評(píng)論
打印
The satisfaction of killing time and of affording some outlet, however modest, for ambition， belongs to most work, and is sufficient to make even a man whose work is dull happier on the average than a man who has no work at all. But when work is interesting, it is capable of giving satisfaction of a far higher order than mere relief from tediousness.
大凡工作都有打發(fā)時(shí)間，并使自己的抱負(fù)多少得到施展的滿足感，這種滿足感足以使一個(gè)從事單調(diào)乏味工作的人通常比一個(gè)沒有工作的人快樂。而當(dāng)工作有意義時(shí)，便能帶來高層次的滿足感，而不僅僅是擺脫無聊。
The chief element which makes work interesting is the exercise of skill. Every man who has acquired some unusual skill enjoys exercising it until it has become a matter of course, or until he can no longer improve himself. This motive to activity begins in early childhood: aboy who can stand on his head becomes reluctant to stand on his feet. A great deal of work gives the same pleasure that is to be derived from games of skill. The work of a lawyer or a politician must contain in a more delightful form a great deal of the same pleasurethat is to be derived from playing bridge.Here of course there is not only the exercise ofskill but the conquering of a skilled opponent. Even where this competitive element is absent, however, the performance of rare skills is agreeable. A man who can do stunts1 in an aeroplane finds the pleasure so great that for the sake of it he is willing to risk his life. I imagine that an able surgeon, in spite of the painfol circumstances in which his workis done, derives satisfaction from the wonderful precision of his operations. The same kind of pleasure, though in a less intense form, is to be derived from a great deal of work ofa humbler kind. All skilled work can be pleasurable, provided the skill required is either variable or capable of indefinite improvement. If these conditions are absent, it will cease to be interesting when a man has acquired his maximum skill. A man who runs three-mile races will cease to find pleasure in this occupation when he passes the age at which he can beat his own previous record.Fortunately there is a very considerable amount of work in which new circumstances call for new skill and a man can go on improving, at any rate until he has reached middle age.In some kinds of skilled work, such as politics, for example, it seems that men are at their best between sixty and seventy, the reason being that in such occupations a wide experience of other men is essential. For this reason successful politicians are apt to be happier at the age of seventy than any other men of equal age.Their onlycompetitors in this respect are the men who are the heads of big businesses.
使工作變得有意義的主要因素是技能的施展。任何一個(gè)掌握非凡技能的人都樂于施展其本領(lǐng)，直到習(xí)以為常或無法再自我提高方才停止。這一動(dòng)因自孩提時(shí)代便有了：一個(gè)會(huì)倒立的孩子不愿意站立。很多工作能像競(jìng)技比賽一樣帶來樂趣。律師或政治家在工作中肯定會(huì)領(lǐng)略到與打橋牌同樣的很多樂趣,而且是能給人帶來更多愉快的樂趣。當(dāng)然，這當(dāng)中不僅僅有技能的施展，更包括戰(zhàn)勝老練的對(duì)手。即使沒有這種競(jìng)爭(zhēng)因素，非凡技能的表現(xiàn)也是令人愉快的。 一個(gè)能進(jìn)行特技飛行的人從中獲得無比的樂趣，為此甘冒生命的危險(xiǎn)。我想一位干練的外科醫(yī)生能從其精湛的手術(shù)中獲得滿足，盡管他的工作是在令人不愉快的環(huán)境之中進(jìn)行的。從許多較為微賤的工作中能得到同樣的快樂，雖然程度不那么強(qiáng)烈。所有需要技能的工作都能帶來快樂，只要所需要的技能是有變化的，或能夠無止境地改進(jìn)的。要是沒有這些條件，那么當(dāng)一個(gè)人達(dá)到其技能的頂點(diǎn)時(shí)，工作就不再有意思了。一個(gè)跑3英里賽跑的人，當(dāng)他過了能打破自己原先記錄的年齡時(shí)，就不會(huì)再?gòu)倪@一活動(dòng)中獲得樂趣。幸而在相當(dāng)多的工作中，新的環(huán)境要求新的技能，一個(gè)人至少在到達(dá)中年之前可以不斷提高。在諸如政治之類需要嫻熟技巧的職業(yè)中，一個(gè)人似乎要到六、七十歲才達(dá)到爐火純青，其原因在于，在這些職業(yè)中，與別人廣泛的接觸和了解是至關(guān)重要的。正因?yàn)槿绱耍晒Φ恼渭以?0歲時(shí)往往比其他同齡人快樂。在這方面，唯一能與他們媲美的是大企業(yè)的老總們。
