? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ——選自 Farnam Street / Let It ripple 網(wǎng)站（吉瑪譯）
Follow the Golden Rule. ?
答案是：遵守黃金規(guī)律。
?“I had, also, during many years, followed a golden rule, namely, that whenever a published fact, a new observation or thought came across me, which was opposed to my general results, to make a memorandum of it without fail and at once; for I had found by experience that such facts and thoughts were far more apt to escape from memory than favorable ones.”
“多年以來(lái)，我遵循著一條黃金法則，即每當(dāng)我偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)與我的研究結(jié)果截然相反的報(bào)道的事實(shí)，新的評(píng)述或想法，我務(wù)必馬上將它們一一記錄;因?yàn)榻?jīng)驗(yàn)告訴我，相較備忘錄，單單靠記憶力往往容易忘記此類(lèi)的事實(shí)和想法。
In his 1986 speech at the commencement of Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles (found in Poor Charlie's Almanack) Charlie Munger gave a short?Johnny Carson-like speech on the things to avoid to end up with a happy and successful life. One of his most salient prescriptions comes from the life of Charles Darwin:
1986年，查理·芒格在位于洛杉磯的哈佛-韋斯特萊克大學(xué)畢業(yè)典禮上發(fā)表的演講中（在他的年鑒中找到），就如何避免幸福和成功的生活結(jié)束，他簡(jiǎn)短地發(fā)表了類(lèi)似于約翰尼·卡森的演講。最突出訣竅，來(lái)源于自于查爾斯·達(dá)爾文的生活:
It is my opinion, as a certified biography nut, that Charles Robert Darwin would have ranked in the middle of the Harvard School graduating class if 1986. Yet he is now famous in the history of science. This is precisely the type of example you should learn nothing from if bent on minimizing your results from your own endowment.
作為傳記迷，我認(rèn)為，如果查爾斯·羅伯特·達(dá)爾文是1986年代哈佛大學(xué)的學(xué)生，他一定會(huì)在畢業(yè)班中名列前。然而，現(xiàn)在的他在科學(xué)領(lǐng)域亦是聲名遠(yuǎn)揚(yáng)。恰恰這個(gè)例子說(shuō)明，如果你專(zhuān)心致志于從你的天賦中簡(jiǎn)化你的研究結(jié)果，那么你將會(huì)學(xué)無(wú)所成。
Darwin's result was due in large measure to his working method, which violated all my rules for misery and particularly emphasized a backward twist in that he always gave priority attention to evidence tending to disconfirm whatever cherished and hard-won theory he already had. In contrast, most people early achieve and later intensify a tendency to process new and disconfirming information so that any original conclusion remains intact. They become people of whom Philip Wylie observed: “You couldn't squeeze a dime between what they already know and what they will never learn.”
達(dá)爾文的研究結(jié)果在很大程度上歸因于他的工作方式，這種方式違反我所有可悲的規(guī)則，尤其強(qiáng)調(diào)了一種倒向思維，因?yàn)樗偸莾?yōu)先關(guān)注證據(jù)，以證明他所擁有的任何珍惜和來(lái)之不易的理論。與此相反，大多數(shù)人早期達(dá)到并強(qiáng)化了一種趨勢(shì)，即處理新的和不確定的信息，如此以至于最初的所有結(jié)論都是完整的。他們變成了菲利普·懷利所觀察到的人:“你不能在他們已經(jīng)知道的東西和他們永遠(yuǎn)學(xué)不到的東西之間再擠出一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)東西?！?/p>
The life of Darwin demonstrates how a turtle may outrun a hare, aided by extreme objectivity, which helps the objective person end up like the only player without a blindfold in a game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey.
達(dá)爾文的生活證明了，一只烏龜可能比一只兔子跑得快，在最大限度客觀的有力條件下，幫助目標(biāo)人物成為在游戲中唯一一個(gè)沒(méi)有蒙眼的人將尾巴釘在驢上。
The great Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson agreed. In his book,?Letters to a Young Scientist, Wilson argued that Darwin would have probably scored in the 130 range on a standard IQ test. And yet there he is, buried next to the calculus-inventing genius Isaac Newton in Westminster Abbey. (As Munger often notes.)
偉大的哈佛大學(xué)生物學(xué)家E.O. Wilson對(duì)此表示贊同。在《致年輕科學(xué)家的信》中，威爾遜指出，達(dá)爾文標(biāo)準(zhǔn)智商測(cè)試應(yīng)該能達(dá)到130分。然而，他的才華卻被埋沒(méi)在西敏寺大教堂，跟隨在微積分天才艾薩克·牛頓左右。(如芒格記載)
What can we learn from the working and thinking habits of Darwin?
我們能從達(dá)爾文的工作和思維習(xí)慣中學(xué)到什么？
Extreme Focus Combined with Attentive Energy
富有能量的極度專(zhuān)注力
The first clue comes from his own autobiography. Darwin was a?hoover?of information related to a topic he was interested in. After describing some of his specific areas of study while aboard the H.M.S. Beagle, Darwin concludes in his Autobiography:
第一個(gè)線索來(lái)自他的自傳。只要是達(dá)爾文是他感興趣的話題，可以說(shuō)他就是這方面信息的專(zhuān)家。在貝格爾號(hào)上，他發(fā)表了自己一些特殊領(lǐng)域研究后，達(dá)爾文在他的自傳中總結(jié)道:
The above various special studies were, however, of no importance compared with the habit of energetic industry and of concentrated attention to whatever I was engaged in, which I then acquired. Everything about which I thought or read was made to bear directly on what I had seen and was likely to see; and this habit of mind was continued during the five years of the voyage. I feel sure that it was this training which has enabled me to do whatever I have done in science.
然而，上述各種特殊的研究成果與我花費(fèi)了大量精力且全身心投入所獲得習(xí)慣相比，并沒(méi)有什么重要的意義。我思考或了解到的一切，都與我所看到的和可能看到的東西息息相關(guān);在航行的五年里，我一直保持著這種思維習(xí)慣。我確信正是這種訓(xùn)練，成就了我在科學(xué)領(lǐng)域所有做到的事情。
This habit of pure and attentive focus to the task at hand is, of course, echoed in many of our favorite thinkers, from Sherlock Holmes, to E.O. Wilson, Feynman, Einstein, and others. Munger himself remarked that?“I did not succeed in life by intelligence. I succeeded?because I have a long attention span.”
當(dāng)然，這種純粹專(zhuān)注于手頭任務(wù)的習(xí)慣，也能夠得到許多我們最喜歡的思想家們的共鳴，例如夏洛克·福爾摩斯，E.O.威爾遜，費(fèi)曼，愛(ài)因斯坦，以及其他的思想家。芒格自己說(shuō)過(guò)，“我的成功不靠智力。持續(xù)的專(zhuān)注力鑄就了我的成功。
In Darwin's?quest, there was almost nothing relevant to his task at hand — the problem of understanding the origin and development of species — which might have escaped his?attention. He had an extremely broad antenna. Says David Quammen in his fabulous The Reluctant Mr. Darwin:
在達(dá)爾文的研究物種起源和發(fā)展期間，與他著手的研究無(wú)關(guān)的事情，似乎已經(jīng)從他的意識(shí)中逃脫。他具有極其廣的信息資源。David Quammen在《不情愿的達(dá)爾文先生》中說(shuō):
One of Darwin's great strengths as a scientist was also, in some ways, a disadvantage: his extraordinary breadth of curiosity. From his study at Down House he ranged widely and greedily, in his constant search for data, across distances (by letter) and scientific fields. He read eclectically and kept notes like a pack rat. Over the years he collected an enormous quantity of interconnected facts. He looked for patterns but was intrigued equally by exceptions to the patterns, and exceptions to the exceptions. He tested his ideas against complicated groups of organisms with complicated stories, such as the barnacles, the orchids, the social insects, the primroses, and the hominids.
作為一名科學(xué)家，達(dá)爾文有的其中一個(gè)優(yōu)點(diǎn)是，在某種程度上來(lái)說(shuō)他也有缺點(diǎn):?他非凡的好奇心。從他在故居的書(shū)房里，他在收集資料時(shí)，充滿(mǎn)野心，所涉及到的知識(shí)面廣，超越距離(字母)和科學(xué)領(lǐng)域的束縛。折衷閱讀，熱衷記錄。多年來(lái)，他收集了大量相互關(guān)聯(lián)的事實(shí)。他尋找模式，但又沉迷于模式中的例外，例外中的例外。他利用錯(cuò)綜復(fù)雜的生物群體來(lái)測(cè)試他的想法，如藤壺、蘭花、群居昆蟲(chóng)、報(bào)春花和脊椎動(dòng)物。
Not?only was Darwin thinking?broadly, taking in facts at all turns and on many subjects, but he was thinking carefully, This is where Munger's admiration?comes in: Darwin wanted to look at the exceptions. The exceptions to the exceptions. He was on the hunt for?truth?and not necessarily to confirm?some highly-loved idea. Simply put, he didn't want to be wrong about the nature of reality. To get the theory whole and correct?would take lots of detail?and time, as we will see.
達(dá)爾文不僅在思想上廣泛，對(duì)于那些已被人們所接受的事實(shí)，他仍仔細(xì)思考，這就是芒格令贊賞之處:達(dá)爾文想要研究例外。例外中的例外。他在尋找真理，而不去證實(shí)那些別人吹捧的想法。簡(jiǎn)單地說(shuō)，他不愿弄錯(cuò)現(xiàn)實(shí)的本質(zhì)。眾所周知，真理的完整和準(zhǔn)確需要大量的細(xì)節(jié)和時(shí)間來(lái)填補(bǔ)。
The habit of study and observation?didn't stop at the plant and animal kingdom for Darwin. In a move that might?seem strange?by today's standards, Darwin even opened a notebook?to study the development of his own newborn son, William. This is from one of his notebooks:
研究和記錄的習(xí)慣并沒(méi)有停留在達(dá)爾文的動(dòng)植物王國(guó)。達(dá)爾文甚至記錄研究過(guò)他自己的孩子威廉的成長(zhǎng)，就當(dāng)今的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)而言，這似乎有點(diǎn)奇怪。其中，他記錄到:
Natural History of Babies
嬰兒的自然史
Do babies start (i.e., useless sudden movement of muscles) very early in life. Do they wink, when anything placed before their eyes, very young, before experience can have taught them to avoid danger. Do they know frown when they first see it?
嬰兒在早期就有了生命跡象(即毫無(wú)用處的突發(fā)性突然肌肉運(yùn)動(dòng))。很小的時(shí)候，無(wú)論什么東西出現(xiàn)在他們眼底，他們都會(huì)眨眼睛，唯有經(jīng)驗(yàn)教他們避免危險(xiǎn)。當(dāng)他們第一次看到時(shí)，他們知道皺眉嗎?
From there, as his child?grew and developed, Darwin took close notes. How did he figure out that the reflection in the mirror was him? How did he then figure out it was only an image?of him, and that any other images that showed up (say, Dad standing behind him) were mere images too – not reality? These were further data in Darwin's mental model?of the accumulation of gradual changes, but more importantly, displayed?his attention to detail. Everything eventually came?to “bear directly on what I had seen and what I was likely to see.”
從那以后，隨著他的孩子的成長(zhǎng)和發(fā)展，達(dá)爾文做進(jìn)一步記錄。他怎么知道鏡子里的映像是他?他怎么能想到這只是他的畫(huà)像而已，任何出現(xiàn)在他身后的也都只是圖像（他會(huì)說(shuō)，爸爸站在我身后）—而不是實(shí)物??達(dá)爾文不僅僅進(jìn)一步積累了心智模型漸變的數(shù)據(jù)，更重要的是，體現(xiàn)出他對(duì)細(xì)節(jié)的關(guān)注。一切最終皆與“我所看到的和我可能看到的東西”息息相關(guān)。
And in?a practical sense, Darwin was a relentless note-taker. Notebook A, Notebook B, Notebook C, Notebook M, Notebook N…all filled with observations from his study of journals and texts, his own scientific work, his travels, and his life. Once he sat down to write, he had an enormous amount of prior written thought to draw on. He could also see gaps in his understanding, which he diligently filled in.
從實(shí)際意義上講，達(dá)爾文是筆記本狂魔。筆記本1,筆記本2,筆記本3,筆記本4,筆記本N…
這些筆記本里記錄了他研究的所有期刊和文獻(xiàn)，他的科研工作,他的旅行,他的生活。一旦他坐下來(lái)寫(xiě)作，他就可以利用大量的事先寫(xiě)好的想法。他亦能發(fā)現(xiàn)并填補(bǔ)他理解上的欠缺。
Become an Expert
成為一個(gè)專(zhuān)家
You can learn much about Darwin (and truthfully about anyone) by who he?studied?and admired. If Darwin held anyone in high esteem, it was Charles Lyell, whose Principles of Geology was his faithful companion on the H.M.S. Beagle. Here is his?description of Lyell from his autobiography, which tells us something of the traits Darwin valued and sought to emulate:
你可以從達(dá)爾文研究和欣賞的人中學(xué)習(xí)到很多東西。如果說(shuō)達(dá)爾文對(duì)誰(shuí)有很高的評(píng)價(jià)，那就是查爾斯·萊爾，他的地質(zhì)學(xué)原理是他在獵犬號(hào)上的忠實(shí)伙伴。這是他在自傳中對(duì)萊爾的描述，它告訴我們達(dá)爾文所重視并試圖仿效的品格:
I saw more of Lyell than of any other man before and after my marriage. His mind was characterized, as it appeared to me, by clearness, caution, sound judgment and a good deal of originality. When I made any remark to him on Geology, he never rested until he saw the whole case clearly and often made me see it more clearly than I had done before. He would advance all possible objections to my suggestions, and even after these were exhausted would long remain dubious. A second characteristic was his hearty sympathy with the work of other scientific men.
在我結(jié)婚前后，我從萊爾那了解到的比從任何人那了解都多。在我看來(lái)，他的思想具有清晰、謹(jǐn)慎、合理的判斷和良好的創(chuàng)意。當(dāng)我向他討教關(guān)于地質(zhì)學(xué)問(wèn)題時(shí)，他會(huì)孜孜不倦的理清整個(gè)問(wèn)題，并且讓我能夠較之前更叫清晰的了解這個(gè)問(wèn)題。他會(huì)提出所有可能缺陷來(lái)給我建議，即使這些建議被否定，他仍會(huì)繼續(xù)懷疑。第二個(gè)特點(diǎn)就是他對(duì)其他科學(xué)人的工作致上至誠(chéng)的贊同。
Studying Lyell and geology enhanced Darwin's (probably natural) suspicion that?careful, detailed, and objective work was required to create scientific breakthroughs. And once Darwin had expertise and grounding in the level of expertise required by Lyell to understand and explain the theory of geology, he had a basis for the rest of his scientific work. From his autobiography:
研究萊爾和地質(zhì)學(xué)增強(qiáng)達(dá)爾文(天生的)疑心，正是這種疑心，使其能在仔細(xì)、詳細(xì)和客觀的工作中有科學(xué)性的突破。一旦達(dá)爾文具備了萊爾這種理解和解釋地質(zhì)學(xué)理論的專(zhuān)業(yè)知識(shí)和基礎(chǔ)知識(shí)，他的科學(xué)工作就有了一定的基礎(chǔ)基礎(chǔ)。他的自傳中寫(xiě)道：
After my return to England, it appeared to me that by following the example of Lyell in Geology, and by collecting all facts which bore in any way on the variation of animals and plants under domestication and nature, some light?might perhaps be thrown on the whole subject.
在我回到英國(guó)之后，在我看來(lái)，以萊爾的地質(zhì)學(xué)為例，收集動(dòng)植物在馴化和自然條件下的變異事實(shí)，可能會(huì)對(duì)整個(gè)學(xué)科產(chǎn)生一些影響。
In fact, it was Darwin's study and understanding of geology itself?that gave him something to lean on conceptually. Lyell's, and his own, theory?of geology was of?a slow-moving process that accumulated massive gradual changes?over time. This seems like common knowledge today, but at the time, people weren't so sure that the mountains and the islands?could have been created?from such slow moving and incremental processes.
事實(shí)上，達(dá)爾文的研究和對(duì)地質(zhì)學(xué)的理解使其有了一些概念性依據(jù)。萊爾和他自己的地質(zhì)學(xué)理論是緩慢移動(dòng)過(guò)程，隨著時(shí)間的推移積累了巨大的漸變。對(duì)于現(xiàn)在，這僅僅是常識(shí)，但在當(dāng)時(shí)，人們不太確定山和島嶼是由如此緩慢的移動(dòng)和漸進(jìn)的過(guò)程形成的。
Wallace & Gruber's book?Creative People?at Work, an analysis of a variety of thinkers and artists, argues that this basic mental model carried Darwin pretty far:
華萊士和格魯伯的書(shū)《Creative People?at Work》，分析了各種各樣的思想家和藝術(shù)家，該書(shū)提到該基本的模型讓達(dá)爾文走的更遠(yuǎn):
Why was the acquisition of expert knowledge in geology so important to the development of Darwin's overall thinking? Because in learning geology Darwin ground a conceptual lens — a device for bringing into focus and clarifying the problems to which he turned his attention. When his attention shifted to problems beyond geology, the lens remained and Darwin used it in exploring new problems.
為什么地質(zhì)學(xué)方面的專(zhuān)業(yè)知識(shí)對(duì)達(dá)爾文整體思維的發(fā)展如此重要??因?yàn)樵趯W(xué)習(xí)地質(zhì)學(xué)的過(guò)程中，達(dá)爾文提出了概念透鏡——這個(gè)裝置能夠?qū)Ｗ⒉㈥U明他沒(méi)有注意到的問(wèn)題。當(dāng)他的注意力轉(zhuǎn)移到地質(zhì)學(xué)以外的問(wèn)題時(shí)，透鏡能專(zhuān)注于此，達(dá)爾文則可以利用它來(lái)探索新的問(wèn)題。
(Darwin's) coral reef theory shows that he had become an expert in one field…(and) the central idea in Darwin's understanding of geology was “gradualism” — that great things could be produced by long, continued accumulation of very small effects. The next phase in the development of this thought-form would involve his use of it as the basis for the construction of analogies between geology and new, unfamiliar subjects.
(達(dá)爾文)珊瑚礁理論表明,他已經(jīng)成為一個(gè)領(lǐng)域的專(zhuān)家…(并且)達(dá)爾文學(xué)習(xí)地質(zhì)學(xué)的中心思想是“漸進(jìn)主義”——偉大的事情往往歸功于長(zhǎng)久以來(lái)對(duì)小事物的不斷積累。該思想形態(tài)發(fā)展的下一個(gè)階段，則是將其作為地質(zhì)學(xué)與新的陌生學(xué)科進(jìn)行類(lèi)比的基礎(chǔ)。
Darwin wrote his most explicit and concise statement of the nature and utility of his gradualism thought-form: “This multiplication of little means and bringing the mind to grapple with great effect produced is a most laborious & painful effort of the mind.” He recognized that it took patience and discipline to discover the “l(fā)ittle means” that were responsible for great effects. With the necessary effort, however, this gradualism thought-form could become the vehicle for explaining many remarkable phenomena in geology, biology, and even psychology.
關(guān)于漸進(jìn)主義思想形態(tài)的本質(zhì)和效用，達(dá)爾文陳述他最簡(jiǎn)潔明了的說(shuō)法:“盲目的累積和有意的巨大付出，在心靈上最費(fèi)力的、痛苦的?！彼J(rèn)識(shí)到，想要“小方法”起大作用，需要耐心和自律。然而，通過(guò)必要的女里，這種漸進(jìn)主義的思想形態(tài)可以成為解釋地質(zhì)學(xué)、生物學(xué)甚至心理學(xué)中許多令人矚日的現(xiàn)象的工具。
It is amazing to note that Darwin?did not write The Origin of Species until 1859 even though his notebooks show he had been pretty close to the correct idea at least 15 or 20 years prior. What was he?doing?in all that time? Well, for eight years at least, he was studying barnacles.
令人驚訝的是，盡管他的記錄表明至少在15/20年之前已經(jīng)相當(dāng)接近正解，達(dá)爾文1859年才開(kāi)始寫(xiě)《物種起源》，那么當(dāng)時(shí)他在做什么?是的，他至少花費(fèi)了八年的時(shí)間來(lái)研究藤壺。
One of the reasons Darwin went on a crusade of classifying and studying the barnacles in minute detail was his?concern that if he wasn't a?primary expert?on some portion of the natural world, his work on a larger and more general thesis would not be taken seriously, and that it would probably have holes. He said?as much?to his friend Frederic Gerard, a French botanist, before he had begun his barnacle work: “How painfully (to me) true is your remark that no one has hardly a right to examine the question of species who has not minutely described many.” And, of course, Darwin being Darwin, he spent eight years remedying that unfathomable situation.
達(dá)爾文詳盡無(wú)遺的分類(lèi)和研究藤壺的原因是，他擔(dān)心如果他不是在自然世界某個(gè)區(qū)域的主要專(zhuān)家,那么他的研究這個(gè)廣泛的命題將不會(huì)被認(rèn)可，甚至可能會(huì)有漏洞。在他研究藤壺之前，他和他的朋友法國(guó)植物學(xué)家弗雷德里克·杰拉德討論很多，他說(shuō):“(對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō))真的很痛苦的是，你說(shuō)每個(gè)人都有權(quán)利去研究那些沒(méi)有詳細(xì)描述過(guò)的物種的問(wèn)題?！碑?dāng)然，達(dá)爾文就是達(dá)爾文，他花了8年的時(shí)間來(lái)彌補(bǔ)這份不可思議。
It seemed like extraordinarily tedious work, unrelated to anything a scientist would consider important on a grand scale. It was taxonomy. Classification. Even Darwin admitted later on that he doubted it was worth the years he spent on it. Yet, in his detail-oriented journey for expertise?on barnacles, he hit upon some key ideas that would make his theory of natural selection complete.?Says Quammen:
這似乎是一項(xiàng)非常乏味的工作，與任何事物無(wú)關(guān)，大部分的科學(xué)家認(rèn)為是重要。這是分類(lèi)學(xué)。甚至達(dá)爾文也承認(rèn)，自己花在這上面的時(shí)間是值得的。然而，在他以細(xì)節(jié)為導(dǎo)向的藤壺研究過(guò)程中，，他偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)了一些關(guān)鍵理念，使其能夠完善他的自然選擇理論。Quammen說(shuō):
He also found notable differences on another categorical level;?within species. Contrary to what he'd believed all along about the rarity of variation in the wild, barnacles turned out to be highly variable. A species wasn't a Platonic essence or a metaphysical type. A species was a population of differing individuals.
同時(shí)，他還發(fā)現(xiàn)物種中另一分類(lèi)級(jí)別的顯著差異。一直以來(lái)，他認(rèn)為野生動(dòng)植物的變異程度是很小的，但是，恰恰相反的是，藤壺卻是高度可變的。物種不是柏拉圖或玄學(xué)論。物種是個(gè)體相異的種群。
He wouldn't have seen that if he hadn't assigned himself the trick job of drawing lines between one species and another. He wouldn't have seen it if he hadn't used his network of contacts and his good reputation as a naturalist to gather barnacle specimens, in quantity, from all over the world. The truth of variation only reveals itself in crowds. He wouldn't have seen it if he hadn't examined multiple individuals, not just single representatives, of as many species as possible….Abundant variation among barnacles filled a crucial role in his theory. Here they were, the minor differences on which natural selection works.
如果他沒(méi)有去研究如何界定物種種類(lèi)的訣竅，他不會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)。如果他沒(méi)有利用他的人際關(guān)系網(wǎng)和他作為自然主義者的良好聲譽(yù)來(lái)收集來(lái)自世界各地的藤壺標(biāo)本，他是不會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)。相異的意義在于如何在在人群中顯露出來(lái)。如果他沒(méi)有研究多個(gè)個(gè)體,亦或是只是研究單一的代表物種,而不是盡可能多的物種…他不會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)。藤壺的豐富變異在他的理論中扮演了關(guān)鍵的角色。它們是自然選擇工作種細(xì)微差別。
Darwin was so diligent it could be breathtaking at times. Quammen describes him gathering up various species to assess the data about their development and their variation. Birds, dead or alive, as many as possible. Foxes, dogs, ducks, pigeons, rabbits, cats…nothing escaped his purview. As many specimens as he could get his hands on. All while living in a secluded house in Victorian England, beset by constant illness. He was Big Data before Big Data was a thing, trying to suss out conclusions from a mass of observation.
有時(shí)，達(dá)爾文的勤奮會(huì)令人驚嘆。Quammen記述了他收集各種物種，對(duì)它們的發(fā)展和變化數(shù)據(jù)進(jìn)行評(píng)估。盡可能多的收集鳥(niǎo)，無(wú)論是死的或活的。狐貍,狗,鴨子,鴿子、兔子、貓…一切都難逃他的法眼。盡可能的收集標(biāo)本。他的一生都住在維多利亞英國(guó)的一個(gè)僻靜的房子里，即便被病魔困擾。他試圖從大量的記錄中得出結(jié)論，大數(shù)據(jù)在他面前簡(jiǎn)直就是小巫見(jiàn)大巫。
Follow the Golden Rule
遵循黃金法則
Eventually his work led him to something new: Species are not immutable, they are all part of the same family tree. They evolve through a process of variation — he didn't know how; that took years for others to figure out through the study of genetics — and differential survival through natural selection.
最終，他的研究讓他有了新的發(fā)現(xiàn):?物種不是一成不變的，它們都是族譜的一部分。它們?cè)谧儺愡^(guò)程中得以進(jìn)化—他不知道如何變化;人們通過(guò)數(shù)年才從遺傳學(xué)的研究中得到答案--通過(guò)自然選擇的差異生存。
Darwin was able to put his finger on why it took so long for humanity to come to this correct theory: It was extremely counter-intuitive to how one would?naturally see?the world. He admitted as much in?the Origin of Species‘ concluding chapter:
達(dá)爾文能夠確切的指出為什么人類(lèi)需要這么長(zhǎng)時(shí)間才能得出正確的理論:?這與人們自然地看待世界的方式完全相反。他在《物種起源》的最后一章中承認(rèn):
The chief cause of our natural unwillingness to admit that one species has given birth to other and distinct species, is that we are always slow in admitting any great changes of which we do not see the steps. The difficulty is the same as that felt by so many geologists, when Lyell first insisted that long lines of inland cliffs had been formed, and great valleys excavated, by the agencies which we still see at work. The mind cannot possibly grasp the full meaning of the term of even a million years; it cannot add up and perceive the full effects of many slight variations, accumulated during an almost infinite number of generations.
我們不愿承認(rèn)某一物種已經(jīng)衍生出其他不同物種主要原因是，我們對(duì)于我們沒(méi)有看的到巨大變化后知后覺(jué)。許多地質(zhì)學(xué)家也感到同樣的困難，當(dāng)萊爾第一次堅(jiān)持認(rèn)為巨大的山谷被挖掘，內(nèi)陸懸崖已經(jīng)形成了，我們?cè)谘芯恐锌梢钥吹?。即使通過(guò)一百萬(wàn)年的時(shí)間變化，頭腦不可能完全掌握這個(gè)詞的全部含義;它不能增加和感知在無(wú)限的時(shí)間里中積累起來(lái)的微小變化的全部影響。
Counter-intuition was Darwin's speciality. And the reason he was so good was he had a very simple habit of thought, described in the autobiography and so cherished by Charlie Munger: He paid special attention to collecting facts which did not agree with his prior conceptions. He called this a golden rule.
違反直覺(jué)的是達(dá)爾文的專(zhuān)長(zhǎng)。在自傳中說(shuō)到，他如此優(yōu)秀的原因是他有個(gè)極簡(jiǎn)的思維習(xí)慣，這被查理·芒格所珍視:對(duì)于那些收集的不符合先前理念的事實(shí)以重視。他稱(chēng)之為黃金法則。
I had, also, during many years, followed a golden rule, namely, that whenever a published fact, a new observation or thought came across me, which was opposed to my general results, to make a memorandum of it without fail and at once; for I had found by experience that such facts and thoughts were far more apt to escape from memory than favorable ones. Owing to this habit, very few objections were raised against my views which I had not at least noticed and attempted to answer.
多年以來(lái)，我遵循著一條黃金法則，即每當(dāng)我偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)與我的研究結(jié)果截然相反的報(bào)道的事實(shí)，新的評(píng)述或想法，我務(wù)必馬上將它們一一記錄;因?yàn)榻?jīng)驗(yàn)告訴我，相較備忘錄，單單靠記憶力往往容易忘記此類(lèi)的事實(shí)和想法。由于這個(gè)習(xí)慣，很少有人反對(duì)我沒(méi)有注意到的的觀點(diǎn)，并試圖回答。
So we see that Darwin's great success, by his own analysis, owed to his ability?to see, note, and learn from objections to his cherished thoughts.?The Origin of Species has stood up in the face of 157 years of subsequent biological research?because?Darwin was?so careful to make sure the theory was nearly impossible to refute. Later scientists would find the book?slightly?incomplete, but not incorrect.
因此，通過(guò)他自己的分析，我們明白達(dá)爾文的巨大成功，歸功于他在反對(duì)他的觀點(diǎn)中發(fā)現(xiàn)和學(xué)習(xí)的能力。在隨后的157年的生物研究中，物種起源逐漸突顯出來(lái)，因?yàn)檫_(dá)爾文的小心翼翼，確保這個(gè)理論幾乎不可能被駁倒。后來(lái)科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn)這本書(shū)雖有點(diǎn)不完整，但觀點(diǎn)正確。
This passage reminds one of, and probably influenced, Charlie Munger's prescription on the work required to hold an opinion:?You must understand the opposite?side of the argument better than the person holding that side?does. It's a very difficult way to think, tremendously unnatural in the face of our genetic makeup (the more typical response?is to look?for as much confirming evidence as possible). Harnessed properly, though, it is a?powerful?way to beat your own shortcomings and become a seeing?man amongst the blind.
這段話讓人想起了查理·芒格關(guān)于工作處方中需要堅(jiān)持的觀點(diǎn)之一:?你必須比持這一立場(chǎng)的人更好地理解論點(diǎn)的反面。我們的反常的基因組成注定了這是一種非常困難的思考方式，(更典型的現(xiàn)象是尋找盡可能多的證實(shí)證據(jù))。然而，合理地利用它是戰(zhàn)勝你自己的缺點(diǎn)，成為明白人的強(qiáng)有力方法。
Thus, we can deduce that, in addition to good luck and good timing, it was?Darwin's habits of?completeness, diligence, accuracy, and habitual?objectivity?which ultimately led him to make his greatest breakthroughs. It?was tedious. There was no spark of divine insight?that gave him his edge. He just started with the right basic ideas and the right heroes,?and then worked for a long time and with extreme focus and objectivity,?always keeping his eye on reality.
因此，我們可以推斷，除了好運(yùn)和好的時(shí)機(jī)之外，達(dá)爾文的追求完整性、勤奮、準(zhǔn)確和習(xí)以為常客觀性習(xí)慣，最終使他取得了最大的突破。這是乏味的。神圣洞察沒(méi)有賜予他任何優(yōu)勢(shì)。他只是從正確的基本思想和正在偉人開(kāi)始，以極端的專(zhuān)注和客觀的態(tài)度長(zhǎng)時(shí)間研究，始終保持對(duì)真理的追求。
In the end, you can do worse than to read all you can find on Charles Darwin and try to copy his mental habits. They will serve you well over a long life.
最后，從查爾斯·達(dá)爾文身上找到并試著模仿他的精神習(xí)慣，這是一個(gè)不錯(cuò)的選擇。它們將會(huì)伴隨你的一生。
>
“I had, also, during many years, followed a golden rule, namely, that whenever a published fact, a new observation or thought came across me, which was opposed to my general results, to make a memorandum of it without fail and at once; for I had found by experience that such facts and thoughts were far more apt to escape from memory than favorable ones.”
“多年以來(lái)，我遵循著一條黃金法則，即每當(dāng)我偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)與我的研究結(jié)果截然相反的報(bào)道的事實(shí)，新的評(píng)述或想法，我務(wù)必馬上將它們一一記錄;因?yàn)榻?jīng)驗(yàn)告訴我，相較備忘錄，單單靠記憶力往往容易忘記此類(lèi)的事實(shí)和想法。
In his 1986 speech at the commencement of Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles (found in Poor Charlie's Almanack) Charlie Munger gave a short?Johnny Carson-like speech on the things to avoid to end up with a happy and successful life. One of his most salient prescriptions comes from the life of Charles Darwin:
1986年，查理·芒格在位于洛杉磯的哈佛-韋斯特萊克大學(xué)畢業(yè)典禮上發(fā)表的演講中（在他的年鑒中找到），就如何避免幸福和成功的生活結(jié)束，他簡(jiǎn)短地發(fā)表了類(lèi)似于約翰尼·卡森的演講。最突出訣竅，來(lái)源于自于查爾斯·達(dá)爾文的生活:
It is my opinion, as a certified biography nut, that Charles Robert Darwin would have ranked in the middle of the Harvard School graduating class if 1986. Yet he is now famous in the history of science. This is precisely the type of example you should learn nothing from if bent on minimizing your results from your own endowment.
作為傳記迷，我認(rèn)為，如果查爾斯·羅伯特·達(dá)爾文是1986年代哈佛大學(xué)的學(xué)生，他一定會(huì)在畢業(yè)班中名列前。然而，現(xiàn)在的他在科學(xué)領(lǐng)域亦是聲名遠(yuǎn)揚(yáng)。恰恰這個(gè)例子說(shuō)明，如果你專(zhuān)心致志于從你的天賦中簡(jiǎn)化你的研究結(jié)果，那么你將會(huì)學(xué)無(wú)所成。
Darwin's result was due in large measure to his working method, which violated all my rules for misery and particularly emphasized a backward twist in that he always gave priority attention to evidence tending to disconfirm whatever cherished and hard-won theory he already had. In contrast, most people early achieve and later intensify a tendency to process new and disconfirming information so that any original conclusion remains intact. They become people of whom Philip Wylie observed: “You couldn't squeeze a dime between what they already know and what they will never learn.”
達(dá)爾文的研究結(jié)果在很大程度上歸因于他的工作方式，這種方式違反我所有可悲的規(guī)則，尤其強(qiáng)調(diào)了一種倒向思維，因?yàn)樗偸莾?yōu)先關(guān)注證據(jù)，以證明他所擁有的任何珍惜和來(lái)之不易的理論。與此相反，大多數(shù)人早期達(dá)到并強(qiáng)化了一種趨勢(shì)，即處理新的和不確定的信息，如此以至于最初的所有結(jié)論都是完整的。他們變成了菲利普·懷利所觀察到的人:“你不能在他們已經(jīng)知道的東西和他們永遠(yuǎn)學(xué)不到的東西之間再擠出一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)東西?！?/p>
The life of Darwin demonstrates how a turtle may outrun a hare, aided by extreme objectivity, which helps the objective person end up like the only player without a blindfold in a game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey.
達(dá)爾文的生活證明了，一只烏龜可能比一只兔子跑得快，在最大限度客觀的有力條件下，幫助目標(biāo)人物成為在游戲中唯一一個(gè)沒(méi)有蒙眼的人將尾巴釘在驢上。
The great Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson agreed. In his book,?Letters to a Young Scientist, Wilson argued that Darwin would have probably scored in the 130 range on a standard IQ test. And yet there he is, buried next to the calculus-inventing genius Isaac Newton in Westminster Abbey. (As Munger often notes.)
偉大的哈佛大學(xué)生物學(xué)家E.O. Wilson對(duì)此表示贊同。在《致年輕科學(xué)家的信》中，威爾遜指出，達(dá)爾文標(biāo)準(zhǔn)智商測(cè)試應(yīng)該能達(dá)到130分。然而，他的才華卻被埋沒(méi)在西敏寺大教堂，跟隨在微積分天才艾薩克·牛頓左右。(如芒格記載)
What can we learn from the working and thinking habits of Darwin?
我們能從達(dá)爾文的工作和思維習(xí)慣中學(xué)到什么？
Extreme Focus Combined with Attentive Energy
富有能量的極度專(zhuān)注力
The first clue comes from his own autobiography. Darwin was a?hoover?of information related to a topic he was interested in. After describing some of his specific areas of study while aboard the H.M.S. Beagle, Darwin concludes in his Autobiography:
第一個(gè)線索來(lái)自他的自傳。只要是達(dá)爾文是他感興趣的話題，可以說(shuō)他就是這方面信息的專(zhuān)家。在貝格爾號(hào)上，他發(fā)表了自己一些特殊領(lǐng)域研究后，達(dá)爾文在他的自傳中總結(jié)道:
The above various special studies were, however, of no importance compared with the habit of energetic industry and of concentrated attention to whatever I was engaged in, which I then acquired. Everything about which I thought or read was made to bear directly on what I had seen and was likely to see; and this habit of mind was continued during the five years of the voyage. I feel sure that it was this training which has enabled me to do whatever I have done in science.
然而，上述各種特殊的研究成果與我花費(fèi)了大量精力且全身心投入所獲得習(xí)慣相比，并沒(méi)有什么重要的意義。我思考或了解到的一切，都與我所看到的和可能看到的東西息息相關(guān);在航行的五年里，我一直保持著這種思維習(xí)慣。我確信正是這種訓(xùn)練，成就了我在科學(xué)領(lǐng)域所有做到的事情。
This habit of pure and attentive focus to the task at hand is, of course, echoed in many of our favorite thinkers, from Sherlock Holmes, to E.O. Wilson, Feynman, Einstein, and others. Munger himself remarked that?“I did not succeed in life by intelligence. I succeeded?because I have a long attention span.”
當(dāng)然，這種純粹專(zhuān)注于手頭任務(wù)的習(xí)慣，也能夠得到許多我們最喜歡的思想家們的共鳴，例如夏洛克·福爾摩斯，E.O.威爾遜，費(fèi)曼，愛(ài)因斯坦，以及其他的思想家。芒格自己說(shuō)過(guò)，“我的成功不靠智力。持續(xù)的專(zhuān)注力鑄就了我的成功。
In Darwin's?quest, there was almost nothing relevant to his task at hand — the problem of understanding the origin and development of species — which might have escaped his?attention. He had an extremely broad antenna. Says David Quammen in his fabulous The Reluctant Mr. Darwin:
在達(dá)爾文的研究物種起源和發(fā)展期間，與他著手的研究無(wú)關(guān)的事情，似乎已經(jīng)從他的意識(shí)中逃脫。他具有極其廣的信息資源。David Quammen在《不情愿的達(dá)爾文先生》中說(shuō):
One of Darwin's great strengths as a scientist was also, in some ways, a disadvantage: his extraordinary breadth of curiosity. From his study at Down House he ranged widely and greedily, in his constant search for data, across distances (by letter) and scientific fields. He read eclectically and kept notes like a pack rat. Over the years he collected an enormous quantity of interconnected facts. He looked for patterns but was intrigued equally by exceptions to the patterns, and exceptions to the exceptions. He tested his ideas against complicated groups of organisms with complicated stories, such as the barnacles, the orchids, the social insects, the primroses, and the hominids.
作為一名科學(xué)家，達(dá)爾文有的其中一個(gè)優(yōu)點(diǎn)是，在某種程度上來(lái)說(shuō)他也有缺點(diǎn):?他非凡的好奇心。從他在故居的書(shū)房里，他在收集資料時(shí)，充滿(mǎn)野心，所涉及到的知識(shí)面廣，超越距離(字母)和科學(xué)領(lǐng)域的束縛。折衷閱讀，熱衷記錄。多年來(lái)，他收集了大量相互關(guān)聯(lián)的事實(shí)。他尋找模式，但又沉迷于模式中的例外，例外中的例外。他利用錯(cuò)綜復(fù)雜的生物群體來(lái)測(cè)試他的想法，如藤壺、蘭花、群居昆蟲(chóng)、報(bào)春花和脊椎動(dòng)物。
Not?only was Darwin thinking?broadly, taking in facts at all turns and on many subjects, but he was thinking carefully, This is where Munger's admiration?comes in: Darwin wanted to look at the exceptions. The exceptions to the exceptions. He was on the hunt for?truth?and not necessarily to confirm?some highly-loved idea. Simply put, he didn't want to be wrong about the nature of reality. To get the theory whole and correct?would take lots of detail?and time, as we will see.
達(dá)爾文不僅在思想上廣泛，對(duì)于那些已被人們所接受的事實(shí)，他仍仔細(xì)思考，這就是芒格令贊賞之處:達(dá)爾文想要研究例外。例外中的例外。他在尋找真理，而不去證實(shí)那些別人吹捧的想法。簡(jiǎn)單地說(shuō)，他不愿弄錯(cuò)現(xiàn)實(shí)的本質(zhì)。眾所周知，真理的完整和準(zhǔn)確需要大量的細(xì)節(jié)和時(shí)間來(lái)填補(bǔ)。
The habit of study and observation?didn't stop at the plant and animal kingdom for Darwin. In a move that might?seem strange?by today's standards, Darwin even opened a notebook?to study the development of his own newborn son, William. This is from one of his notebooks:
研究和記錄的習(xí)慣并沒(méi)有停留在達(dá)爾文的動(dòng)植物王國(guó)。達(dá)爾文甚至記錄研究過(guò)他自己的孩子威廉的成長(zhǎng)，就當(dāng)今的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)而言，這似乎有點(diǎn)奇怪。其中，他記錄到:
Natural History of Babies
嬰兒的自然史
Do babies start (i.e., useless sudden movement of muscles) very early in life. Do they wink, when anything placed before their eyes, very young, before experience can have taught them to avoid danger. Do they know frown when they first see it?
嬰兒在早期就有了生命跡象(即毫無(wú)用處的突發(fā)性突然肌肉運(yùn)動(dòng))。很小的時(shí)候，無(wú)論什么東西出現(xiàn)在他們眼底，他們都會(huì)眨眼睛，唯有經(jīng)驗(yàn)教他們避免危險(xiǎn)。當(dāng)他們第一次看到時(shí)，他們知道皺眉嗎?
From there, as his child?grew and developed, Darwin took close notes. How did he figure out that the reflection in the mirror was him? How did he then figure out it was only an image?of him, and that any other images that showed up (say, Dad standing behind him) were mere images too – not reality? These were further data in Darwin's mental model?of the accumulation of gradual changes, but more importantly, displayed?his attention to detail. Everything eventually came?to “bear directly on what I had seen and what I was likely to see.”
從那以后，隨著他的孩子的成長(zhǎng)和發(fā)展，達(dá)爾文做進(jìn)一步記錄。他怎么知道鏡子里的映像是他?他怎么能想到這只是他的畫(huà)像而已，任何出現(xiàn)在他身后的也都只是圖像（他會(huì)說(shuō)，爸爸站在我身后）—而不是實(shí)物??達(dá)爾文不僅僅進(jìn)一步積累了心智模型漸變的數(shù)據(jù)，更重要的是，體現(xiàn)出他對(duì)細(xì)節(jié)的關(guān)注。一切最終皆與“我所看到的和我可能看到的東西”息息相關(guān)。
And in?a practical sense, Darwin was a relentless note-taker. Notebook A, Notebook B, Notebook C, Notebook M, Notebook N…all filled with observations from his study of journals and texts, his own scientific work, his travels, and his life. Once he sat down to write, he had an enormous amount of prior written thought to draw on. He could also see gaps in his understanding, which he diligently filled in.
從實(shí)際意義上講，達(dá)爾文是筆記本狂魔。筆記本1,筆記本2,筆記本3,筆記本4,筆記本N…
這些筆記本里記錄了他研究的所有期刊和文獻(xiàn)，他的科研工作,他的旅行,他的生活。一旦他坐下來(lái)寫(xiě)作，他就可以利用大量的事先寫(xiě)好的想法。他亦能發(fā)現(xiàn)并填補(bǔ)他理解上的欠缺。
Become an Expert
成為一個(gè)專(zhuān)家
You can learn much about Darwin (and truthfully about anyone) by who he?studied?and admired. If Darwin held anyone in high esteem, it was Charles Lyell, whose Principles of Geology was his faithful companion on the H.M.S. Beagle. Here is his?description of Lyell from his autobiography, which tells us something of the traits Darwin valued and sought to emulate:
你可以從達(dá)爾文研究和欣賞的人中學(xué)習(xí)到很多東西。如果說(shuō)達(dá)爾文對(duì)誰(shuí)有很高的評(píng)價(jià)，那就是查爾斯·萊爾，他的地質(zhì)學(xué)原理是他在獵犬號(hào)上的忠實(shí)伙伴。這是他在自傳中對(duì)萊爾的描述，它告訴我們達(dá)爾文所重視并試圖仿效的品格:
I saw more of Lyell than of any other man before and after my marriage. His mind was characterized, as it appeared to me, by clearness, caution, sound judgment and a good deal of originality. When I made any remark to him on Geology, he never rested until he saw the whole case clearly and often made me see it more clearly than I had done before. He would advance all possible objections to my suggestions, and even after these were exhausted would long remain dubious. A second characteristic was his hearty sympathy with the work of other scientific men.
在我結(jié)婚前后，我從萊爾那了解到的比從任何人那了解都多。在我看來(lái)，他的思想具有清晰、謹(jǐn)慎、合理的判斷和良好的創(chuàng)意。當(dāng)我向他討教關(guān)于地質(zhì)學(xué)問(wèn)題時(shí)，他會(huì)孜孜不倦的理清整個(gè)問(wèn)題，并且讓我能夠較之前更叫清晰的了解這個(gè)問(wèn)題。他會(huì)提出所有可能缺陷來(lái)給我建議，即使這些建議被否定，他仍會(huì)繼續(xù)懷疑。第二個(gè)特點(diǎn)就是他對(duì)其他科學(xué)人的工作致上至誠(chéng)的贊同。
Studying Lyell and geology enhanced Darwin's (probably natural) suspicion that?careful, detailed, and objective work was required to create scientific breakthroughs. And once Darwin had expertise and grounding in the level of expertise required by Lyell to understand and explain the theory of geology, he had a basis for the rest of his scientific work. From his autobiography:
研究萊爾和地質(zhì)學(xué)增強(qiáng)達(dá)爾文(天生的)疑心，正是這種疑心，使其能在仔細(xì)、詳細(xì)和客觀的工作中有科學(xué)性的突破。一旦達(dá)爾文具備了萊爾這種理解和解釋地質(zhì)學(xué)理論的專(zhuān)業(yè)知識(shí)和基礎(chǔ)知識(shí)，他的科學(xué)工作就有了一定的基礎(chǔ)基礎(chǔ)。他的自傳中寫(xiě)道：
After my return to England, it appeared to me that by following the example of Lyell in Geology, and by collecting all facts which bore in any way on the variation of animals and plants under domestication and nature, some light?might perhaps be thrown on the whole subject.
在我回到英國(guó)之后，在我看來(lái)，以萊爾的地質(zhì)學(xué)為例，收集動(dòng)植物在馴化和自然條件下的變異事實(shí)，可能會(huì)對(duì)整個(gè)學(xué)科產(chǎn)生一些影響。
In fact, it was Darwin's study and understanding of geology itself?that gave him something to lean on conceptually. Lyell's, and his own, theory?of geology was of?a slow-moving process that accumulated massive gradual changes?over time. This seems like common knowledge today, but at the time, people weren't so sure that the mountains and the islands?could have been created?from such slow moving and incremental processes.
事實(shí)上，達(dá)爾文的研究和對(duì)地質(zhì)學(xué)的理解使其有了一些概念性依據(jù)。萊爾和他自己的地質(zhì)學(xué)理論是緩慢移動(dòng)過(guò)程，隨著時(shí)間的推移積累了巨大的漸變。對(duì)于現(xiàn)在，這僅僅是常識(shí)，但在當(dāng)時(shí)，人們不太確定山和島嶼是由如此緩慢的移動(dòng)和漸進(jìn)的過(guò)程形成的。
Wallace & Gruber's book?Creative People?at Work, an analysis of a variety of thinkers and artists, argues that this basic mental model carried Darwin pretty far:
華萊士和格魯伯的書(shū)《Creative People?at Work》，分析了各種各樣的思想家和藝術(shù)家，該書(shū)提到該基本的模型讓達(dá)爾文走的更遠(yuǎn):
Why was the acquisition of expert knowledge in geology so important to the development of Darwin's overall thinking? Because in learning geology Darwin ground a conceptual lens — a device for bringing into focus and clarifying the problems to which he turned his attention. When his attention shifted to problems beyond geology, the lens remained and Darwin used it in exploring new problems.
為什么地質(zhì)學(xué)方面的專(zhuān)業(yè)知識(shí)對(duì)達(dá)爾文整體思維的發(fā)展如此重要??因?yàn)樵趯W(xué)習(xí)地質(zhì)學(xué)的過(guò)程中，達(dá)爾文提出了概念透鏡——這個(gè)裝置能夠?qū)Ｗ⒉㈥U明他沒(méi)有注意到的問(wèn)題。當(dāng)他的注意力轉(zhuǎn)移到地質(zhì)學(xué)以外的問(wèn)題時(shí)，透鏡能專(zhuān)注于此，達(dá)爾文則可以利用它來(lái)探索新的問(wèn)題。
(Darwin's) coral reef theory shows that he had become an expert in one field…(and) the central idea in Darwin's understanding of geology was “gradualism” — that great things could be produced by long, continued accumulation of very small effects. The next phase in the development of this thought-form would involve his use of it as the basis for the construction of analogies between geology and new, unfamiliar subjects.
(達(dá)爾文)珊瑚礁理論表明,他已經(jīng)成為一個(gè)領(lǐng)域的專(zhuān)家…(并且)達(dá)爾文學(xué)習(xí)地質(zhì)學(xué)的中心思想是“漸進(jìn)主義”——偉大的事情往往歸功于長(zhǎng)久以來(lái)對(duì)小事物的不斷積累。該思想形態(tài)發(fā)展的下一個(gè)階段，則是將其作為地質(zhì)學(xué)與新的陌生學(xué)科進(jìn)行類(lèi)比的基礎(chǔ)。
Darwin wrote his most explicit and concise statement of the nature and utility of his gradualism thought-form: “This multiplication of little means and bringing the mind to grapple with great effect produced is a most laborious & painful effort of the mind.” He recognized that it took patience and discipline to discover the “l(fā)ittle means” that were responsible for great effects. With the necessary effort, however, this gradualism thought-form could become the vehicle for explaining many remarkable phenomena in geology, biology, and even psychology.
關(guān)于漸進(jìn)主義思想形態(tài)的本質(zhì)和效用，達(dá)爾文陳述他最簡(jiǎn)潔明了的說(shuō)法:“盲目的累積和有意的巨大付出，在心靈上最費(fèi)力的、痛苦的。”他認(rèn)識(shí)到，想要“小方法”起大作用，需要耐心和自律。然而，通過(guò)必要的女里，這種漸進(jìn)主義的思想形態(tài)可以成為解釋地質(zhì)學(xué)、生物學(xué)甚至心理學(xué)中許多令人矚日的現(xiàn)象的工具。
It is amazing to note that Darwin?did not write The Origin of Species until 1859 even though his notebooks show he had been pretty close to the correct idea at least 15 or 20 years prior. What was he?doing?in all that time? Well, for eight years at least, he was studying barnacles.
令人驚訝的是，盡管他的記錄表明至少在15/20年之前已經(jīng)相當(dāng)接近正解，達(dá)爾文1859年才開(kāi)始寫(xiě)《物種起源》，那么當(dāng)時(shí)他在做什么?是的，他至少花費(fèi)了八年的時(shí)間來(lái)研究藤壺。
One of the reasons Darwin went on a crusade of classifying and studying the barnacles in minute detail was his?concern that if he wasn't a?primary expert?on some portion of the natural world, his work on a larger and more general thesis would not be taken seriously, and that it would probably have holes. He said?as much?to his friend Frederic Gerard, a French botanist, before he had begun his barnacle work: “How painfully (to me) true is your remark that no one has hardly a right to examine the question of species who has not minutely described many.” And, of course, Darwin being Darwin, he spent eight years remedying that unfathomable situation.
達(dá)爾文詳盡無(wú)遺的分類(lèi)和研究藤壺的原因是，他擔(dān)心如果他不是在自然世界某個(gè)區(qū)域的主要專(zhuān)家,那么他的研究這個(gè)廣泛的命題將不會(huì)被認(rèn)可，甚至可能會(huì)有漏洞。在他研究藤壺之前，他和他的朋友法國(guó)植物學(xué)家弗雷德里克·杰拉德討論很多，他說(shuō):“(對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō))真的很痛苦的是，你說(shuō)每個(gè)人都有權(quán)利去研究那些沒(méi)有詳細(xì)描述過(guò)的物種的問(wèn)題?！碑?dāng)然，達(dá)爾文就是達(dá)爾文，他花了8年的時(shí)間來(lái)彌補(bǔ)這份不可思議。
It seemed like extraordinarily tedious work, unrelated to anything a scientist would consider important on a grand scale. It was taxonomy. Classification. Even Darwin admitted later on that he doubted it was worth the years he spent on it. Yet, in his detail-oriented journey for expertise?on barnacles, he hit upon some key ideas that would make his theory of natural selection complete.?Says Quammen:
這似乎是一項(xiàng)非常乏味的工作，與任何事物無(wú)關(guān)，大部分的科學(xué)家認(rèn)為是重要。這是分類(lèi)學(xué)。甚至達(dá)爾文也承認(rèn)，自己花在這上面的時(shí)間是值得的。然而，在他以細(xì)節(jié)為導(dǎo)向的藤壺研究過(guò)程中，，他偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)了一些關(guān)鍵理念，使其能夠完善他的自然選擇理論。Quammen說(shuō):
He also found notable differences on another categorical level;?within species. Contrary to what he'd believed all along about the rarity of variation in the wild, barnacles turned out to be highly variable. A species wasn't a Platonic essence or a metaphysical type. A species was a population of differing individuals.
同時(shí)，他還發(fā)現(xiàn)物種中另一分類(lèi)級(jí)別的顯著差異。一直以來(lái)，他認(rèn)為野生動(dòng)植物的變異程度是很小的，但是，恰恰相反的是，藤壺卻是高度可變的。物種不是柏拉圖或玄學(xué)論。物種是個(gè)體相異的種群。
He wouldn't have seen that if he hadn't assigned himself the trick job of drawing lines between one species and another. He wouldn't have seen it if he hadn't used his network of contacts and his good reputation as a naturalist to gather barnacle specimens, in quantity, from all over the world. The truth of variation only reveals itself in crowds. He wouldn't have seen it if he hadn't examined multiple individuals, not just single representatives, of as many species as possible….Abundant variation among barnacles filled a crucial role in his theory. Here they were, the minor differences on which natural selection works.
如果他沒(méi)有去研究如何界定物種種類(lèi)的訣竅，他不會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)。如果他沒(méi)有利用他的人際關(guān)系網(wǎng)和他作為自然主義者的良好聲譽(yù)來(lái)收集來(lái)自世界各地的藤壺標(biāo)本，他是不會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)。相異的意義在于如何在在人群中顯露出來(lái)。如果他沒(méi)有研究多個(gè)個(gè)體,亦或是只是研究單一的代表物種,而不是盡可能多的物種…他不會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)。藤壺的豐富變異在他的理論中扮演了關(guān)鍵的角色。它們是自然選擇工作種細(xì)微差別。
Darwin was so diligent it could be breathtaking at times. Quammen describes him gathering up various species to assess the data about their development and their variation. Birds, dead or alive, as many as possible. Foxes, dogs, ducks, pigeons, rabbits, cats…nothing escaped his purview. As many specimens as he could get his hands on. All while living in a secluded house in Victorian England, beset by constant illness. He was Big Data before Big Data was a thing, trying to suss out conclusions from a mass of observation.
有時(shí)，達(dá)爾文的勤奮會(huì)令人驚嘆。Quammen記述了他收集各種物種，對(duì)它們的發(fā)展和變化數(shù)據(jù)進(jìn)行評(píng)估。盡可能多的收集鳥(niǎo)，無(wú)論是死的或活的。狐貍,狗,鴨子,鴿子、兔子、貓…一切都難逃他的法眼。盡可能的收集標(biāo)本。他的一生都住在維多利亞英國(guó)的一個(gè)僻靜的房子里，即便被病魔困擾。他試圖從大量的記錄中得出結(jié)論，大數(shù)據(jù)在他面前簡(jiǎn)直就是小巫見(jiàn)大巫。
Follow the Golden Rule
遵循黃金法則
Eventually his work led him to something new: Species are not immutable, they are all part of the same family tree. They evolve through a process of variation — he didn't know how; that took years for others to figure out through the study of genetics — and differential survival through natural selection.
最終，他的研究讓他有了新的發(fā)現(xiàn):?物種不是一成不變的，它們都是族譜的一部分。它們?cè)谧儺愡^(guò)程中得以進(jìn)化—他不知道如何變化;人們通過(guò)數(shù)年才從遺傳學(xué)的研究中得到答案--通過(guò)自然選擇的差異生存。
Darwin was able to put his finger on why it took so long for humanity to come to this correct theory: It was extremely counter-intuitive to how one would?naturally see?the world. He admitted as much in?the Origin of Species‘ concluding chapter:
達(dá)爾文能夠確切的指出為什么人類(lèi)需要這么長(zhǎng)時(shí)間才能得出正確的理論:?這與人們自然地看待世界的方式完全相反。他在《物種起源》的最后一章中承認(rèn):
The chief cause of our natural unwillingness to admit that one species has given birth to other and distinct species, is that we are always slow in admitting any great changes of which we do not see the steps. The difficulty is the same as that felt by so many geologists, when Lyell first insisted that long lines of inland cliffs had been formed, and great valleys excavated, by the agencies which we still see at work. The mind cannot possibly grasp the full meaning of the term of even a million years; it cannot add up and perceive the full effects of many slight variations, accumulated during an almost infinite number of generations.
我們不愿承認(rèn)某一物種已經(jīng)衍生出其他不同物種主要原因是，我們對(duì)于我們沒(méi)有看的到巨大變化后知后覺(jué)。許多地質(zhì)學(xué)家也感到同樣的困難，當(dāng)萊爾第一次堅(jiān)持認(rèn)為巨大的山谷被挖掘，內(nèi)陸懸崖已經(jīng)形成了，我們?cè)谘芯恐锌梢钥吹健＜词雇ㄟ^(guò)一百萬(wàn)年的時(shí)間變化，頭腦不可能完全掌握這個(gè)詞的全部含義;它不能增加和感知在無(wú)限的時(shí)間里中積累起來(lái)的微小變化的全部影響。
Counter-intuition was Darwin's speciality. And the reason he was so good was he had a very simple habit of thought, described in the autobiography and so cherished by Charlie Munger: He paid special attention to collecting facts which did not agree with his prior conceptions. He called this a golden rule.
違反直覺(jué)的是達(dá)爾文的專(zhuān)長(zhǎng)。在自傳中說(shuō)到，他如此優(yōu)秀的原因是他有個(gè)極簡(jiǎn)的思維習(xí)慣，這被查理·芒格所珍視:對(duì)于那些收集的不符合先前理念的事實(shí)以重視。他稱(chēng)之為黃金法則。
I had, also, during many years, followed a golden rule, namely, that whenever a published fact, a new observation or thought came across me, which was opposed to my general results, to make a memorandum of it without fail and at once; for I had found by experience that such facts and thoughts were far more apt to escape from memory than favorable ones. Owing to this habit, very few objections were raised against my views which I had not at least noticed and attempted to answer.
多年以來(lái)，我遵循著一條黃金法則，即每當(dāng)我偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)與我的研究結(jié)果截然相反的報(bào)道的事實(shí)，新的評(píng)述或想法，我務(wù)必馬上將它們一一記錄;因?yàn)榻?jīng)驗(yàn)告訴我，相較備忘錄，單單靠記憶力往往容易忘記此類(lèi)的事實(shí)和想法。由于這個(gè)習(xí)慣，很少有人反對(duì)我沒(méi)有注意到的的觀點(diǎn)，并試圖回答。
So we see that Darwin's great success, by his own analysis, owed to his ability?to see, note, and learn from objections to his cherished thoughts.?The Origin of Species has stood up in the face of 157 years of subsequent biological research?because?Darwin was?so careful to make sure the theory was nearly impossible to refute. Later scientists would find the book?slightly?incomplete, but not incorrect.
因此，通過(guò)他自己的分析，我們明白達(dá)爾文的巨大成功，歸功于他在反對(duì)他的觀點(diǎn)中發(fā)現(xiàn)和學(xué)習(xí)的能力。在隨后的157年的生物研究中，物種起源逐漸突顯出來(lái)，因?yàn)檫_(dá)爾文的小心翼翼，確保這個(gè)理論幾乎不可能被駁倒。后來(lái)科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn)這本書(shū)雖有點(diǎn)不完整，但觀點(diǎn)正確。
This passage reminds one of, and probably influenced, Charlie Munger's prescription on the work required to hold an opinion:?You must understand the opposite?side of the argument better than the person holding that side?does. It's a very difficult way to think, tremendously unnatural in the face of our genetic makeup (the more typical response?is to look?for as much confirming evidence as possible). Harnessed properly, though, it is a?powerful?way to beat your own shortcomings and become a seeing?man amongst the blind.
這段話讓人想起了查理·芒格關(guān)于工作處方中需要堅(jiān)持的觀點(diǎn)之一:?你必須比持這一立場(chǎng)的人更好地理解論點(diǎn)的反面。我們的反常的基因組成注定了這是一種非常困難的思考方式，(更典型的現(xiàn)象是尋找盡可能多的證實(shí)證據(jù))。然而，合理地利用它是戰(zhàn)勝你自己的缺點(diǎn)，成為明白人的強(qiáng)有力方法。
Thus, we can deduce that, in addition to good luck and good timing, it was?Darwin's habits of?completeness, diligence, accuracy, and habitual?objectivity?which ultimately led him to make his greatest breakthroughs. It?was tedious. There was no spark of divine insight?that gave him his edge. He just started with the right basic ideas and the right heroes,?and then worked for a long time and with extreme focus and objectivity,?always keeping his eye on reality.
因此，我們可以推斷，除了好運(yùn)和好的時(shí)機(jī)之外，達(dá)爾文的追求完整性、勤奮、準(zhǔn)確和習(xí)以為?？陀^性習(xí)慣，最終使他取得了最大的突破。這是乏味的。神圣洞察沒(méi)有賜予他任何優(yōu)勢(shì)。他只是從正確的基本思想和正在偉人開(kāi)始，以極端的專(zhuān)注和客觀的態(tài)度長(zhǎng)時(shí)間研究，始終保持對(duì)真理的追求。
In the end, you can do worse than to read all you can find on Charles Darwin and try to copy his mental habits. They will serve you well over a long life.
最后，從查爾斯·達(dá)爾文身上找到并試著模仿他的精神習(xí)慣，這是一個(gè)不錯(cuò)的選擇。它們將會(huì)伴隨你的一生。
