顾燕芳翁志勇:他山之石,可以攻玉

来源:百度文库 编辑:偶看新闻 时间:2024/03/29 21:57:22

作者: Charlie Gilkey  发表日期:2009/5/26

Have you ever lost your keys, looked for them in earnest, and couldn’t find them, only to find them later when you weren’t looking for them? Somehow, as soon as you stop looking for them, your brain started piecing together the clues and put them together without you working on it.

你曾经丢失过钥匙吗?当你花费很大力气去找却找不到,但是当你不去找的时候反而又找到了。不知怎么回事,一旦当你停止寻找的话,其实你并没有刻意去做,然而你的脑子便开始把一些线索试图拼揍到一起。

It turns out that the creative process can sometimes be like this, too. If you’re stuck on a problem and can’t find the answer, one of the best things you can do is to “look away” for a while. But to look away, you have to really look away, meaning you have to divert enough of your attention to something else while you’re looking away.

这就证明了创造性思维有时候也是这样迸发出来的。假如当你死磕一个问题而无力解决,最好你能对问题先置之不理。说不理就不能理,必须得把所有的注意力转向另一个点。

But…before you look away, state the problem to yourself as specifically as possible. For instance, don’t say “I’m having trouble writing this blog post” – drill down to where you’re having the trouble. Is it the introduction? Is it piecing together a couple of the ideas? Is it expressing an idea in the context of the post? The problem with the general creative puzzle is that it’s too big to piece together, but if you focus on just one component of it, then some headway can be made on it.

但是,当转移注意力前,要尽可能明确问题所在。例如,不要抱怨“我写不了这篇博文。”而是要仔细研究问题出在哪。简介?思路串联不到一块?不知道怎么表达?一般这类问题是因为想法太多而不能拼揍到一块,但是当你把注意力集中到一点的时候,说不定就有出路了。

What many of us don’t realize about the creative puzzles we run into is that, very often, there are multiple components to the puzzle. The first component is what I’ll call the cognitive component; this component has to do with just the aspects of the problem that can be solved purely by thinking about the problem. The second component of the problem is the emotional component; this component often doesn’t have to do with the problem itself, but is often what keeps us from being able to see the solution to the problem.

我们中的很多人根本就没有意识到有很多因素才造成了自己的疑惑。第一点:我把它称作“认识力”。这个因素涉及到的是:一厢情愿地认为仅仅靠着思考就能解决这个问题。第二点:“主观情绪”。这一点通常不涉及问题本身,但是它却经常影响着我们不能找到问题的解决方案。

Think about this for a second. How often have you gotten stuck on something and then tried to force yourself to find the answer? Or how many times have you let what’s a momentary mental pause turn into layers of insecurity, self-doubt, frustration, anger, impatience, or depression? At that point, very little of your mental energy is being directed at the actual problem and instead is diverted to the emotional tempest you’re brewing.

考虑一下。有多少次你是在死磕一个问题,并强迫自己去解决它?或者说,有多少次一时精神上的放松便转化成了不安全,自我怀疑,沮丧,愤怒,急躁或抑郁的心理?就在那状态下,你的精力很少是放在实际问题上,而是情绪会越来越糟。

The trick here is in knowing yourself well enough to know when it’s just a mental hiccup, in which case you just need to refocus, and when it’s time to step away from the problem before you get overwhelmed by it. In the latter case, the worst thing you can do is try to force yourself to find the answer.

这时候,你要暗示自己这只是一个暂时性的小问题。同时,转移自己的注意力,在你不堪重负之前远离这个问题。在以后的某个时候,说不定就“柳暗花明又一村”了。

Instead, look away from the problem by exercising, walking around, going to a store, or talking to someone about it. The first three work because physical movement tends to encourage thinking, and the latter works because you’re probably not articulating as much of the negative emotional energy and more of the actual problem when you talk to someone else. The activities themselves, though, have to be immersive enough that the problem itself isn’t what you’re focusing on. It may seem odd, then, that I’m recommending talking to someone about the problem, but rich conversations often require enough concentration that the maintenance of the conversation is what has more of your focus than the content of the conversation.

换言之,要通过锻炼,散步,逛街或者聊天来忘记这些问题。前三项是通过运动来促进了思考。聊天呢,可以让你在和别人闲聊的时候,不会带有很多的负面情绪和面对正在解决的实际问题。但是,你是不是真正沉浸在这些活动中,而没有去考虑问题。去和别人讨论这些问题貌似看起来很古怪。但是,深入的交谈常常需要全神贯注在会谈本身。

It’s good practice to have your “looking away” activities identified so that the process becomes more reflexive. For instance, I know that playing my guitar is a sure way to look away from my problem, as are the drums on Rock Band. (Oh, Rock Band, is there a problem you can’t handle?) I can also hit the gym downstairs. You get bonus points if your looking away activities are ones that are good for you anyway.

找到这些活动以便能解决那些问题。例如,弹吉它可以使我“远离”那些问题,或者在摇滚乐队当鼓手。我也会在楼下的健身房练两下。如果你能找到对你有益的活动,都会对你有帮助的。

If you’ve been racking your brain trying to solve that creative problem for the last few hours, or days, or weeks and aren’t making much headway, stop! Try some of the things I’ve mentioned above, and if they don’t work, pick up another project for a while. But, whatever you do, look way from the problem so that you have the chance to solve it.

如果你已经花费了数小时,数天或数周努力去解决问题,但还是没有多大进展,那就停止!去尝试一下我上面提到过的那些方法,假如那还不管用,那就再去做一些其他事情。但是,不管你做什么,都要对当前的问题置之不理以便能找到解决问题的方法。