異類之不一樣的成功啟示錄 第61期:天才的潦倒生活

We took factory jobs and minor civil service positions and eventually became a bouncer in a bar on Long Island,

他當過工廠工人，也當過政府底層公務(wù)員，最后在長島的一家酒吧當保安，

which was his principle occupation through much of his adult years.

這是他成年之后最主要的一份工作。

Through it all, he continued to read deeply in philosophy, mathematics and physics as he worked on a sprawling treaties he calls the "CTMU"

整段時間，他都在深入閱讀哲學(xué)、數(shù)學(xué)和物理學(xué)著作，此時，他草草完成了自己的論文，

the "Cognitive Theoretical Model of the Universe."

構(gòu)建了CTMU(大學(xué)認知的理論模型，CognitiveTheoreticModeloftheUniversity)理論。

But without academic credentials, he despairs of every getting published in a scholarly journal.

但由于沒有大學(xué)的支持，他的論文從來沒有在一家學(xué)術(shù)雜志上發(fā)表，真是令人沮喪。

"I'm a guy who has a year and a half of college," he says, with a shrug.

“我是一個才在大學(xué)呆了一年半的家伙，”他無奈地聳了聳肩，說道，

"And at some point this will come to the attention of the editor, as he is going to take the paper and send it off to the referees,

“一般情況下，編輯會注意到這篇論文，然后他會把它送給論文評審委員會的人，

and these referees are going to try and look me up, and they are not going to find me.

評審委員會的人應(yīng)該盡量了解我的來歷。但他們沒有這么做，

And they are going to say, "this guy has a year and a half college. How would he know what he's talking about?"

他們也許會說，這家伙只讀了一年半的大學(xué)，他又怎么可能知道他所說的這一切呢?”

It is a heartbreaking stroy.

這是一個悲傷的故事。

At one point I asked Langan whether he would take a job at Harvard University, hypothetical, were it offered to him.

我問蘭根，假如哈佛大學(xué)給他留了一個職位——假設(shè)而已——他是否愿意接受這份挑戰(zhàn)。

"Well, that's a difficult question," he replied.

“確實，這是一個很難回答的問題，”

"Obviously, as a full professor at Harvard, I would count.

他回答說，“擔任哈佛大學(xué)的全職教授，我想我是完全夠格的。

My ideas would have weight and I could use my position, my affiliation at Harvard, to promote my ideas.

如果真能那樣，我提出的想法就有了一定的砝碼，我也能夠很好地利用這個身份，和哈佛的這層關(guān)系也能夠提升我的思想，

An institution like that is a great source of intellectual energy, and if I were at a place like that,

哈佛這樣的機構(gòu)是使得一個人的智慧噴發(fā)出能量的最大源泉，假如我能站在這樣一個地方，

I could absorb the vibration in the air."

就是空氣中的一丁點波動，我也能夠感受到。”

It was suddenly clear how lonely his life would have been

在忽然之間，我們感覺他的生活是那樣孤獨寂寞。

Here he was, a man with an insatiable appetite for learning,

我們面前的他，是一個求知若渴的男人，

forced for much of his adult life to live in intellectual isolation.

但他成年之后的生活卻總是生活在智力的孤島上。

"I even noticed that kind of intellectual energy in a year and a half was in college," he said, almost wistfully.

“雖然只有一年半的大學(xué)時光，但我依舊感覺到了一種智慧的力量，”他說道，語句間充滿了渴望，

"Ideas are in the air constantly. It's such a stimulating place to be."

“人的思想無處不在，這一直激勵著我前進。”

"On the other hand," he went on.

“另一方面，”他繼續(xù)說，

"Harvard is basically a glorified cooporation, operating with a profit incentive. That's what makes it a tick.

“哈佛基本上成為了一家聲名顯赫的公司，完全依靠利益驅(qū)動，這是它做事情的動機。

It has a endowment in the billions of dollars. The people running it are not necessarily searching for truth and knowledge.

它擁有數(shù)十億美元的捐贈，對經(jīng)營哈佛的人來說，探求真理和追求知識并非必要。

They want to be big shots, and when you accept a paycheck from those people,

他們想成為大腕，如果你想從他們手中領(lǐng)取薪水，那還得看你想怎樣做，看你的想法是否正確，

it is going to come down to what you want to do and what you feel is right

否則，他們會說你可以做自己的事情，

versus what the man says you can do to recieve another paycheck.

但必須到別人那里領(lǐng)取薪水。

When you are their, they got a thumb right on you.

如果你想去那兒，經(jīng)驗告訴他們，

They are out to make sure you don't step out of line."

你必須讓他們相信，你是不會隨意跨出這條底線的。”