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But I learned what opportunity cost is.
但（通過這件事）我學會了什么是“機會成本”。
And along the way, the map of my life got better.
就這樣，我人生的地圖慢慢完整起來。
It got bigger; it contained more places.
版圖不斷擴大，地方也不斷增多。
There were more things that might happen, more futures I might have.
可能性越來越多，我的未來選擇也越來越多。
It wasn't a formal, organized learning process, and I'm happy to admit that.
當然這不是正規的，有條理的學習過程，我對此毫不避諱。
It was spotty, it was inconsistent, there was a lot I didn't know.
這個過程斷斷續續，有時還前后矛盾，很多事情我也沒徹底弄明白。
I might know, you know, Cantor's idea that some infinite sets are larger than other infinite sets,
比如說，我可能知道康托爾的理論，無限集合也有大小之分，
but I didn't really understand the calculus behind that idea.
但支持這個理論的微積分我就完全不懂。
I might know the idea of opportunity cost, but I didn't know the law of diminishing returns.
我也許明白“機會成本”這個概念，但是我不懂收益遞減法則。
But the great thing about imagining learning as cartography,
但將學習想象成繪制地圖，
instead of imagining it as arbitrary hurdles that you have to jump over,
而不是想象成一系列障礙，需要你一個個去跨越，好處就在于，
is that you see a bit of coastline, and that makes you want to see more.
你能看見一點點海岸線，這讓你想更進一步，發現更多的東西。
And so now I do know at least some of the calculus that underlies all of that stuff.
所以我現在至少了解了微積分中最最基礎的知識。
So, I had one learning community in high school, then I went to another for college,
因此我在高中加入了一個學習社團，然后在大學加入了另一個，
and then I went to another, when I started working at a magazine called "Booklist,"
工作后又加入另一個，當時我剛剛開始在一家名為《書單》的雜志社工作，
where I was an assistant, surrounded by astonishingly well-read people.
職務是助理，身邊是一群熱愛讀書的朋友。
And then I wrote a book. And like all authors dream of doing, I promptly quit my job.
之后我寫了一本書。就像所有作家夢想的一樣，我迅速辭職了。
And for the first time since high school, I found myself without a learning community, and it was miserable. I hated it.
這是我自高中以來，第一次脫離了學習社團，這很痛苦。我很不爽。
I read many, many books during this two-year period.
在這兩年期間，我讀了很多書。
I read books about Stalin, and books about how the Uzbek people came to identify as Muslims,
有關于斯大林的，關于烏茲別克斯坦人民是怎么被視為穆斯林的，
and I read books about how to make atomic bombs, but it just felt like I was creating my own hurdles,
甚至還有關于怎么制造原子彈的，但我的感覺并不好，像是給自己制造了障礙，
and then jumping over them myself, instead of feeling the excitement of being part of a community of learners,
然后還要自己跨過去，我完全感受不到身處學習社團里時的那種興奮，
a community of people who are engaged together in the cartographic enterprise of trying to better understand and map the world around us.
當時的我們就像一群地圖發燒友，聚集在地圖制作公司，試圖更好地理解和描繪我們所處的世界。
