評論
打印
This is a book about outliers,
這是一本談論那些與眾不同之人的書，
about men and women who do things that are out of the ordinary.
這些與眾不同的男人或者女人，他們的成就超越了常人。
Over the course of the chapter ahead,
在每章的前面部分，
I'm going to introduce you to one kind of outlier after another:
我會給大家介紹形形色色的天才：
to geniuses, business tycoons, rock stars, and software programmers.
商業大亨、搖滾歌星和計算機黑客，
We're going to uncover the secretes of a remarkable lawyer,
我們將向你掲開著名律師成功的秘訣，
look at what separates the best pilots from pilots who have crashed planes,
如何從糟糕的飛行員中甄別出佼佼者，
and try to figure out why Asians are so good at maths.
并且向你解釋為什么亞洲人在數學方面能取得卓越的成績。
And in examining the lines of the remarkable among us,
然后進一步審視我們身邊的那些卓越者
the skilled, the talented and the driven.
他們嫻熟的技術、過人的才干和充沛的干勁是怎么來的？
I will argue that there are something profoundly wrong with the way we make sense of success.
我最終得出的結論簡單明了：我們以前對成功的理解常陷入誤區。
What is the question we always ask about successful?
我們過去對成功者的關注都是些什么？
We want to know what they are like,
我們總是想知道他們是怎樣的一個人
what kind of personalities they have,
他們是什么個性，
or how intelligent they are,
他們的才智如何，
or what kind of lifestyles they have,
他們的生活方式怎樣，
or what special talents they might have been born with.
或者他們是否擁有某種天賦。
And we assume that it is those personal qualities
我們認為他們之所以能成為頂尖高手，
that explain how an individual reaches the top.
完全是因為他們的個人稟賦。
In the autobiographies published every year,
每年都會出版很多關于
by the billionaire, entrepreneur, rock star, celebrity,
億萬富翁、企業家、搖滾歌星等社會名人的自傳。
the storyline is always the same.
自傳里面主人翁的故事彼此相似：
Our hero was born in modest circumstances
在合適的時間合適的地點誕生了我們的英雄，
and by virtu of his own grit
他磨煉自己的美德，
and talent fights his way to greatness.
發揮自己的天賦，他不斷奮斗，最終取得了成功。
In the Bible, Joseph is cast out by his brothers
《圣經》里面的約瑟夫，他被自己的兄弟出賣，
and sold into slavery
淪落為奴隸，
and then rises to become the pharaoh's right-hand man
最后卻憑借自己的聰明才智成為埃及法老不可或缺的臂膀，
on the strength of his own brilliance and insight.
權力顯赫一時。
In the famous nineteenth century novels of Horatio Alger,
在19世紀的作家霍雷肖阿爾杰（Horatio Alger)的著名小說里，
young boys born in the poverty
一名出生于紐約貧民區的年輕小伙子 ,
rise to riches through a combination of pluck and initiative.
憑借自己的勇氣獲得了巨額財富。
"I think overall it's a disadvantage," Jeb Bush once said of what what it meant for his business career
在談到這些身份對他經商的影響時，杰布布什卻說：“我覺得這些都是不利因素”，
that he was a son of an America president and the brother of an American president
他父親是美國總統老布什，兄弟是美國總統小布什。
and the grandson of a wealthy Wall Street banker and a US senator.
其祖父是華爾街大銀行家、美國參議員。
