater, I have gained a lot more experience that taught me a lot more, mostly by making mistakes and learning from them. Most importantly:
成立橋水基金公司后，我積累了更多的經驗，收獲更多，主要得益于犯錯并從中吸取教訓。最重要的經驗包括：
* I learned that failure is by and large due to not accepting and successfully dealing with the realities of life, and that achieving success is simply a matter of accepting and successfully dealing with all my realities.
我發現，失敗主要是因為不接受或不能成功應對生活中的現實情況。實現成功其實就是簡單地接受現實、應對現實。
* I learned that finding out what is true, regardless of what that is, including all the stuff most people think is bad—like mistakes and personal weaknesses—is good because I can then deal with these things so that they don’t stand in my way.
我發現，無論什么事，即使是大多數人認為壞的事情，譬如錯誤或性格弱點，只要找出真相是什么，壞的也能變成好的。因為我會了解應對這些困難的方法，不讓它們成為攔路石。
* I learned that there is nothing to fear from truth. While some truths can be scary—for example, finding out that you have a deadly disease—knowing them allows us to deal with them better. Being truthful, and letting others be completely truthful, allows me and others to fully explore our thoughts and exposes us to the feedback that is essential for our learning.
我發現，真相沒什么可怕的。有些真相可能令人懼怕，比方說發現自己得了絕癥，不過知道這個事實會讓我們更好去應對。要實事求是，也要讓別人這樣做，我們的思想才能被完全開發，所獲得的反饋對于我們的學習才是最有用的。
* I learned that being truthful was an extension of my freedom to be me. I believe that people who are one way on the inside and believe that they need to be another way outside to please others become conflicted and often lose touch with what they really think and feel. It’s difficult for them to be happy and almost impossible for them to be at their best. I know that’s true for me.
我發現，實事求是自由做自己的延伸。表里不一、取悅他人的人往往會自相矛盾，也容易丟失自己的價值觀。他們不容易感到開心，更不可能展現出自己最好的一面。反正我認為我是這樣的。
* I learned that I want the people I deal with to say what they really believe and to listen to what others say in reply, in order to find out what is true. I learned that one of the greatest sources of problems in our society arises from people having loads of wrong theories in their heads—often theories that are critical of others—that they won’t test by speaking to the relevant people about them. Instead, they talk behind people’s backs, which leads to pervasive misinformation. I learned to hate this because I could see that making judgments about people so that they are tried and sentenced in your head, without asking them for their perspective, is both unethical and unproductive.So I learned to love real integrity (saying the same things as one believes)and to despise the lack of it.
我發現，我想打交道的人是能告訴我他們真正所想的人，我也想傾聽他們的反饋，以尋求真相。導致社會問題最根本的原因是人們有太多錯誤的理論，都是些批評他人的理論，而人們又不會跟相關的人談起，無法檢驗這些理論的真假。相反，人們卻在背后閑言閑語，錯誤的信息漫天飛舞。我很討厭這樣，我看到過這種情況：不去問對方的觀點，就把別人在腦海中私自“判刑”，妄加評論。這么做既不道德，也很無效。所以我喜歡真正的表里如一，信什么，就說什么。不誠實的人，我是嗤之以鼻的。
> It is unethical because a basic principle of justice is that everyone has the right to face his accuser. And it is unproductive because it does not lead to the exploration of “Is it true?” which can lead to understanding and improvement.
>
> 這種做法之所以不道德是因為公正的基本原則便是人人都有權利與批評者對峙。而說其毫無建設性是因為它阻斷了對真相的探索，無法形成理解和提高。
> I do not mean that you should say everything you think, just that what you do say matches your thoughts.
>
> 我不是要你想什么就都出說來，而是只說與自己想法相匹配的內容。
> The word “integrity” is from the Latin root “integer,” which means “one” i.e., that you are the same inside and out. Most people would be insulted if you told them that they don't have integrity—but how many people do you know who tell people what they really think?
>
> 英文中的正直（integrity）一詞來源于拉丁語的整體（integer）一詞，含有唯一性。若我說一個人不正直，大多數人都會覺得我在辱罵他，但你認識的人里，又有多少人會告訴你真實想法呢？
* I learned that everyone makes mistakes and has weaknesses and that one of the most important things that differentiates people is their approach to handling them. I learned that there is an incredible beauty to mistakes, because embedded in each mistake is a puzzle, and a gem that I could get if I solved it, i.e., a principle that I could use to reduce my mistakes in the future. I learned that each mistake was probably a reflection of something that I was (or others were) doing wrong, so if I could figure out what that was, I could learn how to be more effective. I learned that wrestling with my problems, mistakes, and weaknesses was the training that strengthened me. Also, I learned that it was the pain of this wrestling that made me and those around me appreciate our successes.
我發現，人人都會犯錯，都有弱點，大家的差異在于處理問題的方式。錯誤是極為美麗的花朵，它蘊藏著一個謎題，解開了就能獲得寶石，這顆寶石就是一條原則，避免以后犯同樣的錯誤。每條錯誤，都可能是自己或別人過去犯錯的一種反映，如果能指出來，就能提升效率。同問題、錯誤和弱點展開斗爭會讓自己變得強大，斗爭中會感到疼痛，也正是如此我們才會珍惜成功的果實。
> I believe that our society's “mistakephobia” is crippling, a problem that begins in most elementary schools, where we learn to learn what we are taught rather than to form our own goals and to figure out how to achieve them. We are fed with facts and tested and those who make the fewest mistakes are considered to be the smart ones, so we learn that it is embarrassing to not know and to make mistakes. Our education system spends virtually no time on how to learn from mistakes, yet this is critical to real learning. As a result, school typically doesn’t prepare young people for real life—unless their lives are spent following instructions and pleasing others. In my opinion, that’s why so many students who succeed in school fail in life.
>
> 我認為社會上“犯錯恐懼癥”會帶來嚴重后果。這個問題從小學就開始了，老師教什么，我們就學什么，也不會教我們樹立自己的目標或實現夢想的方法，擺在我們面前的是機械地學習一堆知識并參加考試。犯錯最少才被認為是最聰明的。要犯錯或承認自己不懂，我們會覺得很丟人。我們的教育制度重心從來都不教學生從錯誤中學習，但其實從犯錯中學習才是真正的學習。因此，學校培養出來的年輕人難以適應現實生活，不過如果他們愿意一生只做遵守指令、取悅他人的人，那就另當別論了。所以我覺得很多學校成績優異的學生，人生并不成功。
* I learned that the popular picture of success—which is like a glossy photo of an ideal man or woman out of a Ralph Lauren catalog, with a bio attached listing all of their accomplishments like going to the best prep schools and an Ivy League college, and getting all the answers right on tests—is an inaccurate picture of the typical successful person. I met a number of great people and learned that none of them were born great—they all made lots of mistakes and had lots weaknesses—and that great people become great by looking at their mistakes and weaknesses and figuring out how to get around them. So I learned that the people who make the most of the process of encountering reality, especially the painful obstacles, learn the most and get what they want faster than people who do not. I learned that they are the great ones—the ones I wanted to have around me.
我發現，大眾對于成功的概念是這樣的：穿著拉夫·勞倫服裝，在一幅光鮮亮麗的宣傳照旁邊附上自己的成就介紹：上最好的私立預科學校，考入常青藤聯盟的名牌大學，能答對所有的考試題。其實這是對真正成功人士生活的誤讀。我閱人無數，沒一個成功人士天賦異稟，他們也常犯錯，缺點也不少，他們成功是因為正視錯誤與缺點，找到日后避免犯錯、解決問題的方法。所以我覺得，全力利用好直面現實的過程，尤其是在和困難障礙斗爭時的痛苦經歷，從中竭力吸取教訓，這樣定能更快實現目標。這樣的人，才能成為成功人士，這才是我想打交道的人群。
* In short, I learned that being totally truthful, especially about mistakes and weaknesses, led to a rapid rate of improvement and movement toward what I wanted.
簡而言之，要直面真相，特別是自己的錯誤和弱點，會大大促進自我提升，離夢想越來越近。
While this approach worked great for me, I found it more opposite than similar to most others’ approaches, which has produced communications challenges.
盡管這個方法對我很適用，可是似乎與其他方法比起來，顯得與眾不同，很多人不認同，交流起來甚是困難。
Specifically, I found that:
具體來說，我發現：
* While most others seem to believe that learning what we are taught is the path to success, I believe that figuring out for yourself what you want and how to get it is a better path.
盡管很多人認為教你什么就好好學才能實現成功。但我認為，發現自己想要什么，明白實現夢想的方法，這才是更光明的道路。
> After all, isn’t the point of learning to help you get what you want? So don’t you have to start with what you want and figure out what you have to learn in order to get it?
>
> 學習的目的不就是實現夢想嗎？那一開始是不是就應該先弄明白自己想要什么以及要實現夢想需要學什么呢？
* While most others seem to believe that having answers is better than having questions, I believe that having questions is better than having answers because it leads to more learning.
盡管很多人認為答案比問題更好，但我認為問題比答案好，因為問題能讓我們學到更多。
> In fact I believe that most people who are quick to come up with answers simply haven’t thought about all the ways that they can be wrong.
>
> 事實上，我認為那些很快就想出答案的人并沒有考慮自己會出錯的方方面面。
While most others seem to believe that mistakes are bad things, I believe mistakes are good things because I believe that most learning comes via making mistakes and reflecting on them.
盡管很多人認為犯錯是壞事，但我認為犯錯是好事，因為人們主要都是從犯錯的反思中受益進而學習和提高自己的。
While most others seem to believe that finding out about one’s weaknesses is a bad thing, I believe that it is a good thing because it is the first step toward finding out what to do about them and not letting them stand in your way.
盡管很多人認為發現缺點是壞事，但我認為缺點是好事，因為認識到缺點是尋找解決辦法的第一步，進而不讓缺點成為自己的絆腳石。
While most others seem to believe that pain is bad, I believe that pain is required to become stronger.
盡管很多人認為痛苦不好，但我認為想要變得強大，就需要經受痛苦。
> I don’t mean that the more pain the better. I believe that too much pain can break someone and that the absence of pain typically prevents growth so that one should accept the amount of pain that is consistent with achieving one’s objectives.
>
> 我不是說越疼越好，我認為過于疼痛會對人產生損害。沒有痛苦一般不利于成長，所以我們應在與實現自己目標相一致的前提下，承受一定的痛苦。
One of the advantages of my being over 60 years old—and there aren’t many—is that we can look back on my story to see how I came by these beliefs and how they have worked for me. It is now more than 35 years after I started Bridgewater and about the same number of years since I got married and began my family. I am obviously not your Ralph Lauren poster child for success, yet I’ve had a lot of successes, though they’re probably not what you’re thinking.
我60多歲了，我這個年紀的人優勢已經不多了，其中之一就是我能回望過去，審視這些原則是否真的發揮過作用。我成立橋水聯合基金公司35年，結婚成家也差不多這么多年，從我的經歷來看，顯然我不是大家想的那種拉夫·勞倫宣傳海報上的成功典范，但我還是取得了很多成功，盡管不一定是你想象的那種成功。
Yes, I started Bridgewater from scratch, and now it’s a uniquely successful company and I am on the Forbes 400 list. But these results were never my goals—they were just residual outcomes—so my getting them can’t be indications of my success. And, quite frankly, I never found them very rewarding.
成立橋水聯合基金，我算是白手起家，現在這家公司已經非常成功，我也在福布斯400富豪榜上占有一席。但這些從來都不是我的目標，算是附加回報吧，這些不能說明我就是成功的。說實在的，我也不覺得這些所謂的成就有什么意義。
> I have been very lucky because I have had the opportunity to see what it’s like to have little or no money and what it’s like to have a lot of it. I’m lucky because people make such a big deal of it and, if I didn’t experience both, I wouldn’t be able to know how important it really is for me. I can’t comment on what having a lot of money means to others, but I do know that for me, having a lot more money isn’t a lot better than having enough to cover the basics. That’s because, for me, the best things in life—meaningful work, meaningful relationships, interesting experiences, good food, sleep, music, ideas, sex, and other basic needs and pleasures— are not, past a certain point, materially improved upon by having a lot of money. For me, money has always been very important to the point that I could have these basics covered and never very important beyond that. That doesn’t mean that I don’t think that having more is good–it’s just that I don’t think it’s a big deal. So, while I spend money on some very expensive things that cost multiples relative to the more fundamental things, these expensive things have never brought me much enjoyment relative to the much cheaper, more fundamental things. They were just like cherries on the cake. For my tastes, if I had to choose, I’d rather be a backpacker who is exploring the world with little money than a big income earner who is in a job I don’t enjoy. (Though being in a job that provides me with what I want is best of all, for me). Also, from having come from having next-to-nothing to having a lot, I have developed a strong belief that, all things being equal, offering equal opportunity is fundamental to being good, while handing out money to capable people that weakens their need to get stronger and contribute to society is bad.
>
> 我一直都很幸運，因為我有機會體驗身無分文，也知道富有是什么感覺。現在很多人都花很大精力賺錢，我如果沒體驗過貧窮與富有兩種狀態，就不會明白金錢對于我來說是否真的重要。富有對別人來說意義如何我是無法評論的，但對我來說，賺更多的錢同只能滿足基本需求的收入相比，并沒有那么大的差別。因為我覺得人生最棒的事情是：有意義的工作，有意義的人脈，有趣的經歷，吃得好睡得好，聽歌，各種新點子，性等其他基本需求和令人愉悅之物。當金錢積累達到某個臨界點后，增加再多，也就不會明顯提升這些我認為人生最棒的東西。金錢對我來說的重要性就是，能夠滿足我的基本生活需求，再多我就認為不重要了。我不是說認為擁有更多不好，只是覺得這沒什么大不了的。花錢的時候，有些東西特別昂貴，購買這些東西并不能給我帶來多少快樂，購買經濟實惠且更重要的東西才能給我帶來快樂。這就像蛋糕上的櫻桃一樣，錦上添花罷了。要我選的話，與其做一份高薪但不喜歡的工作，我寧可做個環游世界的窮背包客。對我來說，從事的工作如果做的是自己想做的就是最好了。從幾乎一無所有到擁有甚多，我培養了一個很強的信念，即萬物皆平等，提供平等的機會對成功很重要，有能力的人獲得的報酬豐富，就可能削弱他們渴望變強大貢獻社會的意愿，這對社會發展不利。
What I wanted was to have an interesting, diverse life filled with lots of learning—and especially meaningful work and meaningful relationships. I feel that I have gotten these in abundance and I am happy. And I feel that I got what I wanted by following the same basic approach I used as a 12-year-old caddie trying to beat the market, i.e., by 1) working for what I wanted, not for what others wanted me to do; 2) coming up with the best independent opinions I could muster to move toward my goals; 3) stress - testing my opinions by having the smartest people I could find challenge them so I could find out where I was wrong; 4) being wary about overconfidence, and good at not knowing; and 5) wrestling with reality, experiencing the results of my decisions, and reflecting on what I did to produce them so that I could improve. I believe that by following this approach I moved faster to my goals by learning a lot more than if I hadn’t followed it.
我渴望的是生活充滿趣事，多姿多彩，不斷學習，能做有意義的工作，能認識可交之人。我認為，能常常滿足這些條件，我就很開心了。我還發現，從我是個12歲的球童到現在，我擊敗市場一直都使用的是同一套方法：1）我干我自己想做的事情，而非他人逼迫我為之；2）我把我能想到的最好的、獨立的觀點匯聚到一起，用以實現我的目標；3）把我認識最聰明的人找來幫我挑毛病，找出我觀點中錯誤的地方；4）我不敢太過自信，但很善于面對“不知”；5）我同現實展開斗爭，反思為什么會產生這種結果，從中學習與提高。
Here are the most important principles that I learned along the way.
來談談一路走來，我覺得最重要的一些原則吧
###
My Most Fundamental Principles
我最重要的根本原則
In pursuing my goals I encountered realities, often in the form of problems, and I had to make decisions. I found that if I accepted the realities rather than wished that they didn’t exist and if I learned how to work with them rather than fight them, I could figure out how to get to my goals. It might take repeated tries, and seeking the input of others, but I could eventually get there. As a result, I have become someone who believes that we need to deeply understand, accept, and work with reality in order to get what we want out of life. Whether it is knowing how people **really** think and behave when dealing with them, or how things **really** work on a material level—so that if we do X then Y will happen—understanding reality gives us the power to get what we want out of life, or at least to dramatically improve our odds of success. In other words, I have become a “hyperrealist.”
追求夢想的征途中，我與現實中遇到的問題激烈碰撞，不得不做出各種決策。我發現，與其整日幻想這些問題不存在或與之抗爭，還不如實事求是，尋找解決方案，這樣倒能更快找到實現目標的路。可能要反復嘗試，汲取他人智慧，但最終總能實現夢想。久而久之，我深信要理解現實，接受現實，與現實合作，尋找解決辦法，才能實現夢想。無論是了解他人的**真實**想法與行為，還是事物在物質層面的**真實**原理，如我們做甲那么乙就會發生，理解現實都會賦予我們力量，助我們實現夢想，至少可以提高成功的幾率。換句話說，我成了一名“高度寫實主義者”。
When I say I’m a hyperrealist, people sometimes think I don’t believe in making dreams happen. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, I believe that without pursuing dreams, life is mundane. I am just saying that I believe hyperrealism is the best way to choose and achieve one’s dreams. The people who really change the world are the ones who see what’s possible and figure out how to make that happen. I believe that dreamers who simply imagine things that would be nice but are not possible don’t sufficiently appreciate the laws of the universe to understand the true implications of their desires, much less how to achieve them.
提到“高度寫實主義者”，就有人以為我不相信夢想可以變為現實，恰恰相反，事實上，我認為生活沒有夢想是寡然無味的。我強調的是，選擇夢想與實現夢想，通過高度寫實主義是最好的辦法。真正改變世界的人，能發現什么夢想是有可能實現的，并能指出可行之道。而真正的空想家成天幻想一些不切實際的美好事物，不考慮宇宙規則，無法深刻理解自身愿望的真實內涵，更別提實現他們的想法了。
Let me explain what I mean.
我來解釋一下：
I believe there are an infinite number of laws of the universe and that all progress or dreams achieved come from operating in a way that’s consistent with them. These laws and the principles of how to operate in harmony with them have always existed. We were given these laws by nature. Man didn’t and can’t make them up. He can only hope to understand them and use them to get what he wants. For example, the ability to fly or to send cellular phone signals imperceptibly and instantaneously around the world or any other new and beneficial developments resulted from understanding and using previously existing laws of the universe. These inventions did not come from people who were not well-grounded in reality. 17The same is true for economic, political, and social systems that work. Success is achieved by people who deeply understand reality and know how to use it to get what they want. The converse is also true: idealists who are not well-grounded in reality create problems, not progress. For example, communism was a system created by people with good intentions who failed to recognize that their idealistic system was inconsistent with human nature. As a result, they caused more harm than good.
我認為宇宙擁有無限多規則，實現一切夢想與進步都得遵循這些規則，如何遵循也是有定律有原則可循的，這些定律一直都存在，不是人為制定的。人們只能理解并用好這些規則實現夢想。舉個例子吧，想飛翔，想在全球發射即時微感的手機訊號或別的什么有利于發展的新發明，都得深刻理解宇宙已經存在的基本規律。不腳踏實地、實事求是的人是無法創造發明新事物的。制定經濟、政治、社會新制度也是如此。實事求是，基于現實來實現夢想，才能成功。反之亦然：不腳踏實地實事求是的理想主義者只會制造麻煩，而不會帶來進步。舉例來說，創造共產主義的人初衷是好的，但沒意識到他們設想的理想體制同人類的本性是不相符的，所以他們帶來的麻煩比好處要多。
> I recognize that sometimes a discovery is made by accident, but the discovery is of some basic underlying principle that creates understanding of a cause-effect relationship that leads to a desired result.
>
> 我認為有時候，一項新的發現可能是偶然事件，但新的發現都具備基本的潛在原則，這些原則建立了因果關系，相應的結果也就順理成章了。
>
> This brings me to my most fundamental principle:
>
> 這就引出了我想談的最根本原則：
###
Truth — more precisely, an accurate understanding of reality — is the essential foundation for producing good outcomes.
真相 —— 具體來說，就是精準理解現實 —— 這是達成良好結果的最重要根基。
While I spend the most time studying how the realities that affect me most work—i.e., those that drive the markets and the people I deal with—I also love to study nature to try to figure out how it works because, to me, nature is both beautiful and practical.
我大部分時間都在研究現實如何影響我的工作，比如說驅動市場的要素，如何與人打交道，其實我也愛研究自然規律，我覺得大自然美麗而現實。
Its perfection and brilliance staggers me. When I think about all the flying machines, swimming machines, and billions of other systems that nature created, from the microscopic level to the cosmic level, and how they interact with one another to make a workable whole that evolves through time and through multi-dimensions, my breath is taken away. It seems to me that, in relation to nature, man has the intelligence of a mold growing on an apple—man can’t even make a mosquito, let alone scratch the surface of understanding the universe.
大自然完美絢麗，令我驚嘆。天上飛的，水里游的，千姿百態都是大自然創造的。從微觀層面到宇宙宏觀，世界萬物相互聯系，構成和諧運轉的整體，隨時間推移，層層演進，我驚嘆得無法呼吸。同大自然相比，人類的智慧充其量也就蘋果上的一小塊霉斑，人類連只蚊子都沒創造，更別說理解宇宙了，最多也就能知道點皮毛。
Though how nature works is way beyond man’s ability to comprehend, I have found that observing how nature works offers innumerable lessons that can help us understand the realities that affect us. That is because, though man is unique, he is part of nature and subject to most of the same laws of nature that affect other species.
大自然的運行規律，人類是難以完全理解的，但觀察自然，能學到不少東西，有益于我們理解身邊的現實。因為每個人雖是獨立個體，但都是自然的一部分，受制于大自然支配一切物種的普遍規律。
For example, I have found that by looking at what is rewarded and punished, and why, universally—i.e., in nature as well as in humanity—I have been able to learn more about what is “good” and “bad” than by listening to most people’s views about good and bad. It seems to me that what most people call “good” and “bad” typically reflects their particular group’s preferences: the Taliban’s definitions are different than Americans’, which are different than others’—and within each group there are differences and they are intended to paint a picture of the world the way they’d like it to be rather than the way it really is. So there are many different takes on what is good and bad that each group uses to call others “bad” and themselves “good,” some of which are practical and others of which are impractical. Yet all of them, and everything else, are subject to the same laws of nature–i.e., I believe that we all get rewarded and punished according to whether we operate in harmony or in conflict with nature’s laws, and that all societies will succeed or fail in the degrees that they operate consistently with these laws.
舉例來說，我們看看獎懲之道吧，大自然和人類是一樣的，在這點上，我更能分辨好與壞，而不是隨大流聽別人的觀點。我認為大多數人對好與壞的區分都是基于個人喜惡，塔利班和美國人對好與壞的定義就截然不同，對別的群體亦是如此。每個群體對好與壞的定義都不盡相同，都是基于自身期望，而非事實本身。每個群體對什么是好，什么是壞都有不同觀點，有些切合實際，有些不然，即便世間萬物都受制于同樣的自然規律。我們獲得獎勵，還是得到懲罰，都取決于我們是符合自然規律，還是違背自然規律。所有社會群體成功與否，都取決于同自然規律相和諧的程度。
This perspective gives me a non-traditional sense of good and bad: “good,” to me, means operating consistently with the natural laws, while “bad” means operating inconsistently with these laws. In other words, for something to be “good” it must be grounded in reality. And if something is in conflict with reality—for example, if morality is in conflict with reality—it is “bad,” i.e., it will not produce good outcomes.
這種觀點與傳統意義上的好與壞不太一樣，對我來說，符合自然規律的就是好的，不符合自然規律的就是不好的。也就是說，好的事情必須是基于現實規律的，如果一件事情同現實規律相沖突，比如道德如果和現實相沖突，那就是壞的，就不會產生有益結果。
In other words, I believe that understanding what is good is obtained by looking at the way the world works and figuring out how to operate in harmony with it to help it (and yourself) evolve. But it is not obvious, and it is sometimes difficult to accept.
也就是說，判斷事情是不是好的，要從大局看世界運行規律，指出如何與之相符合，進而使這件事（或你自己）獲得發展。不過這種判斷不好做，依據過于模糊，有時甚至讓人難以接受。
For example, when a pack of hyenas takes down a young wildebeest, is this good or bad? At face value, this seems terrible; the poor wildebeest suffers and dies. Some people might even say that the hyenas are evil. Yet this type of apparently evil behavior exists throughout nature through all species and was created by nature, which is much smarter than I am, so before I jump to pronouncing it evil, I need to try to see if it might be good. When I think about it, like death itself, this behavior is integral to the enormously complex and efficient system that has worked for as long as there has been life. And when I think of the second- and third- order consequences, it becomes obvious that this behavior is good for both the hyenas, who are operating in their self-interest, and in the interests of the greater system, which includes the wildebeest, because killing and eating the wildebeest fosters evolution, i.e., the natural process of improvement. In fact, if I changed anything about the way that dynamic works, the overall outcome would be worse.
例如，一群土狼攻擊一只羚羊，是好是壞？表面上看，這可糟透了，可憐的羚羊遭受痛苦而亡。有人會斥責說這群土狼真是太可惡了，可這種他們稱為可惡的行為卻在所有物種間無處不在，這是大自然創造的行為，這可比我聰明多了。我跳出來說這種行為多邪惡前我會想，這件事可能不是壞事。就死亡本身來看，是龐大、復雜、高效運轉的大自然系統中的一部分，這種系統自世界上存在生命以來就存在了。再從生物圈的二、三級效應來看，顯然這種行為有利于土狼群體，以及更大的生物圈。同時，也有利于羚羊本身，因為土狼捕食羚羊有利于羚羊進化，這是物種自身進化的自然過程。整個自然動態體系中有任何變動，結果都可能會更糟糕。
**I believe that evolution, which is the natural movement toward better adaptation, is the greatest single force in the universe, and that it is good.**Itaffects the changes of everything from all speciesto the entire solar system. It is good because evolution is the process of adaptation that leads to improvement. So, based on how I observe both nature and humanity working, I believe that what is bad and most punished are those things that don’t work because they are at odds with the laws of the universe and they impede evolution.
**我認為，生物進化是大自然的正常活動，幫助生物更好地適應大自然，是宇宙最強大的一股力量，所以生物進化是好事情。**生物進化影響著所有物種，甚至影響太陽系。生物進化是好事情，因為這是讓生物更適應大自然的過程，能夠改善物種本身。基于我對自然與人類的觀察，我認為那些不好的、受懲罰的事情都是因為與宇宙規律相違背，影響了生物進化。
> In fact, it appears to me that everything other than evolution eventually disintegrates and that we all are, and everything else is, vehicles for evolution.
>
> 事實上，我覺得似乎除了進化本身之外，其他一切事物都會最終瓦解。我們和其他所有東西都只是進化的工具。
**I believe that the desire to evolve, i.e., to get better, is probably humanity’s most pervasive driving force.** Enjoying your job, a craft, or your favorite sport comes from the innate satisfaction of getting better.Though most people typically think that they are striving to get things (e.g., toys, better houses, money, status, etc.) that will make them happy, that is not usually the case. Instead, when we get the things we are striving for, we rarely remain satisfied.It is natural for us to seek other things or to seek to make the things we have better. In the process of this seeking, we continue to evolve and we contribute to the evolution of all that we have contact with. The things we are striving for are just the bait to get us to chase after them in order to make us evolve, and it is the evolution and not the reward itself that matters to us and those around us.
**渴望進化，渴望變得更好，也許是人類最普遍的驅動力。**喜歡你的工作，欣賞一件工藝品，熱愛一項體育運動，都是源自內心對更好生活的向往。盡管大多數人都覺得為實現夢想而苦苦掙扎，比如想要玩具，更好的住房，賺錢，名望等等，認為實現這些夢想就能開心。事實上并非如此，當我們努力實現了夢想后，人們很少會知足。我們會有新的目標，或想改善我們擁有的東西，這都是很正常的。追尋夢想的過程中，我們不斷成長，也促使我們接觸的人與事成長。我們想實現的夢想只是個誘餌，促使我們在實現之后去追求更多夢想，促使我們成長。和實現的那些夢想比起來，成長本身對我們和周圍的人才是最有意義的。
Of course, we are often satisfied with the same things – relationships, careers, etc.—but when that is the case, it is typically because we are getting new enjoyments from the new dimensions of these things.
當然我們經常會因為同樣的事情而感到滿足：人際關系，事業等等。但一般那也是因為我們從這些東西中獲得新角度，得到了新的愉悅體驗。
It is natural that it should be this way—i.e., that our lives are not satisfied by obtaining our goals rather than by striving for them—because of the law of diminishing returns.For example, suppose making a lot of money is your goal and suppose you make enough so that making more has no marginal utility. Then it would be foolish to continue to have making money be your goal. People who acquire things beyond their usefulness not only will derive little or no marginal gains from these acquisitions, but they also will experience negative consequences, as with any form of gluttony. So, because of the law of diminishing returns, it is only natural that seeking something new, or seeking new depths of something old, is required to bring us satisfaction.
自然規律就是如此，我們不會滿足于實現一個個夢想，而是享受這個追夢的過程，這是基于收益遞減原理的。舉個例子，假設你的夢想是賺錢，而當你賺夠了，再賺更多也就沒有邊際效益了，若此時的夢想還是賺錢就很傻。超過使用邊際后還不斷獲取，是難有回報，甚至沒有回報的，還會產生譬如貪婪這種負面的結果。根據收益遞減原理，我們很自然地會想要尋求新鮮事物或探索已存在事物的新層次，這樣我們才能獲得滿足。
> The marginal benefits of moving from a shortage to an abundance of anything decline.
>
> 從缺少到富足，邊際效益逐漸遞減。
> In other words, the sequence of 1) seeking new things (goals); 2) working and learning in the process of pursuing these goals; 3) obtaining these goals; and 4) then doing this over and over again is the **personal evolutionary process** that fulfills most of us and moves society forward.
>
> 也就是說，1）尋求新目標；2）在追尋目標的過程中工作與學習；3）實現目標；4）反復這個過程。這是**個人進化過程**，是我們甚至社會前進的方式。
>
> I believe that pursuing self-interest in harmony with the laws of the universe and contributing toevolution is universally rewarded, and what I call “good.” Look at all species in action: they areconstantly pursuing their own interests and helping evolution in a symbiotic way, with most of them not even knowing that their self-serving behaviors are contributing to evolution. Like the hyenas attacking the wildebeest, successful people might not even know if or how their pursuit of self-interest helps evolution, but it typically does.
>
> 我認為，在遵循宇宙規律，在有利于進化的基礎上追尋個人目標，就會獲得獎賞，我就會認為這是好的事情。看看所有現存的物種吧：它們不斷維護自身利益，同其它生物共生進化，卻不知道它們這種自利行為也推動了進化。像我提到的土狼襲擊羚羊，成功人士可能不知道自己追逐自身利益的同時幫助了進化，可事實就是如此。
When pursuing self-interest is in conflict with evolution, it is typically punished.
追求個人私利是同進化相沖突的，一般會受到懲罰。
> Self-interest and society’s interests are generally symbiotic: more than anything else, it is pursuit of self-interest that motivates people to push themselves to do the difficult things that benefit them and that contribute to society. In return, society rewards those who give it what it wants. That is why how much money people have earned is a rough measure of how much they gave society what it wanted—NOT how much they desired to make money. Look at what caused people to make a lot of money and you will see that usually it is in proportion to their production of what the society wanted and largely unrelated to their desire to make money. There are many people who have made a lot of money who never made making a lot of money their primary goal. Instead, they simply engaged in the work that they were doing, produced what society wanted, and got rich doing it. And there are many people who really wanted to make a lot of money but never produced what the society wanted and they didn’t make a lot of money. In other words, there is an excellent correlation between giving society what it wants and making money, and almost no correlation between the desire to make money and how much money one makes. I know that this is true for me—i.e., I never worked to make a lot of money, and if I had I would have stopped ages ago because of the law of diminishing returns. I know that the same is true for all the successful, healthy (i.e., non-obsessed) people I know.
>
> 自身利益和社會利益是相互共生的。追逐自身利益，會激勵人們接受挑戰，獲得益處，推動社會有效發展。反過來，社會也會回饋那些推動其有效發展的個體。所以評判對社會有效貢獻的粗略標準是賺了多少錢，而不是有多想要賺錢。看看是什么促使人們賺錢，你就會發現，這同他們對社會的有效生產值成正相關，同他們想賺錢的欲望程度無關。不少盆滿缽贏的人都沒把賺錢當做首要目標，他們只是認真工作，生產社會需要的東西，就逐漸變得富有了。也有不少人天天想賺一大筆錢，但從沒按社會需求進行生產，就沒怎么賺錢。也就是說，提供社會所需同賺錢之間的關系甚是緊密，而賺錢的欲望強烈程度則與之沒什么關系。至少對我確實如此，我工作從不為賺大錢，要是如此的話，按收益遞減原理，我早就沒工作了，因為錢早賺夠了。我認識的成功且健康（未對金錢癡迷）的人都是如此。
> Of course, there are many people who give society what it wants but are paid poorly. This is explained by the law of supply and demand.
>
> 當然也有不少人生產了社會所需但沒有獲得豐厚回報，供應與需求規則可以解釋這種現象。
I do know some successful people who are obsessed with making money despite making money having little or no marginal benefit for them.
我就認識有些成功人士癡迷于賺錢，盡管再賺錢對他們也幾乎沒什么邊際效益了。
This process of productive adaptation—i.e., the process of seeking, obtaining, and pursuing new goals— does not just pertain to how individuals and society move forward. It is equally relevant when dealing with setbacks, which are inevitable. That is why many people who have had setbacks that seemed devastating at the time ended up as happy as (or even happier than) they were before, once they successfully adapted to them. The faster that one appropriately adapts, the better. As Darwin described, adaptation—i.e., adjusting appropriately to changes in one’s circumstances—is a big part of the evolutionary process, and it is rewarded. That is why some of the most successful people are typically those who see the changing landscape and identify how to best adapt to it.
這個過程叫有效適應，也就是尋求、獲得、追尋新目標的過程。它不僅和個體與社會進步相關，也同樣與挫敗相關，挫敗是難以避免的。所以有人面對看似災難性的挫折后，一旦成功適應了，就和以前一樣開心，甚至更開心。適應越快，效果越好。達爾文說，適應就是對個體環境的變化進行適當調整。這是進化過程中很重要的一部分，適應過程能帶來回饋。所以大多數成功人士能很快覺察到大環境的變化，并迅速以最佳方式適應。
> Darwin is reported to have said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”
>
> 達爾文自傳曾說過：在大自然的歷史長河中，能夠存活下來的物種，既不是那些最強壯的，也不是那些智力最高的，而是那些最能適應環境變化的。
> Your ability to see the changing landscape and adapt is more a function of your perceptive and reasoning abilities than your ability to learn and process quickly.
>
> 能感受到大環境的變化并適應是一種能力，主要是洞察力和推理能力，這比快速學習與處理的能力更能發揮作用。
So,it seems to me that desires to evolve are universal and so are symbiotic relationships that lead to the evolution of the whole to occur via the pursuit of individuals’ self-interests. However, what differentiates man from other species is man’s greater ability to learn. Because we can learn, we can evolve more and faster than other species.
想進化是很正常的，追逐個人利益時，與社會的共生關系會推動整個社會進化，這也是很普遍的。人類與別的物種的不同之處在于人類善于學習。我們會學習，所以我們比別的物種進化得快。
I also believe that all things in nature have innate attributes that are both good and bad, with their goodness and their badness depending on what they are used for. For example, the thorns on a rose bush, the stinger on a bee, the aggressiveness of a lion, the timidity of a gazelle are all both good and bad, depending on their applications. Over time, nature evolves toward the right balance through the process of natural selection—e.g., an overly aggressive animal will die prematurely, as will an overly timid animal. However, because man has the ability to look at himself and direct his own change, individuals have the capacity to evolve.
所有事物都有其內在的固有屬性，都有好與壞兩面，這取決于用途。比方說玫瑰上的刺，蜜蜂身上的刺，獅子的攻擊性，小羚羊的怯弱，這些都既是好的也是不好的，取決于他們的用途。攻擊性過強或太膽小的動物都可能還沒發育完全就死掉了。而人類有能力審視自己，指導自身變化，有能力進行進化。
Most of us are born with attributes that both help us and hurt us, depending on their applications, and the more extreme the attribute, the more extreme the potential good and bad outcomes these attributes are likely to produce. For example, highly creative, goal- oriented people who are good at imagining the big picture often can easily get tripped up on the details of daily life, while highly pragmatic, task-oriented people who are great with the details might not be creative. That is because the ways their minds work make it difficult for them to see both ways of thinking. In nature everything was made for a purpose, and so too were these different ways of thinking. They just have different purposes. It is extremely important to one’s happiness and success to know oneself—most importantly to understand one’s own values and abilities—and then to find the right fits. We all have things that we value that we want and we all have strengths and weaknesses that affect our paths for getting them. **The most important quality that differentiates successful people from unsuccessful people is our capacity to learn and adapt to these things.**
我們大多數人生來具備的特質，既會幫助我們，也可能傷害到我們，根據用途而有別。程度越極端，特質帶來的積極或消極影響就相對應越大。例如，創造力很強、目標很清晰，善于把握大局的人可能就會在生活細節上吃虧。而重實務、關注具體任務、能完美處理細節的人可能不怎么有創造力。因為我們思維的特性，很難兩者兼顧。事事都存之有理，不同的思維方式也存之有理，因其有不同的存在目的，這對于個人幸福感和自身了解極為重要，尤其是了解自身價值和能力，這樣才能進一步找到合適的定位。人人都有珍視之物，都有渴望之事，都有影響我們實現夢想的優缺點。**區分成功人士與平庸之輩最重要的品質就是學習能力和適應能力。**
Unlike any other species, man is capable of reflecting on himself and the things around him to learn and adapt in order to improve. He has this capability because, in the evolution of species man’s brain developed a part that no other species has—the prefrontal cortex. It is the part of the human brain that gives us the ability to reflect and conduct other cognitive thinking. Because of this, people who can objectively reflect on themselves and others —most importantly on their weaknesses are—can figure out how to get around these weaknesses, can evolve fastest and come closer to realizing their potentials than those who can’t.
和別的物種不同，人類能夠進行自身反思，對周遭事物展開思考，進而獲得學習與提高。人類擁有這些能力是因為在進化過程中大腦形成了前額葉皮層，這是別的生物所沒有的。它使得人類具備自省、開展其他認知思維的能力。鑒于此，人類能客觀地反思自己和別人，最重要的是反思自身的缺點，指出解決這些缺點的辦法，能最快進化、開發潛能。
However, typically defensive, emotional reactions—i.e., ego barriers—stand in the way of this progress. These reactions take place in the part of the brain called the amygdala. As a result of them, most people don’t like reflecting on their weaknesses even though recognizing them is an essential step toward preventing them from causing them problems. Most people especially dislike others exploring their weaknesses because it makes them feel attacked, which produces fight or flight reactions; however, having others help one find one’s weaknesses is essential because it’s very difficult to identify one’s own. Most people don’t like helping others explore their weaknesses, even though they are willing to talk about them behind their backs. For these reasons most people don’t do a good job of understanding themselves and adapting in order to get what they want most out of life. In my opinion, that is the biggest single problem of mankind because it, more than anything else, impedes people’s abilities to address all other problems and it is probably the greatest source of pain for most people.
然而某些抵抗性的情緒反應，如自我設障，阻礙著我們進步的過程。這些情緒由大腦內杏仁體掌管。鑒于這種反應的存在，大多數人都不愛反省自身缺點，即便他們都知道反省缺點是避免出現問題的重要一步。大家尤其討厭別人挖掘自己的缺點，令人深感冒犯，從而產生還擊或逃離的反應。其實有人指出自己的缺點很重要，因為自己很難發現自身缺點。大多數人都不喜歡指出別人的缺點，不過背地里倒是挺愿意討論別人的缺點。所以蕓蕓眾生，真正了解自己的人甚少，也就無法適應環境、實現夢想了。我認為，這是人類面臨最簡單卻最大的問題，深深阻礙著人們解決問題的能力，也是大多數人感到痛苦的根源。
Some people get over the ego barrier and others don’t. Which path they choose, more than anything else, determines how good their outcomes are. Aristotle defined tragedy as a bad outcome for a person because of a fatal flaw that he can’t get around. So it is tragic when people let ego barriers lead them to experience bad outcomes.
有人能克服自我設障這種情緒反應，有些人則做不到。選什么路，就會走向何種結果。亞里士多德認為悲劇是人類無法克服致命弱點而帶來的不好結果。如果人們被自我設障這種情緒牽著鼻子走，碰了一鼻子灰，就是悲劇。
