Silicon Valley is a magnet to which numerous talented engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs from overseas flock in search of fame and fast money and to participate enthusiastically in a technological revolution whose impact on mankind will surely surpass the epoch-making European Renaissance and Industrial Revolution of the bygone age.// The valley’s professionals are among the most hardworking people anywhere. A 15-hour day and 7-day week is not uncommon, especially during the start-up stage. They would give up social life, and curtail their family life too, in order to pursue the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It is this single-minded pursuit of excellence, supported by strong ethos of teamwork and esprit de corps, that sustain them until their mission is accomplished.// Paper qualification, though useful, is not a be-all-and-end-all. More weight is given to a candidate’s proven abilities and aptitude for the job. This is amply demonstrated by industry icons like Apple’s Jobs and Wozniak and Microsoft’s Gates, all college dropouts who might not have emerged in a qualification-conscious community.// While racial prejudice no doubt still exists in the United States, it is hardly discernible in the Valley. What counts most is one’s vision and track record, and not one’s nationality, skin color or creed. This, together with its multiracial society, informal lifestyle and agreeable climate, lures foreigners to its shores.//

硅谷猶如一塊磁鐵，把許許多多天資聰穎的工程師、科學家、企業家從世界各地吸引到這里。他們來此尋求功名，希望快速致富，積極投身于技術革命，而這場革命所帶來的影響必將超 過昔日具有劃時代意義的歐洲文藝復興運動和產業革命。// 硅谷人的工作之勤奮，舉世罕見。一天工作 15 個小時，一周工作七天，這樣的工作日程安 排在硅谷卻是司空見慣的現象，尤其在創業初期更是如此。硅谷人放棄社交生活，減少與家人一起生活的時間，努力去尋求事業彩虹盡頭處的那一桶金。正是這種孜孜不求卓越的精神，加上優良的團隊精神，支持著硅谷人的奮斗理念，他們不大目的絕不罷休。//在硅谷，文憑雖然有用，卻不是一切，一紙定不了終身，硅谷更看重求職者的真才實學和崗位資質。最具有說服力的例子莫過于行業的偶像人物，如蘋果公司的創始人喬布斯和沃茨尼亞克，微軟的創始人蓋茨，他們都是一些大學輟學者，在講究學歷的社會很可能永無出頭之日。//毫無疑問，美國人然存在著宗族歧視，但這種現象在硅谷卻難尋蹤影。硅谷人最看中的是人才視野和成長歷程，而不是國籍，膚色或宗教信仰。這種觀念加上硅谷多宗族的社會、不拘 禮儀的生活方式、舒適適宜的氣候，使外國人近悅遠來。//