斯科特·亚当斯：我至今仍会思考的建议

现在看来，我的性格就是倾向于主动靠近危险。

Now it turns out that my personality is such that I tend to run toward danger.

这并不是一件好事。

It's not a good thing.

我并不为此感到自豪，但人的天性就是如此。

I'm not proud of that, but you're wired the way you're wired.

所以我自然而然地被其中危险的部分所吸引。

So I kind of naturally was attracted to the dangerous part of it.

我在阅读其他作品时也会寻找这种元素，但对我而言，这种特质是自然而然、无意中出现的。

I looked for that in writing that I read, but it just came to me naturally and accidentally in my case.

所以你说你背后被人盯上了。

So you said you had a target on your back.

他们最终把你开除了吗？

Did they fire you eventually?

当《呆伯特》越来越火的时候，大概在最后那一年左右，我的同事们来找我，给了我一个提议。

Towards the last year or so when Dilbert was getting pretty big, my coworkers came to me with an offer.

事实上，我的一位同事是角色爱丽丝的现实原型。

In fact, one of my coworkers is the real life inspiration for the character Alice.

她曾是太平洋球公司的工程师，可能是最出色的工程师之一，而且非常坚韧。

So she was an engineer at Pacific Ball, and she was probably one of the best engineers and tough as nails.

于是她就成了爱丽丝这个角色，但她却向我提出了一个提议。

So she became the Alice character, but she came to me with this offer.

她说，很多客户喜欢见到你，因为他们来的时候，我们会带他们参观实验室，展示我们的技术，试图让他们购买我们的产品。

She said, a lot of the customers like seeing you because they come in and we show them our technology in the lab and try to get people to buy our stuff.

所以我们希望你能留下来，只要你偶尔在客户来的时候露个面，我们来替你完成工作。

So we'd like keeping you around and we'll do your work for you if you just show up to work once a while when a customer's here.

所以在最后一年，我和同事以及老板达成了一项协议：我会尽力而为，但上班已经不再是我的首要任务。

So in the final year, I worked on a deal with my coworkers and with my boss where I said, I'll do what I can, but it's no longer my priority to come to work.

但只要你们因为预算或其他任何原因需要我离开，随时告诉我。

But anytime you need me to leave for budget reasons or any other reason, just let me know.

有一天，仅仅因为常规的预算原因，我的老板说：‘比起这个偶尔露面、客户喜欢的家伙，我更需要一个真正干活的员工。’

And one day just for standard budget reasons, my boss said, yeah, I think I need an employee who does real work more than I need this guy who just shows up and customers like him once in a while.

所以那时你基本上一个人在家，而你的目标，quote unquote，已经实现了。

So then you were home alone essentially, and now your your goal, quote unquote, was achieved.

你成了一个职业漫画家。

Like, you're a professional cartoonist.

你不再在普通的职场中扮演任何角色。

You had no more role in the standard corporate workplace.

那是一种极其快乐的感觉，还是你感到害怕？

Was that like this amazingly happy feeling, or were you scared?

哦，你问了个好问题，因为我觉得你其实已经知道这个问题的答案了，我会告诉你最有趣的那一刻。

Oh, you're asking a good question because I think you already know the answer to this question, which is I'll tell you the moment that's the most interesting.

所以我拿到了第一份图书出版合同，如果你运气好的话，这通常是多本书的合约，而且金额非常可观。

So I got my first publishing deal, book publishing deal, and those tend to be if you're lucky, it's a multi book contract and it's a very big number.

当我第一次拿到那笔巨款支票时，就是那种你可以说‘我现在就可以不工作了’的金额。

And the first time I got that big check, the one that you say, I could stop working right now if I wanted to.

我的意思是，如果我想，我完全可以就此收手。

I mean, if I wanted to, I could, just I'd be done.

这其实是一种糟糕的感觉。

It actually is a terrible feeling.

我完全没有预料到这一点，因为我的一生都在为这个目标努力，那就是拥有足够的钱，可以做我想做的事。

And I did not expect that because my whole life I was working towards that objective, to have enough money that I could do what I wanted to do.

但当它真的发生时，我的人生目标瞬间消失了。

And as soon as it happened, my life purpose evaporated.

当时我还没结婚，也没有家庭。

I wasn't married, didn't have a family at the time.

我突然失去了所有起床的理由。

I suddenly lost my entire reason for waking up.

所以这实际上是一种悲伤、压抑、令人迷失的体验。

So it was actually a sad, depressing, disorienting thing.

由此衍生出的是，我开始着手开发我之前在业余时间做的藜麦卷素食品，因为我试图找到一种对世界有用的方式，以重新找回我的人生意义。

And what grew out of that is when I started the dill burrito vegetarian food product that I was working at on the side, because I was trying to figure out some way to do something useful for the world so that I could get back my sense of meaning.

我想，营养学的世界一团糟。

And I thought, well, world of nutrition is a mess.

如果我能做出一种产品，满足每天所有的营养需求，而且很简单，那我就为这个世界做出了贡献。

If I could make a product, which has all the daily nutritional needs, and it was simple, then I've contributed something to the world.

为什么你觉得那个条状食品没有为世界做出贡献呢？

Why didn't you think the strip contributed something to the world?

你实际上是在揭开我所说的公司主义的真实面貌，而不是像资本主义那样的东西。

Like, basically, you were you were opening up the window on what what I call corporatism is is really like as opposed to capitalism, for instance.

是的。

Yeah.

你知道，我经常聊到这个话题。

You know, I've had this conversation a lot.

问题是，娱乐是否算是一种真正的价值。

It's the question of whether entertainment is sort of a real value.

对吧？

Alright?

当然，在某种程度上，它是有这种价值的。

Now on some level, of course, it is.

人们喜欢快乐。

People like to be happy.

你需要管理自己的态度，就像管理其他任何资产一样。

You need to manage your attitudes as well as any other asset you have.

所以，没错，娱乐确实是一件重要的真实事物。

So sure, entertainment's an important real thing.

但我也不禁认为，就重要性而言，它排在清单的最底部。

But I also can't help thinking as important things go, it's at the bottom of the important list.

你知道吗？

You know?

比如，如果你必须削减重要的事情，你会最先放弃什么？

Like, if if you had to downsize the important things, what would you lose first?

总是娱乐最先被砍掉。

It's always the entertainment.

对吧？

Right?

不。

No.

我不知道，因为你看一下喜剧整体，喜剧的世界。

I I don't know because look at comedy in general, the world of comedy.

拿路易斯·C·K这样的例子来说，我认为他的风格和你类似，都是那种观察型幽默，能揭示人们通常不会思考的事情。

You take a guy like Louis CK, you know, who I would say is a similar genre to you, this observational humor that really sheds light on things that people don't normally think about.

不。

No.

人们通常只是过着日常的生活，从不去思考这些问题，比如斯科特·亚当斯刚提到的，《呆伯特》所指出的，那些每天在我生活中发生、我以前从未意识到的愚蠢事情。

People normally just go through their daily lives without thinking of these issues like, oh, that what Scott Adams just pointed out, what Dilbert just pointed out is something really stupid that happens in my life every day that I never would have thought about before.

是的。

Yeah.

我不会说它毫无价值。

I'm not gonna say it has no value.

我只是说，在所有有价值的事物中，它排在最末尾。

I'm just saying that among the valuable things, it's at the bottom.

好吧。

All right.

也许是因为我离它太近了。

And maybe that's because I'm too close to it.

如果你是创作者，就很难像别人那样看清它。

You can't really see it the way other people see it if you're the one producing it.

但人们每天阅读它，这让我感到震惊、惊讶和谦卑。

But I'm shocked and amazed and humbled that people read it every day.

对此我感到很高兴。

I'm happy about that.

去读一读吧。

Read it.

与许多其他漫画不同，人们会把它们贴在办公隔间的墙上。

And unlike many other comic strips, people hang it up on their cubicle walls.

你知道，我以前在时代华纳公司的一个IT部门工作，每个隔间里都贴着《呆伯特》的漫画。

You know, I used to work in an IT department at the you know, in the Time Warner family, and every cubicle had, like, Dilbert cartoons hanging up in it.

它对人们产生了影响。

Like, it had an effect on people.

它影响了隔间文化。

It had an effect on cubicle life.

是的。

Yeah.

我经常听到各种故事。

I hear stories all the time.

这些都是轶事，我无法用科学数据来证明。

This is anecdotal, so I can't put any science on it.

但有很多人说，他们的老板刚开始推行某个项目，结果突然醒悟，心想：哎呀，这简直能当成《呆伯特》漫画里的情节，于是干脆把项目取消了。

But the number of people who say, my boss was starting to roll out a program and then he caught himself and said, uh-oh, this could appear in a Dilbert comic strip, and then he completely rolled it back.

所以我认为，在《呆伯特》出现之前，管理层一直享有免罪金牌。

So I think that before Dilbert, management had a free pass.

他们可以做任何荒谬的事，然后说：‘我读过一本书，说这个新流程、新系统会改变世界’，然后就能为所欲为。

They could do literally any ridiculous thing and say, oh, I read a book that says this new process, this new system is gonna change the world, and they could get away with anything.

但一旦有了被公开嘲笑的威胁，实际上我就给了员工一个发声的机会，因为在互联网时代之前和之后，他们都可以把漫画里的文字剪下来，悄悄塞到老板的门下，或者发邮件给他们。

But as soon as you have the threat of public mocking, and in effect, I gave employees a voice because they could take my words in the comic strip and cut it out and slip it under their boss's door, pre Internet and then post Internet, they could email it to them.

突然间，对他们来说就没那么危险了，因为他们现在是在说‘这是我的观点’，但显然他们也认同这个观点，否则不会把漫画转发出去。

And suddenly it wasn't so dangerous for them because they're now saying this is my opinion, but obviously they're sharing the opinion or they wouldn't pass on the comic.

所以我认为我给了员工一个发声的机会，这是一种嘲讽的声音，我认为这确实对管理阶层形成了一定的制约。

So I think I gave employees a voice, and it's a mocking voice, which I think does put some control on management.

你知道吗？

You know?

而且，漫画这种形式，而不是像《华尔街日报》上的社论，实际上在观点和其潜在风险之间制造了一定的距离。

And the the fact that it's a cartoon as opposed to, let's say, an op ed in the Wall Street Journal actually puts some distance between kind of the opinion and the danger of it.

所以它既可以是危险的、充满观点的，但嘿，这毕竟只是一幅漫画。

So it could be both dangerous and opinionated, but, hey, it's a cartoon.

所以人们可以说，嘿。

So people could say, hey.

别太当真，但你看。

Don't take me so seriously, but look.

这种观点是合理的。

There is this opinion that's valid.

没错。

Yeah.

而且，这正是一个现象的一部分：越是有趣的东西，你就能越大胆地表达。

And that's part of the phenomenon that the funnier something is, the more you can get away with.

另一个相关现象是，有些话题你根本不可能在漫画中发表，因为人们会太生气；除非它真的、真的搞笑，那样你就能完全逃脱责难。

A related phenomenon is that there are some topics, some subjects that you would never be able to publish in a comic because people would get too angry unless it's really, really funny, and then you can totally get away with it.

明白吗？

Alright?

这一点在对世界进行任何严肃评论时都成立。

So and that that's true with, you know, making any kind of serious commentary about the world.

如果你用非幽默的方式说出来，人们会立刻对你群起而攻之。

There are things that people would jump all over you if you said non funny.

但如果你把它放在一个幽默的语境中，人们就愿意接受了。

But if you put it in a funny context, people are willing to absorb it.

所以从一开始，这里的系统就是坚持不懈。

So it seems like from the beginning, the system here was there was perseverance.

从你的书中我知道，你小时候就对漫画感兴趣。

And what I know from your book is that you were interested in cartooning when you were a little kid.

于是你把这些热情重新拾起，我们每个人在十岁左右都有这样的热情，但后来大多都留在了过去的记忆里。

So you kind of took out these passions, and we all have these passions from when we're, like, 10 years old that we kind of leave in our 10 old history.

但你把它重新拿了出来，并一直坚持下去。

But you took it out, and you persevered with it.

你面对了拒绝，却依然坚持，直到时机成熟，迎来突破。

You handled rejection, and you kept doing it until it was time to make a break.

你并没有急于求成。

You didn't you didn't rush it.

你没有因为屡遭拒绝就放弃漫画。

You didn't you didn't leave cartooning once you got all rejected.

所以这里确实有一套方法。

So there were there was a system there.

我的背景是经济学。

Well, my background was economics.

我主修经济学，后来又主修商业。

I was an economics major, then business major.

所以我倾向于以最实际的方式看待事物。

So I tend to look at things in the most practical way you could go.

我拒绝的一个观念就是激情或追逐你的激情。

And one of the things I reject is the notion of passion or chasing your passion.

这也是我在《如何几乎每次都失败却依然大获成功》中所写的，我认为激情来自于那些真正奏效的事情。

So that's also what I wrote about in How to Fail Almost Every Time and Still Win Big is that I think passion comes from things that work.

所以我的方法是尝试大量事物，看看哪些会因为时机正好而自然成功。

So my system was to try lots of stuff and see which ones just are gonna work on their own because it was the right time.

那是技能的完美组合。

It was the right combination of skills.

我运气不错，某个我并不了解的环境发生了变化，时机恰好对了。

I got lucky, something happened in an environment that I didn't know about, and it was just the right time.

所以我尝试了很多事情，这本书主要讲的就是有多少事情没有成功。

So I tried lots of things, and that's mostly what the book is about is how many things didn't work.

所以如果你只孤立地看漫画这一部分，我担心当人们看待我的职业生涯时，反而会感到气馁，因为他们不知道我尝试过多少失败的事情。

So if you looked at just cartooning in isolation and I worry that when people looked at my career, it was actually demotivating because they didn't have the context of how many things I tried that didn't work.

所以如果你只看我生活中的漫画部分，看起来就像是我射出一支箭，击中了100码外奔跑的兔子，哇，这要么是技艺超群，要么是运气极佳，但很可能两者兼有。

So if you look at just the cartooning part of my life, it looks like I shot an arrow and hit a running rabbit at a 100 yards and like, wow, that was either amazingly skillful or incredibly lucky, but probably both.

但不管你怎么看，这都让人很受打击。

But any any way you look at it is very demotivating.

对吧？

Right?

因为你朝很多奔跑的兔子射出很多箭，也不一定能射中一只。

Because you can shoot a lot of arrows in the direction of a lot of running rabbits and you're not gonna hit one.

但如果你从这个背景来看，漫画只是我尝试过的几十件事中的一件，而其他几十件事都是相当不错的点子，我也有能力与资源去执行，不至于搞得太糟。

But if you look at it in this context, which is cartooning is just one of the dozens of things that I tried and all of the other dozens of things were reasonably good ideas, which I had the ability and resources to expect some sort of execution that wasn't terrible.

但大多数都没成功，而那些没成功的事，大多是因为运气不好、时机不对。

But most of those didn't work out, and most of the things that didn't work out were because of bad luck, bad timing.

事情就是没能凑到一块儿。

Things things just didn't come together.

但正是这种机会的多样化才创造了运气。

But it's it's that kind of a diversification of opportunity that creates the luck.

所以我不知道你打不打网球，我敢肯定你遇到过这种情况：你和别人打网球，赢了之后，对方说，哦，你只是运气好。

So I don't know if you so you play a lot of tennis, and I'm sure you've had this phenomena where you play someone in tennis and you win, and they say, oh, you just got lucky.

下棋里有句俗话，因为我经常下棋。

And there's a saying in chess so I play a lot of chess.

下棋里有句俗话：只有高手才会走运。

There's a saying in chess, only the good players get lucky.

看起来总是那些高手最幸运。

It always seems like the good players are the luckiest ones.

所以，没错。

So Yeah.

生活中也是同样的道理。

The same thing happens in life.

这并不是说你创造了属于自己的运气，而是你让自己对运气的机会保持开放。

It's not quite like you create your own luck, but you leave yourself open for the opportunity of luck.

是的。

Yeah.

这纯粹是数学问题。

It's just math.

我的意思是，人们分散投资组合是有原因的。

I mean, there's a reason that people diversify their portfolio.

买入并持有的策略有效是有原因的。

There's a reason that buy and hold works.

指数基金有效的理由就是，这纯粹是数学问题。

It's a reason that index funds work is that it's just math.

事实上，如果你只尝试一件事一次，事情很可能不会如你所愿，对吧？

And the fact is if you try one thing once, probably things aren't going to go your way, right?

因为即使你把一切都做对了，任何一件事成功的几率也只有大约10%。

Because the odds of any one thing working, even if you do everything right, is about 10%.

但如果你做了上千件事，每件事都有10%的成功几率，那么几乎可以肯定其中某件事会成功。

But if you did a thousand things and every one of them had a 10% chance of working, you're pretty close to a guarantee that something's gonna work.

所以我喜欢把生活看作一个奇怪的赌场，里面的老虎机不是每次输钱都扣你钱，而是免费的。

So I like to think of life as like a strange kind of a casino with a slot machine that instead of a slot machine that takes your money every time you lose, it's free.

你只需要一整天不停地拉把手。

You just pull all day long.

明白吗？

Alright?

从这个意义上说，你无法控制好运何时到来，但你可以保证自己最终会有所收获。

So in that sense, you can't control when the luck happens, but you can guarantee that you get a a payoff.

我的意思是，这也符合这样一个观点：即使你在所有尝试的事情上都只是表现平平。

I mean, this also goes along with the concept that you could even be fairly mediocre at all the things you're trying.

因为如果你尝试很多事，就像你书里说的那样。

Because if you try lots of them, it's like what you said in your book.

一旦你真的开始被 syndicated，你的漫画技巧就会大幅提升，因为人们往往会对自己擅长的事情更加投入，而不是反过来。

Once you actually got syndicated, you found your cartooning skills got much better because people do tend to become, let's say, more passionate at what they're good at as opposed to the other way around.

是的。

Yeah.

我经历了一次完整的《绿野仙踪》时刻。

I had a total wizard of Oz moment.

如果你知道《绿野仙踪》，你就明白我在说什么了。

If you know the wizard of Oz, you'll know what I'm talking about.

当我第一次获得连环漫画家的合同后，我的绘画水平从惨不忍睹提升到了只是稍微差一点。

When I first got the contract to become a syndicated cartoonist, my level of drawing skill went from abysmal to just a little bit terrible.

我的意思是，对我来说，这已经是很大的进步了。

I mean, for me, that was a big increase.

从那以后，我也通过蛮力和练习不断进步。

And I would say since then I've improved through brute force and practice too.

这已经很不错了。

That's pretty good.

这大概就是我能达到的最好水平了。

That's about as good as I'll ever get.

但没错，事实证明，人们并不擅长了解自己真正擅长什么。

But yeah, it turns out that people are not great at knowing what they're good at.

你提到的另一件事，我非常认同，那就是整合系统的想法。

Another thing that you point out, I believe very strongly in is the idea of combining systems.

或者说是结合技能。

So or or combining skills.

是的。

Yes.

所以，你知道，比如你不必成为世界上最顶尖的数学家。

So so, you know, like, if you don't have to be great not everyone's gonna be the best mathematician in the world.

但如果你把一些生物学技能和一些数学技能结合起来，成为一位生物数学家，那么成为世界顶尖人物就容易多了。

But if you combine some skill in biology and some skill in mathematics and you become a biomathematician, then it's much easier to be the best in the world.

没错。

Yeah.

就我而言，我用自己的经历来说明这一点：如果你看看我的艺术技能，世界上没有人会说我是个真正的艺术家。

So in my case, I use myself as the example of that point, which is if you look at my artistic skill, there's no one in the world who would accuse me of being a real artist.

但这正是我的工作。

And yet that's my job.

我靠画画谋生，却不是一个好画家。

I draw stuff for a living and I'm not a good artist.

但事实证明，当我把中等水平的绘画技巧和写作技巧结合起来时——我的写作也不是能拿普利策奖的那种，但还算不错。

But it turns out that when you combine my mediocre drawing skills with my writing skills, which again are not Pulitzer Prize winning writing skills, but they're pretty good.

你知道的，我的文字很容易理解。

You know, they're accessible.

我的观点通常都很清晰，所以已经足够好了。

It's you know, my my points are usually clear, so it's good enough.

现在把这些东西结合起来，还是不够。

Now you put those things together, still not enough.

对吧？

Right?

我有点绘画技巧，有点写作技能，但还是不够。

I've got a little bit of drawing, a little bit of writing skills, still not enough.

很多人都是这样。

A lot of people have that.

但我很幸运地拥有了一段企业背景。

But then I was lucky enough to have this corporate background.

而且我很幸运地偶然发现，从这段经历中汲取素材正是观众想看的。

And again, lucky enough that I discovered somewhat accidentally that pulling from that experience was what the audience wanted to see.

这一切都不是我多年前精心策划的计划。

None of this was something that I had cleverly constructed as a plan years ago.

这仅仅是 mediocre 的技能、 mediocre 的商业、写作和艺术能力的结合。

It was just a combination of mediocre skills, mediocre business, writing, and art skills.

现在我会说，随着时间的推移，所有这些技能都提高了不少。

Now I would argue that over time, all of those skills have improved quite a bit.

我会说我现在是个还算不错的商人。

I would say I'm a reasonably good business person now.

但不算出色。

Not great.

我的意思是我不是沃伦·巴菲特。

I mean, I'm not Warren Buffett.

但我比那些从不付出努力的普通人要强。

I'm better than the average person who'd never put any effort into it.

你知道，我画画比普通人好，写作也比普通人强。

You know, I draw better than the average person, and I write better than the average person.

但如果你把这三样东西结合起来，再加一点运气和时机，那就成魔法了。

But you put those three things together and get a little luck, a little timing, and it's magic.

不过你也挺自我贬低的。

You you are you are quite self deprecating though as well.

我的意思是，你

I mean, you

我确实配得上这些自我贬低。

are I've earned all that self deprecation.

好吧。

Alright.

说得通。

Fair enough.

说得通。

Fair enough.

还有，你提到的另一个观点，我正在梳理我认为同样重要甚至比热情更重要的东西，那就是精力。

And, you know, another another point you make, and I'm kind of going through all the, all the things that I think are also the most important is more important than passion is, is energy.

你知道，我们每天的精力是有限的，最大化你在精力最充沛时的行动，远比对某件事有热情重要得多。

And, you know, we're sort of allocated this amount of energy each day and maximizing what you do when you have the most energy is incredibly important as opposed to having passion for something.

这就是你谈到营养、锻炼、睡眠，以及我们为提升精力所做的一切的时候。

And that's when you talk about nutrition and exercise and sleeping and, you know, all the things we do to maximize our energy.

我觉得这极其重要。

I think this is incredibly important.

压力也是另一个消耗精力的因素。

Stress is another thing too that takes away energy.

是的。

Yeah.

我因为把饮食和锻炼写进一本关于成功的书里，而受到了很多人的批评。

I got lots of criticism from folks for including in a book that's about success, diet and exercise.

有趣的是，这大概只是一种社会文化现象，人们喜欢把这些事情归到不同的类别里。

And interestingly, I guess that's just a social cultural kind of thing that people like to put that in a different box.

就好像，哦，这些只是我个人在做的事情，而不是我为了追求成功而做的努力之类的。

It's like, okay, that's just what I'm doing personally as opposed to what I'm doing to try to get success or whatever.

如果你把这两者分开，你就错失了最大的机会，因为我今年57岁，身体状态完美。

And if you separate those things, you've missed your biggest opportunity because I'm 57, I'm in perfect health.

只要我想，我就能一整天工作。

I can work all day if I want to.

我每天六点起床，那时我的精力最充沛，我会做那些最需要精力的事情——创意类工作。

I get up at six when my energy is best and I do the things which require the most energy, the creative stuff.

然后我会等到一天中晚些时候，大脑已经疲惫不堪时，再做那些机械性的绘画和填色工作。

And then I wait till later in the day when my brain is kind of mush and I do the mindless drawing and filling in the lines of my art.

如果我把这两件事反过来做，我根本不会有今天的职业生涯。

And if I were to just simply reverse those two things, I wouldn't even have a career.

我的意思是，这影响巨大。

I mean, it's a gigantic impact.

你在一天中状态最好的时刻——大脑运转顺畅、灵感迸发时——和下午三点昏昏沉沉、吃了太多碳水化合物、想打瞌睡时的想法，差别有多大。

The difference between your best moment of the day, when your brain is clicking, you've got it, everything's happening.

你在那种状态下产生的想法，和你下午三点大脑迟钝、吃太多碳水、想睡觉时的思维，根本没法比。

What idea you come up with then, your inspiration then versus your dull brained 03:00 in the afternoon, I ate too many carbs, I need a nap kind of thinking.

我的意思是，那根本就不是同一个人。

I mean, those are that's not even the same person.

你知道吗？

You know?

我的意思是，差别实在太大了。

I mean, there's such a difference.

你知道，人们喜欢看看过去十五年、二十年里流行的自助类书籍。

You know, I I think people like, look at look at the popular self help books of, let's say, the past fifteen, twenty years.

比如《秘密》这本书。

You know, you have the secret.

所以人们想要一个秘诀。

So people people want a secret.

他们不愿意简单地被告知，神奇的公式就是每天睡八小时，这可能是你获得能量最有效的方法。

They don't they don't wanna simply be told that the magic equation is sleep eight hours a day, which is probably the most valuable thing you can do to have energy.

睡眠的目的就是连接并完全恢复大脑，为第二天做好准备。

That's what sleep is for, is to connect the reenergize the brain completely for the next day.

这其中没有任何秘诀。

And there is no secret to it.

是的。

Yeah.

是的。

Yeah.

从某种意义上说，这很有趣。

In a sense, it's funny.

我在书中收到的两种批评是截然相反的。

The the two criticisms criticisms I got in the book were were opposites.

一种批评是：不要在一本关于成功的书中加入关于饮食、锻炼和精力的内容。

One was, don't include that stuff about diet and exercise and energy in a book about success.

另一群人则说：你讲的都是太明显的事情。

And another group saying, you're saying things that are too obvious.

我们早就知道了。

We already know this.

但我知道他们并不懂，因为你只要走在美洲的街头，看看人们，就会发现他们还没明白：如果我能把身体调整好，我生活中的方方面面都会变好。

But I know that they don't know that because you just have to walk down the street in America and look at people and they haven't figured out the whole, if I get my body working, then everything in my life is better.

如果你的身体状态良好，身材健壮、健康，你的社交生活也会更好。

If your body is working, you're fit and you're healthy and all that, your social life is better.

你会获得更多的工作机会。

You get more job opportunities.

你可以工作更长的时间，创造出更好的东西。

You can work better hours, create better things.

这一切都始于这一点。

It all kind of starts with that.

所以，如果你跳过这一部分，你真的有在努力吗？

So if you skip over that part, are you really even trying?

我甚至可以说，如果你在乎成功，却还没有先照顾好你的身体工具，那你根本就没有在努力。

I would go so far as to say, if you care about success and you haven't taken care of your physical tool first, you're not even trying.

我创办过很多公司。

So I have started many companies.

有些做得不错，有些则没那么好。

Some did well, some did not do as well.

我也运营过许多公司。

I've also run many companies.

我为许多公司提供建议，并参与了招聘流程的各个方面——有时我需要招聘CEO，有时是软件开发者、设计师，有时是销售或业务拓展负责人。

I've advised many companies, and I've been involved in all aspects of the hiring process, whether sometimes I would have to hire a CEO, but sometimes software developer, sometimes designer, sometimes head of sales or business development.

我参与了企业运营的方方面面，而招聘可能是你创业时最重要的一件事。

I've been involved in basically every aspect of running a business, and hiring is maybe the most important thing you could do when you start a business.

所以，我要给你一条建议，它和我在这里谈论的内容相关。

So I'm gonna give you one piece of advice, and it's related to what I'm talking about here.

你知道吗，我以前以为自己很节俭，因为我总想以最低的成本雇人。

You know, I used to think I was frugal because I would try to find employees as cheaply as possible.

你知道，找些年轻、刚起步的人之类的。

You know, someone young, just starting out, whatever.

但我现在明白，作为一家公司，找到你领域里最优秀的人，你会做得好得多。

But what I've learned is you do so much better as a business finding the best person in your field.

如果你需要一位销售总监，就找最好的销售总监。

If you want a head of sales, find the best head of sales.

如果你需要一位软件开发者，就雇最好的软件开发者。

If you want a software developer, hire the best software developer.

这最终会为你省钱，但也会为你节省大量时间、减少无数烦恼和焦虑。

It'll ultimately will save you money, but it'll also save you so much time, so much aggravation, so much anxiety.

这些都是你需要保护的东西。

These are all things you need to preserve.

正确地招聘真的非常重要。

It's really important to hire correctly.

当你经营企业时，你的大脑每天24小时、每周7天都想着生意。

When you're running a business, your mind is on your business twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.

当企业家的问题就在于，你永远无法把工作留在办公室。

That's the problem with being an entrepreneur is you never leave the work at the office.

所以，在招聘时，你需要一个和你一样努力的合作伙伴。

So when you're hiring, you need a partner that works just as hard as you do.

我发现，一个绝佳的招聘伙伴是LinkedIn招聘。

I have found that a great hiring partner is LinkedIn jobs.

当你下班时，LinkedIn才刚刚开始工作。

When you clock out, LinkedIn clocks in.

LinkedIn让你可以免费发布职位，分享给你的社交网络，并在一个平台上管理合格的候选人。

LinkedIn makes it easy to post your job for free, share with your network, get qualified candidates that you can manage all in one place.

我发现这是一个寻找合适人才的绝佳平台，因为有数百万人在LinkedIn上，其中数百万都是合格的人才。

And I find this is such a great platform to find people for your job because millions of people are on LinkedIn, millions of qualified people.

以下是它的运作方式。

Here's how it works.

你发布职位。

You post your job.

LinkedIn 的新功能帮助你撰写职位描述，并快速将职位展示给合适的人选。

LinkedIn's new feature helps you write job descriptions and then quickly get your job in front of the right people.

免费发布职位，或付费推广。

Post your job for free, or you pay to promote it.

推广的职位能获得三倍以上的合格候选人。

Promoted jobs get three times more qualified candidates.

你将获得合格的候选人。

You get qualified candidates.

归根结底，这对你的企业来说是最重要的事。

At the end of the day, this is the most important thing to your business.

关键是这些候选人的质量。

It's the quality of those candidates.

根据 LinkedIn 的数据，72% 使用 LinkedIn 的中小企业表示，LinkedIn 帮助他们找到了高质量的候选人。

Based on LinkedIn data, 72% of small and medium businesses using LinkedIn say that LinkedIn helps them find high quality candidates.

这是很好的信息。

That's good information.

你与你的网络分享。

You share with your network.

因此，当你在LinkedIn上时，你的整个商业网络都知道你在招聘。

So when you're on LinkedIn, your whole business network knows you're hiring.

现在就了解为什么超过250万家中小企业今天使用LinkedIn进行招聘。

So find out now why more than 2,500,000 small businesses use LinkedIn for hiring today.

在LinkedIn上找到你的下一位优秀人才。

Find your next great hire on LinkedIn.

你可以免费发布职位，网址是 linkedin.com/altiture。

You can post your job for free at linkedin.com/altiture.

要免费发布职位，请访问 linkedin.com/altiture。

That's linkedin.com/altiture to post your job for free.

适用条款和条件。

Terms and conditions apply.

我认为，在很多情况下，这并不是对人们的批评，但也许有时候人们只是想找一个借口，解释为什么某件事没有成功。

I think I think people, in many cases and this is not really a criticism of people, but I think maybe sometimes people wanna have an excuse why something hasn't worked out.

比如，有一个人给我写信说，我按照你的建议，每天写下十个点子，也坚持锻炼和保证睡眠。

So for instance, I had one person write me and said, I'm following your advice about, you know, writing down 10 ideas a day, and I'm I'm I'm exercising and and sleeping.

但到了周五晚上，我和朋友出去喝酒，他们却嘲笑我的所有想法。

And then on Friday night, I go out drinking with my friends, and my friends laugh at all my ideas.

然后他说，我该怎么办？

And and he said, what should I do?

我回信说，周五晚上就待在家里吧。

And I wrote back, and I said, stay at home Friday night.

别再周五晚上出去了。

Like, don't don't go out anymore on Friday night.

之后我就再也没有收到他的消息了。

And I never heard from him again.

是的。

Yeah.

我可能会加上找新朋友。

I I might have added find new friends.

嗯。

Yeah.

找新朋友是另一个建议。

Find new friends is another one.

不过也许在周四晚上，那些朋友会支持他。

Although maybe on Thursday night, those same friends would have been supportive of him.

我不确定。

I didn't have I don't know.

我只是知道在周五晚上，他们专门贬低他。

I just know on Friday night, they specifically were trashing him.

嗯。

Yeah.

我给人们的建议之一是基于我最初整理《呆伯特》漫画并投稿给联合刊发时的个人经历。

One of one of the pieces of advice I I give to people is based on my own experience when I was first assembling my Dilbert comics to submit to syndication.

我大约准备了50份样本，只想寄出最好的那些。

I had about 50 of them in sample form, and I wanted to only send the best ones.

所以我让朋友们一个接一个地来帮我把这50幅漫画分成好的和差的，这样我就能只寄出好的那些。

So I would have my friends come in one at a time to help me sort my 50 comics into the good ones and the bad ones so I could just send the good ones.

结果发现，我的朋友们意见完全不一致。

And it turns out that my friends were all over the map.

他们分不清，或者对哪些是好作品、哪些是差作品都有不同的看法。

They couldn't tell, or they all had different opinions about what was a good one and what was a bad one.

所以最后，我把所有的都寄出去了。

So in the end, I just sent them all.

但从那以后，结合无数其他例子，我明白了：人们无法判断一个好点子。

But I've learned from that and a million other examples since then that people cannot tell a good idea.

明白吗？

All right?

根本没人有那么聪明。

Just no one is that smart.

你无法挑选出一只好股票。

You can't pick a good stock.

没人有那么聪明。

No one's that smart.

你可能会走运，但你无法确知。

You can get lucky, but you can't know.

当人们看到一个好点子时，没人能认出来。

And nobody knows a good idea when they see it.

所以当你告诉朋友你的想法，他们全都嘲笑你时，你心里应该记住的不是：天啊。

So when you tell your friends your idea and they all laugh at you, what you should be registering in your mind is not, oh my god.

看来这真是个糟糕的想法。

I guess this is a bad idea after all.

你心里应该播放的录音是：人们不知道什么是好点子。

The tape that you should be playing in your mind is people don't know what a good idea is.

这真的没错。

It's it's really true.

比如，你知道Twitter最初的故事吗？

Like, do you know do you know the story of the very beginning of Twitter?

我可能知道。

I might.

帮我回忆一下。

Refresh my memory.

最初是一家叫Odeo的公司，他们在开发播客软件，说起来挺讽刺的，毕竟我们现在就在做播客。

So so it was a company initially called Odeo, and they were setting up software for podcasts, ironically, given that we're on a podcast.

而且它确实没有成功。

And it wasn't really working out.

所以他们私下里做了这个项目，人们用140个字符互相发送消息。

So they worked on this project on the side, which people sending messages back and forth and a 140 characters.

然后他们决定，看，这个变得有趣了。

And they decided, look, this is getting interesting.

我们有一万用户左右。

We have 10,000 users or whatever.

让我们专注于这个吧。

Let's devote ourselves to this.

所以，埃文·威廉姆斯，作为CEO，他去找了所有投资Odeo的风险资本家。

So Ev Williams, who was the CEO, he went to all the professional venture capitalists that had invested in Odeo.

他对他们说：听着。

And he said, look.

Odeo没有成功，但你们可以选择继续投资，我们将专注于我们一直在做的这个小项目。

Odeo is not working out, but you're welcome to stay in, and we're gonna focus on this other little project that we've been working on.

或者，我会以成本价全额退还你们的投资。

Or I will take you out completely at cost.

你们不会损失一分钱，由你们决定。

You won't lose a dime, and it's up to you.

而这100%的专业投资者都撤出了对Twitter的投资。

And a 100% of these professional investors all took their money out of Twitter.

所以，没错，这简直是个再好不过的例子了，因为如果你来找我说，我要开发一个能让人发送消息的东西，我会说：别做了，这东西已经存在了。

Well so, yeah, there could not be a better example because if you had come to me and said, I'm going to develop this thing that lets you send the message to people, I'd say stop already exists.

我们已经有电子邮件了。

We have something called email.

你别说，等等，等等。

You go, no, wait, wait.

这比那更好。

It's better than that.

它严格限制了你能写的内容，少得令人烦恼。

It really limits how much you can write to an annoyingly small amount.

我会说：见鬼。

And I'd be like, ass.

我怎么把钱拿回来？

How can I get my money out?

我要走了。

I'm out of here.

我的意思是，从表面上看，这根本说不通。

I mean, there's nothing about that that on the surface would make sense.

你可以顺着这条线找到无数你原本无法预测或预测错误的例子。

And you can go right down the line and find so many examples of things that you would not have predicted or that you predicted wrong.

然而，这并不会阻止你去追求各种想法，当然。

And yet, this doesn't stop you from pursuing ideas, of course.

正如你提到的，你开过餐厅。

As you mentioned, you've opened restaurants.

你还做过Dilburrito。

You did the Dilburrito.

你还做过其他一些你认为不错的想法。

You've done other things that you've had other ideas that you thought were good.

是的。

Yeah.

还有很多其他想法，但我从这些想法中找到了价值。

Lots of other ideas, but I find value in the idea.

所以我相当认真地认为，糟糕的想法也有其价值。

So one of the things that I'm pretty serious about is that bad ideas have value.

换句话说，如果我给你十个糟糕的点子，这些点子可能没有任何价值。

In other words, if I give you 10 bad ideas, those probably didn't have any value.

但如果它们让你想到了一个好点子，那就会觉得：哦，这十个点子虽然糟，却让我想到了这个主意。

But if it made you think of one that was good, it's like, oh, those 10 ideas were bad, but that makes me think of this idea.

所以，好点子是通过坏点子得来的。

So the way you get to good ideas is through bad ideas.

明白吗？

All right?

几乎从没有过这种情况：有人坐在空房间里，突然说：啊，好主意。

There's almost never a time when somebody just sits there in a blank room and says, ah, good idea.

你不可能直接从这里跳到那里。

You don't go from here to there.

你必须先经过那些糟糕的点子。

You go through the bad ones first.

所以，坏点子越多越好，只要它们解释得清楚。

So the more bad ideas, the better, as long as they're well explained.

我尤其会在我的博客上这么做。

And I try to do that on my blog in particular.

我对自己的任何文字都不声称它们有意义。

I make no claim to anything I write that even makes sense.

它们可能是个好观点，对世界或其他方面有好处，但我确实清楚地表达了自己的想法。

It's a good opinion, good for the world or anything else, but I do explain myself clearly.

在这个过程中，我想人们会说：我不同意你的观点，但你让我开始以不同的方式思考。

And in that process, I think people say, I don't agree with that, but you're making me think differently than I was before.

而这可能会引出一些好的想法。

And maybe that leads to something good.

你知道，关于所谓的一堆坏主意，它可能就是我所说的‘主意性交’。

You know, and also the thing about, let's say a list of bad ideas is it could be what I call idea sex.

两个坏主意结合在一起，实际上可能产生负一加负一等于三的效果。

The two two bad ideas put together, it actually could be the case that negative one plus negative one equals three.

没错。

Yeah.

我的意思是，我一时想不出具体的例子，但我感觉我应该能想出来。

I mean, I can't think of an example of that right offhand, but I feel like I should be able to.

我想不出来，嗯，140个字符加上互联网。

I can't think, well, a 140 characters plus the Internet.

我不知道。

I don't know.

也许吧。

Maybe Yeah.

结果证明这是个好主意。

That turned out to be a good idea.

你现在已经画《呆伯特》二十五年或更久了。

Now you've you've been doing this you've been doing Dilbert for twenty five years or more.

这会永远持续下去吗？

Is this is this gonna continue forever?

你有没有想过，比如说，好了。

Do you ever think about, like, okay.

我要休息一下。

I'm gonna take a break.

我要停下了。

I'm gonna stop.

我每天都会想到这个问题，对此我感到很矛盾。

I think about that literally every day, and I have mixed feelings about it.

我的意思是，既然做这件事并不难，我就很难停下来，因为首先，很多人依赖我所做的事。

I mean, since it isn't hard to do, it would be hard for me to stop because first of all, a lot of people depend on the things I do.

这属于前1%的难题之一，我可以称之为‘蜘蛛侠问题’。

And this is one of those top one percenter problems, which is that I'll call it the Spider Man problem.

能力越大，责任越大。

That with great power comes great responsibility.

我处于一种奇怪的境地：如果我花一小时工作，我所创造的经济活动和价值，我想，比普通人工作一小时要多得多。

I'm in this weird situation where if I spend an hour of my time working, I produce more economic activity and value, I guess, than the average person working an hour.

而且要多很多，因为我处于这样一个幸运的位置。

And it's a lot more because I'm in this lucky position.

所以我感觉有责任继续保持高效，不仅作为榜样，我认为没有什么比致富后就退出更糟糕的了。

So I feel like this responsibility to continue to be productive, both as in a role model way, I don't think there could be anything worse than getting rich and quitting.

你会做什么？

What would you do?

我会做什么？

What would I do?

是的。

Yeah.

我可能之前提到过，我现在参与了一个叫 Calendar Tree 的初创公司，网址是 calendartree.com。

So I may have mentioned before that now I'm involved in a startup called Calendar Tree, calendartree.com.

我注册了。

I signed up for it.

谢谢。

Thank you.

它所做的就是解决一个普遍的常见问题：有人发给你一长串关于运动、活动或任何组织的日程，你不想手动把它们重新输入到电脑里。

All that does is solve a universal common problem, which is that somebody sends you a schedule of a long bunch of events for some sport or activity or whatever organization, you don't wanna have to retype it manually into your computer.

所以我们把它变成日历树中的一个链接，然后你可以用这个链接将其添加到你已有的日历中。

So instead we turn it into a link in a calendar tree, and then you can use the link to add it to the calendar you already have.

所以它解决了一个非常小的问题，但我发现这非常令人满足，因为这是一个真实的问题，而且没有其他解决方案。

So it solves a very small problem, but I found that very satisfying because it's a real problem and there's not a other solution.

于是我们把它剥离出来并解决了它。

So we took that out and solved it.

这对我来说很有意义。

And that's meaningful to me.

而且在一个人们越来越转向个体创业、一两人初创公司的情况下，每个人都有不同的日历。

And also in a world where people are moving towards solopreneurship, one or two man startups, everybody's got different calendars.

所以你试图安排时间的每个人都有不同的日历。

So everyone that you're trying to schedule with has different calendars.

而你能够独立于特定日历的这一点很有价值。

And the fact that you're sort of a calendar independent is valuable.

是的。

Yeah.

所以这是一个复杂的世界，我们只是构建了一个小小的产品，来简化这个领域中的一小部分。

So it's a complicated world, and we just built one little product that simplifies just this one little part of it.

现在，我们希望扩展功能，解决日程安排领域中一系列相关的问题。

Now we hope to expand to solve a bunch of related problems in the scheduling field.

但目前，我们感到很欣慰，因为我们完成了这一件事，人们正在使用它，并且感到满意。

But for now it feels good that we've done this one thing, people are using it and they're happy.

你们现在有多少用户？

And how many users do you have?

目前用户数量在几千左右。

It's in the low thousands right now.

我们现在正从底层开始重写代码，以提升可扩展性，因为我们发现人们喜欢它，而且它确实有效。

We're we're in the process of rewriting the code from from the bottom up to make it more scalable now that we've discovered that people like it and it works.

所以我们要等到这项工作完成后再进行大规模推广，我们希望再过一两个月就能完成。

So we're gonna wait for a big push until that's done, we hope in another month or two.

那么，你们有推出应用程序吗？

Well, do you have it as an app?

我是假设，对于手机端，你们都已经设置好了？

Like, for I'm assuming for a mobile, you you have it all set?

目前我们还没有应用，因为最常用的场景是你创建一个日程并发送给他人。

Right now, we don't have an app because the most popular use for it would be you'd create a schedule that you're sending out to someone.

所以作为接收方，你可以将它接收到了智能手机上，点击链接直接添加到你的日历中。

So it works if you're the receiver, you can receive it onto your smartphone and just click the link and add it to your calendar.

但如果你是创建者，可能就不想在手机上创建一个很长的日程，因为那会太繁琐。

But if you're the one creating it, you probably don't wanna create a long schedule on a phone because it would just be too tedious.

所以目前它只是一个网页应用，但将来我们会有移动应用。

So at the moment, it's just a web app, but someday we'll have a mobile app.

或者，如果我是接收方，比如我正在公交车上，手里拿着手机，收到了一个日程请求。

Or if I'm receiving though, could be like, let's say I'm on a bus and I have my phone and I'm receiving a calendar request.

我想问的是，我会在 Calendar Tree 上收到它吗？

Well, I guess, would I be receiving it on Calendar Tree?

如果有人给我发了一个 Google 日历的请求，那会怎样？

What if somebody sends me a Google Calendar, request?

哦，Calendar Tree 的工作方式是，如果组织者创建了一个日程，他们可以将其转换为一个链接，并通过任何方式发送这个链接。

Oh, so the way Calendar Tree works is that if the organizer creates a schedule, they can turn that into a link that they can send out any way you can send the link.

所以他们可以通过社交媒体、Twitter、Facebook 或电子邮件发送。

So they can send it through social media, Twitter, Facebook, or email.

电子邮件是最常见的方式。

Email is the most common.

所以以你坐公交车的例子来说，你会查看邮件，然后收到一封邮件，说你认识的某人发给你一个日程，点击这里添加到你的日历。

So on your bus example, you would check your mail and there'd be an email and say, somebody you know has sent you this, click here to add it to your calendar.

然后你只需点击并选择：我是苹果日历、我是谷歌日历，还是我是 Outlook 日历，它就会自动添加进去。

And then you just click and say, I'm a Apple calendar or I'm a Google calendar or I'm an Outlook calendar, and it adds it.

所以它是针对多个事件的。

So it was for multiple events.

显然，如果有人只发给你一个事件，你其实根本不需要任何工具。

Obviously, if somebody sends you one event, you don't really need anything.

是的。

Yeah.

这很有趣。

So that's interesting.

所以你实际上挺喜欢商业世界的。

So you basically like the business world.

你写这方面的内容。

You write about it.

你写博客谈这个。

You blog about it.

你正在创业。

You're starting a business.

你以前也创办过其他企业。

You've started other businesses.

你考虑过为这个融资吗？

You thought about raising money for this?

嗯，目前我们的资金是充足的。

Well, right now, we're we're adequately funded.

我们开始进行这些对话。

We started having the conversations.

但在一个月或两个月后我们完成重写之前，我不想太认真地去寻求资金，因为我想让人们清楚他们能得到什么，而几个月后我们会有一个更好的产品展示给他们。

But until we do the rewrite in a month or two, I don't wanna get too serious about asking for money because I want people to know what they're getting, and we'll have a much better thing to show them in a couple months.

如果能有一个不错的、甚至是一家企业客户接受这个作为他们的日历，而不是使用谷歌日历、微软日历或其他任何系统，那也会很好。

It would be good also to get like a good one good, maybe even corporate client to accept this as their calendar versus using Google Calendar or Microsoft or whatever.

我们是一个日历替代品。

Well, we're a calendar replacement.

我们只是提供一种方式

We're just a way to

把你想要的任何日程安排同步到不同的日历上。

get whatever schedules you'd like to get on calendars onto any different calendar.

但没错，我们也在考虑企业客户，希望能一下子获得较大的市场影响力。

But yeah, we're looking at corporate types as a way to get kind of a big footprint right at once.

或者甚至是一些他们并不期望所有人都使用相同软件的场景，比如聚会类型、教会之类的场合，那里的人们不会都用同样的日历系统。

Or even something where they don't expect everybody to have the same software, like, let's say, a meetup type situation or a church or whatever, where not everybody's gonna have the same calendar system.

是的。

Yeah.

这最理想。

That's ideal.

事实上，我们现在在calendartree.com上发布了一些主要体育赛事的日程。

In fact, what we do right now on calendartree.com, we put some of the major sports schedules up there.

你不需要成为Calendar Tree的会员。

You don't have to be a member of calendar tree.

你不需要注册。

You don't have to sign up.

你只需访问网站，点击一下就能添加到你的日历。

You could just go up there and click and add it to your calendar.

我们展示的是，像NFL、NHL或美国职业棒球大联盟这样的机构可以发推文提供一个链接，任何收到的人都可以说：嘿。

We're showing that someone like the NFL, NHL, or Major League Baseball could tweet out a link, and anybody who got it could say, hey.

让我把巨人队的赛程添加到我的手机上。

Let me add the Giants schedule to my phone.

你应该和一家叫Ticketfly的公司合作，虽然人人都说你应该做这个做那个，但你真的该去联系他们。

You should do a deal with, I'm sure everybody says you should do this or you should do that, but, you should talk to a company called Ticketfly.

他们就像Ticketmaster，但处理成千上万的活动，而且在社交媒体方面比Ticketmaster更精通。

They're like Ticketmaster, but they deal with tens of thousands of events, and they are much more savvy with social media than Ticketmaster.

这是一家很有趣的公司。

It's just an interesting company.

是的。

Yeah.

我们已经和事件领域及票务领域的公司谈过了，这个领域非常拥挤。

We've talked to the companies that are in the event space and the ticketing space, and it's pretty crowded.

目前，我们并不打算进入票务这个领域。

And we're at the moment, we're not going after that ticketing kind of world.

我可以看到也许有一天我们可能会涉足那里。

I could see maybe that happening someday down the road.

但现在，我们专注于解决一个很小的问题，并提供完整的解决方案。

But right now, we're going for a pretty limited problem and a full solution to a small problem.

而且，这再次将你的经济学技能与你过去二十年在互联网上的经验相结合。

And, again, it's kind of combining your economic skills with probably your experiences on the Internet over the past twenty years.

所以实际上很有趣的是，我现在做的创业、漫画创作以及其他事情之间有多少关联，因为它们都关乎创造力，都是思维上的工程。

So It's actually interesting how much of the startup and the cartooning and the other stuff I'm doing is related because it's all creativity and it's all engineering in your mind.

就像我想到一个新的商业模式、一种创造金钱和价值的前所未有的方式时所获得的兴奋感，与我想到写博客文章或画漫画的点子时的兴奋感完全一样。

It's like the thrill I get from thinking of a new business model, a way to create money and value that had not been thought of before is exactly the thrill I get when I have an idea for writing a blog post or writing a comic.

是的。

Yeah.

这很有趣，因为我觉得，比如说我持有一只股票，股价下跌了，我会感到失望。

It's interesting because I find like, let's say I own a stock and the stock goes down, I'm disappointed.

但如果那天我写了一篇好的博客文章，尽管它们完全不相关，比如在一种情况下，我实际上在亏钱。

But if I wrote a good blog post that day, even though they're completely unrelated, like in one case, I'm actually losing money.

在另一种情况下，这对我的职业生涯几乎没有任何影响。

In another case, it almost means nothing to any aspect of my career.

但好的博客文章让我感觉非常好，以至于它超过了亏钱带来的坏心情。

But I feel so good from the good blog post that it outweighs the bad feeling of losing money.

顺便说一下，我认为你的博客是一种系统，因为你并没有设定具体的金钱目标。

By the way, I would argue that your blogging is a system in the sense that you don't have a specific monetary goal.

你并不是说，只要我写这么多博客，就能赚到多少钱。

You're not saying if I blog this much, I get x dollars.

但我之所以同意参加这个播客，是因为我读过你的文章。

But the only reason that I agree to this podcast is because I've read your writing.

所以我来这里，是因为我是你文字的粉丝。

So I'm here because I'm a fan of your writing.

否则，我根本不会来。

Otherwise, I wouldn't be here.

所以，你通过博客间接地提高了好事发生的概率，而这正是我这么做的原因。

So you so you have increased your your odds of something good happening in some indirect way through your blogging, which is exactly why I do it, by the way.

所以我写博客，是因为它带来了《华尔街日报》的邀约、图书合约和授权合作。

So I I blog because it has produced, you know, requests from the Wall Street Journal to do things, book, book deals have come out of that, licensing deals.

而这些其实都不是我刻意规划的。

And I don't really plan any of that.

这些只是顺其自然发生的事情。

Those are just the things that happen.

你说得对。

You're absolutely right.

而且，顺便说一下，正是当我加入危险元素后，我的所有机会才突然打开。

And it's specifically, by the way, when I added the danger component that all my opportunities opened up.

在此之前，我只会写一些商业或股票之类的内容，但都非常主流，毫无特色。

Before then, I would kind of write about business or stocks or whatever, but it was very mainstream and nothing.

对任何人都没有意义。

It meant nothing to anybody.

但一旦我开始真正透露个人隐私，就像你说的，那些令人尴尬的事情，突然间每个人都想联系我，机会 literally 往我身上砸。

But once I was really kind of revealing personal things and, like you say, embarrassing things, suddenly everybody wanted to you know, opportunities were literally thrown at me.

我不得不学会说不，因为之前我总是对所有事情都说好。

I had to learn how to say no before I was saying yes to everything.

是的。

Yeah.

嗯。

Yeah.

你把它变得个人化了。

You made it personal.

这真的产生了很大的不同。

That really made a difference.

那么，《呆伯特》对你来说有多个人化呢？

And how how personal is is Dilbert to you?

嗯，你知道的，《呆伯特》是我个性中很大一部分的体现。

Well, you know, Dilbert is a big part of my personality put into the character.

所以，那些社交尴尬的部分，我一半像机器人一样的部分，我倾向于关注理性的一面，而忽略情感和魔幻的一面。

So these socially awkward parts, the the part of me that's, half robot half the time, and I tend to look at the rational side and discount the emotional magical side.

因此，他身上有很多我的影子，但我没有他那样的工程或数学能力，所以在这方面我不具备可比性。

So he's a lot of me in there, but I don't have his engineering or math skills, so I'm not compatible that way.

其他角色则体现我个性的某些方面，我加以夸张，因为很难直接刻画他人的个性。

And then the other characters have some aspect of my personality that I exaggerate because it's hard to rate someone else's personality.

你必须找到属于你自己的某个特点，来塑造这个角色。

You have to find something about you that works for that character.

无论你多么有抱负，你肯定能理解想逃避工作、偷懒的感觉。

No matter how ambitious you are, you certainly can relate to trying to get out of work and being lazy.

所以我把这一点融入了瓦利这个角色。

So I put that into Wally.

因此，我总能找到自己性格中某个缺陷来加以利用。

So there's always some flawed part of my personality I can capitalize on.

在你的博客中，你制造危险感的方式似乎并不是过于坦露个人隐私，而是真正地玩弄想法。

It seems like with your blog, the way you kind of inject danger in there is not necessarily being too personally revealing, but you really play with ideas.

你把想法推向极端，看看人们会如何反应。

And you take ideas to an extreme and kind of see how people react to it.

无论你谈论的是以色列，还是我们是否是一个二维实验，你更多是在玩弄想法，测试人们的反应。

Whether you're talking about Israel or are we a two dimensional experiment or whatever, you play more with ideas and kind of test the reaction of people.

我想知道，你有多大的程度是故意把想法推向极端，以观察是引发强烈反应还是微弱反应。

And I'm curious how much you take it to an extreme on purpose to see if you get huge reaction versus little reaction.

嗯，其中一部分当然是戏剧性的，因为如果内容不有趣，没人会读。

Well, some of it is, of course, theater in the sense that if it's not interesting, no one's gonna read it.

所以，没错，我会在博客标题中选择一些能吸引人的标题。

So, yeah, I do pick headlines, for example, in blog titles that try to draw people in.

因此，带有一点耸人听闻的成分，但我尽量在正文中坚持事实、保持理性，并在我不确定时明确指出。

So there's a little bit of sensationalism, but I try within the body of the thing to stick to facts and to stick to reason and to call out when I don't know something.

但我的写作中有趣且最让我惹麻烦的地方在于，世界已经习惯了人们非此即彼，而我通常引发最大争议的做法是说：‘这一边也有点道理。’

But what's interesting about my writing and the thing that gets me in the most trouble is that the world is so accustomed to people being on one side or the other side that typically what I do that causes the most trouble is I say, Oh, there's a little bit of a point on this side.

那一边也有点道理，也许中间还存在你从未想过的东西。

There's a little bit of a point on this side, and maybe there's something in the middle you hadn't thought about yet.

天啊，当你这么做的时候，两边都会恨你，因为——

Man, both sides hate you when you do that because-

是的，他们无法接受这一点，因为除非你同意他们的观点，否则你就是错的。

Yeah, they can't handle that because unless you agree with them, you're wrong.

没错。

Yeah.

这真的仅仅停留在你所说的范围之内。

It really doesn't go beyond just what you said.

所以这就是危险所在。

So that's the danger.

我花了一段时间才让那些无法接受这一点的博客读者离开。

And it took me a while to drive away the blog readers who couldn't handle that.

但我想我现在已经做到了。

But I think I have at this point.

这很有趣，因为我特别倾向于写更多个人故事，而不是观点类文章，因为人们会彻底疯狂。

It's interesting because I specifically do more of the personal stories as opposed to the opinion stories because people just go insane.

简直就像是你通过强迫他们跟你争论，助长了社会的精神疾病。

Like, it's almost like you're contributing to the mental illness of society by forcing them to to argue with you.

在我制造麻烦的类型中，我最近最喜欢的一个假设是：如果你能消除某些风险，股市可能会永久性地维持一个更高的盈利倍数。

My favorite in the making trouble genre was recently when I hypothesized that the stock market could go to a new permanently higher earnings multiple and stay there if you drove out some of the risk.

而我所识别的风险，是那些专业顾问普遍是骗子和傻瓜，把运气当作技能来兜售。

And the risk that I identified was the risk of all the professional advisers who were largely scammers and idiots and using luck and trying to sell it as a skill.