CHAPTER 8

1.6?Understandnature’s practical lessons.

理解自然運(yùn)行規(guī)律

I have found understanding hownature and evolution work helpful in a number of ways. Most importantly, it hashelped me deal with my realities more effectively and make difficult choices.When I began to look at reality through the perspective of figuring out how itreally works, instead of thinking things should be different, I realized thatmost everything that at first seemed “bad” to me—like rainy days, weaknesses,and even death—was because I held preconceived notions of what I personallywanted. With time, I learned that my initial reaction was because I hadn’t putwhatever I was reacting to in the context of the fact that reality is built tooptimize for the whole rather than for me.

我發(fā)現(xiàn)了解自然界和進(jìn)化是如何工作的對于很多方面都是有益的。最重要的是，這幫助我更加高效的處理真實(shí)情況和做出更復(fù)雜的選擇。當(dāng)我開始從事物是如何實(shí)際運(yùn)行的角度考察真實(shí)事物時，而不是想當(dāng)然的認(rèn)為事物是不同的，我意識到大多數(shù)期初看起來“糟糕”的事情—比如下雨天，弱點(diǎn)，甚至死亡—因為我總是自我的持先入為主的觀念。隨著時間推移，我知道了我初始的反應(yīng)建立在整體上而不僅僅是我自己。

a.?Maximize your evolution.Earlier, I mentioned that the unique abilities of thinking logically,abstractly, and from a higher level are carried out in structures located inthe neocortex. These parts of the brain are more developed in humans and allowus to reflect on ourselves and direct our own evolution. Because we are capableof conscious, memory-based learning, we can evolve further and faster than anyother species, changing not just across generations but within our ownlifetimes.

A．最大化的進(jìn)化。早些時候，我提到過一項獨(dú)特的能力-邏輯思維，抽象化思維，從固化在大腦皮層結(jié)構(gòu)的更高水平開展思考。這些大腦的區(qū)域是人類優(yōu)先發(fā)育的，允許我們自我反射并指導(dǎo)我們的進(jìn)化。因為我們有意識的能力，給予記憶的學(xué)習(xí)本領(lǐng)，我們能比其他任何物種更超前更快的進(jìn)化，變化不僅僅發(fā)生在代際之間，還存在于我們的生命當(dāng)中。

This constant drivetoward learning and improvement makes getting better innately enjoyable andgetting better fast exhilarating. Though most people think that they arestriving to get the things (toys, bigger houses, money, status, etc.) that willmake them happy, for most people those things don’t supply anywhere near the long-termsatisfaction that getting better at something does.20Once we get the things weare striving for, we rarely remain satisfied with them. The things are just thebait. Chasing after them forces us to evolve, and it is the evolution and notthe rewards themselves that matters to us and to those around us. This meansthat for most people success is struggling and evolving as effectively aspossible, i.e., learning rapidly about oneself and one’s environment, and thenchanging to improve.

這種不斷的趨向?qū)W習(xí)和進(jìn)步的外在驅(qū)動促使人獲得更好的內(nèi)在的精神享受和更佳快速令人振奮的情緒。盡管大多數(shù)人認(rèn)為他們執(zhí)著于物質(zhì)（玩具，更大的房子，錢，地位等等）這些能是他們快樂的東西，對大多數(shù)人來說那些東西并不能提供長久的滿足感-比如做的更好。一旦我們得到了努力奮斗的東西，我們就極難在滿足于他們。物質(zhì)僅僅是誘餌。追逐物質(zhì)享受趨勢人類進(jìn)化，這就是進(jìn)化，而不僅僅是物質(zhì)和伴隨我們左右的東西帶來的獎勵。這意味著對大多數(shù)人來說成功是一場戰(zhàn)斗和盡可能有效的進(jìn)化，例如，快速掌握自身和環(huán)境，然后改變他們并進(jìn)步。

It is natural that itshould be this way because of the law of diminishing returns.21Consider what acquiring money is like. People who earn so much that they derivelittle or no marginal gains from it will experience negative consequences, aswith any other form of excess, like gluttony. If they are intellectuallyhealthy, they will begin seeking something new or seeking new depths in somethingold—and they will get stronger in the process. As Freud put it, “Love and workare the cornerstones of our humanness.”

因為遞減定律的原因這種方式是很自然的行為。比如掙錢，人們掙錢越多則從中得到的快樂越少或者沒有掙錢的邊際效益則會導(dǎo)致負(fù)面后果。就像其他形式的過剩，比如暴飲暴食。如果是智力健康類的，那么他們將在老習(xí)慣上尋求新的事物或新的刺激—并在過程中變得更強(qiáng)。就像弗洛伊德說的“愛和工作說我們做人的基石”

The work doesn’tnecessarily have to be a job, though I believe it’s generally better if it is ajob. It can be any kind of long-term challenge that leads to personalimprovement. As you might have guessed, I believe that the need to havemeaningful work is connected to man’s innate desire to improve. Andrelationships are the natural connections to others that make us relevant toeach other and to society more broadly.

工作本身不必非要是一份職業(yè)，經(jīng)管我認(rèn)為一份職業(yè)可能會更好些。他可以是任何長期的能帶領(lǐng)人進(jìn)步的挑戰(zhàn)。你可能會猜想，我認(rèn)為有意義的工作的需求與一個人的先天要求進(jìn)步的愿望是相吻合的。而聯(lián)系他人也是很自然的選擇因為這樣可以使我們緊密，與社會更廣泛的產(chǎn)生鏈接。

b.?Remember

“no pain, no gain.”Realizing that we innately want to evolve—andthat the other stuff we are going after, while nice, won’t our happiness—hashelped me focus on my goals of evolving and contributing to evolution in my owninfinitely small way. While we don’t like pain, everything that nature made hasa purpose, so nature gave us pain for a purpose. So what is its purpose? Italerts us and helps direct us.

c.?It is a fundamental law of nature that in order to gain strength one has to push

one’s limits, which is painful.As Carl Jung put it, “Man needsdifficulties. They are necessary for health.” Yet most people instinctuallyavoid pain. This is true whether we are talking about building the body (e.g.,weight lifting) or the mind (e.g., frustration, mental struggle, embarrassment,shame)—and especially true when people confront the harsh reality of their ownimperfections.

b.記住“沒有付出沒有收獲”，意識到我們天生想要進(jìn)化—其他我們追求的事物，盡管很美，

--已經(jīng)讓我專注于進(jìn)化的目標(biāo)并為我自己獨(dú)特的小方法做出貢獻(xiàn)了。盡管我們不喜歡痛苦，自然界創(chuàng)造任何事物都是有目的的，所以自然界讓我們感受痛苦也是有目的的。那么痛苦的目的何在那？痛苦在警示我們并指導(dǎo)我們。

C．為了獲取力量而不斷推高人類的極限是自然界的基本法則，當(dāng)然是痛苦的。就像卡爾楊說的，“人類需要困難，這對健康有益”然而大多數(shù)人本能的回避痛苦，存在就是有意義的，這是真的， 我們都在談?wù)摻∩恚ū热缗e重）或者健腦（比如挫折，思想斗爭，尷尬，恥辱）-尤其當(dāng)人們因為個體的缺陷遭遇嚴(yán)酷的現(xiàn)實(shí)這一切尤其真實(shí)。

總結(jié)：

1、物質(zhì)條件夠用就好，不必追求太多

2、工作是生存基礎(chǔ)，但應(yīng)有更高追求

3、沒有付出就沒有收獲

4、面對現(xiàn)實(shí)，挫折讓我更加強(qiáng)大